Bacon sushi

Last night I had a dream about bacon sushi. Bear with me here--it was cooked bacon, wrapped inside some sort of firm, strong fish like tuna or mackerel, served with that bourbon-aged soy sauce I have. Doesn't that sound amazing?

I also broke down and finally bought a decent knife. The ones I have are servicable, barely, but wholly inadequate for cutting raw meat. I discovered this yesterday as I was hacking at several pounds of pork belly with kitchen shears, because none of my knives were up to the task. Boo. So I bought the Shun 8" chef's knife, the one with the curved handle, and I'm really nerdily happy about it. Of course it will be strictly off-limits to anyone but me.

Pig Butchering

Last night I went to a pig butchering class, sponsored by Brooklyn Kitchen (you can see pictures there). I know what you're all picturing--me up to my elbows inside a hog. But no, it was not gory at all. The pig was already slaughtered, so the guts/brains/blood were long gone. In fact, we only saw half of it. The butcher on hand took us through the various cuts of pork, explaining what could be done with each, and then at the end everyone in the class divied up all the pork. It was pretty interesting--even though we never touched a knife or the pig, it's always good to know where meat comes from. Bacon does in fact come from the belly of a pig, not from a plastic package in the supermarket.

I was surprised that so many people volunteered for the lesser-known cuts. I expected the chops and ribs to go first thing, but actually, the head, hocks and jowls went first. I ended up with a nice piece of belly, a couple of big thick country-style ribs with a roast attached, a two-inch chop, and all the lard I could carry. This morning I'm cooking it all down, making rillons (little baked squares of pork belly), barbecued ribs, stock from the bones, and I'm rendering all the lard down. Crisco, eat your heart out.

The rillons are amazing. I'm thinking I may have to rejigger the menu for the first supper club event. And last night, I was able to introduce myself with, "I run an underground supper club in Brooklyn," to many murmurs of approval. This morning, I had my first stranger join the mailing list. Exciting stuff!

Readings = success

I had the reading of my two latest plays yesterday, and I think it can officially be called a success. The actors were great, and I got a lot of great commentary from the audience. I took a lot of notes, and will be working on both of them further.

The reading wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking as I'd suspected. Everyone had a good time, no one thought they were big sensationalist pieces of crap (my secret fear), and it was fine hearing the plays out loud and then listening to comments afterward. I've been puttering around with a third play, so perhaps this coming week--especially while I'm bored at home--I can get some good rewrites in.

A side note: the old-school Italian bakery down the block sells lard bread (yes, made with lard, and studded with pieces of ham) which was the hit of the evening. I really must learn to make it.

Two Blind Cats dinner is set!

...For Saturday, May 16. I've been tinkering with the menu all week, trying out the various recipes and thinking about wine pairings--I am unemployed, after all. And I have to admit it's great fun to roll out of bed whenever I happen to wake up, wander into the kitchen, and then be able to spend the rest of the day thinking about food.

The original menu remains largely the same, though the wine pairings will change, I'm sure. The cucumber sorbet turned out well, if a little sweet. The flan also turned out well, but will be less bland served with a bacon salsa. (Mmm...bacon.) The ravioli turned out a lot better than I expected; I used a semolina flour, and next time I'll roll them thinner (the edges were a little chewy) and make them smaller. They were excellent with some sauteed collard greens on top; I also tried fried collard greens, which were delish, but I'll have to make them in a deep fryer next time. There was a bit of a, shall we say, oil explosion when frying them in a cast-iron skillet. Next week I'll give the quail a shot; I may end up doing barbecued quail on cheese grits, I still have a bunch of leftover barbecue sauce from the pork shoulder dinner.

And I made candied grapefruit peel this morning. A little bitter--I think I need to do a better job of scraping out the white insides next time. But I was left with a good bit of grapefruit-flavored simple syrup, which I'll use in some cocktail experimentation.

Candy and Cocktails, courtesy of A Razor, A Shiny Knife

Saturday was another A Razor, A Shiny Knife event, this one held at Botanica in Red Hook. This was my first real exposure to Red Hook proper, and I have to admit, if I didn't have to commute into Manhattan for work every day, I would totally live there. It's a great neighborhood, with a lot of really undervalued real estate and some lovely waterfront lofts. Unfortunately there's no subway access at all, which is why it's so cheap.

Botanica is a great little place, specializing in artisanal cocktails, and the open-air front wall was a perfect setting for Saturday's sunny 80-degree temps. Michael and fellow Razor guys were in the back all day, preparing dinner in addition to bar nibbles; my friend Tameka and I arrived early to partake of the many delicious cocktails and snacks--the most memorable of which were a violet liqueur and Grey Goose martini (a lovely lavendar color) and pork belly tater tots with a chili dipping sauce.

The event menu (below) was six courses of variations on sweet ingredients, with a savory course to start, paired with cocktails from various guest bartenders.

-Creamy Polenta with Mascarpone, Sauteed Morels, Veal Demi-Glace and Thyme
-Green Tea Ice Cream and Maple Syrup Cookie Sandwich, Shaved Almonds, Steelhead Trout Roe paired with a Smoked Palomino from Death and Co.
-Compressed Tuscan Cantaloupe and Galia Melon Wrapped in Smoked Apple Leather, Apple Cake Topped with Melon Linguine, Smoked Honey and Fennel Fronds, paired with a Melon and Smoked Honey Bellini from The Whisk and Ladle
-Sage Panna Cotta in a Yoghurt Soup with a Soft Raspberry Sauce and Crisp Sage, paired with a Botanica from the venue
-Foie Gras with a Port Wine Gelee, Fresh Cape Gooseberries, Compressed Gooseberries, Serrano Peppers, Baby Lettuce with a Vanilla Viniagrette, paired with a Duck Blind from Dram
-Pretzel Ice Cream Tartufo with Fine and Raw Chocolate Shell, Pretzel Praline, Caramel, Espresso Tapioca, Raw Cacao and Sea Salt, with a Ferrettini from Botanica
-Sliced Manchego with Brioche, Mulled Sauterne, Rehydrated Strawberries, Sauterne Jelly, Fresh Strawberries with Manchego Brulee, and Tarragon, paired with a Strawberry Negroni

My sweet tooth has been disappearing rapidly as I age, so I was a bit skeptical; and sure enough, by the end, I was tired of sugar. However, the meal as a whole wasn't nearly as sweet as the menu would have you believe; there were plenty of savory elements, and I suspect the volume of fruity cocktails is what sent most people's sweet tooths over the edge. Nevertheless, it was a great way to spend a sunny, warm Saturday, and I really liked the bar. I'm going to have to go back there.

Two Blind Cats is official!

I'm extremely proud to announce the official launch of Two Blind Cats, Brooklyn's latest underground supper club. To join the mailing list for future events, send an email to twoblindcats@hotmail.com or go to http://www.twoblindcats.com.

I'm thinking the first event will be either May 16 or 23, with a trial run for friends held the day before. So far the menu is:

Amuse bouche: shot of cucumber sorbet with cucumber salsa, served with Hendricks gin
Sweet potato vichyssoise with crispy collard greens, paired with a California chardonnay
Sweet pea flan with carrot puree, paired with a sauvignon blanc
Bitter greens and sorrel ravioli, same sauvignon blanc
Grilled quail with a fig glaze, possibly stuffed with a tasso or country ham and cornbread stuffing, on green onion grits, paired with a pinot noir
Cheesecake with blackberry syrup, with a muscat or sauterne
Tea and coffee, candied grapefruit peel

I'll be playing with the menu, and picking the wines, between now and then. I'm not sure what to charge; somewhere in the neighborhood of $60-65 a person seems reasonable, with seating for 10-12. Thoughts, anyone?

Ahh, spring

I spent the holiday weekend with my oldest and dearest friend in Tampa for some much-needed sun and R&R. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I really do need to move someplace where it's warm all the time. Spending the weekend lounging about in 85-degree temperatures, only to return to 38 degrees Monday morning, was rather a rude awakening. Needless to say, we had a great time; I rediscovered the joys of fried green tomatoes, and we reconnected with someone we used to know in high school. Really, I should sit around over martinis giggling and reminiscing with people I haven't seen in...18 years more often. (Yow.)

Now it's back to the job search. Last week I was feeling optimistic. This week, not so much. I've had only one interview this week, and I had two agencies tell me flat out they didn't have anything. Scary times. I have my reading to look forward to next week (and another A Razor, A Shiny Knife dinner this weekend), but falling as it does on a rather inauspicious date, I've had a lot on my mind lately and not really in the good way. Spring in New York can't come soon enough.

Underground restaurants

Most of you know about my new obsession with underground restaurants (or supper clubs, if you will). One of these days I'll work up the chutzpah to start one of my own. I'm branching out a little--I've signed up for another A Razor, A Shiny Knife event, in addition to a dinner by Brooklyn Edible. I'm also on the list for Underbelly. You can check all these guys out at Ghetto Gourmet.

Updates

I'm back in the Land of Unemployment--and this time, it's a good thing. When I got laid off several weeks ago, within two weeks I'd found another gig (temp to perm) at a hedge fund in town. The money was excellent, but the hours were gruesome. Fortunately it's ending this week. I'm a little sad about losing all that money, but I'm excited about having a few days off. I've alerted all my agencies, and I've got several interviews this week. Hopefully it will only be a week or two before the next (permanent?) opportunity presents itself. While it is unnerving to not have a steady source of income, especially in this town, I'm not panicked about finding something else eventually.

Otherwise there hasn't been a great deal to report. In the past two weekends, I've visited two very lovely new wine bars, Sweet & Lowdown and Terroir, and been to one of my favorite cocktail joints, Death & Co. And saw the new Christopher Durang at the Public, Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. It's always sweetly therapeutic to get wrecked on a couple good bottles of wine with your dear friends, even if sometimes the conversations veer off into forbidden territory. But then, that's what the wine is for, right? To cushion the blow when that happens. I also went to dinner with my roomies at an infamous Mafia hangout in our neighborhood, Marco Polo. Many "Sopranos" jokes were made, but no actual Mafiosi were sighted (to my knowledge, at least).

I'm having a reading of my two plays on the 25th, which has me both nervous and thrilled at the same time. I can't wait to actually hear them out loud; then again, I'm afraid I'll realize they're both big sensationalist pieces of crap when I do. I'm spending this coming weekend in Tampa with my oldest and dearest friend--look for happy, drunken updates with titles like "Where are my panties??" as per my last visit--and another weekend in May in Virginia, in which I shall be treated to a homemade meal by a fellow foodie. It's not often that people cook for me (well, non-family members, anyway).