FIFTY-SEVEN : VEAL STOCK

OCTOBER 24 2011

Hypothesis : veal stock is indistinguishable from beef stock. Therefore it is not necessary to spend $13/pound on veal when $2/pound beef bones give me the same results.

Testing Method : prepare two pots of stock, one containing 2 pounds veal shanks and one containing 2 pounds beef bones, with all other ingredients being identical.

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It is very, very hard to justify spending $25 to make 4 cups of stock. It was actually painful. But I did, really, want to see what the fuss was all about.

veal shanks = expensive

FIFTY-FIVE & FIFTY-SIX : ROAST PORK WITH SEMOLINA POLENTA

OCTOBER 23 2011

FIFTY-FIVE : ROAST CENTER-CUT PORK CHOPS
FIFTY-SIX : SEMOLINA POLENTA

Today marked my first foray into "BIG MEAT"!! This recipe features a 6-bone rack of pork, which is a lot of pork, but I didn't want to do less than that because I knew it would change the cooking time. So instead I enlisted some willing friends to come help us eat it :)

buying some BIG MEAT at Gartner's

But, before we could eat, I had a little work to do.

FIFTY-FOUR : JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

OCTOBER 18 2011

[JER•U•SA•LEM AR•TI•CHOKE] noun : "also called the sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America, and found from Eastern Canada and Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. It is also cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable." ~wikipedia

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Fall is root vegetable season and that makes me happy.

FIFTY-TWO & FIFTY-THREE : RICOTTA CAVATELLI WITH SAUSAGE

OCTOBER 17 2011

FIFTY-TWO : RICOTTA CAVATELLI
FIFTY-THREE : CAVATELLI WITH SAUSAGE & BROWNED SAGE BUTTER

You know what is really, really good? Browned sage butter... yummmmmmmm! But, my road to butter deliciousness had one large hurdle, hand-rolling an entire batch of cavatelli. It's my own fault, really, for not shelling out $36 for the Kitchenaid attachment. I instead invented my own process involving a butter knife and two forks taped together around a chopstick. Worked pretty well, although I think my cavatelli weren't quite as delicate as they would be from the machine. Oh, and it took forever...

The dough came together quickly in the mixer and I started rolling it into ropes, then cutting said ropes into 1/4 inch thick slices.

rolling & cutting cavatelli dough

My only feedback here would be to let the dough rest for about 20 minutes before rolling to relax the gluten. Otherwise, it fights you the whole way. Once cut, each slice was stabbed with the butter knife then rolled across the fork tines. Turned out pretty darn good, I'd say!

here's my cavatelli rolling machine

FIFTY-ONE : LENTIL SOUP WITH SMOKED BACON

OCTOBER 12 2011

This lentil soup is exactly how I would have made lentil soup on my own, only way more boring. It starts by sauteing a standard mix of celery, carrot, onion and garlic, plus a slice of bacon to add smokey, porky flavor.

soup ingredients, waiting for the pot

The veggie mix is cooked until softened and browned. Always love to see a nice layer of fond on the bottom of the pot!