Recipe: Northern Thai-style Pork Shoulder

We’ve probably already mentioned that we’re on a tasty journey through the varied flavors of the Asian continent – because, well, it’s all we can talk about! And in the last couple weeks, we’ve really dug into Thai cuisine. There’s just something about the combination of spicy Thai peppers and cooling herbs that tastes so perfect on the almost tropical evenings we’ve been enduring this summer.

Our recent efforts have been ever-more rewarding, as we now have a Thai expert at our disposal — our brother, Will. Will is a natural builder and spent six months living in Thailand… but this summer he’s become our official taste-tester. When he says our kitchen smells like a Thai food market, we know we’ve hit a recipe on its head.

This month we wanted to tackle a dish that we tasted at Andy Ricker’s famous Pok Pok Thai restaurant in NYC. It’s a simple but authentic dish of thinly-sliced grilled pork shoulder, marinated in a paste of cilantro roots, garlic and soy sauce, served with greens and rice. It is a perfect summer dish, and except for some fish sauce, it calls for no unusual ingredients.

Northern Thai-style Pork Shoulder
From Pok Pok

For the pork:
+ 1 lb. pork shoulder
+ 4 cloves garlic
+ Roots from 1 bunch cilantro (if you can’t get some with the roots, use the greens instead)
+ 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
+ 2 tbsp sugar
+ 4 tbsp Shoyu soy sauce (or another light soy sauce)

1. Pound garlic, cilantro roots and peppercorns together in a mortar and pestle or mix ingredients in a food processor. Either way, you’re going for a paste.
2. Cut shoulder meat into 1/2-inch thick slices. Rub paste onto the meat and marinate for an hour.
3. Grill the meat over a medium heat for 4 minutes on each side.

For the dipping sauce:
+ 2 tbsp minced garlic
+ 1 tbsp red chili pepper flakes
+ 3 tbsp fish sauce
+ 3 tbsp lime juice
+ 2 tsp sugar
+ 4 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

Mix all together in bowl and serve along side grilled meat. Serve meat and sauce with bibb lettuce leaves or bok choy leaves and rice.

Note: This recipe originally appeared on RuralIntelligence.com on July 13, 2015. It's been back-dated here on our blog so that it falls, seasonally, in the right place. 

Recipe: Whole Grilled Fish

With Jake's new job as Produce Manager at the Berkshire Co-op Market we have been eating a lot less meat. Instead of bringing home thick pork chops, or a beautifully marbled London Broil every night, Jake is now carting home green and white striped zucchini and deep purple tomatoes. His working at the Co-op has also given us access to something else we've never really ate a lot of: fresh fish!

The main reason we weren't eating a lot of fish is that we never felt sure we were getting the full story - was it fresh? sustainably caught? how far did it travel? do we even know enough to ask the right questions? It's hard to feel like there's full transparency around seafood - sometimes even at the green market.

But now we have Austin Banach and Wes Mazlone! Around the time Jake was hired at the Co-op, so was our friend and fellow Monument High School grad, Austin. Austin is a fish and cheese monger who is just as passionate about his craft, and issues of sustainability and the local food economy, as we are. Lucky for us, he fills his case every week with bounty from Wes. 

Wes grew up in Scituate, Massachusetts, a prominent fishing community, and now lives in North Hampton, MA running BerkShore. Twice a week he drives to Scituate and picks up fish from the dock just caught by guys he grew up with. He then drives the fish back to the Berkshires and delivers it to the Co-op and other local restaurants and markets. On the days that Wes drops his fish off at the Co-op, we almost always take advantage. And now that it is full-on summer, we have become obsessed with grilling his beautiful product whole.

This week Austin had some gorgeous black sea bass in his case. We took the fish, a lemon, some local corn, a few heirloom tomatoes and zucchini, and headed home. After getting the grill going we went out to the herb garden and got some tarragon and parsley out from under the serious weeds that have settled there. Next, easy as one, two, three, we stuffed the cavity of the fish with the herbs and lemon, sprinkled some salt on both sides of the fish, drizzled a little olive oil on top and tossed it on the grill. After four minutes on each side, we were sitting on the porch eatting a stunning, fresh, flavorful meal.

Grilled Whole Fish

+ 1 whole fish (scaled and gutted). Right now we like Black Sea Bass and Porgy. 

+ A handful of fresh herbs (tarragon, parley, cilantro, chervil, and dill are all good)

+ 1 lemon, slice one half, leave the other half intact
+ olive oil
+ salt

1. Stuff the cavity of the fish with the herbs and the lemon slices.
2. Coat it with salt and drizzle a little olive oil on it
3. Put it on the grill and cook for 4 minutes, than flip and cook for another four minutes.
4. Take off the grill and let rest for a few minutes. Before serving squeeze some lemon on it.

Field Trip: Berkshire Food Guild's Midsummer Feast

So we haven’t posted for quite a while (sorry!)... but we have a good reason! We swear! We've really dove head-first into our new lives here in the Berkshires, both personally and professionally, and that's kept us pretty busy. That's why it's fitting that our first blog post in a looooong while should be about the Berkshire Food Guild. 

Since making the big move, we've become deeply involved with the local food culture in the Berkshires, which is incredibly vital and a huge part of why we moved in the first place. In all of our buzzing about, we've been fortunate enough to connect with so many like-minded, energized and talented people. One of things that we love about our new friends is how unfailingly dedicated they are to their respective crafts. They share our belief that revitalizing food-craft traditions is crucial, and inextricably connected to supporting our local foodshed.

And so was born the Berkshire Food Guild, was founded this April by Jake, Jamie Paxton, Jazu Stine, and Jill Jakimetz. 

For their premiere event on June 29th, Jake suggested a Midsummer Feast inspired by our time in Sweden and our love for all things Scandinavian. The BFG was lucky enough to find a partnering farm right away- Mill River Farm, an organic and educational farm right here in New Marlborough, started by our friend Jan Johnson. 

The Midsummer Feast was everything we dreamed it would be. The menu was unusual and exciting, rooted in traditional Scandinavia food, but using all local ingredients. The night started with BFG beverage master Brian Heck pouring biodynamic, natural wines that he imports directly from producers in France. (He later poured coffee he had roasted at his day job: Head Roaster at Barrington Coffee Roasters.) Then, Jan led a tour of her farm, all the while talking about the challenges and joys of sustainable and organic farming. Next, Chef Jamie sent out tray after incredible tray of inventive appetizers like Indian Line pea pesto served on knackebrod that Jill baked using grains from Hawthorne Valley Farm - where she lives and works - that she milled herself. For the main course, Pitmaster Jazu spit-roasted a whole lamb from Kinderhook Farm stuffed with spruce and juniper, while Jamie grilled baby turnips, garlic scapes, and fennel.

The food was delicious, the setting was beautiful, and everyone was in a festive mood... but there were a couple of moments that really, truly made the night a success for us. When Jake and Jazu pulled the lamb off the spit, all of the guests rushed over to watch and ask questions. As Jazu carved the lamb, pointing out the different cuts, and describing what made this lamb so special, the shepherd who had raised the lamb stood proudly by his side. We were blown away by the complete transparency of the meal, and the guests' enthusiastic response to it. 

And then again, at the end of the evening, when Jake asked a departing guest how she felt the event had gone, she said: "Amazing, I have learned so much tonight!" In the end that is our real goal - to further dialogue around the local sustainable food movement. What an inspiring night!

For more photos of the evening, take a look at the BFG's Flickr album full of fantastic shots by the talented Diana Pappas and Tom Bland. 

Recipe: Santa Maria Tri-Tip

Jake has been talking about bringing a tri-tip steak home to grill all summer - easier said than done. Each steer only has two tri-tips and it's an elusive cut in the north-east, so they generally don't last long in the case. Like other one- or two-to-an-animal cuts (skirt, flank, and hanger) Jake had resigned himself to going yet another summer without one. But last weekend The Meat Market had a few too many of this much-coveted cut and Jake was finally able to sneak a couple home!

The tri-tip is a incredibly flavorful and unique cut, but because it's a muscle that starts in one primal (the loin) and ends in the other (the round) it is usually forfeited at the hands of industrial meat processing. It is also a part of the sirloin subprimal, sometimes referred to as the bottom sirloin. As a result of this cross-sectioning of cuts, the tri-tip cooks like a roast as much as it does a steak, giving you a ton of different preparation options. We think it's the best of three pretty awesome worlds; the texture of a flank, the tenderness of a sirloin, and the flavor of the top round. 

Made popular in central California at the turn of the 20th century, the tri-tip is most often cooked in the Santa Maria style - coated in a dry rub and grilled. As you well know, we generally like to keep our steaks as simple as possible, but the flavor of the tri-tip is bold so we knew it would stand up to a heavy rub. We looked around for various recipes but in the end, surprised by how few there were, we put our own mix together. While the spices were setting in, Silka threw together a minimal salsa verde with a pile of tomatillos from our garden. It may have been one of our last nights of grilling this season, and we couldn't have asked for a better send-off!

Santa Maria Tri-Tip

+ 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt

+ 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

+ 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

+ 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

+ 1 tablespoon chipotle-chili powder

+ 2 teaspoons garlic powder

+ 2 teaspoons onion powder

+ 1 teaspoon ground cumin

+ 2 trimmed tri-tips (1 ½ lbs each)

1. Mix all of the spices together thoroughly.

2. Rub the spice mix all over the steaks. 

3. Let the steaks stand for two hours, reapply any rub left over.

4. Meanwhile set up your grill so that there is a very hot side and a side for indirect heat.

5. On the hot side of the grill sear the steaks on each side for 3 mintues.

6. Move the steaks to indirect heat and cover the grill. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the steak reaches 120 f.

7. Let stand for 10 minutes, slice and serve!

Serves 4-6 people

Recipe: Grilled Flanken

 

You may have noticed that we often gravitate toward affordable and overlooked cuts of meat. And why not? Rather than fight the crowds for grill-ready rib eyes, flank steaks and London broils during the summer months, we skip the line and go for flanken. For Jewish grandmothers and Korean BBQ lovers this cut of beef is nothing new, but for most American shoppers it's an unusual looking piece of meat. Quite simply, flanken is short ribs sliced thinly across the ribs rather than along the bones. And just like short ribs, flanken are intensely marbled with fat and have an amazing beefy flavor - even on the leanest grass-fed animal.

 

The other morning Morgan Hartman, owner of Black Queen Angus, delivered the most beautifully marbled beef to the Meat Market, and as soon as Jake started to break it down he knew it would make the perfect flanken. So he zipped off 3 pounds of 1/4 inch thick strips on the band-saw and grabbed a bottle of Fire Cider - our new secret ingredient - some soy sauce and a little garlic for a marinade. The meat hung out in the marinade for the rest of day and when Jake got home, we threw it on a low grill with some asparagus. How was it, you ask? When a fight almost breaks out over the last slice, you know you've put together a great meal.

* While we don’t often use marinade - preferring the simple flavors of pastured meat - flanken is the ideal cut for it. The marinade (especially with something acidic like Fire Cider) helps to break down the naturally chewy quality of the cut without getting in the way of the chuck flavor. 

 

Grilled Flanken

+ 3 lbs of ¼” thick flanken
+ 1 cup of Fire Cider
+ ½ cup of soy sauce
+ 4 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Mix the Fire Cider, soy sauce, and garlic together in a bowl.
2. Set the flanken in a dish, deep enough the cover them. Pour the marinade over and let sit for at least 6 hours, no more than overnight.
3. Start the grill up and over low heat grill the flanken for about 7 minutes per side, or until they take on a deep brown caramelized color. Serve!

Recipe: Venison Western Steaks

If you follow us on Facebook, you may have heard that Jake is the new butcher at the Meat Market in Great Barrington - and having a blast! The shop runs on hard work from a great team of passionate people and he's already had the opportunity to experiment with lots of different cuts, techniques... and animals!

The other day, the shop got in a farm-raised venison and Jake was thrilled for the chance to break down something new! And of course we had to taste it! That night he brought some home in the form of a Western steak - one of the cuts we're most excited about cooking this summer. From the the bottom round, it's a muscle usually reserved for grind, lean stew or roast beef. But because it is so lean and has so much flavor it takes particularly well to grilling.

Now we can confidently say that as amazing as venison looks, it tastes even better! With a strong grassy flavor like beef but much lighter, it's actually quite similar to elk! (P.S. One of the best meats out there!) The new game reminded us so much of our perfect Scandinavian summer, so we served roasted beets and egg noodles in caraway butter on the side to honor it further. It was perfect for the first grill of the season!

Grilled Western Steak

+ 1 1-inch thick western steak (cut from the bottom round)

+ salt and pepper to taste

+ olive oil

1. Let grill get to high heat.

2. Pat steak dry and salt, drizzling a little olive oil on it. Put on grill for 3 minutes.

3. Drizzle a little more oil on the steak and flip. Cook for 3 more minutes.

4. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve!