The Oyster Pan Roast

.. only from the Grand Central Oyster Bar.

One of my favorite dishes in New York City.




 

Breakfast.
Swedish Pizza.

Another year, a New Year!!

Fresh rabbit from the farm next door, stewed in the German style, on a wood burning stove.
It's going to be a good one!!



Hasenpfeffer

1 Rabbit (2 1/2 to 3 lbs.)
2 cups Dry Red Wine
1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 cups Chicken Stock or Water
1/2 lb. Bacon (1 inch cut)
1 Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
2 cups Mushrooms (your choice)
1 Bay Leaf (fresh if possible)
1 tsp. Pickling Spices (tied in a sachet, optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Rabbit Dredge:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

A dutch oven or cast iron pot works best.

- Clean and wash rabbit under cold water, cut into desired size.
  (Any size will work, you can quarter the rabbit or cut into small pieces).
- Begin by sauteeing bacon, once crisp remove bacon but leave fat.
- Dredge the rabbit in flour mixture, shaking off excessive flour, brown on all sides, then remove.
- Add onion, garlic and mushrooms, sautee a few minutes; add bacon and rabbit back to the pot.
- Pour in the wine and vinegar, let reduce by a little more than half.
- Add chicken stock, pickling spices, salt and pepper.
- Lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, once your rabbit is tender the stew is finished.

(You can add sour cream once finished if you'd like a creamy stew).

Enjoy the New Year!

Farming and Weaving and Milking

Last year I met a wonderful woman who, when asked what she did for a living said.. "I'm a weaver"

Not many people can say that..
When she invited me to a weaving retreat in Maine I didn't think twice.

I'd never touched a loom, never picked up knitting needles, I once crocheted when I was a little girl.
Pretty much zero experience with fiber.

But being able to spend time on a working dairy farm in beautiful Maine couldn't be passed up.

The retreat was held at Nezinscot Farm, in Turner Maine.
An amazing place, run by an equally amazing family.

In addition to providing organic dairy the farm produces cheese, vegetables, fiber from various animals, meat, herbal products.. and the best part: the Farm Store.

At the store they bake, cook, and can.
If you ever find yourself in Maine take the time to stop by to see Gloria and her wonderful family.
Here's the link to the farm - Nezinscot Farm

some photos I took: 

Gallow Green

I've been spending a lot of time at The McKittrick Hotel.

Come visit, we now have food!

Crab Grave Yard

stumbled on in Ontario, Canada

Afternoon Coffee at Jack's Wife Freda

Be sure to order the Duck Bacon!

When in New Orleans.
Go to the Cochon Butcher and get a Muffaletta to go.
Perfect!

Back from New Orleans! What a truly amazing city.

I cooked for our Employees Only Event..
at times it felt like I was on a Top Chef challenge.

We hosted the party at OneEyedJacks which is normally a live venue place.
I created a kitchen in a hallway with household items like toaster ovens, pancake griddles, and buffet burners.

Somehow it all worked out!

Check out the article on Food Republic.. NYC to NewOrleans

NOLA

Off to New Orleans for our Employees Only event.
If you're in the Big Easy this week stop by One Eyed Jack's in the quarter.
Thursday night starting at 10:30. I'll be cooking!

Tatanka

Last year in South Dakota I had the pleasure of seeing buffalo in the wild.

Such stunning animals.

Now being reintroduced to the plains as wild animals; a landscape in which bison have co-evolved with other indigenous plants and animals to thrive on the grasslands without damaging them.

I would urge anyone who has never tasted this meat to do so..

it has a similar taste to beef but is a little sweeter and way less fatty.

Here's a great company that sells Buffalo meat: FossilFarms

PastaBasta

A photo I took of Mr. Faella outside of his Pastificio

Gragnano, Italy

Mr. Beard

I'm excited to be part of The West Village Social happening at the James Beard House this Tuesday, the 17th of July.
A bunch of great chefs from the neighborhood.

I'm even more excited to have Igor making Manhattans next to me!

If you're around please join!
Here's a link to all the info.. JamesBeardEvent

Salt Pork

While at the Nashville Farmers Market I stumbled upon this!!
Another reason to love the South..

Salt Pork is super easy to make.. I wonder why people don't do it more often.
Go to your butcher and ask for a piece of pork belly, take it home and rub kosher salt all over it...
I'd suggest adding sugar and spices as well.

Cover it and put it in the refrigerator for two days or until it feels firm.
Rinse and dry the pork, then wrap it in cheese cloth..
You can store this in the refrigerator for a long time.

As far as using it... the options are endless.
Cut it into small strips or cubes and add it while you're sauteing an onion for a soup or stew.
It's also great when cooking greens.. or any other vegetable for that matter.
Amazing in beans.. grind it and add it to hamburger or meatballs.. it goes on and on...

Chicken Picnique

One of my first dishes on the menu at Smith and Mills.
Cold Roasted Chicken, Potato salad with Caper vinaigrette, Haricot verts. Cornichons, grainy Mustard and Baguette.

This dish came to be when I visited a farm in Georgia.
We worked on the land all day, then drove a red pick up truck out to the middle of a field.

Our host had roasted a chicken the night before. We had baguette, some green beans, mustard, mayonnaise and a really cold bottle of Rose.

We ate in the back of the pick up truck with our hands.
The chicken coops were only 100 feet behind us....

Baby Steps

Here's an article about Smithfield hopefully, finally committing to stop using gestation crates. Let's hope they keep their promise this time.

Smithfield Foods To Stop Using Gestation Crates For Pigs By 2017

Also check out this video released by the Humane Society which gives a bit of background on the whole issue.

Save some Salmon

I recently went to hear Paul Greenberg speak, author of Four Fish, a NYT bestseller.

The lecture was held at The Explorers Club on the Upper East Side, which was sort of like stepping into a childlike fantasy, a Tudor style mansion outfitted with oak panelled walls, naturally.

But the stuffed Polar Bear, Elephant Tusks, and gigantic vintage globe really added to the euphoria.. if you have the opportunity, Go!


But to the important stuff.. Fish!!

Specifically Salmon..
(most of what we eat in this country is farmed)

The largest remaining Wild Salmon habitat on Earth is close to becoming no more!
Millions of sockeye, Chinook, chum, coho and pink salmon return from the sea to their spawning grounds in the pristine waters of Bristol Bay each year.

Sadly it may become the home to Pebble Mine, which would be the largest open-pit mine in America.
Help out Bristol Bay by going to SaveBristolBay

Also locally try to always buy Sockeye Salmon, which more than likely is fished from the Bristol Bay. Lets save some Salmon!

oh no Turkey!

Yet again another recall of ground Turkey.
Cargill recalls 185,000 pounds!!
In addition to the 2 million pounds of meat the company recovered and buried in a landfill.

You can read about it here.
Turkey Recall

That's a lot of Turkey.

Makes you think about how those Turkeys live.
And where this random occurring bacterium is coming from.
hmmm..

I think Turkeys should live like this..



You can buy these Turkeys at Heritage Foods USA

I know they're double the price of the weird genetically modified birds..
but try it out.

Russian Butcher

Oh Styria..

I'm just back from a trip to Vienna.. of course there was schnitzel and goulash and pastries galore.

But there were also all things Styrian!
I have to admit I didn't know what or where Styria was.
Luckily I came to find out it's a state of Austria located in the southeast.

Known for its pumpkin seed oil... which was amazing..
It was this smoked speck that got my attention.

The most.. melt in your mouth fatty..
wonderful piece of smoked meat I've eaten in a VERY long time.

Served with grated horseradish and pickles..



Styria. I will come to you.