MILK BRAISED PORK TENDERLOIN
Unless you’ve purchased heritage-breed pork bred for lard production, pasture-raised pork tends toward leanness because the animals enjoy free and unfettered access to the outdoors, where they can stretch their legs, run, root around, and exercise. Slowly braising pork in milk helps to reintroduce moisture into the meat while further complementing the pork’s inherent sweetness. […]
POT ROAST WITH APPLES SWEET POTATOES AND PRUNES
Apples, sweet potatoes, and prunes complement grass-fed beef’s natural, if subtle, sweetness in this simple pot roast. My family relies on pot roasts frequently, particularly in the fall and winter, when one roast might feed us for several meals. Nowadays, spices like allspice and cloves seem relegated to baked goods and desserts, though they have […]
PAN FRIED VEAL WITH SHALLOTS
When a farm raises cows for milk and cream, it also produces calves. In holistically and ethically managed small dairies, those calves remain with their mothers, drinking milk and eating grass, for 5 to 6 months; then they are harvested for veal. As there is support for raw, grass-fed, and ethically managed dairy farms, there […]
ROASTED LAMB WITH LEEKS AND POTATOES
We buy a whole lamb once a year, in the autumn after the animals have enjoyed an entire summer fattening themselves on green grass. I tuck the bones into the freezer for soup and Scotch broth, but my family enjoys lamb roasts most of all. I often roast lamb with olives and preserved lemon, but […]
BRAISED SHORT RIBS WITH SUN DRIED TOMATOES AND HERBS
Short ribs, my favorite cut of beef, benefit from very long, very slow cooking. A cross-section of beef ribs, the short rib is lined with sinew and fat. This folly of anatomy can make short ribs impossibly tough if cooked improperly, or resolutely tender and rich if prepared well. Cooking meat on the bone, especially […]
CHICKEN IN RIESLING WITH PEAS
I make this dish in the springtime, when I can pair the last of my overwintered celeriac with the new foods of the season—young carrots, young leeks, peas, and fresh herbs. Deeper in flavor than the breast, the flesh on a chicken thigh also has more fat, which in turn produces moister and more succulent […]
CIDER BRINED SLOW ROASTED CHICKEN
Slow roasting is my favorite way to prepare poultry. It allows the flavors to develop fully and produces a wildly succulent bird with meat that falls off the bone. Officially, poultry is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F; however, when slow-roasting a bird, do not rely on temperature so much as on […]
PUFFED PANCAKE WITH HONEY AND LEMON
A puffed pancake is my simple solution to breakfast and brunches. Unlike cooking pancakes on a griddle or in a pan, preparing a puffed pancake requires no painstaking attentiveness, a virtue I lack early in the morning. I simply whip the ingredients together, pour them in a hot pan, and let the oven finish my […]
OLIVE OIL MAYONNAISE
I make mayonnaise weekly, using the freshest eggs, a bit of salt, vinegar and olive oil. You can whisk it together by hand, slowly dripping in the olive oil, or use a food processor to simplify the process. For a few years I struggled with making mayonnaise—the sauce came out too thin or it broke […]
POTHERB AND GOAT CHEESE PIE WITH A POTATO CRUST
I like to serve egg-rich vegetable pies for lunch or for a light dinner. I place heaping wedges onto plates with a scoop of one fermented vegetable or another, depending on what sits in our refrigerator. From time to time I substitute thinly sliced potatoes for a floury crust. It makes for a charming, rustic […]