The Cured Ham

The Cured Ham in Peru

I have been distracted with other attentions lately (most of December actually), but The Cured Ham is back before Christmas with a quick Buenas Noches from Peru. 

Ceviche has been the standout so far. The oxtail stuffed peppers were also delightful. Wine consumption is down, but Pisco consumption is up (Pisco is in many ways like grappa). I have been in the kitchen cooking with a 24 year old chef, youngest chef in the Orient Express Hotel Group. Cool guy. Picking up a thing or two along the way.

I am trying to upload pictures via Flickr and Facebook as I can, but connections are not as fast as I would like them.

Merry Christmas from The Cured Ham. I will try to post again before the New Year!! 

T.L.'s Metal Fabrication Shop, Fresno

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a brand new BBQ. Well, from the metal fabrication shop in Fresno comes T.L.'s latest backyard creation. What used to hold bulk grape juice from L&P (and shipped to Healdsburg no less) has been transformed into a multi-use BBQ / Smoker / Grill. The tube on your left can smoke or grill with the ability to hang meat from a sharp metal rod off the roof of the canister. The Cured Ham was part of the early stage design and fabrication. This sweet baby gets a full workout this weekend when I cook for 80 people at a 40th birthday party in the wine country. Pork will be BBQ'd for about 16 hours over a variety of woods.

Vino Cotto of Sonoma County

The wine grape harvest in Sonoma County is obviously a big event, but wine isn't the only thing that you can make with wine grapes. A Southern Italian speciality, although many wine regions in Italy make it for personal consumption. It's not that common here in the States, but many old Italian families have a stash in their freezer and each covet their stash as they would gold.

The Cured Ham has of course participated in the wine grape harvest and has made his own stash of vino cotto for a select group of friends and relatives. I reduced about 1/3 of the large pot into two 375lt bottles that you see in front of the large pot over the course of 4 hours. And yes, the house smells like evaporated grape juice for the better part of 2 days.

So how do you use this stuff? Add a tablespoon or two to rich braised dishes such as short ribs. It has the flavor of plums, figs, grapes, but with a more earthy quality in many cases. However, this earthy quality may be coming from the grapes I used, in this case Cabernet Sauvignon.

A classic Puglian use is to deep fry strands of a modified pizza a dough and drizzle this grape syrup over the top of each fried piece of sweetened dough.

Gleason Ranch Un-Smoked Bacon

Gleason Ranch Un-Smoked Bacon with no nitrates/nitrites vs. Ambrosio Market Pancetta, Florence, Italy 

 

What am I thinking? Italian pancetta is different in style than American bacon, I know, I don’t need a lecture. But the Gleason Ranch bacon survived a critical test, it stayed crunchy and had texture in my risotto. The added benefit of not being smoked brought back the flavor memory of cooking in my tiny kitchen in Florence over a year ago.

Something to consider when frying Gleason Ranch bacon, it doesn’t have the water content that store bought bacon has. It doesn’t shrink much at all and it doesn’t curl up in the cast iron skillet. The fat crisps up more like crackling with barely any resemblance to the whitish fat on commercial bacon. So watch your cooking time and watch the color as it cooks. The lack of water, thickness and meat to fat ration all effect the outcome

I chopped and fried the bacon in a small pan, the same pan I added my rice to. I decided on a more heavily wine based ‘stock’ than normal and chose a local Veritas Ridge sparkling wine as my base adding roughly 2 cups sparkling wine to 1 cup water. I’m pleased to say both the bacon and the wine are two local products. No pepper and only a dash of sea salt. Yes, I kept all of the fat from the rendered bacon in the pan for cooking. I finished my risotto with parmigiano reggiano and a dash of butter.

Rather than incorporate the chantrelles into my risotto, I decided to cook them separately in butter and parsley and circle the plate in decadence. This left a nice area to spoon my risotto into. I paired the meal with a Tandem Sangiovese 2004, as Sangiovese would have been appropriate in Florence.

The result was excellent (not arrogance, confidence). I’ve tried 100% wine based risottos before and don’t always care for the results. I wanted some acid in the base considering the amount of bacon, butter, and cheese incorporated into the dish.

Meal two with my Gleason Ranch bacon challenge was the American Classic, Bacon and Eggs. No need to explain anything here. Just look at the picture.

So where can you find Gleason Ranch products?

Oliver's Market (Santa Rosa & Cotati)
Planet Organics (Sonoma)
Valley Ford Market (Valley Ford)
Willowside Meats (Santa Rosa)
Bi-Rite Market (San Francisco)
Canyon Market (San Francisco)

Handwritten Recipes or Italian Hieroglyphics

Some of you may need the Rosetta Stone from ancient times to read this, but there are two recipes on this return envelope. There isn't even a title for these recipes. Can anyone guess what these make? Does anyone want to try and make either recipe? Talk about a great Top Chef Challenge, "Italian Aunt and Niece UnTitled Recipe Challenge."

Yes, these recipes were written on the only paper available on that day in June of 1997, a return envelope. Now you know this is authentic. Trust me, I couldn't make this up. And I've got some other winning recipes form the family.

 

The Cured Ham Cooks Bone Marrow

I love bone marrow. It's primal really. Tigers don't eat it, apes don't eat it, vultures don't eat it. Humans eat bone marrow because we can use tools like a saw. I think we should thank bone marrow for helping to develop our brains.

Simple cooking method. Place bones in a cast iron skillet. Pre-heat oven to 425. Place pan in oven, and serve when cooked through. I got my bone marrow from a pasture raised animal, courtesy of one of my friends who thought I would appreciate more than him.

The Return of Paella to Healdsburg

Enrique was back in town, so that must mean Paella. I'm glad I have a good visual memory (and an even better digital camera) as I'm simply a spectator rather than a true participant. Not only was this paella better than the first, I think my pictures are better too. Enjoy the food porn.

Foggy River Farm, Healdsburg

It's been an odd summer, a bit cool in Northern California. I shop for a lot of my food locally and a regular stop at the Healdsburg Farmer's Market is Foggy River Farm http://foggyriverfarm.org/. They've got a good little story and high quality produce. If I traveled less, I would consider the market box, until then, a la carte for The Cured Ham.

Farmer Lynda also writes a blog http://wisdomoftheradish.wordpress.com/.

I like what she's saying about Organic, which they are not. Remember, Organic is determined by the Federal Government, writer of the Tax Code and other such modern documents. And of course fees are involved. Foggy River is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

Highlights at Foggy River this summer for me have been their celery, squash, heirloom tomatoes, beets, potatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, and carrots. These squash blossoms are beautiful and delicious. And no, you can do something other than fry them.

Protein tends to be the star of most meals, but without a supporting cast of vegetables (I swear, their celery is really good) it would be like eating out at Morton's or Ruth Chris, just protein on a plate.

 

Moroccan One Pot Meal

I truly enjoyed my experience in Morocco and look forward to going back. As with Italian cooking, simplicity in Moroccan cooking can be made difficult. There is nothing more simple than one pot Moroccan.

Sticking with my new favorite theme of one-pot recipes, here's another for Moroccan Chicken with peas, carrots, onions, and dried fruits.

2 chicken breasts heavily seasoned with a variety of spices. For this recipe I was heavy handed with cinnamon, all-spice, turmeric, and paprika. Minor spices included cardamom, white pepper, black pepper, coriander seed, dry mustard, and anise. Then sear the chicken in a touch of oil on both sides on medium heat (don't burn your spices, but they will turn darker in color) Of course, salt was added.

Remove the chicken from the shallow pot and add all your carrots and onions and let them sweat down for 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot and add some dried fruits. I used dates and apricots this time, but you can use what ever you like. I also added some lemon. Toss in you peas on top and fill the pot half full of water. Leave at a simmer, never a rapid boil, for about 1.25 hours. Garnish with some pumpkin seeds. You can serve this over rice, couscous, or with fresh bread. Enjoy.

Taqueria de la Casa, Acapulco via Healdsburg

To kick things off for my Tacos in Healdsburg series, I'm beginning with Madre Emi and Taqueria de la Casa. Taqueria de la Casa are the specialty house tacos made by my friend Emi and were actually made at my house in the Wine Country. I think she made about 25 of these little beauties that afternoon. Smaller fried tortillas, with a combination base of black beans and chicken in a light chile sauce and topped with cabbage, tomato, cilantro, red onion, and lime are worthy enough to fight over (sorry, focus issues on the camera, I was probably rushing to eat her Chile Rellenos after my first plate of tacos).

Eating tacos with Emi is a tough habit to break. Many years ago, I visited Emi and her family in Acapulco. I ate about 8 tacos like this around 2am at a wedding on the beach. Thanks Emi for the memories and the tacos. The bar was set pretty high. Salute!