Don't know about you, but I've had my fill of winter. It's fun enough for a day or so, what with the snow deep and crisp and even and all, but any more than that and I'm a whore for global warming. As if. We headed off to Grenoble yesterday to
Still, on the bright side we managed to find Rajah Bazar (recommended for its selection of spices, dried pulses, Marmite and comprehensive collection of at least 5000 Bollywood DVDs), World Market (good spice selection, great line in hair extensions) and Saigon Store (need any frozen prepared Vietnamese or Thai food? Go there) whilst freezing our arses off. And I do it all for you. Without even a drink at the end of it, in this case.
We also made it to The Cake Shop at 11 rue Thiers, who will do marvellous personalised birthday cakes with proper icing and everything, stock a great range of cooking implements (if, for you, "cooking" = "patisserie") and also have a seemingly endless stock of Philadelphia cream cheese. Which is the only true base for a real cheesecake, although in these benighted parts we've been forced to make do with Samos 99. And I also found a Christmas present for Sophie - some rather exotic chocolate and a slim volume entitled "Erotic Recipes for Lazy Women" (reads better in French - "Les Recettes Erotiques de la Paresseuse").
The young English lad who gift-wrapped it for me seemed quite embarrassed - at least, he took some time doing the wrapping. Maybe he was flicking through it.
What I'm leading up to is that I'm really quite looking forward to dinner in a couple of nights - should be, seeing as I started it yesterday. It is, of course, a jarret de porc braisé, aka jambonneau, aka pig foreleg. This may seem cruel, I know, but no part of the pig goes to waste - and in any case, whenever I see the little chap (an odd term for a one-tonne porker) hobbling around on three legs and a crutch I always give him a friendly wave, just to say thank you. I think he appreciates it.
On the other hand, the next time we have this I shall have to seriously think about chipping in to buy him a skateboard or something to slip under the front, 'cos I'm not sure he'll manage too well with two crutches.
The recipe is simplicity itself, although it does help if you have a wood-burner. Mind you, you could certainly do this in a crock-pot or slow-cooker or whatever.
First of all, you need to obtain a pig's foreleg. You could either go down to the supermarket or go see your friendly local butcher (whom you really should cultivate, he is your friend) and get one, or you could go the DIY route late one night with a chainsaw at a pig farm, that's up to you.
Whatever, having done that you really need to brown that on all sides in yer trusty cast-iron poele, then fish it out and fling in a sliced onion, ditto carrot, and a teaspoon or so of juniper berries. Let them slowly sweat in the fat for ten minutes or so, then put the pig back with a bayleaf or two, sprinkle with a bit of five-spice powder and maybe a pinch of ginger, and let it all continue sweating away. For another ten minutes.
At the end of such a long wait it's always a good idea to add some alcohol. In Alsace they'd add some pinot noir: I'm not in Alsace and I didn't have any so I used the last of some rather nice beer and chucked in a couple of sugar cubes. (Quantities may vary. I had about that much beer left, so that's what I used: two 130ml glasses of wine should be fine.)
Bring it to a simmer and let it fester, uncovered, for ten minutes more whilst you consider the rest of the wine and your options concerning it, then cover and let it cook slowly for another three hours.
As an aside, some recipes advise you to wrap your jarret in a teatowel once it's browned, to avoid it "decomposing" (ie falling apart, not going rotten) during cooking: I can't be arsed, you can't get the stains out of the teatowel, and in any case I've never had that happen to me anyway - just be delicate when you stick the fork in to turn it over (as you should do from time to time).
Once all that's done, you should have a very soft hunk of meat on the bone sitting in its own juices: put it aside somewhere until you really want to eat it. Preferably within the next couple of days, otherwise it's an open invitation to whatever bacterial toxin happens to be flavour du jour.
When the time comes, stick the jarret in an oven dish and - surprise! - stick it in the oven, ladling a few spoonsful of its juices over it as you do so. There'll still be lots left, and I would personally cook dumplings in it to go with the meat, but Margo doesn't like dumplings so there you are. If you don't like dumplings either, you'll just have to reduce the juice to about half so it goes thick and syrupy. Either way, pour some juice over the meat every ten minutes or so whilst it finishes cooking for the next hour, so it gets nicely glazed and caramelised.
At the end of this time the meat will be falling off the bone and practically sitting up and begging to be eaten, so you'd better get on to that. Dumplings go well with it (did I mention that?) and green vegetables of your choice - around here that's broccoli or brussels sprouts, you could probably get away with peas.
Dessert is up to you - we had blackberry and apple tart tonight, and I think I can recommend that. Might not be an option if you've no blackberries in the freezer, mind you. I'm sure you'll think of something.
- pick up our dearly beloved daughter and
- check out some likely spice shops
Still, on the bright side we managed to find Rajah Bazar (recommended for its selection of spices, dried pulses, Marmite and comprehensive collection of at least 5000 Bollywood DVDs), World Market (good spice selection, great line in hair extensions) and Saigon Store (need any frozen prepared Vietnamese or Thai food? Go there) whilst freezing our arses off. And I do it all for you. Without even a drink at the end of it, in this case.
We also made it to The Cake Shop at 11 rue Thiers, who will do marvellous personalised birthday cakes with proper icing and everything, stock a great range of cooking implements (if, for you, "cooking" = "patisserie") and also have a seemingly endless stock of Philadelphia cream cheese. Which is the only true base for a real cheesecake, although in these benighted parts we've been forced to make do with Samos 99. And I also found a Christmas present for Sophie - some rather exotic chocolate and a slim volume entitled "Erotic Recipes for Lazy Women" (reads better in French - "Les Recettes Erotiques de la Paresseuse").
The young English lad who gift-wrapped it for me seemed quite embarrassed - at least, he took some time doing the wrapping. Maybe he was flicking through it.
What I'm leading up to is that I'm really quite looking forward to dinner in a couple of nights - should be, seeing as I started it yesterday. It is, of course, a jarret de porc braisé, aka jambonneau, aka pig foreleg. This may seem cruel, I know, but no part of the pig goes to waste - and in any case, whenever I see the little chap (an odd term for a one-tonne porker) hobbling around on three legs and a crutch I always give him a friendly wave, just to say thank you. I think he appreciates it.
On the other hand, the next time we have this I shall have to seriously think about chipping in to buy him a skateboard or something to slip under the front, 'cos I'm not sure he'll manage too well with two crutches.
The recipe is simplicity itself, although it does help if you have a wood-burner. Mind you, you could certainly do this in a crock-pot or slow-cooker or whatever.
First of all, you need to obtain a pig's foreleg. You could either go down to the supermarket or go see your friendly local butcher (whom you really should cultivate, he is your friend) and get one, or you could go the DIY route late one night with a chainsaw at a pig farm, that's up to you.
Whatever, having done that you really need to brown that on all sides in yer trusty cast-iron poele, then fish it out and fling in a sliced onion, ditto carrot, and a teaspoon or so of juniper berries. Let them slowly sweat in the fat for ten minutes or so, then put the pig back with a bayleaf or two, sprinkle with a bit of five-spice powder and maybe a pinch of ginger, and let it all continue sweating away. For another ten minutes.
At the end of such a long wait it's always a good idea to add some alcohol. In Alsace they'd add some pinot noir: I'm not in Alsace and I didn't have any so I used the last of some rather nice beer and chucked in a couple of sugar cubes. (Quantities may vary. I had about that much beer left, so that's what I used: two 130ml glasses of wine should be fine.)
Bring it to a simmer and let it fester, uncovered, for ten minutes more whilst you consider the rest of the wine and your options concerning it, then cover and let it cook slowly for another three hours.
As an aside, some recipes advise you to wrap your jarret in a teatowel once it's browned, to avoid it "decomposing" (ie falling apart, not going rotten) during cooking: I can't be arsed, you can't get the stains out of the teatowel, and in any case I've never had that happen to me anyway - just be delicate when you stick the fork in to turn it over (as you should do from time to time).
Once all that's done, you should have a very soft hunk of meat on the bone sitting in its own juices: put it aside somewhere until you really want to eat it. Preferably within the next couple of days, otherwise it's an open invitation to whatever bacterial toxin happens to be flavour du jour.
When the time comes, stick the jarret in an oven dish and - surprise! - stick it in the oven, ladling a few spoonsful of its juices over it as you do so. There'll still be lots left, and I would personally cook dumplings in it to go with the meat, but Margo doesn't like dumplings so there you are. If you don't like dumplings either, you'll just have to reduce the juice to about half so it goes thick and syrupy. Either way, pour some juice over the meat every ten minutes or so whilst it finishes cooking for the next hour, so it gets nicely glazed and caramelised.
At the end of this time the meat will be falling off the bone and practically sitting up and begging to be eaten, so you'd better get on to that. Dumplings go well with it (did I mention that?) and green vegetables of your choice - around here that's broccoli or brussels sprouts, you could probably get away with peas.
Dessert is up to you - we had blackberry and apple tart tonight, and I think I can recommend that. Might not be an option if you've no blackberries in the freezer, mind you. I'm sure you'll think of something.
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