Category: Houston

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Another Day With The Appalachian Book Of The Dead, While Brining Pork Belly And Pouring Woodford Reserve Double Oaked With Johnny Cash And The Civil Wars. (Part Two)

Look at it.  Three pounds of Mangalitsa/Berkshire goodness.  Oh, the marble-like fat, smooth and wet to the touch. The Mangalitsa certainly has its share of attention these days, with an appearance recently in the Slow Food 2014 Almanac, which highlights its taste profile, “the fat of Mangalica pigs has been shown to be better for … Continue reading Another Day With The Appalachian Book Of The Dead, While Brining Pork Belly And Pouring Woodford Reserve Double Oaked With Johnny Cash And The Civil Wars. (Part Two)

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A Rose For Emily, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, And A Lowcountry Seafood Boil

On March 25 at the Houston Country Club, I’ll sit at a white-cloth table, dine on a salad, a fowl perhaps, and some sort of pie, while drinking a few glasses of wine.  This is the annual Great Conversation hosted by the august Honors College at the University of Houston–where I work.  Along the way, … Continue reading A Rose For Emily, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, And A Lowcountry Seafood Boil

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What Happens When A Dead Roman Cook Meets A Dead Gulf Coast Red Snapper? Let’s Find Out. Happy New Year!

Apicius’ eponymous cookbook dates from the first century to the fifth century CE as determined by the scholars who have translated and supplied a critical introduction to this 2006 CE edition of one of the ancient world’s great tomes of recipes. Quite a range of time–from let’s say Claudius, without forgetting Caligula, of course, onto … Continue reading What Happens When A Dead Roman Cook Meets A Dead Gulf Coast Red Snapper? Let’s Find Out. Happy New Year!

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Reconstructing Thanksgiving with a Kir Normand.

Well, it’s been awhile since Thanksgiving, and in the last post I left everything hanging on the preparations; however, with the semester over, oral exams finished, and only the tabulation of judgment left, I can take some time to turn back the clock and review the gastronomic event that was November 27, 2014.  I’ll narrate … Continue reading Reconstructing Thanksgiving with a Kir Normand.

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Smoke On The Turkey

Good Morning.  It’s 8:27am and the turkey has been smoking for a half-hour, only six more hours to go.  The day began with apple wood and pecans. After a few sips of coffee, I decided to exchange water for beer, so four bottles of St. Arnold Christmas Ale were poured. What a foamy bowl of … Continue reading Smoke On The Turkey

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Vegetables, Wine, Whiskey, Hell and Smoke Alarms

Oh, Louis Léopold Boilly, you’ve captured the rapture of a gourmand!  My turkey still swims in its brine and the duck thaws on the black granite counter, but what about the stuffing and side dishes?  First off, thank you Bon Appétit for your Cornbread, Chorizo, Cherry and Pecan Stuffing recipe, which I’m adjusting to Cornbread, Chorizo, … Continue reading Vegetables, Wine, Whiskey, Hell and Smoke Alarms

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There Will Be Thanksgiving!

The Thanksgiving Turkey has arrived!  Last night Greenling delivered a Bourbon Red Heritage, Free Range Turkey from Richardson Farms. Now, that’s a turkey!  Bearing reddish plumage and first bred in Bourbon County, Kentucky the Bourbon Red sat on many a Thanksgiving table from the last decades of the nineteenth century all the way to World … Continue reading There Will Be Thanksgiving!

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The Glory Of Mangalitsa Pork Belly With Help From Miss Piggy, Laphroaig, And The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

Apparently, Miss Piggy is a Mangalitsa pig, which means Kermit needs to overcome his trepidations about marriage because she is delicious.  I ordered three pounds of pork belly from Revival Market earlier in the week, and to my delight was told it would be from a Mangalitsa pig.  Oh, amazing delight!  Let me explain. This … Continue reading The Glory Of Mangalitsa Pork Belly With Help From Miss Piggy, Laphroaig, And The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

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A Short History Of One Meal With Help From The Pixies And Charles Baudelaire

Le Larousse Gastronomique vous regarde.  Le Larousse Gastronomique interroge votre cuisine.  You’re pretty sure it’s smirking but you go on. Frankly, you have your doubts about the Culinary Institute of America’s The Professional Chef . . . does it laugh behind your back?  What do you do? What do I do?  I’ll listen to the Pixies. … Continue reading A Short History Of One Meal With Help From The Pixies And Charles Baudelaire

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The Ark Of Corn, Uncle Tupelo, And Red Wattle Pigs.

Above our heads in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo offers us a calm, High Renaissance view of mass extinction; whereas, The Flood (1588) by Kaspar the Elder Memberger has a darker tone. Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, with all your household, for you alone have I found righteous before Me in … Continue reading The Ark Of Corn, Uncle Tupelo, And Red Wattle Pigs.