slow-roasted pork shoulder with cider bourbon gravy

I love Thanksgiving. Food and gratitude, what could be better?

One of my favorite things about this holiday is the New Yorker's food edition, which was just delivered to my apartment yesterday. Interspersed through the magazine between the longer articles and fictions are one-page essays with titles like "Pickled Cabbage," "Linzer Torte," and "Aspic." These are short stories about authors relationship to the title food, sometimes about a family history, sometimes about a very specific experience.

I realize we all have time honored family traditions surrounding this holiday, classic family recipes that are on the table every year (I get nostalgic for that mushy green bean casserole from time to time). But for those of you who are in the mood to try something a little different, I'll post a few things that may not have graced the family table in the past, including a turkey alternative; let's face it, the sight of that whole roast bird is iconic, but the taste sometimes leaves something to be desired.

These recipes are from the Bushwick Starr Fall Gala Dinner that I catered last Thursday night. I'll try to post as many as possible before the holiday. Up first:

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Cider Bourbon Gravy

This recipe is based on information from a couple sources: Cooks Illustrated magazine, and Mike from Tamarack Hollow Farm in Vermont. I got the idea for the salt/sugar rub from Cooks, but their one-to-one salt/sugar ratio was far too salty for me; it made me pucker. I reduced the salt from their recipe by half and it worked beautifully.

Tamarack Hollow is an organic farm in Vermont where they raise pastured, heritage breed pigs. Mike works there and runs their stand at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays, and he suggested a bone-in roast. The bone conducts heat and ensures a more evenly cooked roast. Neat! If you're in NYC, please consider buying from this great farm. If you call the Tuesday before, Mike will try to have a cut set aside for you. Tamarack Hollow Farm, Burlington, VT, 802-535-1515.

For the pork:

1 5-6 pound bone-in shoulder roast, often called a "Boston butt"
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
pepper

For the gravy:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup apple cider
1-2 tbsp bourbon
reserved pan drippings from pork (more directions below...)

The preparation for this roast is easy, but it's important to start a day (or more, if your roast is frozen) before you actually plan on cooking it. A long, slow process will get the best flavor here.

If your pork butt is frozen when you buy it, it is important to allow ample time for it to defrost safely. If you have more than 48 hours, place your frozen roast in the fridge to defrost. If you have closer to 24 hours, place the roast in a bowl of cold water in the sink, and run cold water over the roast. Periodically change the water in the bowl. DO NOT attempt to defrost your roast in warm water--this will encourage bacterial growth. DO NOT use boiling water--this will cook the outside of your roast, and ditto on the bacteria. Microwave defrosting is uneven and can begin to cook the meat as well. The best and safest way is a slow, cold defrost.

The morning before you plan on cooking your defrosted pork is when you want to make the brown sugar and salt rub. Take your pork butt out of the fridge and set it on your cutting board fat side up. Most, but not all, pork butts will have a fat cap on one side of the roast. If your roast does not have a thick cap of fat, skip this step. With the tip of a sharp knife, cut a cross-hatch diamond pattern (about 1 inch squares) into the fat cap, being careful not to cut through to the meat beneath.

Mix the sugar and salt together. Rub the mixture all over your roast, rubbing it into the slices you cut in the fat. Give it a nice massage, then tightly wrap your roast in plastic wrap. Place your wrapped roast in a large bowl (important: the salt will encourage the pork juices to release, and you don't want to be disinfecting your fridge on Thanksgiving morning) and place it in the fridge. Let it sit overnight.

Start the roast the next day about 7 hours before you plan on serving.

Preheat the oven to 325.

Take the roast from the fridge and brush off any excess salt and sugar. Place the roast in a v-rack, fat side up, in a medium roasting pan. A v-rack looks like this. Add a dusting of fresh cracked pepper to the roast.

Put about a 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of a medium roasting pan. The water will keep your sugary drippings from burning. Keep an eye on the water level in the pan during roasting. You may need to add a bit more to keep the bottom of the pan from becoming dry.

Roast for 5-6 hours, basting with the pan juices every two hours or so. The TIME of roasting is far less important than the INTERNAL TEMPERATURE of the pork. At around 4 hours in the oven, start checking the temperature. A meat thermometer inserted near, but not touching, the bone should read around 180. 175 is ok, anything below 160 (the minimum safe temperature for pork recommended by the USDA) is not.

When the pork is done, take it out of the oven and place it on a carving board. Cover it lightly with tin foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour to redistribute the juices. While it's resting you can make the gravy.

Pour the pan juices into bowl and skim off the fat that sits on top. You will need about 1/3-1/2 a cup of pan juices.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Whisk a little longer to cook the flour a bit. Add the pan juices and whisk, then add the cider and the bourbon. I'd recommend adding half the cider and bourbon, then tasting, and then adding more if you like. You are looking for a nice balance of sweet and tangy and salty. Bring the gravy to a boil to thicken.

Cut the pork away from the bone. Serve in thick slices and chunks with a generous serving of gravy.

thanksgiving, a week early

I had to write a Thanksgiving post now, if for no other reason than to share this amazing photograph.

This was on the New York Times website, along with a very complicated recipe for turkey stuffing by the blonde bombshell herself.

After this week, I doubt if anything quite that ambitious will be on our Thanksgiving table. We have, however, ordered a heritage bird from Quattro Farms at the Greenmarket, and we're planning on making a yummy herbes de provence butter from the last of our fresh herbs in the garden. Although this bird will probably be a bit bigger than we need, I'm happier paying a bit more and eating a few more leftovers to get a bird that can literally stand on it's own two feet and reproduce without artificial insemination (this is not true of most supermarket turkeys; they are bred and overfed to produce enormous breast meat. Ew.). For a great and concise description of heritage breed turkeys, please check out this link from Wisconsin's Whistleberry Farm.


Once the Fall Gala catering job is done, I'll share some of the recipes from there, many of which would be great for the holidays. In the meantime, here are a few recipes from last year's posts, for anyone looking for a new squashy recipe: Savory sweet potato gratin, and butternut squash soup (easily a mash or light puree, just add less water).

This weekend I'll share a turkey alternative, slow-roasted pork shoulder with bourbon cider gravy, as well as a few new side dishes: wild mushroom risotto, braised kale, and a cheddar cheese and ale fondue. These dishes are not only delectable, but surprisingly easy, and components of them can be made ahead of time.

For more great recipes and information about farm-to-table cooking, check out the Slow Food Network, where Dining In is now a featured blog!

Also! Please check out the new website at dininginbrooklyn.com. This site, designed by David Townsend of Actor Webworks, is everything I was hoping it would be. So happy.

Happy eating!

simply the best lentil soup

It seems silly to say that there will be a lot of cooking going on around here this month. There is always a lot of cooking going on around here.

But there has been, and there will be, even more than usual. You see, not only are we gearing up for Thanksgiving in just a few short weeks (!), but the Bushwick Starr's Fall Gala is now less than two weeks away. For the last month, I've been testing recipes to serve at a three course family style farm-to-table dinner. And now it's crunch time!

I've been testing recipes a few times a week, and in between trials, I haven't felt like doing a lot of fancy cooking. Still, we certainly haven't been going hungry. We've been eating all of my test food, along with a handful of much simpler things: Apple pork sausages sauteed with brussels sprouts, this kale and fried egg salad, and recipes from a fantastic cookbook I just bought called Olives and Oranges by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox.

I rarely cook from recipes, but I love the way these are written. They are clear, straightforward, and most appealingly, they completely invoke the flavors of the places that they are from and the seasons in which they are traditionally made. A few weeks ago, I tried the Braised Lamb with Concord Grapes and Green Tomatoes. It was unlike anything I'd ever had before; the sweetness of the grapes was present but subtle, and complimented and blended with with acidity of the tomatoes and the mild meaty gaminess of the lamb.

Everything I've made so far from this book has been incredible, but my favorite may be a very simple and completely satisfying lentil soup. Honestly, I decided to try this recipe because I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen, and it was a nasty, rainy day outside. It seemed a little too simple to be good, and lentils have always seemed a little bland to me. But in this recipe they're not, they're deeply flavorful: earthy, slightly fruity from a drizzle of olive oil, rich from the red wine, fresh from the chopped parsley.

This lentil soup is the perfect thing to help ease this very-November weather. The warmth of its slow simmer will steam up the inside of your kitchen windows, and it's so much nicer to watch the raindrops trickle down the panes from a cozy kitchen over a bowl of delicious soup. It almost sounds like something to look forward to.

Lentil Soup from Olives and Oranges

1 1/2 cups small lentils (about 12 ounces)
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 small dried red chili pepper [Mary: I used 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes here]
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon medium-course sea salt, or more to taste

Rinse lentils and discard any stones or other debris.

Pulse onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a food processor until just minced [Mary: this can also be done by hand]. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add vegetable mixture and crumble in chili, then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes.

Add wine and cook until mostly evaporated, about 6 minutes. Add water and lentils, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in parsley and salt.

Serve soup drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with additional salt to taste.

steamed clams

These broth for these clams uses the reserved liquid left over from roasting the tomatoes in the Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic and Herbs recipe. The broth could also be made without this reserved liquid, simply by adding a bit more white wine.

This recipe is absolutely delicious, and it's incredibly fast and easy. It's a great "impress your guests" meal, but it's also simple enough to make for a weeknight dinner.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on the wine for the broth, but do get something that you wouldn't mind drinking, for a couple of reasons: 1) you will have at least 2/3 a bottle left, and white wine is lovely with clams, and 2) the wine will reduce slightly in the broth and it's flavors will concentrate, so if you use cheap "cooking wine," then that's what your broth will taste like.

Steamed Clams in Tomato, Herb, White Wine Broth

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer.

2 dozen littleneck or other medium sized clams

1/2 stick of unsalted butter

2 shallots, minced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

reserved liquid from roasted tomatoes

about 1/4 bottle dry white wine, such as Muscadet, Sancerre, or a dry Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc

salt and pepper

Rinse the clams in cool water. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the minced shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until just translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine, bring to a simmer, and then add the tomato broth. Bring to a low boil, carefully add the clams to the broth, and cover.

Cook covered for 7-10 minutes, or until the clams open. Discard any clams that remain unopened after 10 minutes.

Plate the clams in large bowls in their cooking broth. Serve with plenty of toasted crusty bread to sop up the broth, and a side of roasted fingerling potatoes tossed with chopped parsley and basil.

bye bye tomatoes

Farewell tomatoes, we'll see you next summer. You have been plentiful and delicious.



Here are my last two fresh tomato recipes of the season. The first is a roasted tomato soup/pasta sauce recipe. The second is a poaching liquid or broth that is made from the reserved tomato juice leftover after roasting. I used this broth to steam clams that were honestly one of my favorite things I've ever made, but I imagine it would also be great for poaching a meaty white fish like halibut.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic and Herbs

I set out to make a pasta sauce, but the result was so tasty that I ended up serving most of it as a tomato soup. If you want to use this as pasta sauce, simply add a small amount of the boiled pasta water to the sauce. The starch in the water will make the sauce a little thicker and less soupy.

Many traditional tomato soup/sauce recipes will direct you to boil the tomatoes, them shock them in cold water in order to remove their skins. I have skipped this step entirely, simply roasting the whole tomatoes, then pureeing them, skins and all. I find that this doesn't negatively affect the flavor or consistency of the soup, and saves a lot of time.

Nutrition note: If using this for pasta sauce, the pasta I buy is Tinkyada brand brown rice pasta (available at Whole Foods and many natural foods groceries). I think it's the best whole grain pasta option available right now. The texture and flavor are much more similar to traditional pasta than the whole wheat varieties, it's much higher in fiber, and it's gluten free.


Ingredients

approximately 3 pounds fresh tomatoes (mixed variety is fine--I used plums, cherries, and black brandywines from the garden)

2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and thyme)

4-5 whole garlic cloves

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or more or less to taste

scant 1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

about 15 leaves of fresh basil

sugar


Preheat oven to 425. Quarter or half larger tomatoes so that they are all roughly the same size. If you are using smaller cherry or grape tomatoes, these can be left whole.



Place tomatoes is a large roasting pan. Add garlic, herbs, pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat tomatoes in oil and distribute seasonings.

Roast in oven 20-30 minutes, until the tomatoes have expelled much of their water, and their skins are pruney and puckery.

Remove tomatoes from oven. Transfer roasted tomatoes, herbs, and garlic to a large heatproof bowl, leaving the thin liquid in the roasting pan (this will be used in the second recipe). Add 10 leaves of basil, and puree with an imersion blender.

Taste the puree for seasoning. It will probably need a bit more salt and pepper. You may want to add more basil to play up the herby flavor. If it seems too acidic add a drizzle of olive oil, or it might benefit from a bit of sugar. Season with sugar conservatively as you would season with salt: it's easy to add too much.

Serve this as a soup with crusty bread, or even better, grilled cheese sandwiches with smoked cheddar.

Serve as a pasta sauce tossed with your favorite shaped noodles, a generous grating of parmesan, and more fresh basil.



Transfer the reserved liquid from the roasting pan to a lidded container and store in the fridge until ready to use. It should keep for about 4 days.

Clams in White Wine, Tomato Herb Broth recipe will be up within the next couple days! Enjoy!

the photos

There is a new recipe coming soon. I promise. In the meantime, please admire these gorgeous photos by the amazing Sue Kessler.

Sue took these photos at the latest event that I catered: the web series premiere of Missed Connections Live.

The menu for the event included a cheese plate, avocado caprese with heirloom tomatoes, and a farmers' market antipasti platter (pictured are the yellow wax beans in almond pesto and the citrus and mint mixed beets).









All photos copyright Sue Kessler 2010.

dinner tonight

I've got two new recipes to share this evening that I think go spendidly together. These make a lovely meal in themselves, but they would also be great as side dishes next to some grilled or pan-seared teriyaki salmon.

"Fried rice" with toasted nori and gomaiso

Kale "egg foo young"

Please note and excuse the liberal use of quotation marks. Inspired by my latest cookbook purchase, Everyday Harumi, I have been experimenting with Asian flavors. In the post from a few weeks ago, I mentioned her delicious eggplant dish. These dishes are not from her book, but inspired by the flavors and ingredients I discovered there.

These recipes make a light and hearty meal for two in less than 30 minutes, and they are definitely healthier and cheaper than take-out!

For the rice:

1 cup short grain sweet brown rice, rinsed*

1 1/2 cups water

Generous tablespoon mirin (can be found in most grocery stores with other Asian specialty items. Look near the soy sauce...)

about 2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 sheet nori seaweed (this will probably be hanging out somewhere near the mirin in your grocery store)

1 tbsp black and tan gomaiso (ditto. Gomaiso is toasted sesame seeds with sea salt)

1 small scallion, finely chopped

*Rinsing rice removes phytic acid, which can prevent your body from absorbing essential minerals (like calcium and iron) from your food. Also, most rice is stored in large warehouses in large bins at some point in its journey to you, and you might want to wash off any little footprints or traces of warehouse critters, if you know what I mean ...

For the kale:


3-4 cups roughly chopped kale, larger bits of stem removed, and rinsed to remove any grit

4 eggs, beaten

about 1 tbsp olive oil

about 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce (yay, a shortcut! I like San-J brand: it's gluten-free, they use organic sugar not corn syrup, and I can pronounce all the ingredients)

1/2 tsp red chili flakes, optional

1 scallion, finely chopped

more gomaiso, if you like

First cook the rice. Add the rice and water to a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover and cook for about 15 minutes, or until almost done. While the rice is cooking, toast the sheet of nori seaweed over low flame on your stove. If it catches on fire around the edges, that's ok. You just want it to turn a deep bright green and smells toasty and wonderful. Set aside. When the rice has absorbed the cooking water, add the mirin and soy sauce, stir well, and then turn off the heat, cover, and set aside.

Now for the kale. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the kale, half of the chopped scallion, teriyaki, and chili flakes (if using). Stir and turn the kale until it turns bright green and then begins to cook down, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat very low, and pour the beaten eggs evenly over the top. As the edges of the eggs begin to cook, gently slide a spatula under the edge, then lift and tilt the pan towards the lifted edge to allow the uncooked egg to run underneath. Continue doing this around the pan until there is very little runny egg left on top of the "omelet." At this point, you will need to flip the omelet, which can be a little tricky. You can either attempt a flip with your spatula in the pan, or gently slide the omelet onto a plate, place the upside down pan on top, then carefully flip the whole thing. I recommend the latter, though if the omelet breaks, it's easily reassembled, and still delicious. Cook for another minute on the second side, then turn off the heat.

To dress the rice, crumble the toasted nori over the top, and sprinkle with gomaiso and scallions.

To dress the "egg foo young," slide the omelet onto a serving plate, top with scallions and more gomaiso if you like. I like to serve it with more teriyaki and soy sauce on the side.