Hot From The Kettle ®
Alison Bermack, founder of the Cooking With Friends Club, is at it again! This time she's not making sauce or empanadas, she's making soup for charity!
As part of the annual CWF Souper Bowl, Alison and the hyper-local blogging Baristas joined at the home of BaristaKids contributor, Holly Korus-Jenkins, for an evening of stirring the soup.
Lou Palma's 2010 CapicolaOld homes are examples of inimitable craftsmanship and charm. Similarly, old world foods – specifically cured pork- are characterized by flavors of authenticity, uncommon tenderness, and a rich palate. More than this, old world food exhibits love.
But the artisanal approach to curing meat is not all Romance. There is an essential method. An unerring, mechanical, calculated, recipe to creating a masterpiece of cured pork.
I was lucky enough to learn how to create superb capicola from the gastro-mechanic himself, Lou Palma. If you’re the type of foodie to swoon at the sight of aged, cured pork hanging from your rafters, read on and follow these steps precisely, and watch the master at work in video that follows.
Each time I go to Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant, I find myself warmed from the inside out.
Of course this can be explained on a chemical basis. Ethiopian cooking is dominated by warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, clove, and cardamom, not to mention the capsaicin packing spice mixture, berbere.
There's an intangible warmth at Mesob resonates beyond food science.
If you've ever hesitated about going to Mesob, or any ethnic restaurant that suggests eating without utensils, do yourself a favor, put the knife and fork down, use a moist towelette, and dig in.
Tear the injera, and with a claw like motion scoop combinations of wots. Then mix and match as you like, perhaps doro wot (tradtional Ethiopian stew) along with farmer's cheese or greens. It's delicious fun!
Much to the dismay of Baristanet’s hyper-local die hards, Hot From The Kettle left Baristaville city limits, and drove north on the Parkway to the retail hub of Bergen County – Paramus, NJ. Our destination was Chakra, 144 West State Route 4, Paramus, approximately 11 miles from the geographical center Montclair.
Some restaurants are romantic, but Chakra is more than that – - it’s unabashedly hot. With soaring ceilings, cushy, plush “bungalow” banquettes, and cocktails like “Tantric Lemonade,” “Gin Sin” and “Pama Sutra”, Chakra is decadent, hedonistic, and sexy beyond good behavior.
Thomas Ciszak, owner and executive chef of Chakra in Paramus prepares Fettuccine Carbonara with homemade Fettuccine and house cured Pancetta from Mangaliza.
Click here for the recipe.