10-24-2009 Show: Grey Skies and Rain

It's been almost five months since the last show I put up. I had every intention of doing one every couple of weeks over the course of the summer but then life got in the way. Before I knew it summer was over, it started getting dark earlier, and the grey skies and rain moved in.

I started this show back in late August/early September and it was originally called "Last Days of Summer". Well as things dragged on summer quickly came to an end and by the time I finished it we were deeply entrenched in fall.

Grey Skies and Rain

Hold the Morning - Hey Marseilles
She Called Up - Crowded House
Apartment Story - The National
Take Me to the Riot - Stars
Blacking Out the Friction - Death Cab for Cutie
23 Minutes in Brussels - Luna
Just Stand Back - Low
Une Annee Sans Lumiere - Arcade Fire
See the World - Gomez
Subject Drop - The Pernice Brothers
Spellbound - Doves
Undisclosed Desires - Muse
Folds in Your Hands - Passion Pit
Say Aha - Santigold
Be the One - The Ting Tings
Hysteric - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Oslo Novelist - The Grand Archives
Magpie to the Morning - Neko Case
California Rose - Laura Cantrell
Drunken Hiccups - The Tallboys

Since it's been so long since my last shows you can check out an archive to listen to the older ones. You can find them at the DJ PegLeg Podcasts on Libsyn.

The Summer Bounty

Lunch

A burger made from Skagit River Ranch beef topped with onions that were caramelized with some diced homemade maple bacon all topped with some of the leftover tomato barbecue sauce from our 4th of July BBQ. The only thing missing was some cheese, which I realized we were out of after I had already started cooking the onions and bacon. Next time. I bet a fried egg would taste pretty good on that too, but it might also kill me.

4th of July BBQ - the Shoulder Series

For the 4th of July we got a whole bone in pork shoulder from Sea Breeze Farm over on Vashon Island. The plan was to smoke it and make it into pulled pork for sandwiches at our barbecue.




Of course once we got it home we realized there was no way it was all going to fit on the Weber grill I use for smoking. I know a lot of people have smokers and this might have fit on one of those but my Weber does a more than adequate job at about a third to a fourth the price. You do have to be a bit more attentive to keep an eye on the heat but after a couple of times you get the hang of it and it's not that difficult.




After removing what was probably the shoulder blade I then attempted to determine how to break the shoulder down into a couple of smaller pieces. I consulted my CIA text to figure out where the picnic and boston butt were and to see if I could figure out where the joint was.




I was close, but sadly I missed the joint by about three inches. So I had to do a little surgery to make my way up the bone to find the joint and once I found it I was able to pop it and make a pretty easy cut through the shoulder. The boston butt end was totally intact while the picnic end bore the brunt of the surgery. So instead of sewing it up I broke that down into a few pieces. Two large ones for smoking and a smaller piece to make rillettes.




After applying a homemade rub I went about smoking it over some applewood, which I usually use for smoking bacon as well. The two pieces of the picnic were smoked together for about 8 hours and the larger butt piece was smoked for over twelve. The first time I smoked pork shoulder I was excited just to get a smoke ring but now I'm more excited when the smoke ring goes deeper.




We then shredded the still very warm pork and dressed it with a tomato barbecue sauce that we got out of the Gourmet Cookbook. The pork was kept warm in a slow cooker and after guests arrived we loaded it onto a bun with the coleslaw from the great book Screen Doors and Sweet Tea. It was served with potato salad, molasses baked beans, Santa Maria style beans, and a quinoa pesto salad.

4th of July BBQ - Part 2

4th of July BBQ

Pizza!

Winter overstayed its welcome...so much so that Spring never stopped by and we went straight to summer. When we got back from Taiwan, where it was in the 90s, we were met with rain and temperatures in the 50s and 60s. But all that has changed, we've been entrenched in 70 degree weather for the past few weeks with a period of time where we were consistently in the 80s for a few days. We're even on the verge of breaking the record for the most consecutive days without rain. The record is 29 and I believe we're at 27 or 28 now.



Now trust me, I'm not complaining because for the longest time I didn't think we'd be getting any produce this year until July because of how cold it was. Thankfully the sunshine in the heat kicked things into gear and spring vegetables started showing up quickly followed by strawberries and then cherries. What's next? Hopefully peaches, plums, nectarines, and tomatoes.



Another great thing about spring and summer is the food starts tasting fresh and alive again. As much as I love kale and chard, I'm done with them come May and want spinach and arugula. The raw milk I get from Sea Breeze Farm will taste like the clover the cows are now munching on and the fresh halibut and salmon are starting to be caught by our friends at Wilson Fish again.



But not only am I excited by all the new stuff that shows up at the Farmers Markets, but so are the farmers. They'll happily, and proudly, tell you all about their snap peas, how their strawberries just took off after the first day of hot weather, their fresh ricotta, stories of how they only caught a couple of fish on one of their trips out, and much more.



Of course seeing all that great food at the market inspires me to start making more than just braises. Pan roasted marble salmon with sauteed spinach one night, burgers using beef from Skagit River Ranch the next. And then I heard Sea Breeze Farm was making their own mozzarella and I knew I needed to make a pizza.



But not just any pizza, a pizza that tasted like the new season we're in. Something fresh and bright and utilizes something I could find at the market. So it was decided, arugula pesto pizza. My favorite pizza dough recipe is from The Cheese Board: Collective Works: Bread, Pastry, Cheese, Pizza. Anyone that has spent any time in Berkeley is probably well acquainted with the Cheese Board and most likely their pizzas as well.



So I started out making the dough and while it rose I...went out and got a burger. But when I got back, I whipped up the arugula pesto with some toasted walnuts, garlic, parmigiano reggiano, and of course olive oil. The recipe for the pizza dough yields three 10 inch pizzas so I went about dividing and shaping the doughs. Let me just tell you I can't make a round pizza to save my life. They each took their turn in a 550 degree oven on a pizza stone and each came out a little different. The first had a nice puffy crust but was a little light in color. The second was a little darker because I brushed some olive oil on the edges, but not as airy. The third was much much darker because I used a little heavier hand with the olive oil and almost as puffy as the first, most likely due to the fact that I actually let the oven get back to temperature. Ah, the fickle nature of cooking. Regardless of their differences, they were each a wonderful amoeba shaped taste of spring.

6-6-2009 Podcast: I Don't Dance

So why a new show so soon after the last one? To be honest, it's because I didn't particularly enjoy my last show. I mean, it was fine but not great. I put the last show during breaks from putting the yard back in order after having been gone so this time I focused and did it all in one sitting.

So, as the name of this show states, I don't dance. Don't even try to get me to dance because I won't. I made an exception at my wedding and there's photographic evidence of it, but that's it. No more, I'm done.

I Don't Dance

1. Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. Little Secrets - Passion Pit
3. Iceage Babeland - Natalie Portman's Shaved Head
4. Time to Pretend - MGMT
5. Night on Fire - VHS or Beta
6. Filthy Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters
7. We R the Handclaps - Junior Senior
8. Keep Your Head - The Ting Tings
9. Your Kisses are Wasted on Me - The Pipettes
10. Patches - The Saturday Knights
11. Southside Revival - Blue Scholars
12. None Shall Pass - Aesop Rock
13. So Human - Lady Sovereign
14. Take a Chance - The Magic Numbers
15. Giddy Stratopheres - The Long Blondes
16. Corner Store Girls - Tea Cozies
17. Flourescent Adolescent - Arctic Monkeys
18. Sick Muse - Metric
19. The Royal We - Silversun Pickups
20. Don't Save Us from the Flames - M83

You can find an archive of my old shows at the DJ PegLeg Podcasts on Libsyn.

6-2-2009 Podcast - Making Hay

Well how do you like that, another podcast and so soon after my last one. Let's see how long I can keep this up before I get distracted by something else.

While we were in Taiwan our grass decided to have a little growth spurt so of course when we got home it was a foot and half tall. To make things worse it rained a lot when we got back so we couldn't mow and the grass just got longer and longer. Finally this past weekend we got some help and got the grass under control. Cleaning up the initial cutting of the grass with the weed whacker was a lot like dealing with hay and I even wished I had a baler. Now the next project is getting the garden back in shape. As of today, we have two sugar snap peas on the vine. I don't think that'll be enough to feed us throughout the summer.

Speaking of feeding us throughout summer, we've been loving all the fish our friends over at Wilson Fish have been catching. My new favorite is marble king salmon, which can only be found in this region. It's so delicious and harder to find than your regular king salmon that I always get some if they have any. Other than that it's been a slow start to the season. Everyone is eagerly anticipating the return of berries and stone fruit so much so that the early strawberries that showed up last week were selling like hotcakes even though they weren't quite ready yet. Mmmmm...strawberries and hotcakes...

Making Hay

1. Passionless, Pointless - PJ Harvey and John Parish
2. I'm an Animal - Neko Case
3. The Privateers - Andrew Bird
4. Perfect Fit - Clues
5. Dreams Old Men Dream - Cold War Kids
6. Actor Out of Work - St. Vincent
7. Sleepy Head - Passion Pit
8. Animal - Miike Snow
9. Evident Utensil - Chairlift
10. Shut Up and Let Me Go - The Ting Tings
11. The Underdog - Spoon
12. Black Dresses - The Builders and the Butchers
13. Prophets - A.C. Newman
14. I'm Now - Mudhoney
15. Waiting List - Cops
16. Loose - The Stooges
17. Here Comes Your Man - Pixies
18. Apartment Story - The National

As always, for an archive of my shows go to DJ PegLeg Podcasts on Libsyn.

5-24-2009 Podcast - Where's the Rock?

Yeah, I know, it isn't May 24th anymore. But since it's been years since my last playlist/podcast/show you have to give me a little leniency. Now that podcasting is more mainstream and storage is cheaper the show is coming back. It isn't as involved as it used to be, for now it'll only be an hour or so and I won't be listing upcoming shows. That may change moving forward but for now I'm just trying to ease my way back into things. So take a listen to this show and if you feel like it, let me know what you think!

Where's the Rock?

1. Intro
2. Life is Long - David Byrne and Brian Eno
3. To Travels and Trunks - Hey Marseilles
4. Saint Bernard - Or, The Whale
5. The Greatest Denier - Doves
6. Pretty Pages - Tea Cozies
7. City Lights (Days Go By) - Bob Mould
8. I Let it Go - The Thermals
9. 21st Birthday - Von Bondies
10. Dragon Queen - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
11. I Got You Dancing - Lady Sovereign
12. What's a Girl to Do? - Bat for Lashes
13. Gimme Sympathy - Metric
14. Rebel with the Ghost - Sons and Daughters
15. Sacred Trixter - Sonic Youth
16. Slap Dash for No Cash - Art Brut
17. Hang You from the Heavens - The Dead Weather
18. Polar Nettles - Neko Case
19. Swans - Camera Obscura
20. Never Had Nobody Like You - M.Ward

For an archive of my shows, of which there is only one so far, go to DJ PegLeg Podcasts on Libsyn.
Enjoy!

Jumping the Shark

I've said before and I'll say again, bacon has jumped the shark. How can I be sure? Take a look at this:

Proof Bacon Has Jumped the Shark

Having said that, I just put in an order for a slab of pork belly from Skagit River Ranch to make my first batch of bacon of 2009. Even though it's jumped the shark, it's still delicious but don't expect to see me wearing bacon shoes while carrying a bacon bag with a bacon wallet and bacon business cards.

Highlights From Taiwan Baseball

For the past two weeks we've been in Taiwan visiting my Grandparents. Of course while we were there we had to go check out some baseball and luckily there was a game in Taipei while we were there. Here are the highlights from that game between the Brother Elephants and La New Bears. Of course the Brother Elephants are our new favorite CPBL baseball team.

Hey there beef cheeks

The weather the past two days has been unseasonably warm here in Seattle...it's been a nice respite from the crazy weather we've had this winter. Of course once the sun comes out everyone around here comes out of hibernation and are everywhere trying to soak every bit of sunshine they can get before the clouds move back in. Of course after three days of sun the forecast has cooler than normal temps and rain.

This weekend, more in line with what the weather typically is, we decided to braise some beef cheeks for tacos. At a taco truck you'll probably see it listed as tacos de cabeza, or tacos of head. It might sound a little strange but if someone didn't tell you what it was you would just think it's a neatly trimmed piece of meat that could be from anywhere on the cow.



Looking at them you can see some lines of fat and connective tissue running through the cheeks, making them ideal for braising. Before I get into the nitty gritty of what we did let me just say I love braising for a number of reasons. The first is it allows you to turn a cheap, and often tough, cut of meat into something luxurious and tender. Secondly, it's easy...really easy. You sear off your meat, sweat some aromatics, add your braising liquid, and then throw the whole thing into the oven for a few hours. And finally, you can use the braising liquid as an easy sauce to go with your meal. Since it's what you cooked your meat in you know it's going to go well with it and the meat has added a ton of flavor to it. Now, on to the details.

After trimming off the silver skin and any extra fat the cheeks were seared in a hot dutch oven until they were nice and golden brown.



After that some diced onions went into the pan to sweat, when they became translucent in went the spices. In this case we used chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Also going in were a couple of chipotle peppers with a bit of adobo. The spices and chipotles were allowed to cook a little bit to help develop their flavors. Next went in some chicken stock and beer to act as our braising liquid. This recipe uses less than a can (or bottle) and since you probably had to buy a six pack consider the rest of the beer as your reward for working so hard in the kitchen.



The cheeks were added back to the pot and the braising liquid was brought to a boil. If the liquid isn't covering the cheeks I usually add a bit of water until they are covered.



After the liquid came to a boil the pot was put into a 275 degree oven and braised until they were tender. In our case this happened to be a few hours, but it could be more or less depending on your cheeks. We then pulled them out of the liquid put them in the fridge to chill until the next day.

Before we were ready to eat them, I put the cheeks on a sheetpan and into a 300 degree oven to warm up and also to give us a nice crusty exterior to go with the moist meat inside. Since we were going to be making tacos out of them we shredded them once they came out of the oven and served them on tortillas with radish, cilantro, onion, and lime.



Like with any other braise this was super easy with most of the work being done in the oven. Not only were the cheeks tasty but it also provided endless hours of entertainment with us calling each other beef cheeks.

Pure and Simple

An inside look at Una Pizza Napoletana and Anthony Mangieri. Anthony serves only one thing at his restaurant in New York, and that's pizza in the Neopolitan tradition.

Two attempts at bread...one good, one not so good...plus pork

The good...


This was a loaf of white sandwich bread using a sponge to start the dough. The first proof was overnight in the fridge.

The bad...


These were the result of me trying to make baguettes but not using a sponge. These also proofed overnight in the fridge and they tasted fine...they just didn't turn out the way I expected a baguette to turn out. Next time I'm going to use a pate fermentee and a poolish and see if that helps out at all. Also, I'm going to bake it directly on my baking stone instead of on a sheet pan before moving it to the stone.

And the porky...


This is a pork shoulder roast that I seared off before braising pretty much all day. I wish I had a picture of the finished product but we were hosting our friends and were too hungry for a photo shoot. The braised pork shoulder roast was served with some polenta, kale, and a reduction of the braising liquid. The braising liquid consisted of mirepoix, tomato paste, red wine, chicken stock, and rosemary. The pork shoulder roast was seasoned with a thyme salt I made along with pepper.

Just another weeknight...

Handcut pasta with braised lamb shank ragu.

This is something I haven't made in over a year and it was long overdue. The ragu took about 5-6 hours of cooking time with about four of those hours braising the lamb shanks and another hour and a half reducing it the braising liquid which would become my sauce. The lamb was first seared to begin the process of building the flavors for the ragu thanks to the maillard effect.

If there is too much fat in your pan after the searing, feel free to pour some out leaving about a tablespoon or two left to saute your aromatics. After the lamb was removed from the dutch oven, onions and garlic went in with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. As the onions cooked they also released some liquid which helped to deglaze the bottom of the dutch oven. After the onions have softened and are translucent I put in about a cup and a half of red wine. I let that reduce by about half. Next went in a couple of large cans of whole peeled tomatoes, my favorite being Muir Glen. As you bring that up to temperature start breaking up some of the tomatoes with your spoon. Then return the lamb shanks and if you need more liquid add some water until the lamb is just covered with liquid.

Next I bring it up to where it is just about to boil and then throw it into a 295 degree oven, uncovered. The reason I keep it uncovered is two-fold. First, I need to reduce the sauce anyway so if I keep the lid off then it will slowly reduce while the lamb braises. The second reason is because with the lid on it increases the pressure in the cooking vessel and as those of you who remember high school physics will recall an increase in pressure results in an increase in temperature. So putting the lid on could increase the temperature from your desired 295 to something higher which could result in dried out meat.

It stays in there until the lamb is tender and falling off the bone. This will probably take you a few hours. Typically what I do after I get to that point is I turn off the oven and let everything sit in there together until it cools. The meat will continue to braise as it slowly cools, plus at the end you will be able to pull the meat off the bones without burning off your fingers.



The marrow that was once inside those bones is now part of the sauce which will help to give it body and richness.

After the lamb has been removed and shredded, the braising liquid, which is really just a tomato sauce, is slowly reduced on the stovetop until it gets to the saucy consistency you desire. This can take about an hour and a half, more or less, depending on how much water you needed to add in the beginning.

While it's reducing we started making the pasta by using Thomas Keller's pasta dough recipe from the French Laundry cookbook. You'll have to tweak it depending on the conditions in your kitchen at the time. It was really dry in our kitchen so a little more liquid needed to be added to the dough to bring it all together.



After resting for a little while we portion out the dough and begin rolling it into sheets.



After the sheets are rolled out I divide them into long sections.



The sections are then rolled up like a scroll of paper and then cut into pappardelle, which happens to be my favorite pasta.





Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, salty like the sea, and throw these guys in. They won't take very long to cook so hopefully your sauce is ready. Oh yeah, about that sauce, after it gets to the saucy consistency you want fold, in your shredded lamb shanks and bring everything back up to simmer.



When your pasta is ready toss it with the sauce and use a little of the pasta water if necessary. Most of the time I'll do this in a large pan on the stove over a medium heat because as the pasta continues to cook with the sauce it'll absorb the sauce. If you're doing it family style throw it all into a big bowl (sorry I didn't wipe down the sides of the bowl before shooting the picture).



Or just plate it up.



I like to top mine with a little pecorino because a lamb ragu with a sheep's milk cheese just seems to make sense. Enjoy it with a nice glass of chianti or sangiovese or whatever other red wine you like.