Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos

My birthday is coming up...October 2. I'm not afraid to say that I LOVE my birthday, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I usually--happily--make my own birthday plans...way in advance, mind you...where we're going out for dinner, what I'll do with my friends, etc. Hell, I even make my own birthday cake!

This year, I asked Jerad & his mom to buy me the new Vitamix, which should be delivered any day now (more about that later). I'm planning dinner with the Food Blog Mafia at Araka sometime that week. But, since my birthday is on a Saturday this year, I really want to do something fun that day. As of now, the plan is to do a taco crawl on Cherokee Street, go to the City Museum (I've never been), have cocktails at Taste, then dinner somewhere still to be decided.

All that talk about tacos & my friend's constant praise of tacos as "happy-making" made us browse Rick Bayless's book for an easy, authentic taco recipe for yesterday's dinner. This one was indeed easy, despite the long cooking time, and it tasted pretty damned amazing...smoky, spicy, rich, deep. We're having leftovers for dinner again tonight.

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Tyler Florence likes grapes.

Sometimes, blogging has its perks. I mean, I don't blog specifically for the perks. But, sometimes, it does pay off to be a food blogger.

Recently, I was invited to attend a Cardinals game (with other bloggers and local media folks) on Tuesday, to sit in the Red Bird Club All-Star (aka VIP) room, and to schmooze with Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence. I am a fan fangirl of "Hot Tyler" so I immediately accepted the invitation...even if he was promoting "healthy" ballpark food. I mean, when I go to a Cardinals game, I usually go just to eat hot dogs (with mustard & sauerkraut) and nachos loaded with that bright orange cheese-stuff & pickled jalapenos. But, I figured I could play along with healthy food....for Tyler's sake.

Actually, Tyler (I've met him twice now, so we're on a first name basis) is appearing at stadiums across the country representing the California Table Grape Commission during Grapes from California days. After throwing out the first pitch, Tyler made his way to the All-Star room where he introduced himself to everyone and talked to each of us. And take pictures, of course.

Don't we make a cute couple???

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Zucchini Vichyssoise

School starts again this week, and I was kind of looking forward to starting a new year. Then, I was dreading it....not because of the early mornings or the new curriculum or some can-be-obnoxious students (and teachers)....but because of the 100+ degree temps around here last week and my school's lack of air-conditioning.  Luckily, the weather is supposed to be a bit more mild for the start of school this year.

When I tell people that my school is not air-conditioned, they find it hard to believe that a school in the United States in 2010 doesn't have that technology. But, for whatever reason (I'm guessing finances), only the offices & the library are cooled. 

And, my building is a greenhouse. Not figuratively speaking, but LITERALLY a greenhouse. It is a big square building with an open courtyard in the middle that has a glass roof & trees growing in it. MOTHERFUCKING TREES, PEOPLE. The hallways circle the courtyard, and all the classrooms open to it. My room is upstairs. It's hot up there, I mean downright sweltering. No wonder the students are so crabby at the beginning of the school year. 

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Mayfair Dressing

St. Louis is famous for inventing several foods. Ice cream cones & hot dogs in buns were first served at the 1904 World's Fair, which also introduced people to hamburgers, cotton candy, iced tea, & Dr. Pepper. Other St. Louis originals include toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake, concretes, peanut butter, Provel cheese, slingers, & 7-Up. 


One of my favorite local recipes is Mayfair salad dressing. It was created at the Mayfair-Lennox Hotel in downtown St. Louis. This dressing is similar to Caesar dressing but has more of a "bite" to it. 

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Tomato Tarte Tatin

We tried our hand at a little home garden this summer. We planted a small herb garden with basil, thyme, oregano, & chives and a few tomato plants. Our sungold plant is thriving; we pick a handful of little orange beauties each day. We've gotten a few roma tomatoes, but they are a little mealy tasting. We have ONE Beefsteak on the wine vine (Freudian slip!) and have FINALLY gotten a bloom or two on the Brandywine plant.

So, to satiate our craving for fresh tomatoes, we've been buying them at our local farmers market each Saturday. Is there nothing better than a freshly-picked tomato at the peak of the summer season? I don't think there is.

We had quite a few cherry tomatoes of different sizes & varieties...round red ones, oval red ones, orange ones, yellow ones, & "chocolate" ones which have a brownish skin. To use them up we made a tart in the Le Creuset tarte tatin pan we got as a wedding gift.

I can't believe I didn't make this sooner. All I can say is MAKE THIS NOW. Seriously. Now. Go! It's amazingly good.

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Bellini Popsicles

We had some people over on July 3rd, a BYOB-and-a-snack-to-share kind of backyard thing. Jerad & I made porchetta di testa (aka pig face), caramelized onion dip, roasted tomatoes with white anchovies, and bellini popsicles. Our fabulous friends brought good cheeses, onion & blue cheese tartlettes, Free Range cookies & cupcakes, oatmeal bars, salami from Salume Beddu, Greek dip, meat corn, broccoli dip, pasta salad, panzanella, and bacon s'mores.

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Grilled Beef Heart

Jerad has been wanting to cook a beef heart ever since his parents grilled a deer heart last fall & raved about how good it was. After weeks of asking for one at the farmers’ markets, Jerad finally brought one home a couple weeks ago.

Once again, he researched online & found another video of Chef Chris Cosentino cleaning a heart. Unfortunately, as with the pig’s head, I didn’t get to witness this part of the process…and Jerad didn’t take any pictures. But, the untrimmed heart looked pretty much like this:

After all the fat, silver skin, & arteries were trimmed off, I marinated the meat in 3 cloves of garlic (crushed), a handful of fresh oregano, 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice, 1/2 cup white wine, & 1 cup beer for 2 hours. We grilled the meat for 2 -3 minutes per side, sliced it thin, & ate in on heated tortillas with grilled peppers & onions.

I have to admit that I was initially fairly grossed out about eating heart, but I rationalized it by reminding myself that it’s just a muscle, just like (well, not exactly like, but close enough) any ol’ steak. The meat turned out to be tender & not “weird” or gamey tasting at all. It tasted like…well…steak. The only difference is that it’s very lean, with no fat marbling at all. Therefore, it was pretty dense meat. The thin slicing worked well in that aspect.

After pig's face & beef heart, I'm a little excited to see what animal part Jerad will want to cook next.

Porchetta di Testa

Warning: This post involves some gratuitous cursing.

Intro: WE MADE MOTHERFUCKING CHARCUTERIE! You have no idea how happy this makes me. I am so smitten with salume & people who have the know-how to make it (see Cute Meat Guys). So, when Jerad decided to make porchetta from a pig’s head, I knew I married the right guy.

Background: A couple Sundays ago, Jerad & I taught a sushi class for couples at Kitchen Conservatory. There was a whole hog class going on in the other kitchen, and since they didn’t use the head Anne asked if we wanted to take it home. Jerad said yes without hesitation. I figured we’d just use the cheeks (the best part on nearly any animal) & ears (blanched, cut, & fried = yum).

Preparation: We hadn’t done anything with that head for a few days, and I told Jerad on Wednesday that he had to make something with it THAT DAY or it was going out with the trash the next morning. I was, quite frankly, a little tired of seeing that thing staring at me every time I opened the refrigerator.

I worked that day and received a text message from Jerad that afternoon with only a photo….this photo:

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Peanut Butter & Bacon Truffles

My friend Susie recently twittered, "Bittersweet and bacon truffle--not good. Sorry @barbaricgulp but apparently bacon & chocolate do not go together." Now, I feel it's my duty to show Susie the error of her ways...and prove her wrong, of course.

My love of all things porcine is no secret to my closest friends and casual acquaintances. Kelli bought me a bacon scarf for my birthday last fall. Stephanie (the "other" Steph) will often forward me links to things like bacon air-freshener, bacon bandaids, & bacon jelly beans. She even sent me a Patron Saint of Bacon figurine.

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Pressed Cuban Burgers

One of our favorite meals in Las Vegas, where we were married in March, was at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We stopped in spontaneously for an early lunch on the day of our ceremony. Everything we tried was delicious...the tuna "nachos," spicy beef tenderloin tartare, smoked shrimp tacos, & particularly the pressed Cuban burger.

Jerad didn't say much when he took the first bite of the burger. "How is it?" I asked, worried that he wasn't cooing over his food like I was over the shrimp tacos I'd ordered. He smiled slightly, paused, and admitted, "It's probably the best burger I've ever eaten!" He didn't gush over it because he didn't want to share!

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