All your pies are belong to us
Nov. 15th, 2006 05:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lsandersonNovember 15, 2006
Heaven in a Pie Pan: The Perfect Crust
By MELISSA CLARK
A FEW years ago, I achieved perfection in a pie crust and it smelled like pig.
Not in a muddy, barnyard way, but with a very subtly meaty, nutty aroma.
Carefully confected with part butter and part freshly rendered lard, this pie pastry was everything baking-book authors and bloggers wax poetic about: a golden-brown-around-the-edges epiphany richly flavored and just salty enough to contrast with the sweet apple filling, the texture as flaky as a croissant but still crisp. It shattered when you bit it, then melted instantly on the tongue.
The only problem with my masterpiece, I told my guests as they licked the crumbs off their plates, was that I was never, ever going to make it again.
Because what they didn’t see was the outsize effort that went into acquiring and preparing the not-so-secret ingredient: leaf lard, the creamy white fat that surrounds a hog’s kidneys. The veritable ne plus ultra of pig fat, it’s far superior to supermarket lard, which is heavily processed stuff that can have an off taste. But leaf lard is hard to track down (I special-ordered it from a friendly butcher) and a headache once you get it. Step one: pick out any bloody bits and sinews, chop the fat into pieces, and render it slowly in a double boiler for eight hours. At the end of the day, be prepared for a kitchen that smells like breakfast at a highway diner, and a pan full of dangerously molten fat crowned with cracklings.
The leaf lard may have made great crust, but, like homemade cassoulet and puff pastry, this was a culinary Everest I felt no need to climb twice.
Everest became a lot more manageable when I discovered that rendered leaf lard was available at the Flying Pigs Farm stand at the Union Square and Grand Army Plaza Greenmarkets on Saturday and by mail order. More
Recipe: All-Butter Pie Crust (With Variations)
Recipe: Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie
Recipe: Pear-Pomegranate Pie
Recipe: Honey Apple Pie With Thyme
Recipe: Brandied Pumpkin and Chestnut Pie
From Silk Road to Supermarket, China’s Fragrant Pears
By DAVID KARP
JADE-GREEN Fragrant pears, with exotic provenance and a legendary reputation, have arrived in the United States for the first time after a journey that evokes Marco Polo.
The pears, as crisp as Asian pears but juicy and sweet like more familiar varieties, originated in far western China in the Xinjiang region. The area accounts for only 3 percent of China’s pear crop, but the Fragrant variety, which its farmers have cultivated for 1,300 years, is esteemed as the country’s finest, and fetches twice the price of other pears there.
The Fragrant pears, which have been exported to the United States since last month, are grown around Korla, a stop on the ancient Silk Road that is now an oil boomtown with more than 420,000 residents. West of the Gobi Desert and north of the Taklimakan Desert, Korla draws water from the Konqi or Peacock River, which flows south from the Tian Shan Mountains. More
The Minimalist
To Stuff or Dress the Bird? James Beard Had It Covered
By MARK BITTMAN
STUFFING, as I’ve been informed by friends from the South, is properly called dressing when you cook it outside the bird. So I’m officially a big advocate of dressings.
Don’t get me wrong: cooking a bread-based mixture inside a turkey is not a bad idea. It adds moisture and flavor to a concoction that can be sadly lacking in both. However, too often stuffing absorbs too much of the cooking juices and comes out of the bird a soggy, unappealing mess. So much for gracing the Thanksgiving table. More
Thanksgiving: The Red, the White and the Rosé of It
WHITES AND ROSÉS
Qupé Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne 2005
$22
***
Dry yet rich; not overtly fruity but mellow and minerally with a nutlike flavor that will go well with most dishes unless they are sweet.
François Cazin Cour-Cheverny Romorantin 2002
$18
***
Lovely and very refreshing, with aromas of flowers and a touch of kerosene like an aged riesling; bright acidity is great with food, even with sweet dishes. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
Domaine de Bellivière Coteaux-du-Loir Cuvée L’Effraie 2004
$19
***
Fresh and nimble chenin blanc, with aromas of apples, citrus, earth and a touch of honey; another highly versatile wine. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
Terre di Talamo Tuscany Piano Piano Rosato IGT 2005
$16
**½
A sangiovese rosé beautifully done, light, floral and minerally — nice with hors d’oeuvres. (Winebow, New York)
Paul Blanck et Fils Alsace Gewürztraminer Furstentum-Vieilles-Vignes Grand Cru 2001
$25
*½
Big, perfumed and semi-sweet; too much with dinner, but maybe with cheese. (Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.)
REDS
Shinn Estate Vineyards North Fork of Long Island Estate Merlot 2003
$24
***½
Dry, restrained and delicious with perfect balance of earthy fruit and oak.
Castello di Verduno Verduno Basadone Pelaverga Piccolo 2004
$13
***
Distinctive and easy to drink, with unusual flavors of earth, pepper and spice that go well with food. (Domenico Valentino Selections, New York)
Fèlsina Chianti Classico Riserva Berardenga 2001
$25
**½
Soft, dry and velvety, with concentrated cherry and licorice flavors. (Polaner Sections, Mt. Kisco, N.Y.)
Montevertine Pian del Ciampolo Tuscany IGT 2003
$21
**½
Light and earthy, with dusty dry-cherry sangiovese flavors; very pleasing but lacks depth. (Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York)
Fabrice Gasnier Chinon Cuvée les Graves 2005
$16
**½
Rich purple, with earthy fruit flavors but too tannic; a young wine that needs another year of age to soften. (Petit Pois, Moorestown, N.J.)
More
Heaven in a Pie Pan: The Perfect Crust
By MELISSA CLARK
A FEW years ago, I achieved perfection in a pie crust and it smelled like pig.
Not in a muddy, barnyard way, but with a very subtly meaty, nutty aroma.
Carefully confected with part butter and part freshly rendered lard, this pie pastry was everything baking-book authors and bloggers wax poetic about: a golden-brown-around-the-edges epiphany richly flavored and just salty enough to contrast with the sweet apple filling, the texture as flaky as a croissant but still crisp. It shattered when you bit it, then melted instantly on the tongue.
The only problem with my masterpiece, I told my guests as they licked the crumbs off their plates, was that I was never, ever going to make it again.
Because what they didn’t see was the outsize effort that went into acquiring and preparing the not-so-secret ingredient: leaf lard, the creamy white fat that surrounds a hog’s kidneys. The veritable ne plus ultra of pig fat, it’s far superior to supermarket lard, which is heavily processed stuff that can have an off taste. But leaf lard is hard to track down (I special-ordered it from a friendly butcher) and a headache once you get it. Step one: pick out any bloody bits and sinews, chop the fat into pieces, and render it slowly in a double boiler for eight hours. At the end of the day, be prepared for a kitchen that smells like breakfast at a highway diner, and a pan full of dangerously molten fat crowned with cracklings.
The leaf lard may have made great crust, but, like homemade cassoulet and puff pastry, this was a culinary Everest I felt no need to climb twice.
Everest became a lot more manageable when I discovered that rendered leaf lard was available at the Flying Pigs Farm stand at the Union Square and Grand Army Plaza Greenmarkets on Saturday and by mail order. More
Recipe: All-Butter Pie Crust (With Variations)
Recipe: Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie
Recipe: Pear-Pomegranate Pie
Recipe: Honey Apple Pie With Thyme
Recipe: Brandied Pumpkin and Chestnut Pie
From Silk Road to Supermarket, China’s Fragrant Pears
By DAVID KARP
JADE-GREEN Fragrant pears, with exotic provenance and a legendary reputation, have arrived in the United States for the first time after a journey that evokes Marco Polo.
The pears, as crisp as Asian pears but juicy and sweet like more familiar varieties, originated in far western China in the Xinjiang region. The area accounts for only 3 percent of China’s pear crop, but the Fragrant variety, which its farmers have cultivated for 1,300 years, is esteemed as the country’s finest, and fetches twice the price of other pears there.
The Fragrant pears, which have been exported to the United States since last month, are grown around Korla, a stop on the ancient Silk Road that is now an oil boomtown with more than 420,000 residents. West of the Gobi Desert and north of the Taklimakan Desert, Korla draws water from the Konqi or Peacock River, which flows south from the Tian Shan Mountains. More
The Minimalist
To Stuff or Dress the Bird? James Beard Had It Covered
By MARK BITTMAN
STUFFING, as I’ve been informed by friends from the South, is properly called dressing when you cook it outside the bird. So I’m officially a big advocate of dressings.
Don’t get me wrong: cooking a bread-based mixture inside a turkey is not a bad idea. It adds moisture and flavor to a concoction that can be sadly lacking in both. However, too often stuffing absorbs too much of the cooking juices and comes out of the bird a soggy, unappealing mess. So much for gracing the Thanksgiving table. More
Thanksgiving: The Red, the White and the Rosé of It
WHITES AND ROSÉS
Qupé Santa Ynez Valley Marsanne 2005
$22
***
Dry yet rich; not overtly fruity but mellow and minerally with a nutlike flavor that will go well with most dishes unless they are sweet.
François Cazin Cour-Cheverny Romorantin 2002
$18
***
Lovely and very refreshing, with aromas of flowers and a touch of kerosene like an aged riesling; bright acidity is great with food, even with sweet dishes. (Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
Domaine de Bellivière Coteaux-du-Loir Cuvée L’Effraie 2004
$19
***
Fresh and nimble chenin blanc, with aromas of apples, citrus, earth and a touch of honey; another highly versatile wine. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
Terre di Talamo Tuscany Piano Piano Rosato IGT 2005
$16
**½
A sangiovese rosé beautifully done, light, floral and minerally — nice with hors d’oeuvres. (Winebow, New York)
Paul Blanck et Fils Alsace Gewürztraminer Furstentum-Vieilles-Vignes Grand Cru 2001
$25
*½
Big, perfumed and semi-sweet; too much with dinner, but maybe with cheese. (Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.)
REDS
Shinn Estate Vineyards North Fork of Long Island Estate Merlot 2003
$24
***½
Dry, restrained and delicious with perfect balance of earthy fruit and oak.
Castello di Verduno Verduno Basadone Pelaverga Piccolo 2004
$13
***
Distinctive and easy to drink, with unusual flavors of earth, pepper and spice that go well with food. (Domenico Valentino Selections, New York)
Fèlsina Chianti Classico Riserva Berardenga 2001
$25
**½
Soft, dry and velvety, with concentrated cherry and licorice flavors. (Polaner Sections, Mt. Kisco, N.Y.)
Montevertine Pian del Ciampolo Tuscany IGT 2003
$21
**½
Light and earthy, with dusty dry-cherry sangiovese flavors; very pleasing but lacks depth. (Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York)
Fabrice Gasnier Chinon Cuvée les Graves 2005
$16
**½
Rich purple, with earthy fruit flavors but too tannic; a young wine that needs another year of age to soften. (Petit Pois, Moorestown, N.J.)
More
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Date: 2006-11-15 08:59 pm (UTC)Can we score leaf lard in the Cities?