Pork N Bourbon

As promised, here are photos from last week. (click for larger images)



















Now, on to "Monday Meaty Madness". Yowzers. I made Pork Lollipops:
I cut a pork shoulder into bite-size pieces and soaked i in apple juice, apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, and bourbon. I rendered some bacon and used the fat to sear the pork. While the pork finished in the oven, I made a glaze of brown sugar, butter, and bourbon. I skewered the pieces of piggy tastiness, and dipped them in the glaze (yea I did). Then I sprinkled them with the bacon pieces that had been aforementioned rendered. They were a hit. Especially the glaze, which will be a new staple of mine. Tasty.

Chef Zack Northcutt (of Mulberry) is the esteemed host of this glorious event. He always goes big. This time, he went about 55 pounds. He dropped a 55 pound pig in a cooler with a brine. For 2 days. Then he dropped an immersion circulator into that cooler and brought the pig up to 160º (the required temp for pork) for 2 days. Then he put the pig on the grill for 2 hours. Then this happened:













This was absolutely, without a doubt, The. Most. Tender. Pork I have ever tasted. It was so crazy good that I'm just gonna stop writing about it here and let your imagination run wild.

Every Meaty Monday, these two pastry chefs show up. I wish I knew their names and where they worked, because I would praise their works to everyone I come in contact with.










Yep. That's a dead pig cake. It was great. Red Velvet with a Swiss buttercream. The other? Jack Daniels chocolate mousse on a chocolate touille with chocolate-covered bacon skewers. Drink it in. Soooooooo goooooood....... *drool*




This week in class we're breaking down chickens every day. I may not post much about the dished (tomorrow is BBQ chicken with corn on le cob). But what the next few days lack in blogging, will be made up for over the weekend. Why? This weekend is the first home game and I'm bringin it BIG TIME! Stay tuned.