diana kennedy's carnitas

On Saturday, I made carnitas.

I started with four pounds of pork butt (heh heh), cut it down in to 2 inch pieces, and then tossed it all in my dutch oven with several cups of water, a few teaspoons of salt, and the peel from one orange.

I set about bringing it to a boil. Soon enough the water turned murky and opaque. An unpleasant gray foam  formed on the surface. Our apartment began to smell like a tannery. This lasted for about an hour and a half, after which I drained out some of the water (the meat was starting to get soft and I didn't want it to completely fall apart when it got to the frying stage), added a little lard, and let it brown for another hour.

The meat fell apart a bit more than I would have liked, but the flavor was great. We ate the carnitas on  tortillas from La Palma and a sprinkling of onions and cilantro. 

I don't know if I would make it again- the apartment smelled like I'd been boiling glue and I don't know if it was worth several hours of cooking to make something that you can buy at any Mexican restaurant for under $5. Still, it was satisfying to make something I've been curious about for so long and I know Daniel was pleased- he just finished eating the leftovers for lunch.

Diana Kennedy's Carnitas, with a few adaptations

Serves 6-8

4 lbs pork butt (shoulder would work as well)

2 tbsp salt

peel of 1 orange

Cut pork into roughly 2 inch cubes and add to a large, wide pot. Add the orange peel, salt and enough cold water to just barely cover the meat. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until the meat is cooked through (but not falling apart) and the liquid has evaporated- about an hour and a half. Lower the heat slightly and fry the meat until evenly browned. This will take about an hour. You may need to add some lard if the meat was not fatty enough or it won't brown properly. 

Eat!

buen fin de semana

I'm gearing up for a busy weekend over in these parts. It's Daniel's birthday on Monday, which is possibly the worst day of the week for a birthday, so instead we are using the weekend to celebrate. Tonight we'll be meeting up with friends at the Page to toast the birthday boy with pints of Old Speckled Hen and shots of Bulleit bourbon and then on Saturday I'll be cooking up a Mexican feast (carnitas!), as per Daniel's request.

I do love birthdays.

In the meanwhile, I leave you with a few links to start your weekend:

le croissant du jour

Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise

                                                                                                            -Margaret Atwood

Photo via CBC News

central coast young farmers & ranchers crab feed

As I mentioned in my last post, Daniel and I spent the weekend outside San Francisco. To be more specific, we spent the weekend in The Country. We drove south through miles and miles of sprawling farmland and met our friend Jared at his place in San Juan Bautista. San Juan Bautista a small town with chickens running around in the streets as well as a good number of bearded, leather-clad bikers with enormous motorcycles. Beyond that, I didn't get to see a whole lot because we collected Jared and drove down to Greenfield for the Central Coast Young Farmers & Ranchers Crab Feed.

As a bit of background, it was Jared who invited us to the event as we are neither farmers nor ranchers. We   arrived early and bought a slightly embarrassing number of drink tickets and watched the Mayor of King City play the guitar and sing for the crowd.

We devoured platters of crab and drank wine and then spent the rest of the evening dancing around to Whitesnake and generally being too merry for our own good. Those farmers and ranchers know how to have a good time. I don't know the next time I'll visit Greenfield (or the next time I'll eat crab in such quantity) but it was an excellent way to spend a Saturday evening.

happy friday!

This weekend flew by surprisingly quickly (probably due to our mid-week dinner party and anniversary celebration at Bar Jules) and now I suddenly find myself here at Friday evening. Daniel is trying to drag me to see Hugo in 3-D tonight (nothing against the movie...it's just that falling asleep on the couch at 9:15 sounds so much more appealing right now) and tomorrow we are driving down to San Juan Bautista to hang out with our friend Jared and go to a crab boil, which I'm super pumped about. While I fantasize about eating my weight in buttery crustaceans, here are some links for you to check out. Have a lovely weekend!

bar jules

Bar Jules is one of my favorite places to go out for dinner in the city. Somehow over the past few years, it has turned into the place that Daniel and I go when we want to celebrate something over a glass of champagne and some very good, simple food that we don't have to cook ourselves. Last night, for example, we went to celebrate our anniversary. We toasted with glasses of Prosecco and shared a plate of la quercia prosciutto with endive and walnuts. I had perfectly cooked scallops with english peas and Daniel had grilled ahi with chickpeas and artichokes. It was, as always, a delight.

Bar Jules
609 Hayes St.
SF

martha stewart's pear spice bundt cake

This was a good cake.

I have to say "was" because even though I only made it Tuesday, it's all gone now. Maybe that's how you know a cake was really good. I'd been eyeing the recipe for pear spice bundt cake in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook ever since my mother gave me a lovely and rather architectural looking bundt pan as a Christmas gift. The photo of cake in the book looked beautiful (but of course, this is a Martha Stewart cake we're talking about), but it also looked like something I'd really want to eat- a mixture of spices and brown sugar with  caramelized pear compote swirled in to keep the crumb moist and fragrant. 

The recipe came together easily enough, though it took me about ten times as long for the pears to cook down as the recipe advised- the only Bartlett pears I could find at the grocery store were hard as rocks, so this didn't come as a huge surprise. The cake baked for just under an hour and when I extracted it from the mold, it was golden and beautiful and it perfumed my whole apartment 

Simple, unfrosted cake is the cake for me. Martha provides a recipe for a cream cheese glaze to drizzle over the top of the cake, but I nixed that in favor of a dusting of powdered sugar and a dollop of whipped cream and we ate this after our dinner of braised short ribs. It was the perfect dessert after a rich meal, but I could just as easily imagine serving this at a brunch, or eating a small wedge as a late afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It is a true everyday cake and I'll most definitely be making it again, and soon.

Pear-Spice Bundt Cake, very slightly modified from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 pounds ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

4 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

In a saucepan, spread the granulated sugar in an even layer. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until sugar around the edge of the pan melts and begins to turn golden, 3-4 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir until all the sugar has melted and the mixture is golden.

Add pear chunks to the caramel, and stir to coat. Cook, covered, over low heat until very soft (this will depend on how soft your pear is to begin with- for me it took roughly 40 minutes). Mash the pears until they are broken down but still slightly chunky. Continue cooking, uncovered, 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan, tapping out the excess (I used liquid cake release). In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, baking soda, pepper, and nutmeg; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and honey on medium high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. With the mixture on the lowest speed, add the flour in two batches, alternating with the milk. Add the reserved pear compote and mix to combine, about 1 minute. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth down. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the cake is a deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes (mine took closer to 55 minutes). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool slightly. Invert the cake onto the rack and allow to cool. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.