Monday Afternoon Tapas

It's not much of a secret that Ann and I hang out at Two Dogs Taphouse in downtown McMinnville on a fairly regular basis. We've become friendly with most of the staff there and recently, we found out that three of them are moving away to Bend in mid-September to see a different part of Oregon. We made plans to get together as a last hurrah and I decided to make some tapas that we could graze on. Hanging out with younger folks helps keep us young.

Ann asked me why I chose tapas and honestly, I don't know what got me going down that path except for perhaps the vast quantity of padrón peppers in the farmers market recently. I do know that tapas are the kind of party food that I prefer: finger food that doesn't require much in the way of silverware or tableware as well as being food that I can set out beforehand so I can socialize and not have to cook during the event.

White Bean-Stuffed Piquillos

Stuffing piquillos is always a no-brainer tapa. I blitzed up a bunch of cannellini with garlic and pimentón then spooned the mix into the peppers. I was feeling lazy; ordinarily, I'd put the bean paste in a pastry bag with no tip and squirt the peppers full. One less thing to clean up, I guess. Two other great stuffings that I have done: paella-style rice for one and mashed potatoes with home-salted cod for another.

Grilled Shrimp and Olive Skewers

The flavor of olives and shrimp when grilled together is one of those one-plus-one-equals-three dishes. The sweetness of the shrimp meshes well with the slight saltiness of the olives (though these olives were not very salty). To amplify the grill char (hard to get a lot of char on small shrimp before they overcook), I made a bit of smoky pimentón sauce to garnish the skewers with. I made plenty of that sauce, put it in a squirt bottle, and I noticed everyone was squirting it on everything: it is that good!

Pork Pinchitos Morunos

Skewers (pinchos, pintxos, pinchitos) are a classic tapa and I decided to go with pork pinchitos morunos, literally little Moorish skewers. Although the Arabs (the Moors) who brought the skewers across from North Africa would not use pork for religious reasons, the dish is most commonly made with pork in modern-day Spain. The Moorish influence is honored today by marinating the pork in ras el hanout, a batch of which I made for this party. Ras el hanout is a North African all-purpose spice mix.

Searing Padrón Peppers for the Tortilla

Tortilla of Padrones and Onions

Tortillas, the Spanish egg dish similar to Italian frittatas, is another common and easy-to-make tapa. I seared padrón peppers in a hot pan with olive oil. We could have eaten them just like that in their traditional fashion, but I like their flavor with eggs, so I destemmed and deseeded them. Then I caramelized a couple large onions with fresh thyme and garlic. To assemble the tortilla, I layered the peppers and onions in a skillet and poured a dozen beaten eggs over. This went into a slow oven and baked, about an hour, until the eggs were set all the way through.

Alaska Day 0: Portland

“We have earned this vacation. We’ve been to Hell and back the last couple of years.” quoth Ann. This trip to Alaska would be our first vacation in a very long time. Four years if you count as a vacation our drive from Virginia to Oregon in moving across the country in 2017. Before that, we had a few days off here and there, but rarely a true vacation since 2011, true vacations being nearly impossible in the restaurant business.

A glance at the local weather reminded us that this was a great time to head to Alaska because after a few weeks of reasonable temperatures, things in Oregon are headed north of 90 towards 100 by week’s end (and would be over 110 when we got back). Meanwhile the Anchorage forecast is for highs in the 60s with a lot of clouds and some rain.

Given our 6:30am flight from PDX to ANC on Monday morning, there was no profit in trying to get up early enough in the morning on Monday to drive to the airport, to risk commuter traffic. Our usual routine is to drive to the airport the evening before, grab a beer and some grub at Culmination Brewing (permantly closed 2025), and stay at a hotel at the airport.

Getting Ready

On Sunday morning, uncharacteristically for me, I was extremely anxious and uncomfortable. In the software business (before restaurant), I used to fly all the time without any anxiety, flying 100s of thousands of miles a year. Why so many nerves this time? I think it was the dogs. Leaving them was hard, so hard this time.

They were so clingy all day; it’s amazing how intuitive they are and how they can note the slightest difference in how we humans behave. It didn’t help that top of mind was that Charlie could die while we were away. He’s been on borrowed time for a year, his body riddled with tumors.

Packing helped. After weeks of mulling over what clothes and gear to take on our adventure, actually packing them was a relief. I packed super light, everything fitting into my small 33-liter backpack along with a tiny camera bag. I basically packed as if I were doing a thru hike, hiking also playing a huge part in our Alaskan agenda. I added a pair of shorts and jeans to kick around in. Alaska is less formal even than Oregon: blue jeans are formal restaurant attire.

My Gear Sprawl on the Kitchen Table

Back in June, I invested in a new camera setup. Because the majority of my photography happens when we are hiking, weight is of significant concern. I had been lugging my old Nikon D80 out in the field because its small format is a lot lighter than the full-frame F bodies. Still, that D body and 18-135 zoom lens weighed a ton.

For the field, I had rigged the big Nikon to hang across my chest on short straps attached to my backpack straps. While that was effective in keeping the camera at the ready, the camera bounced and swayed uncomfortably, especially if I were booking it down a trail.

My 25-Ounce Camera Setup

Since I put together the Nikon setup, technology has changed radically and I took advantage of that, purchasing the lightest Sony mirrorless camera, the a6000, also a small-format APS-C body. The absence of mirrors (lots of heavy glass) keeps the body weight to a minimum. And I purchased an optically stabilized Sony 18-135 zoom lens that weighs a fraction of the old Nikkor lens and appears to be optically superior.

The body and lens are shockingly light, coming in at under two pounds (25 ounces with battery/lens cap/etc.) in comparison to the old rig coming in around five pounds. And the picture quality is vastly improved over that of the old Nikon. If the body were any smaller I wouldn’t be able to hold it in my big mitts.

Dreaming on, I'd love to have a faster lens with more reach than the f5.6 approximate 200mm that the 135mm lens mounted on the small sensor yields, but I don't want to carry the weight of a bigger lens. At the other end of the spectrum, 18mm is pretty decent for landscapes. It's all a trade-off and for me, this very lightweight zoom lens works best in most situations.

Technology is also helping to carry the camera in the field. In recent years, camera clips have come a long way and I purchased one from Peak Designs that bolts onto my backpack strap. It has a quick release mechanism that the tripod plate on the bottom of the camera clips into. The camera clip proved to be extremely useful and stable, but I did have to remember to tighten the bolts holding the clip onto the backpack strap on a daily basis. All in all, a tremendous purchase.

I also purchased a Peak Designs leash for the camera, for when I wasn't actively hiking and using the camera mount on my backpack. The quickly detachable leash around my wrist gave me a lot of peace of mind, especially when shooting from the upper deck of a boat tossing in 10-12 foot seas.

The leash is designed to be worn as a bracelet when not in use, but I found that the magnet in it was insufficient to keep it around my wrist as a bracelet. Also, I don't recommend the leash when carrying the camera on a backpack. If unfurled, the leash dangles and sways annoyingly on your chest; if leashed around the camera lens, it impedes focusing the camera. I ended up rarely taking the leash when backpacking; if I did, it stayed in my pants pocket until needed.

Because the camera and lens is so small, I was able to forego my large camera backpack in favor of my tiniest camera bag which holds the camera, with lots of room left for my backpacking tripod, spare batteries, battery charger, Garmin, two pairs of compact binoculars, sunglasses, and other miscellaneous stuff such as cleaning gear, filters, and memory cards. In short, the new camera is a game changer for travel.

Summing up from my experience with the camera on the trip, I found that the Sony controls are somewhat awkward to use compared to the Nikon controls that I know by heart. Sony's menus suck as well. Finally, I found that I was quite often accidentally changing ISO, shooting mode (single shot v. multishot v. bracketed exposure), and f-stop when shooting in aperture priority. Despite these issues, I'd buy the camera and lens combo all over again for a lightweight hiking camera. 

Cleaning out the Fridge

For lunch, I cleaned out the remaining few items in the refrigerator and put together a frittata. We did not know it at the time, but this would be the best food we would have in a good while. We now know that one does not go to Alaska expecting decent (or, sad to say, even competent) food.

Clean Out the Fridge Frittata

Culmination Brewing

At 4 pm, after feeding the dogs, we walked out the door and headed north into town. This was our easiest trip in to Portland ever, an hour and five minutes to Culmination Brewing in the northern part of Southeast, ten minutes from the airport. Living in an area with some of the worst traffic in the nation, we are very thankful for small miracles like no traffic on the way to the airport!

Things have changed at Culmination since our last visit in 2019. Let me rephrase that. COVID has changed things at Culmination since we were last there: there's a lot of new covered seating outdoors, most of the indoor space and the bar are closed to seating, and gone is their kitchen, in favor of a vegan food truck operation called Miami Nice. Our bartender was pretty snippy too, but I don't think that was COVID related. She got better as the evening went on, but still, a snippy bartender is not what any business wants or needs.

Seating is Outdoors, Phaedrus IPA

One of the benefits of being outdoors was interacting with all the neighborhood dogs who came with their owners to have a beer. We were already missing our two dogs, so sitting at the next table from Copper, an extremely pretty Wooly Husky, was just the excuse Ann needed to go play with him.

Copper, the Wooly Husky

Mugging for the Camera

Queen of Hazy Beer

Vegan Food Truck

We didn't know that Culmination had closed their kitchen and replaced it with a vegan food truck. While we weren’t looking for a vegan meal, we have nothing against vegan food, and our vegetarian meals at home often happen to be vegan. That happens a lot especially when you’re lactose intolerant like me and mainly avoid dairy.

My personal opinion on vegetarian and vegan food is that if you are going to avoid eating meat, you should celebrate vegetables rather than putting effort into making your vegetables look and taste like meat. Ann is more blunt about not eating vegan food that resembles meat, humorously preferring a more Italian approach, “I could live on pasta, fruit, wine, and bread, but…how big would my ass be?” Nor does she understand why you would avoid dairy, “You feed a child with your tits.” But we're cool with everyone making personal dietary choices.

Vegan Loaded Tots and Vegan Cubano

The ersatz “cheese” on our loaded tots looked okay but tasted and felt all wrong. A former sous chef and good friend Tony has created a business making vegan cheese down in San Diego. I am sure he has put a lot of effort into creating better mouthfeel in his cheese and I am looking forward to tasting what has has accomplished. This vegan cheese wasn't high art.

The Cubano was a mixed bag as well. The bread and the pickles were OK. The jackfruit fake pork was interesting but could have been mistaken for slaw. The fake ham was a mess though, slices of some kind of non-meat tasting soy protein “sausage.”

Vegan food can be a whole lot better than this. I should know, having cooked creative vegan dishes almost every night of my restaurant career for years and years. As I have already alluded to, our mediocre food at Culmination was a harbinger of things to come in Alaska.

Ramada Portland Airport

The Ramada just off of 82nd Avenue offers a Park and Fly service which bundles parking, shuttle service to and from the airport, and a room for a very reasonable price, barely more than the cost of a room for a night. At easily $15 per day for parking, we would have been out nearly $300 for parking. 

In normal times, the Ramada has a van that runs regularly to the airport to shuttle guests, but they advised us in advance that they would be booking a Uber for us. When we arrived at the hotel, they let us know that they would be putting their van back in service for the first time since COVID. We could take the very first shuttle at 5:00am. 

The bed was a bit squishy, but for the price and convenience, our stay at the Ramada was well worth it.

Sum Total of Our Baggage, Less Ann's Small Carry-on

IPA Night Cap to Ensure Good Sleep

We hit the sack super early with our alarms set for 4:40am to give us time to catch the 5:00am shuttle to the airport.

Frittata 101: Gravlax, Leek, and Chive Frittata

We eat a lot of eggs, a couple dozen between the two of us each week. They're just fantastic for quick, inexpensive meals. Ann hardboils eggs often. I scramble them or make omelettes. And a couple times a month, I make a frittata, a regular feature on the lunch menu at the restaurant. Making frittatas at home is a recent thing: our resident Italian has claimed heretofore that she doesn't like them. I'm glad that phase is done with; she asked me to make this gravlax and leek frittata.

Gravlax, Leek, and Chive Frittata

Frittatas are real winners for dinner, not to mention brunch. They take almost no active work to make: just a touch of prep, then into the oven for a few minutes depending on size. And they are wonderful for cleaning out the refrigerator. Almost anything goes in a frittata.

Last week, I still had some leftover gravlax in the refrigerator along with some leeks left from making leek fritters. It sounded like a great start for a frittata.

Here is a step-by-step for making frittatas.

Two Leeks Before Cooking

I first prepped two really large leeks. Why two? Because I had exactly two in the refrigerator that I wanted to use before they went south. And also because leeks cook down into almost nothing.

Two Leeks Cook Down to Very Little

One of my secrets to making good eggs is that some spice helps them taste eggier without being spicy. I rarely use sriracha except for eggs; otherwise I find it almost too sweet and not spicy enough. You can see that I put a healthy amount in the eggs along with the chives and some salt. This amount of sriracha in 8 eggs will not be detectable to most palates.

Eggs, Chives, Salt, and Sriracha

Things that you want evenly dispersed in the frittata, such as salt, herbs, and spices, mix directly into the eggs before whipping them really well with a fork. Keep in mind that I use extra large or larger eggs. The number of eggs will depend on the size pan you are using. For one person, use a standard 8-inch restaurant skillet which wants three eggs. For two or three people, use a standard 10-inch restaurant skillet which wants eight eggs. None of my pans are non-stick. In fact, the pan that you will see below is actually a stainless steel clad aluminum skillet. If you do it correctly, eggs won't stick to any pan.

Leeks, Eggs, and Gravlax Ready to Cook

Once your oven is to temperature (350-375F will be fine, although we did them at 500F at the restaurant.) you are ready to cook your frittata on the range top. Start your pan on a high flame. Once it gets hot, add a good amount of oil to fully cover the bottom of the pan. Whip the eggs one last time and pour them in the pan. 

Frittata, Flame Off, Ready to Bake

Immediately turn off the flame. With the flame off, you can take your time in adding the fillings to the frittata. If you leave the flame on, you are likely to end up overcooking the bottom of the frittata. Just drop the fillings right on top; they will sink in a bit.

Frittata, Ready to Slice

The final step is to put the frittata in the oven, set a timer, and then relax. You'll know when the frittata is done. As soon as the eggs in the very center are cooked, the frittata is ready to come out of the oven. Cook time depends on a lot of factors, but a general rule of thumb is that in a moderate oven, an 8-inch frittata will take about 8-9 minutes and a 10-inch frittata will take about 18-20 minutes, give or take.

If your pan was clean and hot and you added enough oil to cover the bottom, your frittata will slide right out of the pan onto your cutting board. Sometimes they will stick in small spots, in which case, slide your spatula under the frittata to free it. I generally let the frittata cool for a couple of minutes if I am going to slice it, as in the photo above. I serve small frittatas whole while I cut large ones into 8 slices.

Frittatas are one of the most cost-effective and easiest dinners that I know. Next time you need to clean out the fridge, why not try one?

Frittata Ideas

As I mentioned earlier, just about anything that you want will go into a frittata. They are useful for using up leftover vegetables, meats, and cheeses. Make sure that any meat that you add is already cooked. Consider using leftover starches as well: potatoes, corn, beans, pasta, croutons, and rice have all found homes in my frittatas. Here's a quick list of ideas.

Shrimp, Baby Corn, Thai Basil, Green Curry Paste
Tomato, Spaghetti, Basil
Corn, Poblano, Chorizo
Potato, Hard Chorizo, Piquillo
Smoked Sausage, Ricotta, Chive, Pecorino
Spinach, Feta, Tomato, Oregano
Broccoli, Bacon, and Swiss Cheese
Rapini, Cannellini, and Porcini
Smoked Sausage, Onion, Tomato, Pesto
Sausage, Mushroom, and Smoked Gouda
Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Capers
Chorizo, Jalapeño, Cilantro, Queso Fresco
Salmon, Red Onion, Dill, Lemon Zest
Asparagus, Bacon, and Cheddar
Caramelized Onion, Pancetta, and Cheddar
Roasted Chicken, Corn, Poblano, Oaxaca Cheese

Pancetta, Rapini, and Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Bread Cubes, Fresh Tomato, and Basil

Spaghetti Squash, Pine Nuts, Nutmeg, and Lemon Zest

Crab, Herbed Cream Cheese, and Chives

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese

Wild Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, and Brie

Fennel, Tomatoes, and Olives

A Sad Sunday

Life around our house has changed recently and painfully. Ann's father Bob suffered a massive stroke Sunday a week ago that has left him hospitalized and incapacitated. Dealing with all the emotions and issues has left us all trainwrecks, Ann most of all because she has borne the brunt of caring for her mother and staying with her father, wrangling with hospitals, doctors, and insurance providers. It is so new and still so raw that I'm not sure I can write about it; I'm merely going through the motions here at the keyboard.

This Sunday was the first time that I was able to go see him in the hospital in Fairfax. And we took Carter too, the Carter who had been asking to go during the week. He did some growing up on Sunday. Before we left, I insisted that we all eat breakfast, not knowing what the day would hold for us and when or if we would eat again.

Caramelized Onion and Pancetta Frittata with Cheddar

I rummaged the refrigerator and found a small piece of pancetta, an onion, some cheddar cheese, and some eggs. In no time, I had a caramelized onion and pancetta frittata in the oven. Carter and I ate it. Ann did not. I don't blame her. I was just going through the motions myself.

On the drive back home from Fairfax—we decided to leave before dark—we discussed dinner, no doubt mainly to take our minds off, however momentarily, the elephant in the room. Ann mentioned that she had taken some ground turkey out of the freezer. What to make with ground turkey? I've never worked with it before, but it behaves like most other lean ground meat.

We discussed a bunch of options: chili, meatballs, meatloaf, etc. But when things get rough for Italians, Italians go for pasta. Ann was pretty firm in her desire for meat sauce with pasta, so we stopped by the store on the way home and grabbed some tomatoes, some cream, and some pasta.



Rigatoni with Turkey Sauce

This meat sauce I make, while really good, is not a classic ragù alla bolognese which I made for years before settling in on making meat sauce the way I prefer it and that way I prefer it is more Southern, more akin to ragù alla napoletana. My meat sauce I usually make with cubed meat that cooks until it shreds on its own rather than with ground meat, but I am no stranger to ground meat sauce, which according to many authorities is the proper form of meat in a ragù. Ah whatever, this is my blog and my dinner and I'll do it however I please.

Here are my tricks for making meat sauce with ground meat:

Develop a great fond. Fond is a French word meaning many things but bottom most of all, and in a culinary context, the layer of brown bits accumulating on the bottom of a pan. In a heavy bottom pan, start by browning the meat. Once it is browned, remove 90 percent of the meat from the pan and continue cooking the remaining ten percent. Cook until all the water in the juices evaporates and a heavy fond appears on the bottom on the pan. The fond should not be burned but it should be thick and it should not scrape off readily.

Add the vegetables to the pan at this point. For a simple sauce like this one, I use only onion. For a more complex and more traditional bolognese, I use onions (or leeks), carrots, and celery. Add more oil if necessary; you can always take it back off the top of the sauce later as it simmers. Add some dried basil at this point. Basil is fairly oil soluble and it renders better flavor (says I) when it is cooked in the oil rather than in the water-based sauce. Cook the vegetables, stirring frequently, until they are becoming translucent. Most of the fond will remain stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Deglaze the pan with a good shot of dry white wine. I am firmly of the opinion that meat sauce is better made with white wine than red wine. Scrape vigorously to get all the browned bits of fond off the pan and into the sauce.

Add a bit of tomato puree, maybe a couple cups per pound of meat, but remember, you are making meat sauce, not tomato sauce. Add a splash of heavy cream, say a half a cup per pound of meat. Many recipes call for milk. It's cream for me. I want the cream in the pan early on so that it caramelizes with long slow cooking. Add enough meat stock or water to just cover the meat: stock is naturally better but if you have built a good fond, you can get away with water if you have no stock.

Let it cook. Meat sauce takes a long time to mellow and caramelize and become that awesomeness that you seek. It takes a minimum of 90 minutes and four hours is better. Stir occasionally and be mindful of the liquid level. You want a sauce that is mostly meat with enough liquid to make it fluid. You may have to add more liquid as it cooks to keep it from scorching. Use a low flame, naturally.

Season towards the end and if it needs a splash more cream, splash it.

And that's it. It takes a long time to develop a good fond and an even longer time for the flavors to caramelize and coalesce into that luxuriousness called meat sauce. It's very simple but it requires a lot of patience.

And so we wolfed down big steaming bowls of rigatoni (Don't even go Bolognese on me and start talking about tagliatelle; I'm a thick-cut, no egg, dried pasta guy.). We were hungry after waiting for hours for the sauce to cook. And so we ate, but without a lot of joy. It was more going through the motions. What a sad Sunday.

Ashby Inn

Sunday, I wanted to take Ann out for a nice lunch to celebrate our anniversary, which quite naturally given my business, falls on a work night this year. There's a new chef at the Ashby Inn in Paris, Virginia and I wanted to go meet him and see what his food is all about, professional curiosity if you will. Moreover, customers ask me daily about his food and whether they should dine there and I wanted to be able to finally answer their incessant questions.

A couple of my former employees work there so I asked one of them to set up a lunch for us. I had asked that we not order, that the chef send us whatever he thought was a fair representation of dishes, so that we could get to know his cooking style. Also, knowing that it was Sunday after a hard Saturday night, I sent word to keep it simple.

We arrived about 1:45, just before the close of their brunch seating at 2:00pm. I let them choose the hour of our dining to best fit their reservation book. Despite it being a rainy Sunday, the parking lot was nearly full when we arrived.

St. Innocent Pinot, A Gift

No sooner than we had sat down than Stuart Brennen, the sommelier, appeared at our table with a bottle of St. Innocent Pinot as a gift from Rory, the former employee who set up our lunch.

Smoked Salmon, Avocado Mousse, Egg, Pickled Ramps

The first course was this smoked salmon plate which was mainly fine, but the avocado mousse tasted to me to be made from overripe avocado.

Chanterelles, Braised Chicken, Frittata

The second course was this goat cheese frittata with a sauté of chanterelles and some pieces of braised chicken. It was plated with a sauce that was entirely too sweet.

Crepe, Goat Cheese, Honey, Walnuts

This crepe filled with goat cheese came next and was so sweet it could have been dessert. It should have been in retrospect, even though it is offered on the menu as a savory course.

My Lovely Annie

The Star of our Meal

After the Pinot, which was a very young fruit forward wine typical of Eola-Amity and the 2012 vintage, we started talking to Stuart about another wine to follow. I mentioned that we have been drinking a lot of Nebbiolo recently and we discussed the local Virginia producers. We ultimately decided to go Italian (never any question in my mind) and Stuart returned some minutes later with this bottle of Marchesi di Barolo Barbaresco, a very fine choice. It was the best thing we had all day.

Dessert

The prior "savory" crepe course was sweeter and more dessert-like than this almond sponge, meringue, and lemon curd dessert. Although this dessert looks pretty, it certainly is not the kitchen's best work, the cake being tired and a touch dry and the figs being underripe.

Relaxing Outside, Barbaresco in Hand

Because of the timing of the second bottle of wine and the dessert course, we had plenty of wine left. Not wanting to keep them from turning the dining room, we asked if we could take our wine outside and finish it, which we did. The rain had subsided and it was pleasant enough, in a soupy kind of way, to sit out back and peer through the mist.

The Ashby Grounds are Beautiful

The grounds certainly are beautiful and there are many times when I wish my restaurant were situated in such a lovely setting, but then I think about the upkeep and shudder. Annie and I had a great time and truly enjoyed the Barbaresco: that part of our mission was a great success. My mission to meet the new chef and understand his food was pretty much an utter failure. I still really don't know any more about him and his food than I knew before we ate there.

Getting our Christmas on

Ann and I had a pretty great day Sunday, getting ready for Christmas. We planned to stay in, put up the tree, and cook, cook, cook. Aside from the few minutes I needed to run to the restaurant to pick up some meatball supplies, we stayed at home and got into the holiday spirit. Of course, a few mimosas to kick off the morning didn't hurt our spirits any.

The Christmas Cookie Elf

Mimosas to Get the Spirit Rolling

While Ann started getting her cookie things together in the morning, I mixed up some mimosas for us. We had a bottle of Conde de Subirats Cava in the fridge and while it wasn't all that awesome on its own, it made a great mimosa, the wine's abundant acidity cutting through the sweetness of the orange juice.

Smoked Sausage, Onion, Tomato, and Pesto Frittata

After I got back from erranding and while Ann was working on her cookies, I baked a smoked sausage, onion, tomato, and pesto frittata for our breakfast around 1pm. It was just the thing for a self-indulgent stay home meal, though neither Carter nor Ann liked the tomatoes in it. Note to self.

Making Chocolate Bark

Ricotta Christmas Cookies

Chocolate Covered Popcorn

Making cookies and putting up the fir tree consumed the afternoon. Along towards dark, I made meatballs. First thing in the morning, Ann decided she wanted spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. Well, at least it made deciding what to make for dinner easy, but it did require a trip into town to collect supplies. She knows I don't really care for spaghetti as a pasta cut: it is too thin for my liking. Fortunately, I have a small cache (now depleted) of perciatelli at the restaurant for emergencies like this.

Pork Meatballs Braised in Marinara

These meatballs are 100% ground pork shoulder with red wine, cream, pesto, parsley, panko, grated pecorino romano cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I like to make them about 3 ounces apiece because I want a meatball, not a scrawny little thing. The marinara is tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper, all blitzed up in the blender and poured over the meatballs. I cover the meatballs in marinara, wrap the whole thing in foil, and braise in a moderate oven for a couple hours. I am not a fan of browning meatballs before braising. Whatever it adds in flavor, I think it takes away in texture. My meatballs always have a soft, silky texture.

Perciatelli, Meatballs, Marinara, Garlic Bread

And here is our dinner complete with Ann's kick-ass garlic bread. She's a full-blooded Italian, so garlic is a basic vegetable at our house. No vampires need apply. I love her garlic bread! And, yes, yes, we know that meatballs and garlic bread are not appropriate garnishes for perciatelli with marinara. Did I mention that Ann is full-blooded Italian? You go ahead, taking your life into your own hands, and tell her how they eat pasta in the old country. Go ahead, I dare you!

Pig and Pinot

Sometimes the unrelenting nature of the restaurant business gets to us and so it has done the past couple of weeks, October being among the very busiest of times at the restaurant. It is incredibly difficult to have a meaningful relationship when the other woman is a restaurant. And so Ann and I just needed some us-time before I get started on another very busy month that will see us catering two large dinners at Delaplane Cellars.

In my copious spare time at the restaurant, which is to say none, I managed to find time to put together a plan for Sunday, thinking all the while that Carter would be off at Tom's house working to make some cash. I decided to make a frittata for brunch with a Bloody Mary for each of us and then I thought that we could walk around the State Arboretum of Virginia in the afternoon to take advantage of what I thought would be beautiful fall weather. While we were walking, I would have a pork shoulder in the oven going low and slow and that would be awaiting our return. Or so went the plan. Most of it happened, but that's not the important part. The important part is that Ann and I got to spend a great day together without having to be anywhere or do anything.

Brunch: Bloody Marys and Frittata

We ate brunch rather earlier than I wanted because I needed the oven free to roast the pork. For the frittata, I sweated a bit of onion with Surry sausage, then added the eggs, ricotta, chives, and grated pecorino. In no time at all in a very hot oven, it had gone golden brown around the edges and puffed beautifully in the middle. It turned out that Carter would not be leaving so Ann woke him in time to join us for a late breakfast. While the frittata was in the oven, I mixed up a Bloody Mary for each of us and garnished them with skewered lime and olives and a branch of lovage from the back porch. Lovage has delicious but unique celery flavor, stronger than regular celery, and we love it.

The Bloody Mary is something of an art form at our house and our efforts are far from the watery tomato juice cocktails that most bars serve. I made the mix on Saturday afternoon and like many things that need time to come together, it was better for having sat in the refrigerator overnight. I started with tomatoes, celery, and a little poblano chile which I pureed in the big blender. To this I added four elements of heat: chipotle for a little smoky back of the throat stealth heat; red Thai curry paste for a slow burn with vegetable notes of galangal and cilantro root; a small boatload of horseradish for its nasal cavity gymnastics; and for all purpose heat, about a tablespoon of Calabrese chile paste with its smoky lip-stinging goodness. The other ingredients were salt, olive brine, lemon juice, and lime juice.

Pork Shoulder Before Roasting

Just before we sat down to brunch, I put the pork shoulder in the oven for dinner. This is half a shoulder from a Red Wattle x Duroc hog from a farm in nearby Shepherdstown WV. I decided to cook it very simply so that we could taste all its delicious porkiness unmasked, so I rubbed it with my standard pork shoulder rub and put it on a layer of onions on a sheet tray. [Those onions would prove to be the best part of the dish, having been caramelized in pork fat for hours!] I put the shoulder skin side up so that as the inch of subcutaneous fat melted, it would baste the meat. After sealing the whole thing in aluminum foil, I put it into a slow oven (275F) for the next 8 hours. Can you imagine what the house smelled like on Sunday? Pork Heaven for those of you without imagination.

My pork rub is salt, brown sugar, pimentón, cayenne, white pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder and is very similar to rubs used by all competition BBQ teams. Sometimes I add a little ground thyme, but my spice mill died, the restaurant being hell on small appliances. Although you can buy lots of commercial rubs, if you have access to a lot of spices, making your own is trivial.

My Infamous Farmers Market Slaw

What better, I ask you, with pulled pork than some really fresh cole slaw? I make a batch at the restaurant each day from hand-sliced vegetables from the market. Naturally, each day's slaw varies. I kept it simple at home. Our version was red and green cabbage, carrots, and a touch of celery. The dressing is nothing but plain granulated sugar and rice vinegar plus a sprinkle of Kosher salt. Right after brunch, I chopped and mixed the slaw and left it on the counter to work and soften until dinner.

We took our drinks out to the patio to enjoy the fall sunshine, but that lasted only about ten minutes before we threw in the towel and came back inside to watch movies. The temperature was really nice, 50ish, but the wind was screaming out of the northwest at 10-15 miles per hour, simply no fun at all. The wind put an end to my plan to go walk around the arboretum and enjoy the day outside. So we enjoyed ourselves inside instead.

Looks Like the Vultures Got This Pork Shoulder

I had no sooner taken the pork out of the oven than Ann had attacked it! We stood around the counter and rolled little burritos of pork and cole slaw. I also made a little dipping sauce for the pork: rice vinegar, salt, and a squirt of sriracha. This is a sauce typical of parts of Virginia and the Carolinas: no tomato, no sweet, and very thin. It's my kind of sauce, this so-called mopping sauce used for basting pig while it cooks, made without sugar to keep it from burning.

Chief Vulture in Charge

The wine star of our day was this bottle of Sonoma Coast Pinot from William Knuttel. It was just the right bottle at the right time and for us, had a perfect balance of fruit and acid with enough restraint and finesse to satisfy us both.

A Delightful Bottle

A great weekend, all in all. Starting with brunch and bloodies and finishing with pig and Pinot. What more could a person want?