Wolfert, "Slow Mediterranean Kitchen"

[eldereno]

I'm beginning the process of making the pork coddled in olive oil this evening to have later in the week. Sounds like placing some eggs in the oven to slow roast them is worth trying (since the oven will be on anyway!).

Can't wait for the pork....after all of the raves here!!!!!

[eldereno]

Making of the pork coddled in olive oil...

Unfortunately, I bought a bone-in pork shoulder, so spent a goodly amount of time boning it and cutting the meat into 2 inch cubes. A 7 pound bone-in yielded about 3 3/4 pounds of meat once the skin, excess fat, bone, etc. was removed (maybe it would have been more but I was getting tired of all that work). I, therfore, increased the spicing ingredients for the rub by 1/2. Had a wonderful time using my mortar and pestal to crush the peppercorns and bay leaves, bruising the fennel seeds!!!!

This is a pic of the pork cubes now in a bag to "marinate" in the herbs, S and P for until after work tomorrow......

Planning the slow cooking then. Maybe a meal for Tuesday or Wednesday.

Had to use all of the Great Northern Beans I had to blind bake a pastry shell for the Bouchon cookbook quiche recipe but think I will have time to buy a new bag tomorrow at lunch. Has anyone used canned beans for the Tuscan bean recipe??? (just in case)

[eldereno]

Okay, I coddled the pork pieces in the olive oil yesterday, reheated today for dinner. Not a pretty picture BUT some of the best tasting and wonderfully textured pork I have ever had!!!!!

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

I am happy to have leftovers. Plan to shred and put the shredded pork into flour tortillas this weekend. Very flavorful and wonderful stuff!!!

[Habeas Brulee]

I made the Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks with Almond-Chocolate Picada. We were way too hungry for me to take photos before eating them, though.

I thought they were great!

We tweaked the recipe just a bit: extra leaks, extra cocoa, and, given the contents of our pantry, we substituted almond meal and extract instead of grinding blanched almonds.

The sauce was rich and flavorful, the meat tender, and the last step of baking the meat in the finished sauce really did the trick.

Served with some stir-fried chard for a quick 'n easy green, it made for a wonderful dinner.

[A Patric]

Hi all,

For that coddled pork, do you rinse and pat dry the pork before cooking it in the oil, or do you leave the salt, herbes and spices on the pork?

Thanks!

[eldereno]

A Patric,

I did not rinse the meat, just poured it out of the bag into a dutch oven and covered in the olive oil.

[Chufi]

I made the slow-baked lamb with fennel and pecorino yesterday.

Lovely. The lamb is marinated in milk, with fennelseeds, bay leaves and rosemary. Then layered with potatoes, pecorino and breadcrumbs and baked. The meat becomes very tender and flavorfull.

Once you cut into this, it´s not a pretty dish - the milk curdles into big greyish clumps. As unappetizing as this sounds, I still highly recommend it, just don´t expect a creamy elegant sauce!

[eldereno]

Chufi,

Certainly looks great before cutting into it!!!!! Sounds very flavorful. May need to try this one.

Donna

[Chufi]

One more note about the baked lamb dish.. in step 5, you are supposed to deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of water, and then 'set the deglazed pan juices aside´. However the recipe then does not mention what you are supposed to do with this liquid. I added it to the milk before I poured this over the meat and potatoes, but since the finished dish had a LOT of liquid, I don´t think I will do that next time, and just not bother with the deglazing (there wasn´t much to deglaze anyway).

[forever_young_ca]

Night and Day Slow-Roased Pork Shoulder -

I am thinking of making this for a casual "friends" dinner. Has anyone tried this dish ....if so comments?

The recipe calls for cooking the pork at 180 degrees. I am also making the Zuni Cafe's onion and chard panade - it is supposed to be cooked at 250 degrees for 2 hrs 45 minutes. Question - if I compromise and have the oven at 225 for 3 hours or so, will this be too high for the pork?

I love this book...................