Last Thursday started with a hard frost on Estia's garden. The greens survived but it is not going to be long before our cold frame is the last bed standing. It is nice to know that the beds are full and ready to serve into January. After a quick breakfast rush and a meeting with Carrisa Waechter covering future
plans for Estia expansion, we hopped in my Ford pick up "Bob White" and drove to the Wells family farm in Riverhead, NY.
Our intent was to purchase a free range, humanly slaughtered Russian boar. The animal had lived all four years of its life on 50-acres. It had roamed in a pen providing its inhabitants with shelter from summer heat. It had all of the nourishment of a 25-acre cornfield. And it had shade from a large wooded area featuring nuts and worms; in other words, all good things that wandering pigs might enjoy as they pass through.Carrisa and I enjoyed the experience of acquiring a field-to-table offering for Estia's customers. We also found the farmer's tour to be interesting and educational. The animal he harvested for us dressed out at 350 pounds. My job as the butcher was to break it down into all of its parts and store it for the winter It would be made into many lunch and dinner specials at Estia's Little Kitchen.
If you scroll back to an earlier post from the summer of 2011, you'll find my recipe for pork loin and belly "Roti." This time, we roasted a stuffed leg that had been tied-off and packed in salt.
some roasted bones. The braise also included many ingredients from our garden: sweet carrots, onions, garlic and celery with a cup of red wine and a handful of herbs, too (parsley and oregano). The result (after 3 hours at 325° F) was succulent but not fit for a meal. Instead, I cleaned the meat from the bone, diced it into thumbnail size cubes and let it rest overnight in the strained stock. In a bowl on the countertop, I covered one cup of red kidney beans with cool water and allowed them to soften overnight.
The following day, I cleaned the fat from the stock and brought the beans to a simmer in another cup of water on the stovetop. When the water had been absorbed, I added the pork and stock along with 1/2-cup of diced onions, 2 chopped jalapeno chilies and 1 tablespoon crushed coriander seed. The pot of beans and pork simmered for another hour until the beans were soft. Then, I added a tablespoon of salt and simmered a while longer over low heat. Finally, 1 cup of basmati rice was rinsed and then cooked in a covered pot with 2 cups of water over medium flame. After the rice simmered for 20 minutes, the heat was removed and the rice rested and was covered until service.
To serve, place the rice and beans on the plate first. Then top with a slice of herb roasted pork leg. The addition of some sautéed carrots and fall greens will give color to your plate.
