Mindy asked me to make her a hearty stew. She said, “a thick winter-like stew with lots of meat”. Since she’s my best customer I had to think of something special. I thought, “I’ll cook up my three little pigs”.
From the top left moving to the right.
Chorizo (Spain), Linguica (Portugal), and Bacon (Washington).
The stew itself consisted of black beans, garlic, toasted cumin, tomatoes (MRF), thyme (MRF), Oregano (MRF), Bay Leaves (MRF), Chives (MRF), Veal stock, Brown roux made from rendering the three little pigs, Orange bell pepper, leeks, onions, Yukon Gold Potato, salt, and green peppercorns. That’s how you do a stew!
Eric
It’s hanging out for a little bit (7-10 days)…..see you soon! Decided to go against rolling for now…..was only a 1.5# piece.
Eric
When it’s 3AM and I get home from work the first thing I do is cure some pancetta….yup. I know, I’m different/special.
We’ll see if this works in about 3 weeks when it’s done curing. It’s going to be in the refrigerator for a few more days then I’ll take it out, clean it up, wrap it up and hang it until it dries. I’ll post updates.
Eric
Hmmmmmmm, that’s a pretty good looking dough. It’s doubled in size and it’s ready maybe I should…..STOP LEAVE IT THERE JUST WAIT………..Patience!
That’s what you’re looking for. An hour and a half or so later it starts to resemble the moon. Don’t cook until you’ve landed on the moon with your dough (million dollar tag line).
Ready to cook your dough? Let’s make a sauce!
Render some Mangalitsa speck, add some carrots, celery, onion, and cherry wood smoked tomatoes (oh my), and some harissa, and a few other touches (I poke you now!!!). Sauce gets food processed, strained, and reduced some more.
Then I work up a fake Italian accent and go from there.
Then-a you-a put-a the pizza (talking with hands the whole time) in-a the oven-a at-a 450F degrees-a. Mama mia!!!!
Pull-a it out-a when-a the crust-a turns-a golden brown-a!!!!!!!!
Leaf Lard Dough Pizza with a Cherry Wood Smoked Tomato Sauce, rendered speck, Beecher’s cheese, Gremolata, and Sel de Mer
Looks like we have some dough leftover. HOW ABOUT-A ONE MORE-A WITH-A SALUMI SOPRESSATA!!!
Eric
I’ve been working a lot lately and doing the whole school thing as well. 5 days at work….Thursday-Monday…then school is Tuesday-Wednesday. Where can I fit in this blog thing? Don’t worry Mr. Blog, you’re taken care of.
I get off of work at around midnight. I race home and I’m still amped up and I want to improve my techniques that I learned at work or just reflect or answer questions I have in my own head so then I get to cooking.
I’m into my third week of cooking hot food on a line in a great kitchen and I have been rotating between saute station, fry station, and hot apps (appetizers). Each one has its own recipes, techniques, and tricks. When I learn something new I have “aha” moments then I go home and practice them a few times to make sure the next day is better than the last…you’ve probably noticed all those damn scallops I’ve been cooking…..yeah, got those down 
The dish pictured above isn’t on the menu but I learned the prep salad that goes underneath a halibut dish from Blueacre. The vegetables and set up aren’t the same and honestly its something different but I was just working on my timing…..again, at 2AM…..I’m crazy.
The green sauce is a cilantro oil from Mindy’s farm. The brown spots are my molasses ghost chili sauce and then I worked in Mindy’s red onion with radishes and a bunch of other things to mimic the Blueacre food. Again, not exact but trying to bring balance and speed to the plate…..plated it 10 times….at 2AM. The pork chop is fried in mangalitsa lard and seasoned with harissa….again, those touches that Eric brings. Eric touches…..you like it.
Here are two things that I wanted to work on. The Angry Crab dish needs proper caramelization of the shells and proper mix of seasoning. I didn’t have crab so I substituted some shrimp in its place. The method is the same so it translates to a crab shell…..super hot! The sugo underneath is different but it’s still that same tomato sauce that goes under the scallop prep (I added my cherry wood smoked tomatoes and saffron). I add garbanzo and remove the corn because at 2AM there is no such thing as fresh corn…. Questions answered, next dish!
Next up is a take on the minestrone dish and vegetable stew dish we have at work. I had some of the vegetables that we used at work available at my house so I proceeded to find out how long I could cook the vegetables in order for them to be cooked and keep their color. We add the majority of the vegetables and do the soup to order so its important to make sure that eat vegetable gets the respect it deserves. It’s not just a vegetable boil…..it’s a nice clean soup……The first time I made the soup at work I boiled the hell out of it and heard the dreaded words, “Re-fire!!”. I have it figured out now
2AM meals……pretty cool stuff.
Eric
I saw a local magazine that had the 48 best sandwiches in Seattle on it. This sandwich was not on their list…..their list is invalid.
This is the best sandwich in Seattle.
The Mangalitsa neck roll is braised for 12 hours with my special touches and additions. The bread is toasted in brown butter then the meat is lightly fried in the remaining brown butter then the braising liquid is added on top of the sandwich. The cheese is added then to the broiler it goes. Garnished with fresh parsley and sel de mer.
Again, this is the best sandwich in Seattle.
Eric
Puerto Ricans…..we do pork better than anyone else out there. Don’t think so? You’ve never tried mine.
Mini-rainbow carrots with concasse of heirloom grape tomatoes with cilantro oil vinaigrette (also from the garden), cherry wood smoked tomato vinaigrette, and topped with frisee flowers and sel de mer.
Ciabatta bread toasted in brown butter with cherry wood smoked Walla Walla onions with melted Beecher’s cheese and topped with a veal stock butter sauce…..heavy on the butter….oh yes.
Scallops seared in Mangalitsa Leaf Lard with a ghost chili/molasses reduction sauce with smoked tomato vinaigrette.
Braised Mangalitsa Neck Roll over Polenta….looks awful in this picture. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to make it again!
“Chocolate Air” presented by superstar pastry chef Ellen Benezra. Such a light texture but with a rich flavor behind it…..the perfect dessert.
Eric
It’s not a frittata in the traditional sense but I couldn’t come up with a better name so I just called it “rustic”….I see that a lot on menus. I think it means “we just want to throw a bunch of things in a pan and not worry about it looking fancy”. Well, I took all the components of a frittata and just cooked it differently……I’m confused now…..oh well.
Take some lardo.
Render it then cook then quarter some new potatoes then cook them in the fat with a little more oil in the oven until soft at my new temperature of cooking in the oven…..500F. Eric’s bringing his work home with him…..practice and stuff…..
Potatoes are heavily seasoned then herbed a bit towards the end of cooking with some fresh sage, oregano, and rosemary. Also, added one clove of garlic, some orange bell pepper, and some pickled red onion per metal container they were cooked in. Once the potatoes are 97% done I cracked an egg over the top and removed it from the oven.
Garnish with herbs and some flowers from a frisee plant.
Eric
Base sauce is a heavy cream bechamel with a ton of Beecher’s cheese and some rendered fat from the speck. Seasonings are in play here but nothing more than salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Penne is cooked al dente then stirred in the sauce to finish….more speck is added to the mix. Contents are removed from pan then placed in ramekin then more speck and cheese is placed on top. Placed under broiler then brought out and torched because my stove sucks.
Eric
Eric
I took a quarter of a Mangalitsa neck roll and did this to it.
That’s why it’s awesome being Puerto Rican. Give me pork and it’s an instinctual thing I have to make it into something amazing. I would love to tell you what I did to it but I’ll save that for my restaurant.
Then I took the meat and seared each side. Braised it in chicken stock, coriander, and annatto seeds for 8 hours. Removed the meat, shredded it, reduced the juices further, fried the meat in leaf lard, built a sandwich with some pique mayo and other great things.
This is the sandwich of your dreams. They say Cubans make good sandwiches….. Have the Puerto Rican classically French culinary trained Northwest native give it a shot…..I win.
Eric
