cassoulet

You cant go wrong with Jennifer McLagan: This is her cassoulet, and the verdict tonight was that it soars above others. Of course, with a book entitled Fat, what could go wrong?

Jennifer's recipe for duck confit, while not pictured, is flawless and important. That process began days ago, leading to pork skin and then the skinned duck confit layered upon Great Northern beans, having been cooked with thyme, parsley, cloves, and leeks (a subsitution in the recipe for onions):

Atop that was lamb and pork belly, and another layer of beans. The beans are actually a mix of the aforementioned beans with cooked tomatoes, all of which forms another layer (which is actually less wet than the photo suggests). The beans are studded with andouille sausage:
 

Baked for three hours with bread crumbs and chopped duck confit skin (another modification: I thought that the skin would slowly render into the crust, and it works!), it becomes this:

I served this with kale stewed in chicken stock. As it is so rich, this was preceeded by fermented beets, raw fennel, and a mixture of olives. 

We ate this with the kale, garnished with parsley and Tierenteyn mustard. The mustard and parsley pulls it all together. 

With such a rich meal, a following salad course of endives and watercress in lime, olive oil, and pistachio oil made way for Miss Fat's fabulous apple cake with whipped cream and a fantastic walnut topping.

spicy pork rillettes

This is a Spanish-style porc rillettes (manteca colorada) from Jennifer McLagan's stellar book Fat. It's basically rillettes (slow-cooked pork belly, which is shredded potted and covered in fat — see another version or with duck) with the addition of paprika. I used sweet Spanish paprika, hot Hungarian paprika, and added some merquén ahumado, a wonderful smoked chili pepper. The result was delicious.

pâté de campagne

Last time that I made pâté de campagne I didn't have a source of caul fat, that gorgeous membrane surrounding the internal organs. This time, living in Chicago, I did. Above is the terrine with a caul fat lining ready to be packed with the pâté mixture. As with last time, pork liver was hard to find and I substituted (veal liver this time, beef liver last time).

The caul fat held everything together beautifully and the pâté was firm, moist and delicious. (This is, once again, a mostly-faithful following of a recipe of Jennifer McLagan's). I served this with chervil, Colman's mustard and cornichons.

pâté de campagne / country terrine

Finally using my great-grandmother meat grinder for its intended purpose.


Here's a little over a pound of pork belly — it's on the lead side (that is to say, it's not all fat) so I used just the belly (no other cut of pork) with the liver. I used beef liver, since it's easy to find, cheap and local. I soaked it in milk to take out any overwhelming flavors.


Started with the belly, but alternated, per Jennifer McLagan's suggestion in Fat, meat and liver (belly being tough, and liver soft, it makes it easier). I then sautéed onions and garlic in lard and suet with some sugar, until caramelized.


Heavy cream, parsley, thyme, brandy, salt, eggs, pepper and a mixture of hungarian paprika and merquen ahumado, a great, smoky chili pepper that a friend passed onto me.


The meat gets mixed on slow as the spices, eggs and cream are added. Then the onions and garlic are added.


A bastardized version of several recipes, this was finished with strips of belly fat as I couldn't find caul fat for wrapping but also didn't want to go the bacon wrapping route (I wanted to taste liver and belly, not bacon).


Baked in a water bath until it reaches 165ºF — and the aged at least two days.


Voilà — simple, very rich (and best after a week), coarse like the pâté de campagne I tasted at wine tastings in the Loire as a student, and proving that beef liver can be great. Now if only I could find caul fat for the next try!

Gōyā chanpurū, again

Another version of gōyā chanpurū. I do love these bitter melons.


I sautéed pork belly and set it aside, then the bitter melon (until browned), and then scrambled an egg in sesame oil. I then sautéed the tofu, adding the melon and pork. This was then assembled with the egg on the side, drizzled with shoyu and sesame oil. Finish with Japanese Seven Spice powder (shichimi togarashi).

kimchi jjigae

I recently made kimchi that was about equal parts burdock (gobō), carrot and napa cabbage. I also included dried shrimp for the first time. Like adding anchovies, it adds a je ne sais quoi to the kimchi: you don't notice the shrimp, but it improves the flavor.

I asked a friend how to make kimchi jjigae, a soup made with kimchi.

I sautéed some cubes of pork belly in sesame oil (my friend suggested bacon or spam, and I had belly in the freeezer with is just uncured, unsalted bacon) and took them out. I then added a good deal of kimchi and sautéed that. I added water, cooked for a bit and added the pork and some cubed tofu. My friend suggested dashida, which I didn't have, so I threw in a sqaure of kombu (kelp) and two anchovies. I also didn't have hot pepper paste so I squirted in a nice dose of sriracha. I let that cook on lowish until my brown rice (started while the pork was getting its first cooking) was done.

And it is delicious. The pork belly soaked up so much flavor. The broth is deep red, like a tomato sauce. And not having scallions, I topped it with pickled ramps.

rillettes de porc

Made rillettes de porc in the same style as the duck rillettes I made a few weeks back. I was very happy with how they came out. Marinated 1½ pounds of pork belly with allspice, one star anise, lemon peel, coriander seeds, a small stick of cinnamon, peppercorns and some read wine. I seared it, cooked it at 275º for 3 hours and I had a cup of slow-roasted pork belly ready to be shredded and packed into pots.