Charcuterie

Learn to breakdown and process chickens, lamb and mutton in the Seattle area

May 26, 2011

I just got the coolest email. As you may have noticed, I am a big fan of getting involved in the entire process of bringing animals to the table, from them being born to how they die. A local Seattle farm is now offering the opportunity for anyone to learn to process and butcher animals. I am ridiculously excited about this, though sad that I won’t be able to attend all parts of it. I hope that some of you, darling readers, are able to and can give me a full report! Here’s the email I received, verbatim. [I received the e-mail...

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Aura at Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler

December 22, 2010

Whistler is like a second home for me, I grew up flying down its slopes and was raised on the what little great food was available there in 1989. Not to sound too much like an old-timer, but when people ask me for a restaurant recommendation in Whistler, both the places I suggest have been open since the mid-80s, Sushi Village and the Rimrock. Now I have a third suggestion. Though I’ve been there a tiny fraction (okay, the once) of the times I’ve been to the others, I’m inspired and hopeful about the ambitious, innovative and yet totally...

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The Top Six Dishes I ate in Seattle this year

December 29, 2009

I’ll be honest, this started out as a top 5 list, but I had six dishes that truly stood out in my mind that I ate this year. I eat out a decent amount and I don’t always write about them–especially if the rest of the meal was distinctly underwhelming, as was the case in at least one of them. I like just picking a dish because I’m not judging the whole restaurant experience (another of these dishes was served with a side of horrifically bad service), nor am I needing to make extensive commentary. The only point of...

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Small Wonders of Summer Part 1: Padron Peppers

September 22, 2009
Small Wonders of Summer Part 1: Padron Peppers

“What about a pepper could be that great?” I remember thinking, years ago, as I read Calvin Trillin’s piece on trying to get Padron peppers in the U.S. Well, Calvin, I’m sorry, I should never have doubted your impeccable taste espoused with such riotous wit. I have had Padrons a few different ways now, but this was the epitome of taste perfection. Nope, pure, Spanish, olive oil roasted with sea salt, you’ve been bested, but by an oh-so-worthy opponent: wrapping in delicious pork products. Having found these fine specimens of capsicum, burn-inducing beauties at the Portland Farmer’s Market, I...

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San Francisco Picnic

June 17, 2009
San Francisco Picnic

Now that my situation has been rectified, I must admit that I was committing a grave mistake by failing to visit San Francisco in the last 14 years. In the coming days, I do promise to attempt a deeper delve into the food I consumed while actually on my visit, but right now I’m already floating down memory lane by eating the fabulous foods that I brought back with me. Thanks to the luxury of traveling with a small insulated tote, I was able to return from my short trip laden with the fabulous products which I did not...

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Whipped Lardo: How to Make my Holy Grail

May 18, 2009
Whipped Lardo: How to Make my Holy Grail

Whipped lardo is simply heavenly. A heavenly spread that was my holy grail of recipes. I’d eaten it at an underground restaurant type of meal and it stuck in my mind. Stuck so hard as one of the best bites I’d ever eaten that I scoured the internet, up, down and every which-way, without gaining even the first inkling of any idea how to make the dish. So it was taste and test time. For the last year I’ve made more attempts than I want to count, all equally failed, to recreate this dish. It had been called...

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The Unveiling: Duck Confit Hash

March 18, 2009
The Unveiling: Duck Confit Hash

Breaking through the snow white layer of soft fat, feeling the aged meat, seeing the beautiful colors of charcuterie. There is something magical about digging out a homemade duck confit. The long hours of preparing the food are behind you, the easy part is ahead. No more waiting for the perfect time, no, now you get to unveil your handy work and again expose the duck to air. This particular confit sat about in fridge for the last six months, since a kindly gentlemen had allowed us to kill 3 of his male ducks and to preserve for him....

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Delicious Pigs and Such

January 15, 2009

Want to learn how to break down some of the finest pigs being raised in America? I do! I don’t post about events very often, mostly because if I’m interested enough in attending it, I’m probably barely squeaking in under the limit they have or it is already full, so I’m just moping about it. Then yesterday I learned of an amazing event which I will be unable to attend because I have this so-called “real” job. Heath Putnam was kind enough to give me a call when I inquired about his three day pig-breakdown and charcuterie class at...

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The Easiest Duck Confit

September 24, 2008
The Easiest Duck Confit

Runner ducks are not fat ducks. Nobody’s making foie gras here. But a man I met, Gene, had a bunch of runner ducks, and he did not need the guys. They don’t lay eggs, you see. They are, though, not fat ducks. Still, I wanted to make duck confit! So I traipsed down to our local Mexican market and bought an enormous tub of lard. Excellent. Salted Duck Parts  The first step of duck confit is optional. Last time I skipped this step and it worked fine, this time, because I was sharing this with Gene and wasn’t sure...

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The Death of a Pig: Warning–Graphic Pictures

September 8, 2008
The Death of a Pig: Warning–Graphic Pictures

I said it in the title, and I’ll say it again, because I know there are vegetarians who read this blog and I don’t want to be responsible for them seeing things that they don’t want to see. If you eat meat and you don’t want to see this, I’ll be honest with you, you are a hypocrite. You eat the meat from these animals, you should know what they go through to become your food.  Helen was the name of the pig we were killing yesterday. She seemed sweet, but they had fed her a fair amount of...

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