Posted by Anita on 03.01.05 11:21 PM
Excerpted from Mouthfuls’ Mexican Cooking Project #2: Cochinita Pibil
Cameron and I made cochinita pibil last night, using a hybrid of two Rick Bayless recipes: we used the small batch from Mexican Kitchen, but cooked it in the grill a la One Plate at a Time. We also made his habanero salsa — just a drop per taco was enough! — plus pickled onions and homemade tortillas.
We used a whole pork shoulder, and had plenty of meat. Ours took about 4-4.5 hours for a bone-in roast about 3.5 pounds and 4 inches thick on our gas grill that we kept at around 325 degrees F. The marinade didn’t completely dry up, but we did add about a cup of chicken stock to it to deglaze the pan, and then simmered that down to reduce back to the right consistency. We didn’t lift the wrapped roast up off the bottom of the dutch oven, nor did we cover it.
I’ve never had cochinita before, and I loved it. The achiote and the banana leaf gave it the most ethereal scent and taste. I had 2 tacos this morning for breakfast, and another 2 with some leftover black beans for lunch today. Man! It’s a good thing I have another project planned for dinner, or else I would eat it again!
cookbooks, cooking, food boards, meat, Mexican
Comments Off on Yo quiero PIG
Posted by Anita on 02.25.05 8:33 PM
Last weekend, a group of us with ties to the Seattle area trucked ourselves down — or up, in the case of our lone Angeleño — to Yountville to visit Mr. Keller’s establishment, which you might have heard a bit about. I’ve put a few of our photos up here, in case you’re curious. (You can bypass the login by clicking on the photo.)
We were touched that they’d obviously taken some pains to include nods to the PacNW area in our menu; even our head waiter was a former Seattleite. A glorious time was had by all.
In the words of the Prophet Bueller: “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.”
restaurants
Comments Off on Scenes from Yountville
Posted by Anita on 01.30.05 10:04 PM
Reporting back from the front lines of the bergamocello operation.
The first photo is a shot of the zest infusing in the 100-proof vodka. I used Absolut, since it was the only brand on offer at our crappy state store. This is shown at approximately the 2-week mark; I wish I had taken pictures earlier in the process to give you a comparison, but I didn’t.
Here’s a finished flask with the label. I couldn’t get a clear enough shot of the label, but it says “January 2005 — Bergamocello — Bergamot digistivo“. The finished product is really interesting and good. Not too sweet, reminiscent of grapefruit with hints of spice and spicy herbs. It’s almost middle-eastern or indian in flavor: cardamom, nigella, coriander. It’s definitely similar to, but distinctly different from, the flavors in the bergamot juice. I wish I could upload a glass for you all to try!
I’m pretty happy with the first effort.
drinks, preserving & infusing
Comments Off on Bergamocello (Step 2)
Posted by Anita on 01.15.05 10:00 PM
I bought a dozen bergamots today at Whole Foods, and my test-batch of Bergamocello — like Limoncello — is steeping happily on the counter, while I sip a Friday After Five cocktail made from the juice. I’m a happy girl.
Zesting the peels with a fine Microplane works much better (and faster) than a peeler or a traditional zester.
Tweaking Katie Loeb’s recipe from the eGullet Limoncello thread, these are the the ratios used for my bergamocello:
– 750ml of 100-proof vodka for the steep
– 750ml of 80-proof vodka for the dilution
– 500ml of 1:1 simple syrup (or to taste)
Basically, when diluting the mixture, use the same amount of vodka/everclear that you originally used for steeping. If you’re using 100-proof vodka, you’ll want to use simple syrup equal to 1/3 the total amount of vodka.
If you’re using Everclear/grain alcohol for the original steep, you can bring it down to a drinkable level by using 80-proof vodka for the dilution, or making a weaker simple syrup (more water than sugar).
drinks, food boards, preserving & infusing
2 Comments »
Cameron and I made cochinita pibil last night, using a hybrid of two Rick Bayless recipes: we used the small batch from Mexican Kitchen, but cooked it in the grill a la One Plate at a Time. We also made his habanero salsa — just a drop per taco was enough! — plus pickled onions and homemade tortillas.
