Momofuku Bo Ssam

My parents got us a NY Times Sunday subscription for Christmas (and it is fabulous, every Sunday morning we tune out completely for a couple hours to drink coffee, listen to the bizarre reggae show on 88.5, and read the paper, it's heaven.) and a couple weeks ago they had a recipe from Momofuku. I have never been to Momofuku, and I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to it. This recipe offered melty roasted pork cooked in a salty-sugar crust that you basically just pull apart and eat all rolled up in lettuce leaves with tangy sauces. Pretty great! I tore it out and saved it for a week or so, analog style. 

Now, observe: 1.) any given pork butt is way too big for just us to eat on our own; 2.) the actual eating of this meal sounds fun and communal; 3.) the recipe is wicked easy and basically fail-proof. This adds up to a recipe tailor-made for a casual dinner party...it was super fun and everyone freaked out about how yummy it was.

Here's the recipe, more or less as God and the January 15, 2012 Times Magazine intended it:

Pork Butt:

1 whole pork butt [they said 8-10 lbs; I used about 7 lbs.]

1 cup each [!] sugar and kosher salt

Mix the sugar and the salt; rub all over your pork butt. Put said pork butt in the fridge, wrapped in plastic, at least 6 hours, or overnight which is what I did.

The next day, turn the oven to 300 and put the pork in there in a roasting pan for about 6 hours.

The best thing is how the recipe now says "meanwhile, make the sauces." These two sauces will take you approximately 10 minutes to make. Count on having 5 hours and 50 minutes to "meanwhile" on something else. For example, I cleaned the house and studied some Supreme Court nuttery for school. Here's the two sauces:

Ginger-scallion sauce:

Mix 2 1/2 cups thin sliced scallions with 1/2 cup minced fresh ginger, 1/4 cup oil [I used peanut; they recommended grapeseed, fight!], 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Ssam sauce:

Mix 2 tablespoons ssamjang paste with 1 tablespoon kochujang, 1/2 cup sherry vinegar, and 1/2 cup oil [see above]. Ssamjang is a fermented bean-chili paste. You'll need to go to an Asian market for it; ditto kochujang, which is a Korean chili paste. They are totally worth having around; you will find a thousand delicious uses for them.

To accompany the roasted pork butt you'll have both these sauces, plus white rice (2 cups, cooked), and several heads of Bibb lettuce to wrap it all up in. Kimchi is good in there too.

 When you are close to being ready to eat, take out the pork. It should be really soft and falling apart to the touch. Stir together 1 tablespoon salt with 7 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub it all over the pork and put it back in the oven, crank it up to 500 and let it get dark and caramel-sticky for about 10 minutes. It should have a really nice, dark crust all over. Pull it out, get all the accompaniments in little bowls, call your friends and eat. You just pull off bits of pork, stuff it into lettuce leaves, and add sauces as you like. It's ridiculously good and a lot of fun.

Here's a link to the actual article in the New York Times, if you want to see a really trustworthy version of what I just told you and if you haven't hit your paywall for the month yet. Their pictures, of course,  are nice too.

Happy mama granola

Last summer I made a huge batch of this olive oil granola when Betsy was in town and staying at my house. She was pregnant at the time and was totally capable of destroying several bowls with yogurt per day (as was I, but I didn't have the pregnancy excuse). It's just the yummiest granola: sweet, a little salty, and perfectly crispy from baking in the olive oil. About a month ago baby Grant came into the world, and I figured if there's anyone hungrier than a pregnant lady, it's a new mom. So I made a big batch to send on up to Wisconsin. Welcome to your first winter, little guy! This recipe is based on the New York Times olive oil granola from summer 2009. Combine 3 cups rolled oats with 1 cup dried coconut pieces (I used small chunks) and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Add in 1 cup each shelled pumpkin seeds and pistachios.I also chopped up about 1/2 cup pecans and added those in, as well as about 1/4 cup of leftover banana chips (clearly this is a pretty flexible recipe and a great place to use up odds and ends of things you may have in your pantry).Mix it all up well...And add in 1 1/2 teaspoons salt...Plus 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon and cardamom. Mix everything up well and add in 3/4 - 1 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup olive oil. And stir!This is a good time to point out my awesome Respect Your Mother tshirt. Take note, baby Grant!This is what your mixture should be looking like:Spread it out on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven at 325 for at least an hour. Stir often to evenly dry things out.Meanwhile, chop up 3/4 cup of dried fruit. I used apricots because I still had them in the pantry from the last time I made granola. But this is a good place to experiment with different additions if there are other dried fruits you like!When the granola is crisp and smelling heavenly (and this may take longer than 1 hour, depending on your oven--just keep a good eye on it so it doesn't burn!), take it out and try to slap people away from it. It smells amazing, so this resistance is NOT easy. Be ready with a wooden spoon, a fierce expression and a sad story about how this is for a brand-new mother. Also, now you can stir in your dried fruit. I packed it up with a cute label listing all the ingredients...And something for Dad too, because Ryan doesn't like to be left out. Congratulations, you guys!***UPDATE: Erin BS made this over the weekend and reports back that shredded coconut is not the way to go, as it easily burns. Stick with chunks or large flakes. And for those whose ovens run hot (or perhaps for those ovens that simply run true), try setting to 300 degrees. And stir often.

Pineapple...on fire!

I got some pineapple with a half -baked plan to wrap it in bacon for an appetizer of some kind. But then I got lazy. So I set it on fire instead! Voila--last-minute dessert and postprandial entertainment, all in one! I have never before attempted to flambé anything but now I'm pretty sure it's gonna be my all-purpose cooking finish. Gnocchi? Flambé! Mashed potatoes? Flambé! 5-alarm chili? Flambé! Word to the wise(r than me): this was a great idea I had after a few drinks during dinner. Please be careful and don't set your house on fire. First things first: add a few tablespoons brown sugar to 3 cups of fresh, chunked pineapple and allow to macerate for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix 2 shots coconut liquor with two shots rum and 1/4 cup orange juice and set aside. When you're ready for dessert, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a heavy pan over medium-high heat.When the butter is hot, add in your sugared pineapple chunks. Add a healthy two pinches (or more) of chili powder and any other spices you like (I think I put in some cardamom as well but not sure about that). Let the fruit get brown and slightly caramelized. Now the fun part! Turn up the heat to high and dump in your booze/oj mixture...And set it on fire! Light a match to it and step the hell back.Fwoomp! Steve was sitting all the way out on the porch while Lydia and I were doing this in the kitchen and he says it made an impressively large fireball. We're very brave.It subsides pretty fast.And leaves a beautiful brown sauce with an exciting "I-just-caught-on-fire" flavor.The chili with the pineapple is really great--a subtle background heat that feels right with the instant caramel from the flambé.Pour the pineapple with its sauce over some vanilla ice cream. This would also be great on poundcake or something.

New Orleans absinthe

I had the greatest time in New Orleans watching our fantastic bartender at Pirate's Alley Cafe prepare glasses of absinthe--it felt like something out of another century. It made me think of last Thanksgiving when we all had some of Steve's eastern european contraband absinthe, except the process here was more fetishized with its specialized equipment and probably less illegal.She poured the absinthe through the sugar cubes balanced on top...They got a little melty. Then she lit the absinthe-soaked sugar cubes with a match.And let icy, purified water drip through the sugar from this crazy olde timey glass contraption to mix gently with the liquor.It made a groovy, cloudy green mixture in the glass.Best enjoyed by an open window in the best city in the world when you have nowhere to be anytime soon.