Tuesday, March 3, 2009

"March"ing in like a Lion

So March has started kind of crappy for us. First off, it is bitter cold; the temp this morning was 11 degrees while I was driving into work. We also started a new computer billing system at work (that started yesterday) so that has been driving everyone mad. And to top it all off, David and I are both sick. We both came down with it yesterday. I started with a scratchy throat and sniffles on the way home yesterday, which went over into today. David was up all night last night blowing his nose and not being able to breathe. He thought it was the cat, but when he got home today he said he was achy all over and feeling even worse.

Hopefully March turns out to be a better month. Maybe we will sell the house in West VA!?! Please pray about that!!

When Art Imitates Life

So you might have seen that the blog has had a bit of a makeover. I felt strangely exposed doing this and hitting the ‘save’ button.

You know when you get a new haircut and you feel a little apprehensive about going into work or school the next morning? A bit like that. You’re fairly sure you look OK, pretty good even, but you can’t completely rule out the possibility that people might just clutch their sides and inadvertently do that laugh that makes tea squirt out of their nose.

But at least I won’t be able to see you do that.

So what’s new? It should now be much easier to subscribe. Just click the link in the sidebar. I’ve also added a list of other links: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and the like. And I’ve changed the font.

I’m a real sucker for fonts. Especially ones that look like they are from a vintage typewriter, old romantic that I am.

Anyway, fresh from pork cheeks success I just wanted to post this (below). I was just giving the photo a little CS treatment when Abbey decided to watch. Intently.

The scene was too good not to capture. Life imitating art imitating life. And so on.

smiled lightly

1st march 09 - sunday
kak long n 3 anaknye dtg rumah. auntie pon join.
kak long [cousin] da mcm kakak sy. but since die da kawin.
n beranak pinak, kami da kurang wkt bersantai~ hee.
mama msk nasi ayam! best sungguh. then. suddenly.
akid msg, mengatakan beliau masuk wad d ampang pu3.
maka. dgn segeranya sy mengangkt kaki melawat akid.
dan d sane, sy jmpa afiq. bha. ayak. hua3...btol x ejaan?

akid, get well soon! xyah gedik mc lelame! =P
n naikkan semula berat bdn anda! berat bdn taw.
bukan berat pp. wakakkaa. erm. jage diri weyh!
sampai pas asar, hujan lebat, sy pulang ke rumah.

2nd march 09 - monday.

bdn sy suda x sedap. x blh tdow. hurm. demam lg.
sy rase mcm baru je hari tu sy demam 2 minggu.
aiyooo. sy x blh tdow mlm tuh. sy bnyk kali terjage
last2 kul 3am mcm tuh, sy mkn obat. then. try tdow lg.
kul 12 mcm tuh. sy d klcc suda. da janji dgn dila.

kami tgk cite PALING BANGANG utk tahun ni setakat ini.
seriously, sy tataw nape brad pitt & george clooney,
blh trime utk berlakon dlm cite yg sgt x bermanfaat nih.
cite nih, seriously, NOTHING!!! and. entah. cam rugi gile kot.
~burn after reading~


then. usha2 baju n kasut. beli a pair of purple shoes.
dila plak beli 2 pairs. nice one... i like~
mkn gelato. story2, then. balik. hua3...agak awal.
cuz i'm a lil bit exhausted sbb x bape sehat. huhu.

3rd march 09 - tuesday
mlm semlm. tdow agak awal. kul 9 sy da naek katil.
kul 10 mcm tu terlena da. then. terjage 12 setgh.
sampai 4am. baru tdow blk. until subuh. then da lapa.
sbb lame sgt stay up kot. kul7 da breakfast! wahaha.
mkn cereal, n start bace english novel nih. baru beli. erm.
tp exam week ape sume, so x sempat bace. nih baru start.
tdow blk till da ok skit. bgn. duk umah je hari nih.
and kambink ku dtg melawat sebentar.
pdhal die pon demam lg...huhu. thanks~
sbb dtg. hee =D erm. sy pun nak sehat!
x best ah demam2 gini. lalalalala~~~

and i've got an award. from sis hana.
thanks sis!!! =]


much needed sleep was kept at bay.
and each morning i was more tired yet none wiser.
i had spent so many years turning my own life upside down.
and looking 4 everything, i had 4gotten 2 look 4 myself.
somewhere along the line i had forgotten
2 figure out who n where i was.

till then. take care ppl.


Nose to Tail Tuesday - Pork Cheeks

After much bluster and fanfare, it’s finally time to get on with the show.

Nose to Tail Tuesday (or N3T as it shall be known from now on) is about rediscovery, thrift, culinary philosophy and, above all, taste (for a more complete break down of the ethos behind the feature see this post). If we can’t make these cuts taste sublime, or just as good as the expensive bits, then the exercise becomes moot.

For the inaugural dish, we’re starting with these…



…pork cheeks.

These are a criminally cheap cut, often dispensed with or turned into budget sausages. More adventurous butchers, with a more adventurous clientele, might turn them into Bath Chaps. But often they are ignored, especially by the consumer.

Which is a real shame because they are incredibly tasty and, as I found out, very easy to cook.

You could cook them long and slow with stock vegetables, let them cool and eat them, thinly sliced, as you would a ham. Alternatively once cool you could breadcrumb them and fry them. Served with a punchy aioli, they would be delicious.

But I wanted something a bit special to kick off this feature.

Pork and apple sauce is a classic combination, for good reason. The sweetness and faint acidity of the apple cuts perfectly through the fatty richness of pork meat.

With this in mind I chose to confit the pork cheeks, stuff them with stewed apple and serve them, sliced, with apple jelly, candied bacon, spiced parsnip puree and seasonal greens.

Pork and apple, perhaps, but not in the traditional sense.



This is good slow cooking, perfect for a Sunday when you can turn on the radio, fill the house with the most delicious smells and take your time. It really isn’t very labour intensive and you could even do the vast majority of the work the day before or while the pork is cooking.

The end result is totally delicious - like belly only with a more intense flavour. It's got the perfect ratio of meat to fat giving a juicy, porky flavour with the added bonus of crackling as well. This is a rich cut of meat - you don’t need much which adds further to the economy of it.

But true test is whether I’d choose to have it again. The answer? Yes. In a heartbeat, as often as is possible.

Want to know how to do it? Course you do.

1. First off, cut each cheek into three. Season well with salt, pepper and a hefty amount of finely chopped bay leaf and rosemary (about 4 sprigs of rosemary and three bay leaves). Leave them in a bowl in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably overnight.



2. Melt some fat (pork, duck or goose is ideal. I used the leftover fat from the pork scratchings) in an ovenproof dish, wipe any excess salt from the cheeks and nestle them into the liquid. Cook for about three hours in a low oven (about 150 degrees centigrade), turning three or four times. Leave them to cool.

3. For the parsnip puree add one star anise and three cloves to 200ml of milk and 200ml of water and bring to a gentle boil. Let it cool then remove the star anise and cloves. Add two diced parsnips to the infused milk and water then simmer for 20 minutes, or until they are cooked. Strain (reserving the cooking liquid), blitz in a food processor and pass through a sieve. Add some of the cooking liquid if it is too thick. This will keep for 2 or 3 days in the fridge.

4. The apple jelly is easy. Dissolve 2g of agar powder with 125g of apple juice, bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Pour the liquid into a suitable container and leave to cool. Cut into square dice when it is set.

5. For the candied bacon – sprinkle two rashers of bacon with Demerara sugar on both sides (use baking parchment or Silpat for this, unless you want to be scrubbing your trays for nine hours) and cook in a moderate oven (about 170 degrees). Turn once or twice during cooking. When cool, chop the bacon finely. Don’t forget to eat some while you are doing this because it is freaking delicious.

6. Stewed apple is simple, too. Peel, core and dice two eating apples, put into a pan with a splash of water, a tablespoon of sugar and a quarter of a lemon (helps to maintain the colour as well as add an acidic note), with the juice squeezed over the apple. Cook, partially covered with a lid, until the apple starts to break down.

7. Once cool enough to handle, remove the cheeks from the confit and sieve the liquid fat into a plastic container to keep in the fridge. It’s great for many things and keeps forever (almost). Finely dice the meat. Lay a square of crepinette (caul fat) onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press a layer of the meat onto it, almost covering it. Spoon the apple puree in a line down the middle and wrap the whole lot into a tight sausage.

*You could use cured ham instead of crepinette. Let it cool in the fridge to help it keep its shape when you fry it off*

8. To complete – remove the plastic wrap from the cheek and apple ‘sausage’. Fry in a dry frying pan for about a minute on each side (so four minutes in total). Leave to rest while you plate the rest of the dish. Cut the ‘sausage' into half inch thick slices, place on a small pile of wilted greens and serve with a crisp white wine to help cut through the richness.

Verdict – N3T 1: pork cheeks – total success.



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