Food Snob Alert!

When I was a kid my sister and I read the New york Times Magazine religiously. Mainly the fashion and food sections. But, really, what else is there, right? Although, it would be hard to tell now how much time I spent studying haute couture as a kid (I wear a navy blue uniform to work in my real life) But I think I have finally achieved a level of elitist foodie-ness to best the Times. Let me explain- if any of you out there ever read the food section of the New York Times, you know that it specializes in very chic glossy photos of meals, the ingredients of which you would never be able to find- much less afford- or be able to prepare without specialized equipment. This was indescribably maddening, as a young foodie and budding cook. It was sort of like getting a piece of furniture from Ikea and not being able to put it together because one of those ridiculous wooden pegs is missing. I wanted so badly to recreate the exotic looking meals featured in this glossy erudite magazine. But I never had panko bread crumbs, kobe beef, or the equipment to make lobster flavored foam, seaweed-flavored gelato, or whatever. Anyway, you get the idea. It was as if the editors always put in one really eccentric ingredient as if to say "Ha! You see? You are not a rich yuppie from Manhattan and you never will be! Ha, ha, ha!" Well you food snobs feast your eyes on this! This winter we made goose confit, and late last fall we made our first home-made sausages. This was the recipe I came up with to showcase both hard to come by ingredients.


Cassoulet with Home Made Venison Sausage and Goose Confit

Note: Although this recipe calls for Venison Sausage and Confit I am not snobby enough to pretend it wouldn't be equally delicious with substitutions such as a portion of leftover duck or turkey and whatever store bought sausage you want.

Soak 1/2 pkg. dry white beans over night (If you don't have time, or forgot to soak them overnight just soak as long as possible)

1 Onion (chopped finely)
2 Carrots (chopped finely)
2 large Celery Ribs (chopped finely)
2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)


1 1/2 lbs Venison Sausage (or any mild flavored sausage)
2 Jars shredded confit (1 1/2 lb shredded poultry- preferably turkey, duck, or dark meat chicken)
2-3 TB Reserved fat from confit, or 2-3 strips of bacon
1 large can chopped tomatoes
Chicken stock
2-3 Cups bread crumbs
Handful of chopped fresh parsley
Handful of Parmesan
Bay leaf

Drain soaked beans, rinse, and submerge in well flavored chicken stock. Cook until tender replenishing stock as needed. Heat oven to 350 F. Brown sausages in large dutch oven or heavy casserole on top of stove. If you happen to be using confit, make sure to reserve some fat from the jar to brown the sausages and veggies. If you are not using confit, cook a couple strips of bacon and use the fat for cooking. Reserve the strips for later. Brown sausages well in fat. While this is going on, chop onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. When sausages are done, transfer them to a plate. Add veggies (except garlic) to pan, brown well, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Just before they are done, add garlic and saute for a few moments but avoid burning it. When beans are tender, add them and the remaining vegetable stock into the casserole with the veggies. Return sausages, crumbled bacon (if using), confit (or other poultry) to pan. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid and a fresh bay leaf. Put in oven. Cook at 350 until most of the liquid in the pot has been absorbed (40 minutes or so) While you are waiting for the cassoulet to be done, brown bread crumbs in a pan with some butter over medium heat and set aside. When most of the liquid has been absorbed from the cassoulet, sprinkle the top of it with a thin layer of fresh chopped parsley, bread crumbs, and Parmesan. Put back in oven until top is crisp and brown (10 minutes)

Serve cassoulet in bowls with a tossed salad and crusty bread, and of course, a good beer. Saison Dupont would be nice with this...........

A Valentine Beer for...

Dear Mr. President,

I'm not a celebrity hound. I could give a crap about the rich, powerful, and famous. Further more, even if I could- I would never invite people of that sort over for a drink. But frankly, I think you are F**cking awesome. And, I wish you could come over for a beer. There, I said it. Oh, and by the way- those suits you're drinking with in this particular photo look like a bunch of weenies.

But your new Secretary of State looks like a much better drinking partner.

Looks like staff meetings could get pretty lively...and who's this looser in the front left corner toasting with a glass of milk anyway?

Powerthirst

Forget drinking beer- get powerthirst instead! I hope you find this as amusing as I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3qncy5Qfk

Bacon

A while back (yes I am still catching up on things from this summer) Mr. Chops and I went on a bacon field trip to Nodine's. I had heard reviews of this much revered smokehouse on TV and on the radio and since it was only 45 minutes from Chopsland, I figured, why not? Although Nodine's runs a huge mail order business and supplies smoked meat to some of the fanciest food stores in Manhattan, I figured I could get a better feel for things if I went up and saw the operation for myself. Truth be told, Nodine's retail store is, how shall we say this...modest? It's pretty much a shack filled with meat, really delicious smoked meat. Which, is totally fine with me, but I was picturing, especially after all the rave reviews, I don't know- maybe something a little more grand. More like a meat mecca. So if you were looking for some smoked meat abience by visiting the quaint store in Goshen, CT- better to skip the trip and just order in.

Despite the humble appearances, we did manage to scurry back to the car with six pounds of bacon and a really wonderful ham. We got Juniper Bacon, Breakfast Strips (Nitrate Free), and double smoked bacon. The juniper bacon was thin and in a one pound slab. The other two varieties were thick cut, and in a smaller package. They were all extremely tastey, but I have to say my favorite was the juniper bacon. I'm won't to lie to you and say I could really taste the juniper, but it was just straight up yummy.

Some of you die-hard readers might be wondering how Nodine's compares with the Amish bacon I reviewed last year and I have got to say, although Nodine's might be a natural choice for bacon connoisseurs or people with lots of disposable income (Nodine's is on the spendy side) Stoltzfus bacon is a probably a better value and every bit as good, especially for everyday bacon eating. That's right, I said everyday bacon eating. No, I do not own stock in the company that makes lipitor, but I probably should.