Farm Shared - June 13

First delivery from Hearty Roots, and it was a little on the thin side, but it’s early yet and I’ll be singing the farm’s praises here shortly. I mean, I am already. But most everything is still from the Greenmarket (which is busting out all over the place with sugar snap peas and strawberries). No, I will not tell you where the pork shoulder is from.

[And yeah, I know these photos are way overexposed, but I'm still trying to learn how to use my Rebel XT.]

The guestlist:
+ Phil
Amy + Meena
Jeremy + Yasmine
Micah + Gillian

The menu:
NC-style oven bbq’d pork shoulder
JT-style 5-hour beans
Southern-style greens
chive biscuits

Oven BBQed Pork Shoulder
from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

One 28-oz can whole tomatoes, with juice
2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup cider vinegar
10-lb pork shoulder
4 yellow onions, trimmed and quartered

Preheat oven to 400°F. In large pot, bring tomatoes, paprika, molasses, and vinegar to simmer over medium-high heat. Slice skin off pork shoulder, leaving thin layer of fat. Season with salt and pepper.

Brown pork shoulder in hot skillet, 5 minutes each side. Place in pot with tomato mixture. Add onions to skillet and sweat. Toss in with pork and tomatoes. Deglaze pan with vinegar and add to pot.

Cover pot and cook for 30 minutes in oven. Turn down heat to 300°F and cook another 2.5 hours. Let rest 10 minutes before carving.

John Thorne’s 5-hour Beans

1 lb dried beans (I happened to have some of Rancho Gordo’s Good Mother Stallard beans on hand)
paprika
1 fat clove of garlic
5-10 sage leaves
olive oil
salt
pepper

Cover beans with water in large earthenware baking dish and soak overnight (add more water as beans absorb liquid as necessary to keep covered). Bring soaking liquid to a boil, while adding in a few generous spoonfuls of paprika to beans, along with sage leaves, garlic, a couple glugs of olive oil, and more salt and pepper than you’d think you need. Add hot soaking liquid back to beans. Cover securely with foil and place in oven at lowest temperature setting. Cook for 4.5-5 hours, stirring beans every couple of hours. Season to taste.

Tuesday Greens
adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

1/4 lb slab bacon, diced
2 lbs greens (they’re supposed to be collard greens, but I used turnip and radish tops, spinach, and a stray leaf of bok choy), stemmed, washed, torn up
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Render bacon in skillet over medium-high heat. Reserve bacon and add greens to bacon fat in the pan andn wilt in the pan. Add a small amount of water to steam them as well as vinegar. Season.

Chive Biscuits
using Mark Bittman’s no-fail yogurt biscuit recipe from How to Cook Everything

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bakingn soda
5 tablespoons cold butter
7/8 cup yogurt
1/2-3/4 cup chopped chives

Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and rub butter into mixture to thoroughly blend until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in yogurt until mixture forms a large ball. Add chives and knead ten times, no more. Drop 2-tablespoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve within 15 minutes.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pudding Cake and Mint Ice Cream

See this post and this post.

Single-handedly Supporting the Greenmarket - May 31

Wow, not at all an attractive plating, but I think we can agree that it tasted okay. This was one of the least-planned menus, but it came about because I just got overexcited at the Greenmarket.

The guestlist:
+ Benjie + Pat
Arun + Adam
Marisa
Irene + Robert
Jonathan

The menu:
whole wheat pita bread
baba ganouj
swiss chard and goat cheese tart
sugar snap peas
asparagus
Sullivan Street Bakery bread
strawberry-rhubarb pudding cake
mint ice cream

Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Tart
adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

5 sheets phyllo
1/2 stick of butter, melted
2 egg yolks
Large bunch of baby swiss chard
4 shallots, sliced
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1 button of goat cheese
Handful of pine nuts, toasted
Handful of currants

Lay sheets of phyllo out in pan and brush some butter in between layers. Sauté shallots in pan until caramelized, add swiss chard. Season. Stir together crème fraîche and yolks and spread over phyllo. Scatter swiss chard and shallots over, as well as goat cheese. Sprinkle with pine nuts and currants and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 375°F until it looks done (20ish minutes).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pudding Cake
from the April 2007 issue of Gourmet

1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb stalks
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish.

Stir together water, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan, then stir in rhubarb. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in strawberries.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl.

Whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Reserve 1/2 cup fruit mixture, then add remainder to baking dish and pour batter over it, spreading evenly. Drizzle reserved 1/2 cup fruit mixture over batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes before serving.

[This is one of the most forgiving dessert recipes ever, I think. And currently one of my favorite. I've upped the fruit quantity by as much as 100 or 200% and have also forgotten ingredients only to remix the batter after having already poured it into the pan. And it always seems to get the most praise. Especially when paired with mint ice cream (see previous post).]

Noisy Spring - May 14

The guestlist:
+ Aaron
Cecily + Sarah
Justin + Yamin
Kathy + Dan

The menu:
bacon, mushroom, chive, and pea shoot salad with chive blossoms
roast leg of lamb with fingerling potatoes
pan-roasted asparagus
farro salad with mint, feta, and pine nuts
strawberry-rhubarb crisp
mint and vanilla ice cream

The wine:
lots and lots of rosé

Bacon, Oyster Mushroom, Chive, and Pea Shoot Salad with Chive Blossoms and Pumpkinseed Oil Vinaigrette

Cut a good chunk of slab bacon into lardons. Render in hot pan and then set aside to drain on paper towels. Fry oyster mushrooms in bacon fat until a little crispy, allow to cool and set aside. Toss pea shoots and chives (chopped into 3″ segments) and chive blossoms and dress with vinaigrette (standard, but with a little pumpkingseed oil added). Garnish with lardons and mushrooms.

Roast Leg of Lamb
inspired by the chorizo-stuffed version in Sunday Suppers at Lucques, but without, you know, all that extra crap (and time and effort)

One 3.5-lb boneless leg of lamb, butterflied
4 cloves garlic, smashed
Generous amounts of rosemary and parsley, chopped

Coat lamb on all sides with garlic and herbs and salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350°F. Season lamb a little more and tie up into tidy shape. Stick in the oven for about 1.25 hours and allow to rest 15 minutes before slicing.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
topping adapted from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

6 cups of chopped strawberries and rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Spread fruit out into baking pan and sprinkle sugar on top. Combine rest of ingredients and work butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Spread mixture on top of fruit. Bake at 375°F for 30-45 minutes or until brown and bubbling.

Mint Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
1 or 2 cups cream
2 cups mint leaves
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks

Bring milk and cream to a boil in a sauce pan and turn off heat. Add mint and allow to infuse 1 hour. Whisk together sugar and eggs. Strain milk-cream mixture and discard mint. Bring mixture back to a boil and turn off heat. Temper yolk mixture and gradually whisk to combine. Place custard back on low-medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (6-8 minutes). Allow to cool overnight and process in ice cream maker.