Man Can Cook #22 - Cuban Porknography

If you know me personally or are simply a reader of this blog you should have come to the conclusion that I love pork in pretty much all forms. Over half of the cooking related posts here either have a pork product as an ingredient or are the primary focus of the dish. The pig is natures miracle beast and I dig it - Pulled Pork, Cured Hams, Charcuterie, Pork Sausage, Pork Ribs, Roast Pork, Pork Chops, Pork Loin, Bacon, oh my! - I love it all.

My absolute favorite is Kalua Pig. The Hawaiian method of cooking a whole pig in an Imu (pit in the ground) and over the years I’ve cooked a dozen or so by this method and if I can dredge up any decent photos I may do a post on that someday. But for this post, we’re talking about a different method.

Last weekend we cooked one of the dinners for an annual club event. We considered an Imu for Kalua Pig, but the location didn’t suit it so I decided to try something new and chose to cook the pig in a La Caja China. If you are unfamiliar with the device it is a metal lined plywood box with a tray on top that holds charcoal. The pigs (or other meats) are roasted inside the box by means of radiated heat from the coals above. 

Man Can Cook #21 - Red Beans & Rice.....for 70

Cooking a meal for 2-4 folks is one thing, doing it for a large crowd is quite another. Most recipes can be fairly easily multiplied up to the appropriate quantity. The problem, if you are feeding a large group often centers though on prep-time and cost.

Large parties are large work and you'd rather spend a bit of time at least enjoying the party as opposed to being exiled to the kitchen like Steve McQueen in Papillon......you imagine yourself as Steve McQueen too don't you? Of course you do.

The other factor is cost. When preparing a normal recipe for guests it's not a really big deal to spend a bit extra on top-shelf ingredients. Besides, you like to make things extra nice for guests. But when that recipe gets blown up 16x from original the costs can go up quickly.

Last weekend I cooked dinner for 70 at a party for a club that both Kathy and I are members of. The entree was a roast whole hog, but as a side dish I prepared a "New Orleans Style" Red Beans & Rice. I found a recipe to use as a framework then tweaked it here and there to keep the cost reasonable and still deliver a great dish for our friends.

In Search Of John Mueller......

As I've become more interested in BBQ I find myself seeking the unique. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and truly good BBQ is somewhere between rare and non-existent. Even excluding the rubbish served by the National chain restaurants most of what one does find trends toward the Kansas City style. The sweet/spicy, sticky, tomato & molasses based sauce is what most people associate with "BBQ" hence that is what most purveyors produce...especially in an area such as this where BBQ is scarce.

Paella-palooza

Our good friends Pam & Tom host an annual Spanish themed part at their beautiful home in Paso Robles. It's an awesome event. We get to make the leisurely drive south to Paso, do some wine tasting/buying and then enjoy a great party with a bunch of wonderful friends. The weather was gorgeous all weekend long and we had a spectacular time.

This year the ante was upped to 60 guests so the food got blasted into overdrive as well. A fantastic collection of tapas was created including; Spanish Tortilla (egg, potato & onion frittata with garlic aioli) by my darling wife Kathy & home made chorizo sauteed in Spanish wine by John.

Then for the finale, Mike, Vince, Tom and I each produced a Paella to share with the crowd. Just for laughs we decided to costume up like the encierros of Pamplona.

L-R Mike, Yours Truly, Vince & Tom....special thanks to Vince for masking my boiler.

Blast! Foiled By Facts Again!

In the wake of the shootings in Newtown CT the Obama Administration did what many populist political machines do. They attempted to capitalize on the tragedy to forward an agenda and in so doing convince those less given to critical thought that "The Government is doing Something to make them safer." You'll recall President Obama and Joe "Double-Barreled-Shotgun" Biden's dog & pony show complete with appropriately multicultural juvenile stage props wherein the President signed a series of Executive Orders related to gun control and gun violence.

Among those Executive Orders was the commissioning of a study on Gun Violence and the efficacy of various strategies to curtail it. Now if you are over 40 as I am, this should sound like a song you've heard before but we'll get to that in a minute. The first point I wish to touch on is the fact that you are likely NOT aware that the study is complete and has been published. One might be inclined to ask, "Well why have I not heard of this?".

You'd think that the Administration , armed with a raft of new info would be trotting in astride their white horses waving about the results of the study that they commissioned to support their effort to reduce gun crime/violence.Well, they would but for one teeny-tiny little thing........

The study in large part debunks the key elements of the "Gun Control as a means to curtail gun crime/violence" agenda.....well, that's awkward isn't it?

High Alpine Hunting Prep, CA

Recently, a friend of mine and I began our preparation for this years deer season. The first step was to evaluate water and food levels in the area's we plan to hunt and look for signs of deer traffic. We spent a very long day at rather high altitude and despite the low snowpack this year found a fairly robust food and water supply in this location.

Beyond that, we simply had a great time exploring a very remote part of California.

Conifers at this altitude take a beating from wind and snow loading. These trees were quite stunted in height, but super thick at their base.

25hrs Of Thunderhill 2012 Photos

This post is so late....like six months late. But here goes anyway......

In December of 2012 I once again had the good fortune to participate in the 25hrs Of Thunderhill in Willows, CA. This time I was invited to crew for Prototype Development Group and their home built Factory Five GTM-R. The team is owned/managed by Richard and Yvonne Migliori and if there is a kinder, more big hearted, more salt-of-the-earth couple on Earth, I've not yet met them. They both work for the public school system in Stockton California, Richard as a Vocational Studies teacher (his previous career was as a General Contractor) and Yvonne as the Director of Nutrition Services.

The GTM-R was built and is raced in honor of their late friend Dan Lawson who had purchased the car but was killed in a racing accident and was never able to complete it. In the six years the car has been finished it has continued to evolve, improve and become increasingly competitive at the 25hr race. Outside of the 25hr it has been very succsesful in the Western Endurance Racing Series with 58 podium finishes in 66 races.

Below are my favorite photos from the 2012 race and a bit of information here and there. As you'll see, the variety of cars in this race is pretty mind boggling. Everything from factory racers such as the 997 and TT-R, one-off prototypes like the GTM-R and RCR Eagle, purpose built tube-frame cars like the Panoz GT, club level racers such as Miata's and E-30 BMW's, and the occasional vintage car as well.

Pre-Race, the Prototype Development Group GTM-R