Pork Crepinettes with Roasted Shallots, Parsley and Walnuts. Pan seared, rested and devoured. Click on piccie.
We had a Cub Scout den meeting and had to move fast for dinner. We had no idea it was going to be so special. The crepinette was so tender, so luscious with an interlude of juicy splendor. We could have done it 4 times, but 2 would have to do. I’m surprised I was able to knock this photograph out at all, let alone have it come out this good. There’s a synergy here between the meat and the photography. They are both this good.
The setup: D70 with 60mm f2.8 micro Nikkor set to f6.3 / 80th a sec. Camera & Metz 45 CL-4 mounted on tripod. 250 watt UV balanced incandescent flood over top. Main flash head pointed to white ceiling, secondary flash pointed to product. Touch of contrast & level work in Photoshop, not much. Good feelings had by all.
Xo Xo
Author Archives: Biggles
Butterflied Pork Loin, Porchetta Style – Fatted Calf News
The dry spell is over! (It’s been a few weeks) Fatted Calf has pork roasts available. As the title states, they’re butterflied pork roasts with s&p, garlic, lemon, fennel and rosemary. I’m going to get at least 1 or 3. Looks as though the crepinettes this week are Guinea Hen Crepinettes with Braised Cippolini and Prunes. Those are an absolute delight, I can hardly wait. I see there’s something called Pate Maison, what’s that got in it?
Here’s what Taylor had to say, “… pretty similar to the campagne except a finer grind and it has a duck confit garnish (no liver in this one)”. Thanks for clearing up the situation Taylor & Kim. Even with my mistakes it’s going to be an outrageous Saturday. You miss this one and you’ll miss it all.
You going this Saturday? I am, see you there!
Portumex – Family Restaurant / Richmond California
Today hasn’t always looked tasted this good. Earlier today Big D got some bad news about the funky transmission in his ’95 4Runner. It was fried and as it turns out, the transfer case is built in to the transmission. This means it has to be rebuilt/replaced as well. All told it’ll take about 25 hours in the shop and will cost upwards of 6 grand. Big D quickly turned to Sad and Depressed D. But wait, it gets worse. I decided to cheer the guy up by coming by and taking him to lunch. Sounds easy enough, right? Nope. Travinos was closed, who knows why. Not only was the news about the tranny depressing, but our lunch plans were flying right out the window. We decided to head down San Pablo Avenue to see if anything piqued our interest, Mc Donalds? No. Church’s Chicken? No sir. Our next place would have been Wienerschnitzel, I detoured and headed to the Barrio. Enough was enough, we needed something rich & satisfying. We found it! Portumex Family Restaurant on 23rd Avenue in Richmond. YEAH !!!
Pork Crepinettes with Roasted Shallots, Parsley and Walnuts – Fatted Calf News !
Most outrageous Tri-tip roast I’ve seen in years. It was huge, about 4 pounds and the other side is a nice plate of fat! Absolutely amazing buttery flavor after 3 hours of slow hickory smoking. I was perusing Rick’s Quality Meats in El Cerrito, attempting to buy some pork. My head literally snapped about when I sawr it in my periphery, *SNAP*. Just like that. “I want that!” Said Biggles in the form of a spoiled 4 year old. MmmMMM, spicy.
Let’s see, where was I? Oh yeah, Fatted Calf is sportin’ Pork Crepinettes with Roasted Shallots, Parsley and Walnuts this weekend! Makes me giggle. The special though are the Hoffman Farms Quail stuffed with Pork Sausage and Full Belly Chard. I ain’t never heered of Full Belly Chard, but then it ain’t meat and I’m not surprised.
I noticed they’ve got the Bordelaise sausage this week, I can’t stress enough how delightful it is. If you’re wanting something a bit different, try the Merguez. It’s a highly spicy lamb sausge in smaller casings. Perfect for a little grilling action, but be gentle. Taylor’s sausages are frightengingly fresh and cook quickly. Yum. If cooking ain’t yer trip, try some of Toponia’s Jambon persille. It’s a bright ham terrine thingy. Slice a slice on crusty bread for snack, makes you smile. You bet. Get out this coming Saturday and go have some fun, support your local producers.
From Inspiration to Table – Meathenge Goes Macaroni & Cheese
Macaroni & Cheese in one of its purist forms. That’s cheesy love. Reminds me of the feeling I get while sitting in front of a fire during the coldest part of winter. You and the fire, you and the cheese. Eat half, it’s okay. How could love be so wrong?
Chef Shuna Lydon instructs Meathenge Staff – Knife Skills
Hey, are you interested in what Shuna is up to? Do you need a baking & pastry workshop for the advanced? She’s here for you, please contact Shuna: shunafish *at* earthlink (dot) net
It isn’t often I leave my immediate surroundings, I’m attempting to do better. When Jenn of Life Begins @ Thirty sent me an email asking whether I’d be interested in a knife skills class, I took a deep breath and said, “YES, count me in for 2 places.” There, I did it. Phew! My wife don’t need no dumb knife skills class, so I invited my sister.
That was yesterday, Sunday. Mrs. Meathead and I headed out for the great unknown, San Francisco. Oooooo. Aaahhhhh. I grabbed a few of my old carbon blades and my F. Dick Multicut steel, neat. We made it in fine style and hung out for a while, waiting for the 8 or so of us to show up. I met the author of World On a Plate, sorry I forgot your name! You were really nice. I also sorta met the author of A Full Belly. I suppose I should really take notes if I’m going to post about such things, eh? I’ll do better next time, I promise Amanda.
Everyone was really nice and Shuna got right to work. Our group weren’t professional working cooks or chefs, so she started talking about knives, the basics. After a while she got to slicing, mincing and some crazy fancy French terms for preparing fruits and vegies. She even showed us this little cube, it’s about the 12th of the size of a pencil eraser. Something The French Laundry’s prep cooks spend a lot of time making. She says they have 43 people in the kitchen and only 5 are cooking. Dang, that’s a lot of prep. No wonder the stuff costs so much. It was really fun to hear about all the stories from behind the kitchen doors. Something most of us don’t get a chance to hear. But we were there for cuttin’. So we finally got a chance to slice a few things. Two things I will remember from this day is knowing how to Supreme a Lime/Orange/Citrus. I went home and did a tangerine first thing, MUCH better. Love it. It’s quite simple, just slice off the top/bottom of the lime. In a downward stroke following the contour of the beast, remove the skin and pith. Hold fruit firmly in hand and using one slicing motion, cut the wedges of love out. I’ve seen it done on teevee, but never tried it. It wasn’t tough. The other thing I will take away, is the … how do I put this? When creating a recipe, or putting together a dish, don’t choose sizes and textures of food that will battle each other in your mouth. Which is why she recommends to peel the tomatoes, Supreme the citrus. When it hits your mouth, we’re talking harmony. Everything comes together nicely. This is a great mantra to have while putting a meal together.
Thank you Shuna and thank you Jenn for making it happen. It was a really nice afternoon with good people. Oh, Jenn, I hope your skills improve and your need for bandages decreases.
Xo Xo
John Bell’s Southern Fried Chicken #5
Chuck Wagon in background compliments of Mr. & Mrs. Meathead. Thank you!
Here it is, attempt #5 at John Bell’s Southern Fried Chicken. Before I go on, let’s recap for a moment. Not too long ago a friend visited from Alabama to give us some razamataz and cook a load of fried chicken. Not bad for someone on vacation, eh? Since that warm, fun filled day I’ve spent my afternoons attempting to figure out how come his chicken is legendary and mine sucks. I have to say though, I’ve learned a lot over the year and it’s getting better. The last attempt I made (while at work) I found out my fryer wasn’t hot enough, only 320 degrees. Other than the oil not being hot enough, I was THIS close. Really.
Rainy ol’ Fatted Calf News
Warm glow of a chicken stew with hint of fancy mustard.
It looks as though I won’t be attending this coming Saturday’s farmers market. This blows cause they need our support this time of year. I know I know, the SF Bay Area doesn’t really have seasons (wink), but it does get cold & miserable when you gotta stand OUT IN IT ALL DAY !!! Go out and support our local growers & producers.
Take note, this week Taylor is sportin’ the Spalla Ripiene – Pork Shoulder Roast filled with Chard, Slivered Garlic and Walnuts. Wanna see? That is one badass roast baby. When I make my own pork roast, it doesn’t taste like this one. Go visit the market this week and show everyone you care too. It’s love.
Read their fine newsletter:
Happy Valentines Day – Love & Cooking sports a fancy Truffle
D70 / 60mm f2.8 micro / little unsharpening filter.
Saturday morning found Senior Biggles jacked in to the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, niiiiice. After spending all week immersed in one’s daily job, it’s like a shot of morphine to go stand. Go watch, touch & interract with others whose goal is to smile and walk. I can do that, smile & walk.
While doing just that, I ran in to Charlotte, a food blog comrade. Charlotte had a gift, a chocolate gift. I snorked one right on the spot, paid off cause it gave me a buzz. Neat.
Inspired me to create the photograph you see above, good inspiration eh?
Fatted Calf News – Duck Crepinettes !
Pork Chop dusted with Wondra flour and shallow pan fried to a crispy & juicy finish. Been experimenting with the Wondra, so far excellent results.
Yay for Duck Crepinettes. I’m also intrigued by the quail stuffed pork, chard & white wine sausage. I ain’t never had no white wine sausage before! Be it veal? Pork? Pork & Veal? I dunno, yet.
Take note, I see pancetta listed there. You’ll need some of that. Surely. The weather is bitchen’ and it’s time to get out and go some place fun. Go!
Live the Fatted Calf dream.
Meat Platter Contest Concluded – Winners Announced !!!
Last September Scott from Anchor Books, a division of Random House, sent me an email to see if I was willing to run some kind of contest wherein the winner would win a copy of Kate Christensen’s Novel, “The Epicure’s Lament”. He was to send me a copy to peruse to see if it was something worth my time. Scott gave me at least 5 months to read the book and get the ball rolling, what the heck eh? Time passed and I chewed my way through the book without much grief, what with all those high-fulloutin’ words and all. The idea of having a meat photo contest with judges seemed like a natural choice for Meathenge Labs, you bet.
Before I knew it, the end of January showed up and it was time to start.
And now it’s all over and time to announce the winners!
Cerdo sofocado de Chile de las carnes asadas con las patatas
Or Smothered Roast Chile Pork with Potatoes, I think. It was darned tasty, this I know. Rich, tender and full of spicy goodness. The inspiration came from Rick Bayless’ Pollo Adobado Con Papas I did a while back. A flavorful real chile sauce that is used to marinade and/or baste a hunk of meat. Last time it was chicken, this time a pork shoulder roast with the bone in. I followed the recipe right the first time, this time I really didn’t follow much of anything.
Today’s meal was brought to you by the letter P and the number 3. Welcome to a Meathenge Chile Pork Production!
Fatted Calf News > Arista Panzanese – Self Basting Pork Loin Roast (stuffed)
Stop for a moment and ponder those images. What an amazing little meat roll of love. Juicy, tender and brilliant with flavors. Plus a surprise! The outter covering (the pork belly) gets CRUNCHY !!! When done and rested, laying a knife to it is nearly impossible. You gotta git yourself a serrated bread knife. HA! Too cool. And juicy. This is the special this week at Fatted Calf, Saturday morning in Berkeley.
If you read down their list, the Bordelaise is available again. Another chance to bathe in the glory.
An yanno? The Pate de Campagne sounds really good, especially after that stanky ass Marcel & Henri ‘stuff’ from last week. Egads, the stuff is still giving me the jeebies.
Oh goodness, look what I almost missed, the Sicilian al’ Arancia. I believe that’s the fancy Sicilian salami with a bit of bright orange flavors to it. Tender salami care in the hands of the gifted. Such a treat.
Read on …
Rich & Juicy Turkey Breast – Meathenge Style (it gots bacon)
Tuesday late afternoon found me at the local supermarket feeling a bit wishy washy. I knew I had to find something for dinner, along with some trash bags and kitchen scrubbies. Shopping for meat at one of these places doesn’t fill my heart with glee. The chance of getting something worth while is usually quite slim. I figured just so I could get out of there fast, I grabbed the first thing I thought would work, a turkey breast piece. I was on my way out when a light went on, an idea. In my frame of mind though, this light was no larger than a bic lighter flame. It was enough to pull me back to the meat coolers and pick up some halfway decent bacon. I was OFF !!!
Photography Note: I find that my best shots come from single focal length lenses. I know I know, everyone loves those zoom rigs. I suppose their good for many things, but last night wasn’t one of them. For this one I pulled out the Nikkor AF-D 60mm f2.8 Micro set to f33. KERPOW.
Meat Platter Contest – View Entries !!
Beautiful Guinea Fowl Crepinettes with Prunes and Cippolini Onions. That’s caul fat holding it all together, melts & bastes.
YEAH !!! We got a few entries, so I decided to get a page up so everyone could see what the deal is. Ya’ll better get cookin’ and shootin’ cause the competition is stiff. Kitchen Monkey & Deb got the bar pretty high.
Go SEE !!!
Note: Please look to your left and you, hopefully, will notice links to the rules & entries. There at the top there.
Xo Xo