Pork-a-Thon

We invited Darryl and Robert over for dinner. It was a real endurance test, there was so much great food.

I had stopped by McCall’s Meat and Fish and saw Nate butchering a whole Berkshire Pig. The pig was amazing very pink with layers of fat. It looked delicious. This kind of a pig is rare and difficult to get. We got what was probably the best cut from the entire pig: The Shoulder. We had the meat but weren’t sure what we would make with it.

The weather has been cool and wet here in LA. It was very yucky, and winter like. I did something I often do when I am looking for a recipe; I searched this blog, this time for “Pork”. I found a recipe for Pork Stew with Prunes and Onions. It is from the cookbook: The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert. We had made the recipe September 26, 2007. We had loved the dish then and subsequently had forgotten about it. Click the date to get the recipe. It can be made days in advance, it only tastes better when re-heated. The book calls for it to be served over baked Polenta but we made Fresh Polenta from a recipe from the Zuni Café Cookbook. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Feb. 22, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe.

Robert started the dinner by making Striped Bass over Fresh Vegetables with a Bona Calda Sauce (an anchovie based sauce). This for normal dinners would have been sufficient main course. For us of course….

We then served a responsible sized pasta course of the Pork Ragu we had hade made on Oct 12, 2010. Click the date to get the recipe. It is delicious.

Finally we served the Pork Stew with Prunes and Onions over Polenta.

We finally finished up with a delicious Sour Cherry Tart that Darryl had baked.

It was an excessive night. We need to do it againJ