Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Another Porktastic day, Part two: crispity clouds of porkaliciousness.



Snack Time!
Chicharrones, for a simple pork fix there is nothing better...except for maybe bacon. Nothing like some deep fried pork skin and an ale to sustain you until dinner, and nobody makes them better than 4505 Meat's Ryan Farr. These crispity clouds of porkaliciousness are a textural miracle, they are crunchy yet melt in your mouth like only chicharrones can. They are subtley spicy and sweet without taking away from the delicate porky flavor.
I paired the chicharrones with a Rogue's Somer orange honey Ale, which was a great idea! The unfiltered sweet wheat and malt character of this ale went wonderfuly with the pork and the orange peel and chamomile lent a refreshing herbal note to cleanse the palate.
Sláinte!
http://www.4505meats.com/

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Another Porktastic day, Part one: The Fatted Calf.

    
The glory that is The Fatted Calf, if you haven't been lucky enough to visit this temple of meat and all things cured and holy...its time to go! 
The Fatted Calf offers a variety of Meaty goods, Sausages, Pâtés, Confits, Salumi, and weekly specials. 
They are an artisan Charcuterie shop that does it right, using natural, organic and hormone free meats. Everything is done is small batches by hand. I know this because this is the first place I learned to break down a pig, working along the side of Taylor Boetticher, Charcuterie/ Butcher ninja master and great teacher.


For lunch I had the Pork Pastrami Sandwich. A tasty little thing with a fresh and crunchy cabbage slaw, a zingy grain mustard sauce and a well made rustic bread. A must try. 
On a side note if you haven't had the Porchetta Sandwich, you gotta get one...or two of those!


Stay tuned next time for crispity clouds of porkaliciousness...

Fatted Calf
The Oxbow Public Market
644 C First Street
Napa, CA 94559