Ham Sandwich Indicted!

True to form (and compulsion), Ham Sandwich and family kept it on the foodie tip this Christmas, with several days of festive food and drink. We started off on Christmas Eve with our now-traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes. This year's menu included: Garlic-butter glazed salmon (caught by H.S's brother, up in Michigan) Lemon and herb stuffed whole trout (also caught by said brother) Prociutto-wrapped scallops Sardines in Salsa Verde recipe here , with sardines instead of anchovies Crab cakes Shrimp cocktail Crab salad Salmon dip Farfalle pasta with tomato sauce Assorted cheeses, olives, and breads We also experimented with cocktails from Imbibe! a book of old-tyme drink recipes. And maybe the folks of 1862 had a different idea of what tastes good, but I would argue that Hot Buttered Rum is not very delicious. However, the Vanilla Punch we made on Christmas Day (with brandy, sugar, lemon, and vanilla extract), was quite enjoyable. For Christmas Day dinner, we went with a...

So, this past weekend (Feb 13-14) was the annual Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) conference in Granville, OH. OEFFA defines itself as "a membership-based, grassroots organization, dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable, ecological, and healthful food systems." Members include farmers, farm markets coordinators, educators, political activists, chefs, educators, and people like myself, who are just interested in finding healthier ways to feed ourselves and our local agricultural community. This was the first year I attended the conference, and was able to go on a discount in exchange for volunteering four hours of my time over the course of the weekend. The volunteering was an interesting experience in and of itself, but first, I want to share a bit about what I did. First up: Cheesemaking!! Saturday morning started off with a class on how to make fresh mozzarella and ricotta in your home--in less than an hour! The class was taught by Angel King of...

Earlier this week, Mark Bittman had a recipe for Coconut-Braised Beef on his blog. Maybe I was hungry because I had nothing for lunch on Friday but a sweet potato, but when I saw that recipe, I made the executive decision that I would make it this weekend. I had pretty much everything I needed except coconut milk, and being obsessed, I of course went to the grocery at 9:30 on a Friday night in the middle of a snowstorm after drinking Miller Lites all evening at happy hour. Then, when I got home I realized that I did not have a beef chuck roast in my freezer, I had a pork shoulder. Since I was not about to venture back into the not-quite Class 3 killstorm for some beef, I decided pork would have to do. And let me tell you, it did just fine. In fact, it was pretty spectacular, and was a delicious dish on a cold, snowy night. Coconut Braised Pork Shoulder a la Mark Bittman 2-3 hot dried red chilies (remove some of the seeds to lessen the heat) 4 garlic cloves, peeled 2 inch piece o...

My friend Brian turned 32 last week, and celebrated by having his friends over for pozole. It's becoming increasingly clear that he has a serious affection for slow cooked pork (see post on pig roast), and last Saturday's event was a great success. Pozole (or posole) is essentially a pork and hominy soup, pre-Columbian in origin. The pork (usually a shoulder) is braised for hours in a broth of chilies and spices, and the hominy is added near the end. Garnishes for the pozole included crispy tostadas, warm tortillas, sliced radishes, fresh cilantro, shredded greens, and a sauce made of reconstituted and pureed chipotle peppers. Needless to say, it was delicious. I'll see if I can't get Brian to share his recipe for the blog... "Three most essential parts of a good pozole: pork, hominy, and chile." Vince on shredding duty. There was also a pinata--which was demolished by some very enthusiastic participants wielding drumsticks.