Harper-Street Braised Pork

This was cooked and written up in May but just now getting around to posting it.

Finally, the camping stage of our new house is over (though I am currently sitting in a camping chair as I write this—furniture will be later). But gas is on, stove is in, refrigerator came today! Time to cook something! It was a pretty chilly day: fog in the morning, afternoon wind. So I thought “oven.” And then I naturally thought “Dutch oven.” Thanks mom for this perfectly sized large pan/small Dutch oven! I know you hated to part with it! Actually, I’m not sure if this cooking technique is really “braising,” but I like how it sounds.

• 3 lbs country style pork ribs cut into large chunks
• 3T olive oil
• One white or yellow onion
• One large tomato
• 3 lrg cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves (actually, I used leaves from the California pepper wood—if my mom’s i.d. is right—that grows in my yard)
• 1 ½ generous cups red wine
• a little water
• juice of one orange (I’d suggest juice of more oranges!)
• salt, black pepper, cayenne, honey, oregano, cumin seeds.

Preheat the oven to 325.

rub meat with salt, black pepper and cayenne.

heat the olive oil in a cast iron Dutch oven over medium hot.

Add the bay leaves and pork and brown meat in batches.

Once meat is removed from Dutch oven, reduce heat. Then add and fry the cumin seeds in the pan for a bit, making sure not to burn them. Then add the onion and garlic and sauté. As you cook, add a little more salt and some oregano to taste. Add about half of the wine and let it cook down a little. Add the orange juice and some more wine and about a tablespoon of honey.

Re-add the meat. Liquid should come up to the top of the meat but not cover it. Add a little water if necessary.

I roasted some potatoes with olive oil, salt, and cumin seeds to eat with it. It would also be good with rice.

Now, time for you all to visit Manose and I at our new digs! 1426 Harper Street in Santa Cruz.

Arillas Eggplant & Kalamata Tapenade Pasta

This dish was perfectly suited to the time and place, being lunch time today in Arillas, Greece. I don’t think I’d fancy it, for example, on a foggy night in San Francisco—but then again, it was tasty! I had prepared the noodles and eggplant last night and then ended up going out to eat after all, so today I ate it coldish (well, more like room temperature), but on a foggy night in San Francisco, I imagine hot would hit the spot.

• spaghetti noodles
• eggplant—3 small or 1 large
• kalamata olive tapenade
• garlic—1 large clove
• crushed chili or paprika flakes
• cayenne—a pinch
• cumin—a pinch
• olive oil—a lot
• lemon—1 wedge
• salt & pepper– to taste

slice the eggplant into thin slices (about ¼ “ thick). I had some beautiful small eggplants (really so nice: deep, even purple, glossy and perfectly firm) so I just cut each in half the long way and then sliced the halves. Probably bigger eggplants should be cut up more.

Chop or crush the garlic clove.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide frying pan and add the eggplant and garlic. As the eggplant cooks, flavor it with crushed chili (I actually had crushed paprika on hand so this was for flavor, not heat, hence the cayenne), cumin, and salt. Cook until eggplant is soft.

Cook the pasta and toss with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.

Top each serving of pasta with eggplant and about 1 teaspoon of tapenade.

I ate this with slabs of big, juicy, locally-grown tomato that I sprinkled with salt, pepper, and capers, and a boiled egg (gotta get my protein!).