Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I think if the porkiness is at issue, one should re-examine the pork element. I say this as a pork lover who recently had an unpleasant experience with salt pork in a clam chowder, and this made me realize that all pigs and salt porks and bacons are clearly not made alike.

What if WWII era salt porks were quite a bit different than say that block of Hormel at the grocery store? I imagine it was, for sure. Today we might need an heirloom breed salt pork product to approximate the Duchess' ingredient. A quick google of war time salt pork revealed a thread of civil war enactors who went into a lengthy (and non gourmet) discussion of all the variants, so I am sure this is the issue with your recipe. Perhaps you needed to blanch your salt pork before processing it? Maybe you need to buy it at a butcher? Don't the Canadians use a lot of beef fat (tallow) in baked goods? I wonder if that product might'nt be closer than the prok even though... well you get the idea.

I have a Maryland branch of my own family and my husband's family is right near Thomasville GA too, so I know how yummy those recipes can be!

Oooh, @bessfour, what are you doing with anchovies? I live in a small seaside town where apparently we can catch anchovies early in the morning right off the local docks and I have been thinking about just maybe doing that, but am not very versed in even the ordinary tinned anchovies. Thoughts?

also what are you doing with the sauteed tomato paste? I have used it some, in one dish, but.... would love to know more!

Sear a generous pork roast in half butter, half olive oil on high heat so that it gets a gorgeous crust, and then finish it in the oven at 400 for about a half hour. Tent with foil and let it sit to completion for 5-10 minutes while you fix side dishes. I season liberally with salt (Herbamare seasoned salt anyone?) and pepper, and then throw in some sherry just before putting the whole thing in the oven. This is a great quick prep I semi-cadged from W Puck. The pan juices are fabulous!

PS: Costco has a great price on a giant pork loin you can cut into three sections BTW and freeze - and this is good for at least one of the roasts, post-thaw.

Let me add that I was an art critic for a dozen years, and an art history teacher for a number of years as well, so if anyone is clear on the concept of quality, taste making and what constitutes a genuine sense of standards based on principle, dear Pumpkin Bear, it is I. That said, over many years I have also come to recognize that authentic, regional, artisinal and close-to-the-source expressions of culture, whether that expression be in the form of art, food, writing, music, etc, are the ones worth exploring in some depth.

As Sassy notes, there is history available in these regional choices and we need a guide who can show us what is often overlooked in the alley in favor of the so-called creme de la creme served in the great hall. Bourdain for example makes a particular note of the peasant foods which often transform in a variety of ways to something truly soul satisfying, regardless of alleged pedigree. For some of us, perhaps, Guy reveals this sort of material in ways we would not otherwise see. I can not speak to the Neelys or Paula Dean as I do not watch those shows. Emeril has never been my cup of tea either - just a personal thing.

As my 99 year old grandmother from the Eastern Shore of Maryland likes to say: Difference of opinion makes horse races! When one dissuades people from exploring their passions - even passions which may be in the formative stage - it is a disservice to society as a whole which needs hopes and dreams in order to grow and change. Discussion, discourse, a lively exchange of ideas - these are all good. Being mean for the sake of a momentary blast of schadenfreude just cheapens us all.

And a cheap date doesn't get good entertainment from a network exec! LOL.

My god you guys are so critical! Have YOU ever tried to put together a food show, or do a cooking video or any of those things? This sharp tone is uncalled for and too rude, IMHO. Bloggers CAN get really out of line. It reminds me of what my grad school prof said: no one is as critical as a graduate student... So true! Until they start writing their dissertation. Then they are begging for a clue - LOL.

It's just a helluva lot easier to snipe than it is to create. Public life in the blogosphere is clearly no picnic - maybe the best & brightest stay away because it's just not worth the pain.

I think Guy is a bit of a goofball, but I'd give him a shot. He's fun and sweet and enjoys eating at least. He's an ordinary kind of person who scouts talent in others and brings their story to the small screen. How is that a crime? Give the guy (and the rest of us) a break with the non-stop snark. It's just getting old.

I do this all the time because I usually am trying to fit the baking in between a gazillion other holiday activities and have to split the work in two. Indeed, I have found that it does very well like this. I also have a girlfriend who bakes these cookies ceaselessly (for over 30 years she's been making them weekly!) and she does it too.

So yes - go ahead and do it if you want! LOL

Wow - some great ideas - thanks so much! I'll have to scope out these recipes you're offering Karma, and I love the wrap idea too. Although I tend to stay away from sweets, both the mini cheesecakes (ginger snap! Wow) and muffins sounds smart.

PS: I wish we had fried chicken but we're in podunk-ville USA and do not have a single place for miles around. LOL.

Thanks again!

I still hanker for the peanut butter & chocolate shoo fly pie that Marvin Gardens made on the upper west side of NYC some 30 years ago. That was awesome and I have never had another piece even remotely like it. Of course I was also a kid, and kids' food memories are notoriously unreliable.

So my second most memorable is my current fave, the olallieberry pie made by the Linn's family in Cambria CA - tart yet sweet, juicy yet solid - it's a big piece of deep fruity heaven, made all the more perfect when served a la mode with McConnell's nearly home made vanilla ice cream.

I actually just made a sour plum cake with cream cheese frosting that had organic raisins in it which were superb - it was practically an accident, but I will go out of my way to get those again! LOL.

In principle, I also buy organic whenever possible and affordable, but I will generally not pay more than a dollar or two more for an organic product - it's just not practical on a normal budget. That said, there are always organic things on sale and I buy sale items all the time. I tend not to be too brand fixated unless there's a concrete benefit.

Things I will not budge on however are milk and strawberries. These must be organic for me. Also lettuce. When you think about what it means for a product to be organic and how the good stewardship of the land is better served by such practices, how the animals and the oceans are stabilized when we choose to avoid chemicals and stay with a natural production method and non-factory farm methods, versus the damage of non-organic farming - well, there's pretty clearly a mandate to go organic whenever possible.

I don't think organic oatmeal is at all silly. But $10 a pound for organic chicken - up to ten times the normal price - is just too rich for my blood. I would say that if it's on sale - again with the sale! - I will buy organic meat, but otherwise I try to go for natural - ie: free range, no hormones or anti-biotics, pasture fed, minimal processing. Fortunately I live in an agricultural county in California where a lot of this is the way it's been done for over a century and that's great.

My husband is diabetic and we've made a lot of changes as suggested by the nutritionist. It's definitely true as per luswim06's comment that once you start cutting back on sugar you taste how much utterly unnecessary sugar (or corn syrup!) there is in an incredible array of foods. We eat a lot of fresh, locally grown produce and part of why I emphasize that is based on our nutritionist's advice to always have a mix of fat, protein and fiber derived from actual green vegetable sources in every meal. The fiber is what slows down digestion and keeps your blood sugar steady. (Fruit is less desireable because of the carb load.)

We literally eat veggies at every meal now, whether it's tomatoes and sauteed spinach with breakfast, tofu and carrot juice in the smoothie - of course all the obvious salads and so on - the key is that fiber from actual natural food sources (not a fiber pill, powder, etc) to keep the blood sugar steady. And since you're supposed to eat 5-9 servings a day, this is how that can actually happen - LOL.

Our doctor is very happy because he has stabilized his sugar at normal, which is apparently the hardest thing to do. We are no saints believe me, and our next step is the exercise and weight loss, but for now - steady sugar has been a big improvement and it's all those veggies that do it.

That's why I bought Jessica Seinfeld's book about sneaking veggies into everything - she puts spinach in blueberry bars for instance. That book is too kid-oriented for us, but I think it's another way to accomplish the goal and she does not use splenda to do it.

Check it out and see if this emphasis on vegetables at every meal doesn't give you the actual long term results you are looking for. And good luck! It can be done, with love and patience and a sense of fun and exploration which you obviously already have in abundance! yay.....

I must strongly suggest you try Porto's bakery - especially since you want a large cake. Swet Lady Jane's is fine but exhorbitant. Michel Richard also has an exquisite chocolate raspberry. But - hands down - the cakes at Porto's are superb, very reasonably priced, and they are very familiar with large orders, and indeed specialty orders of all kinds.

You can also get finger food there - the best possible meat pies, croquettes, etc. It's a fantastic spot. We catered a lot of our wedding via Porto's and at a fraction of the cost most people spend. And for my husband's fiftieth, they did a custom cake that was delicious (a tres leches, as I recall) and incredibly beautiful with a digital picture (that tasted great too!) of superman and the whole nine yards.

Porto's has a couple of spots now - they also have one in Burbank which should be very convenient to your N Hollywood location. Trust me. You'll never go anywhere else again. http://www.portosbakery.com/

Well, so many minute variations on a theme, but I still have not seen this approach and I get good cooks asking me how I make this dressing all the time. I learned it from my french room mate over twenty years ago. The secret is the order in which you deploy the ingredients, and that is what causes it to emulsify so wonderfully. It takes less than a minute and simply could not be easier.

In the correct order - in the bottom of a wooden type salad bowl:

Shake and grind salt and pepper into the bottom of the bowl. Be generous with the salt -maybe a 1/4 t.

Spoon out a hefty dollop of mustard - she used, I kid you not, French's, and I use an herb scented dijon - maybe just shy of a T. Any mustard will do.

Gingerly pour in the vingegar - I use the non-seasoned rice wine vingegar - she used a generic red wine. I use maybe 1/2 - 3/4 of T of vinegar - not too too much or it will be too tart. You can also use lemon juice in a pinch, but only 1/2 a lemon.

At this point you stir up the 4 ingredients you have so far, just for a few seconds to incorporate the liquid and seasonings into the mustard base.

Then you add a couple of T's of olive oil - again, the french woman just used corn oil which was always surprisingly good! Then you stir it up with the mustard spoon, until it is thick and well blended.

Add your mix in's - avocado, tomato, feta, leftover steamed veggies, whatever, and then put your lettuce on top of that - then toss. Le voila!

It is so simple but divine, and works every time.

It is exceptionally good with the addition of avocados. And I just read that avos, cheese and oil based dressings help your body to absorb the vitamins and nutrients in a salad much better than a low fat or no fat dressing does! LOL. Maybe there's some cosmic justice after all.

Monopolova potato vodka from Austria is actually pretty excellent, and made from the original ingredient - as opposed to say grain - ugh. Freeze it and it's silky, syrupy and a lovely mixer with fresh squeezed juices especially. And at about $10 the bottle at Trader Joe's or even places like Food for Less or Rite Aid - shop around - it's an absolute steal. LOL.