Archive for June, 2009

Pancetta Rustica

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Pancetta, if you didn't know, is quite simply Italian bacon. Pork belly is cured with garlic, herbs and aromatic spices such as nutmeg, clove and cinnamon, then hung to dry. Often the belly is rolled and tied before drying for an attractive spiral effect when sliced, but not always. Most ...

Fried Smelts, Tasted

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

What delightfully mild little fish the smelts are, and how terrific that their smallness and abundance lends to my eating more of them. I estimate that I put away twenty-five of them last night at supper time. Their preparation was delightfully simple. Since there is a negligible amount of innards in ...

Indian Pickles

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

If I haven't mentioned achar before in another post, I'll take this opportunity to proclaim Achar Pachranga from Pachranga Foods as one of the best spicy oil pickles on the market. I'm especially fond of the lotus root and Indian gooseberries in their signature blend. You can put the stuff ...

Oh, My Sole

Monday, June 8th, 2009

When you have beautiful fish such as these exquisite filets of Dover sole, please don't tamper with it so much. In this case I sea-salted and peppered each filet, heated the cast iron skillet to wicked-hot and then removed it from the stove. I gently placed each filet into the ...