Feeding The Legions

From what I read, farro preempted the strains of wheat we're familiar with for mass consumption in Roman Italy and the reaches of its empire.  The legions, properly nourished on this plump and chewy grain, were thus able to conquer many a foreign land.  Then somewhere down the road they started cultivating higher yielding strains of wheat, and we all know what happened after that.    

Artichokes are among my favorite vegetables to eat; I think maybe the work involved to get to the edible parts makes them more alluring to me.  It's hard to put my finger on exactly what it is about the flavor I find so pleasing, but I know part of the enjoyment is the texture...eaten raw and sliced thin they are bitter but fresh, and cooked through they are tender yet firm enough to cut with a knife, mellow but distinct.  

Baby artichokes are considerably less labor-intensive than mature ones because the leaves are not as fibrous to begin with, and the choke is not developed enough to be needly and bad for eating.  They also tend to be cheaper by weight.  The name though is misleading; these "babies" are full size when brought to market, just plucked lower on the plant than bigger ones.  

This recipe might sound minimal and lacking pizzazz to some...if so, you could add olives and/or some fresh herbs like mint or parsley to liven it up, but for me just the aroma of good olive oil hitting the still warm farro as I mix it in gets me...adding artichokes, crispy and salty on the outside while sweet and tender within, is abundantly pleasing for a meal or at least a side. 

2 lbs. baby artichokes, or equivalent in full size artichokes
16 oz. to 20 oz. Whole Farro
Hard, not too mild cheese like Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano
3 to 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus more to dress the farro
Juice of 2 lemons
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
Salt & pepper to taste
Hot pepper flakes to taste

Prepare the artichokes by peeling away the toughest outer layers of leaves...for mature artichokes this will require more work than baby artichokes, but they'll be tender enough when you reach the yellow/pale green layers.  Cut away the outer flesh of the heart and stalk if it is intact.  Then cut the artichoke in half, and if using mature ones, remove the thistles of the choke with a pairing knife or spoon.

Place the artichokes, cut side down, in a frying pan in one layer, along with the garlic, then add the olive oil and water to a depth of about a quarter inch and bring to a boil, covered.  When the water boils, remove the lid and let the water evaporate as it steams the artichokes.  Allow it to continue as the water disappears and the oil sizzles, browning and cooking the artichokes through.  Cook until they are golden and crispy on the outside.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

You can choose to cook the farro per package instructions like a pilaf, but I just put it in a sauce pan and add cold water to cover by about 3 inches, then bring it to a boil (I don't pre-soak it either).  I cook it at a moderate boil and taste for doneness about 30 minutes after initially turning the heat on, not from when it began boiling.  I find it cooks in 30-40 minutes, start to finish.  A couple minutes before it's done to your liking, add salt to the water, letting the salt dissolve and get absorbed by the grain, then checking for taste.

Drain the farro in a colander and let sit a 5 to 10 minutes to cool somewhat.  Then place it in a serving bowl and add a few tablespoons at least of extra virgin olive oil.  Add the artichokes and the lemon juice, and season to taste the salad with salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes, tossing to mix everything in.

Serve with shavings of cheese and another generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Pulling The Pork One Way Or Another

I took it for granted that picnic roasts, or pork shoulders with the bone in were readily available these days, what with so many foodies about and bbq firmly established as an American pass time.  Maybe it's not until Memorial Day though that they start stocking them on supermarket shelves. So the Friday before our Pre-Memorial Day Weekend Party I was scrambling, and like Santa Clause in a blizzard on 12/23, thinking perhaps this year there would be no pulled pork for the party. 

But I went back to the friendly neighborhood butcher, who sold me on a couple nice pork shoulders instead.  Granted, no bones, and the sum of two of them equalled the tonnage I needed, but it's still pork, so how big a difference could it be?  The answer, I think, is not much.  I'm still going to look for the big hunk with the bone in the future, but in a pinch this will do. 

Although I admire those who have trailers the size of my house in which they smoke and slow cook meat for prize money, I don't believe there's much mystery to this dish at all.  What can be achieved at home and even in a conventional oven is a very good imitation if not a distinguished dish itself. 

The rub, which goes on in one layer, just enough for every millimeter of surface area usually, penetrates the meat overnight and more during cooking, caramelizing in the final hours and crusting up as fat is rendered out...the whole deal basically. The natural flavor of the pork comes out and it goes from tough to falling apart as connective tissue disintegrates.  From there very little is needed as the meat will remain quite moist despite the internal temperature going way beyond medium rare.   

I got me some "Bone Suckin' Sauce" from Stew Leonard's, and that became the dressing for my pork out of the oven.  I like it with a current of vinegar and tomato, then a good contrast of sweet and spice, and this one worked well.  It wasn't too thick or molasses dark, more fit for pouring and a rusty red color.   

So maybe the end product wouldn't stand up to a pitmaster's results after being smoked in his or her well seasoned apparatus...but this recipe is for the home cook with basic instruments, and you'll fool a lot of people who may well render effusive praise upon you for making this.    

So I encourage people to take up the very undemanding effort of getting yourself a big roast, and through the simple process (basically leaving it in an oven all day without touching it) you'll have an utterly succulent and crowd pleasing plethora or pork that seems so fitting for the outdoor party season.

Rub Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cumin, ground
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper, ground
1/2 tablespoon pimentón (if using regular paprika, which is more bland, double it)
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Meat & Sandwich Ingredients:
1 7 lb. "picnic roast" or "Boston Butt" bone-in pork shoulder (substitute de-boned shoulder(s) if you can't find them with the bone intact)

16 oz. good, spicy barbecue sauce (preferably without high fructose corn syrup and with apple cider vinegar high on the list of ingredients)

Cole slaw, recipe follows

12 Potato buns

Mix the rub ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.  Rinse the meat with cold water and pat dry with paper towel.  Score the fat cap of the meat with a sharp knife in a broad cross hatch pattern, but don't cut below the fatty layer into the meat.  Take the dry rub and massage it into the meat sensually and with reverence, getting it on every part of the surface and into the crevasses that you scored with the knife.  Cover the meat with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day remove the meat from the fridge an hour before cooking.  Preheat the oven to 225° F with the rack in the middle bottom of the oven.  Put the meat in a roasting pan at least a couple inches deep.  When it's time, place the meat in the oven and let it cook, undisturbed, until the internal temperature reaches 200° F, which requires 1.5 to 2 hours per pound of meat.

When it's finished cooking, remove it from the oven and let sit uncovered for an hour prior to pulling.  If you plan on leaving it out longer, cover with foil.  When it comes time to pull, it might still be hot in the center, so beware.  You may also want rubber gloves, although the feeling of the tender, well lubricated meat between your fingers is an experience not lost on most people.  You can use two forks to do the pulling, but I find hands are still the best tools of the trade.

Remove the large pieces of fat that have not rendered out first and discard.  Then pull the meat into morsels fit for eating with a fork or on a sandwich.  Keep the crispy and crunchy ends intact--they have a nice concentrated flavor courtesy of the rub and pork wonder.  When the meat has been pulled sufficiently, mix in some barbecue sauce; enough to dress it without drowning it.  People can add more to theirs when it's served.

To make a sandwich, pile some of the meat on a potato bun and top it with coleslaw, pressing the top down over everything to make it a viable sandwich, and enjoy.         

Cole Slaw:
1 medium head of green cabbage (if the green cabbage is much larger than the purple, halve the green)
1 head purple cabbage

4 carrots

1 tablespoon celery seed
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
3-4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2-3 tablespoons spicy mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Shred the vegetables.  Mix all the ingredients together and then dress the vegetables.  This improves a lot if it's dressed several hours in advance and even refrigerated overnight.  Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving at room temperature or slightly below.   

Today We Have Disaronno On The Rocks With Breaded Chicken Thighs

You don't always have to go flour-egg-crumbs with a piece of meat or fitch...when frying it's necessary to glue the coating on, but if you're engaging in a less contact method like baking, oil alone will do to adhere the crumbs and seasoning to the protein and maintain moisture. 

For instance...some well-aged bread, hard as can be, I think, processed to little crumbs, seasoned with fresh oregano, salt and pepper.  I used boneless chicken thighs because, although breasts pounded out are just fine, thighs pounded out can be even better.  

It's worth using good oil...maybe not your best EVOO, but something you like the taste of.  It's quick, less messy than frying, and you're left with less lipid overall.  I did spritz the pieces with my olive oil mister just out of the oven to ensure they glistened and were abundantly moist, which they were.  We enjoyed it beside a crisp endive salad with bell pepper, picholine olives and chickpeas. This method works great on a firm white fish too.     

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 loaf rustic bread, several days old and very hard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Handful fresh herb of choice (oregano, basil, thyme, etc. or a mixture), finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
Optional: extra virgin olive oil applied in mist form

Equipment:

Meat pounder or tenderizer

Optional: spray mister

Heavy Duty plastic wrap

1 metal baking sheet

To make the bread crumbs, cut the bread into roughly 1 inch cubes.  Put them in a food processor and pulse to the desired level of fineness, ensuring they are somewhat uniform in size.  Place the crumbs in a bowl big enough to dredge the chicken pieces in and mix in the herbs, hot pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.  

Preheat an oven to 400° F with the rack in the upper middle.   

Lay a thigh out on a double layer of plastic wrap on a work surface that you can thoroughly clean later.  Place another double layer of plastic on top, and using the textured edge of the meat pounder, whack the chicken, not too energetically, going in a circular motion from the inside out, until it's a uniform thickness of about a 1/4 inch.  Set aside and repeat for all the pieces.  Alternatively you can use a tenderizer with spears and run over each side of the chicken twice in opposite directions.  Season to taste them all with salt and pepper.

Put the olive oil in a bowl that's also big enough to dredge the chicken in.  Prepare your assembly line; chicken, then oil, then crumbs, then baking sheet.  Dip the chicken in the oil to coat the entire surface, then drain off the excess.  Press firmly into the breadcrumbs, turning to coat fully and evenly.  The crumbs may not adhere that strongly at first, but by pressing firmly and then placing them gently on the baking sheet you'll be ok.

When all the pieces are coated, bake them for 20 minutes, checking midway to see how brown the bottom is, flipping if necessary.  If you desire them more brown after 20 minutes, turn the broiler on and broil them for 1 to 2 minutes, paying careful attention so the breading doesn't burn.