Ham Sandwich Indicted!

Skillet-Baked Eggs w/Spinach, from Bon Appetit  (This is their pic, not mine...my camera is on the fritz.) For Christmas this year, my food-obsessed brother-in-law (and partner-in-crime) gave me a copy of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's latest book,  Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes . It's a collection of what are, in all reality, pretty simple recipes that highlight fresh ingredients and can be accomplished with a minimum of time and effort.  The photos are beautifully shot, and the recipes, while occasionally so basic they're obvious (I'm not sure heirloom tomato crostini warrants an actual recipe..), for the most part give creative little twists on elementary concepts.  You definitely can't fault Mr. Vongerichten for his overall concept, though--the presentation of simple, satisfying meals for his friends and family that require few fancy ingredients and no complicated techniques. Take, for example, the dish that apparently pro...

It's damn near impossible (at least for me) to take a picture of braised meat that looks half way decent, but you'll just have to trust that it tastes amazing. Beef cheeks, you ask?  Are those what I think they are? Yes, they are on-the-face-cheeks, not rear-end-cheeks.  They're a tough, fat and sinew-marbled piece of meat, and are surprisingly big, as evidenced below: Big hunks of meat, huh? (And that's just two.) Anyway, somewhere along the way I read an article about beef cheeks and decided to give them a go.  After talking to the fine folks at Bluescreek Farms , I pre-ordered a "bunch" of cheeks and picked them up a week later...A bunch turned out to be about five and a half pounds for $18.  A pretty good bargain, I'd say.  I took home my bag o'cheeks and surfed the internet for ideas. (Not happening: The French Laundry's "Tongue in Cheek" --not because I'm anti-tongue, but I was really not interested in a three day project....