4050 Meats Whole Hog Class
March 19, 2013
Well, half a hog actually, but the class was very informative and really fun. We were presented with a beautiful local hog from a Tomales Bay pig farm. I think I will call her Fanny. Don’t ask me why I chose to name a hog that had been sawed in half but hell, why not? Anyway, 4505 Meats had already processed the other half of the hog for their butcher shop so three of us got to break down the other half. About 115 lbs total weight. These are pretty large and robust animals. The hog had been aging for about 7 days. Most butchers desire up to 14 days for aging because important enzymes help make the meat tender after processing at the slaughter house.
Kent Schoberle once again guided us through the class. We ended walking with about 20 lbs of product each which included, roasts, chops, skin, fat, pork belly and bones. All individually wrapped and ready to take home. The class was about 3 hours long and well worth the investment. Here are pictures with descriptions of what went on. Enjoy!!
This is the product we broke down during our 3 hour class.
On the chopping block!
A closer look.
Kent describing the process.
Starting the breakdown.
Hack sawing the carcass into sections
Band sawing pork chops into shape.
Taking the belly off the ribs.
More breakdown!
Breaking down the leg/ham
Creating roasts to take home.
More meat portioning.
Final wrapped product! OINK!
My Mac-n-Cheese Made Simple
September 15, 2010
Everybody loves mac-n-cheese. If you have taste buds, you love macaroni and cheese. I for one am an avid fan of this wonderful comfort food. I’ve also had some really terrible mac’s in my life from family to friends and from restaurants who dare to try to create something that rides on a thin line between deliciously sublime to almost inedible. I wanted to take this chance to share my mac-n-cheese recipe with you in hopes that you will also enjoy at home what I’ve been very successful at selling for the last three years at my restaurant. Mind you, measurements are subject to change in regards to how much you actually want to make for yourself or family but the ingredients are key to ensuring your dish will stand out amongst others you have tasted. The dish can be made either vegetarian or with bacon which I suggest. We use house-cured bacon that is probably some of the best in San Francisco.
The following recipe with be scaled for 6 to 8 people. This is something that you can adjust on your own to fit the number of people you want to serve.
Dishes and utensils you will need for this dish are:
1 wooden spoon, 1 whisk, 2 medium to large sauce pans, 1 large baking dish, 1 large pasta cooking pot and strainer, 1 large mix bowl
Bulk Ingredients
2 lbs dry elbow macaroni
2 quarts cheese sauce (recipe follows)
1 1/2 cups 25/75 shredded parmesan and Japanese bread crumbs
1 cup premium bacon-cooked and drained
1 lb roux (recipe follows)
Salt and Pepper to season
Roux Procedure
1/2 lb whole butter
2 cups flour
In a sauce pan heat butter until melted. Slowly add flour into butter and stir with a wooden spoon until butter and flour start forming into a dough like consistency. Keep flame on low so not to brown or burn the flour. Continue to stir until bubbling and you achieve a “popcorn” aroma from the roux. Hold at room temperature until needed to thicken sauce.
Cheese Sauce Procedure
For this procedure I suggest you do not use a hoppy beer. A light pilsner would suffice for this dish.
1/4 cup pilsner beer
1 quart heavy cream
2 lbs shredded sharp cheddar (tillamook or similar quality)
roux to thicken
salt and pepper to taste
Pour beer into medium to large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add cream and also bring to a boil then immediately reduce to a slow simmer. In small increments, add roux and whisk continually to break up roux and to thicken sauce. When you have achieved the thickness you desire, slowly fold in cheddar until the sauce becomes silky and smooth. Season with salt and pepper and hold warm until next step.
It is my understanding that most novice cooks are able to cook pasta so I will leave this step out. The final step is combining all these ingredients.
Place pasta in a large mixing bowl and slowly add the cheddar bechamel sauce and bacon. Add only enough sauce that you are comfortable with and if you like your macaroni more saucy, then by all means add more sauce but if you like it crunchy and drier, add less. A reminder that when baking this dish, the sauce will thicken from the oven heat but all in all this is a very durable dish to make. When the macaroni and sauce are incorporated, place in a large baking dish like a pyrex for example. Sprinkle the macaroni with the parmesan-breadcrumb mixture and heat in a 375 degree oven uncovered for approximately 20 minutes. The bread crumbs should be nicely browned and and there should be bubbling around the edges of the macaroni. Serve immediately to the delight of friends and family!
The Trials and Tribulations of The Pork Belly
June 29, 2010
I’m the first to admit that I love pork belly. I’ve eaten it plenty of times in all types of applications from burritos to basted with fois gras butter but I really never worked with it that much. The restaurants where I worked just never used it so my exposure to this delectable dish never came to fruition until last week where I decided to tread through the uncharted territory of the roasted pork belly.
I’m mean come on, it’s bacon folks. Plain and simple. We’ve had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It goes on salads, in my mac-n-cheese at The Monk’s Kettle and on burgers. How hard is it to make it into a delicious appetizer? Well, for this impatient chef, it took longer than expected but the results were definitely worth the culinary lessons I learned along the way.
Pork belly brining, braising and roasting needs patience. A half-gallon of patience. We brined the bellies in apple cider, sugar, salt, peppercorns and bay leaf for two days which is what I do with my pork chops. Vundabar! I read a number of recipes and treated the product like the pork butt I braised for my bbq pork sandwiches and attempted to treat the bellies like the butts and ying and yang didn’t get along with each other this time.
The bellies came out nice and flaky but I wanted that certain je nes se qua that I enjoyed when dining and enjoying this dish in San Francisco. The bellies I enjoyed were about two to three inches thick with a nice layer of crispy fat that made this dish epic. My bellies were huge and it was like I was cutting off huge chunks for a Texas bbq rather than something that was delicate. I scrapped the first batch which went directly into my bbq pork which I have to say, was wonderful!
I did some more research and found out a key step from Chef Gordon Ramsay. After you braised the bellies, basting them in their own juices and white wine and when “fork tender,” you semi cool them and place them on a sheet tray and then place another sheet tray on top pressing the meat down for twenty-four hours to make them very flat, uniform and easy to work with. I had already brown the skin of my last batch and trying to reheat these monsters would have been a culinary disaster for my customers so down into the cooler they went with three number ten cans of ketchup pressing them to the specs I would hope for.
I came in the next day to see a beautiful sight. Perfectly uniform bellies waiting to be portioned and braised in stock to a crisp golden brown. I served the pork belly with a blemheim apricot compote, house-cured bacon and caramelized baby fennel and a Moonlight Brewing “Working For Tips” demi glace. The reception of all this hard work was overwhelmingly positive. I am already planning on serving pork belly again this week with a different application. I can’t wait!
My actual pork belly dish ala blackberry pic. Could be better but you get the point
Tales From an Urban Chef 