Theophylact
Fossil

We just got Fuschia Dunlop's latest cookbook, Every Grain of Rice. Her other books have been really good, and we happened to have some high-quality pork belly -- uncured bacon with the rind still on. So we decided to make this tonight:

Red-Braised Pork

1¼ lb (500g) boneless pork belly, with skin, or shoulder
2 tbsp cooking oil
4 slices of unpeeled ginger
1 spring onion, white part only, crushed slightly
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
2 cups plus 2 tbsp (500ml) chicken

Read More

This is the one we now make instead of the earlier version. The matzo balls are fluffier and the texture less variable from batch to batch. (The other recipe is a bit tastier when it's at its best, but when the matzoh balls are like little rocks, it's no fun.)

2nd Avenue Deli's Matzo Balls

From Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking

Makes about 12.

4 large eggs
⅓ cup schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)
¼ teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon salt

Read More

I thought I had posted this long ago, but it seems not. Well, here it is: Quite possibly my favorite dish.

Pock-Marked Ma’s Bean Curd (Fuschia Dunlop)

1 block bean curd (about 1 pound)
4 baby leeks or 2 leeks
½ cup peanut oil (¼ cup will do)
6 ounces ground beef
2½ tablespoons Sichuanese chili bean paste (Toban Jian)
1 tablespoon fermented black beans
2 teaspoons ground Sichuanese chiles (hot, but not really optional)
1 cup “everyday stock”

Read More

and pork is my favorite meat.

Here's a pork goulash with sauerkraut, from David Waltuck's Staff Meals from Chanterelle:

Pork Goulash, Szeged Style

¼ cup canola or other vegetable oil, or more as needed
2½ pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1½ -inch cubes
2 large onions, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
3 strips thickly sliced good-quality smoked bacon, rind removed and discarded, cut crosswise into ⅛-inch pieces

Read More

I didn't get to make Hoppin' John for the shelter on New Year's Day, but cassoulet is close in spirit and only a couple of days late.

The authentic (though nobody can agree on it) cassoulet Toulousaine or cassoulet de Carcassonne uses preserved duck legs or goose legs. Too expensive for the quantity I'm making (a quadruple recipe!) or too tedious to make yourself. This version by Mark Bittman skips the confit de canard and tastes damn good.

Cassoulet
Mark Bittman, How to Cook

Read More