Going all out for New Year's Eve

Even though we have kept our New Year's Eve menu shrouded in secrecy we are now fully booked for that night.  I'm excited about the food that we're going to be cooking so here's a sneak peak.  Raw materials are arriving.  Prep begins in earnest tomorrow.  I was going to start on the boozy gingerbread steamed pudding tonight but I was unfortunately stymied by a lack of fresh ginger.  So, I blog instead.

Four geese going in brine soon.  They will then be air-dried in our cooler overnight before getting roasted whole.  Raised free-range in South Dakota by the Schiltz family, we got these beauties along with a healthy 30# bucket of goose fat, some fatty goose livers, and some goose wings.  We're not sure where the goose wings will end up yet but I'm excited about the possibilities just having them nearby.  Goose wings!  Who has ever had those?

We also have some really wild wild rice, not something that you have probably ever had, vastly different from the paddy grown "wild" rice that is readily available.  I've been bugging Millar to get some of this for years, since my days at Journeyman, and he finally ordered it for me.  We cooked some of it today, tossed in some herb butter and salt.  Really delicious.  I don't remember exactly but I think Brittany said it was "off the hook."

Other highlights: whole trout wrapped in prosciutto, confit pork shoulder, brussels sprouts with bacon, and roasted heirloom squash from Trillium Haven Farm.  Brandon's making sausages, Blair's making truffles, Chef is braising and roasting everything in sight.  And in the end we will set that steamed gingerbread pudding ablaze with some bourbon. 

Oh, and I think there will be some wine to go with the food, too.

Reserve's Farms: S&S Lamb

Death to stagnation! I would be writing about how great potted pig's tongue is, or would be, but Chef thinks it may not sell well. He's probably right, unfortunately. If, however, any readers would show interest via comment, perhaps you may see it after all. Our charcuterie should rightly have something that scares you. Something that makes you bring it up to your friends, or at the office. It makes you wonder what it's like..how gross and alien you perceive it to be. Then, after all this deliberation, you might have worked up the nerve to actually try it, and possibly even like it. I suppose I'm beginning to rant a little, but I feel better, and you are still reading. So, let us talk about one of our farmers.

Pierre and Sharon Schierbeek & Family operate out of McBain, MI. Their land and animals are chemical free. Their animals fertilize their pastures as they graze on their land from spring to fall and their winter feed is harvested from their farm. They do not use hormones, antibiotics, supplements, or additives in their feeds. S&S lamb grow happy and healthy in this natural environment through their lives and after finishing they are processed by L & J Meats in Lake City, MI. Afforded humane butchering practices, these combined practices from farm to table directly translate the care and quality that has been invested into them.

At Reserve, we have cultured a good relationship with Pierre and his family and operations. We are currently talking about having Pierre raise specific breeds of hog for us better suited to our culinary aims. Those breeds are still being discussed, but Duroc and Berkshire are looking like good candidates. S&S Lamb are just one on many farms we use at Reserve, meshing well with the ethics we look for in sourcing our foods. They also supply us with the rabbit that has been on our menu lately, and eggs from time to time.

In addition to lamb, eggs and rabbit, S&S also sells beef, chicken, and goat. From cuts to wholes and halves and even some pet products as well. Their eggs are a steal at $3/dz when clearly inferior eggs are sold for more at the supermarket. They also sell 100% wool products harvested from their ewe flock. Find them at the Fulton Street Farmers Market every Saturday through the winter. Their store can be found here if you'd like to cook at home. If you'd like us to cook for you, well, you know what to do.

SUCKLING PIG

These two cuties come to us courtesy of Cherry Capital Foods. They are new a supplier for us, and so far have hooked us up with quail, a mangalitsa, smoked lake trout and whitefish, rabbit, and a few other tasty creatures all raised right here in Michigan. Their entire product line is comprised of Michigan meats, fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. and it was a great score for us to connect. But more on them later.

Suckling pig, as the name implies, is a very young hog raised solely on mother's milk and slaughtered before six weeks of age. They are usually quite small, under 20#s or so, and it's fairly rare to see them around on menus these days in West Michigan. The flesh is a beautiful, light blush pink and quite tender throughout. Sucklings are almost always cooked whole. Part of the attraction of cooking one is the show of bringing it in it's whole roasted glory to the table. The rest of course lies in the experience of eating it.

Because the animal is young, the muscle contains an enormous amount of collagen, a protein that when cooked turns to gelatin, giving the meat it's contained within (and its juices) a very full body and mouth feel. It is soft and rich, and because its diet is strictly milk, a very clean, slightly sweet flavor. No looking for the subtleties of chestnut or acorn finishing here. This is straight pork.

Suckling pigs are still eaten commonly in many parts of the world, central Europe, southeast Asia, Cuba. In the U.S., they were  once popular tailgating food and often graced a table in the American south when larger groups assembled. In Europe, they are commonly eaten at Christmas, at one time nearly as popular as roast goose.

Right now the piggies are having a stretch for two days before going into a mild brine for four. After the four day brine, they will hang again for two to dry slightly and let the salt even out. Then into the oven for a long, slow roast, finishing hot to provide plenty of crispy skin.

Next Friday and Saturday night, we will be serving the suckling pig at the apex of our first in house event in the wine vault, an extraordinary room downstairs that is usually only available for private functions. The menu is the same each night and includes paired wines. The dinner is limited to twelve people each night. This is a rare experience and it would be a shame to miss it.

CANAPE
Oyster with tomato and horseradish gelee
Midnight Moon gourgere with local chevre, truffle, and herb
Crisp pork rillon with fig and blue cheese
Poached farm egg yolk with piperade

SOUP
Pumpkin soup with lemon curd and pumpkin seed oil

PIGGY
Whole roasted suckling pig
Warm, house made apple sauce with pan drippings
House made guanciale braised Brussels sprouts, turnips, and carrots with Saba
Watercress, cheddar, walnut, pear, and pickled red onion salad with walnut vinaigrette
Celery root mash

DESSERT
Warm apple charlotte with rum raisin ice cream and Blis "Elixir"

Click here for more details, or to book a seat. Space is extremely limited.

Mangalitsa Spuma

We've been having lots of fun with our 200+ pound Mangalitsa hog that came in last Friday.  One of the most unusual things we have right now is the spuma that Brandon made on Saturday.  We've talked a lot about how to get people to eat this, how to describe it so it will be appealing to our guests, but the fact is that what we have here is whipped pork fat.  Very delicious, high in unsaturated fats and linoleic acid, whipped pork fat.  After rendering the lard into liquid fat and straining out the solids (which Brandon salted and ate for the rest of the day like popcorn) the fat was cooled and then whipped in our big Hobart mixer.  We spread it on bread and eat it like butter.  Even well chilled it spreads easily and I really have to tell you that it is delicious.  You've been putting fat on bread all your life, so don't feel weird about this, come down to Reserve and we will give you some for free.  While supplies last of course.  We'll be cutting into the Mangalitsa ham that we got from Johnston County Hams this week too.  It's going to be a good week for pork here.

PigStock TC: Day One

Reader beware; the following may include content offensive to vegetarians and misinformed PETA advocates.

Cute furry happy piggy. Even without fur and you'd still have a happy piggy, and a happy piggy is a tasty piggy. The Mangalitsa hogs at Mark Baker's farm (Baker's Green Acres) in Marion, MI are in fact both furry and happy...and I can attest to their being very tasty.

At the beginning of the month, some two dozen chefs and other food professionals, including Brian Polcyn, assembled in Traverse City for an event called PigStock. This was the first meeting of its' kind in Michigan. The events to unfold included going to the farm for the slaughter and processing of a few hogs, followed by the preparation of the animals over the next two days. Master butcher and President of the Austrian Mangalitza Breeders' Association will take the group through the technique of seam butchery along with his wife Isabell. Isabell will assist in the slaughter and by showing us (among other things) various preparations of the internal organs the following day. Blood sausage and spleen on toast? Polcyn inflating a bladder with a drinking straw? Damn straight.

Day one, 6:30am

We assemble outside the Bayshore Resort and load onto a charter bus to head out to Baker's farm in Marion. The sky is dark and it's cold... bitter cold. With the exception of a few calling in orders for their restaurants by the light of their cell phones, the atmosphere is fairly quiet.

We arrive a little over an hour later and are in the immediate presence of the Mangalitsa pen. The smell of smoke is in the air from a few fires burning close by. Even with a hard frost over the area the pigs are playful and happily trudging through foot-deep mud filled with shards of ice poking through. They are curious about us and come to the fence, offering some great pictures, and then take off running, ears flopping and giving chase to each other.

It was not long after we arrived that we all headed into a winter chicken house converted for our use during the event. We had breakfast and introduced ourselves and our purpose for being there and went outside to get to work. Fires were lit under a large cast iron cauldron and an old cast iron bath tub, heating water for scalding the pigs after the slaughter. Mark gives a demonstration of the use of the captive bolt stunner and then divides us into groups.

Enter the Weisners: Christoph and Isabell. Christoph and Isabell demonstrate the first pig to be slaughtered. The first pig is led up a ramp and arrives at a dead end to find Christoph waiting and Mark directly behind. Christoph fires the stunner just north of between the eyes and the pig drops instantly. They hastily remove a metal pole serving as a barricade and pull the pig out. Christoph turned the pig on his side and pierced the throat with a slender knife and severed the jugular artery. Isabell was quick to catch the blood with a bowl securing our supply for blood sausage and red headcheese in the days to come. Still atop the pig he explained you must take hold of the front leg and pump it back and forth to aid with the proper and complete bleeding out of the animal. Start to finish, maybe 5 minutes. Probably less than that. While we wait for nervous activity to cease, Isabell retrieves a bag of pine pitch; dehydrated powdered sap that she dusts and works into the fur on all sides. With some of the water from the scalding pot dumped on the pig and the pitch applied, they hoist the pig up and into the bathtub for scalding, 170F. Lying across the tub are two chains, used for initiating the removal of the fur by resting the pig on top of them and with a sawing motion the chains catch the fur now sticky from the pitch and begin to pull it off. After a few moments of the chains the pig is lifted out of the bathtub and placed on a ladder over the tub and the bell scrapers are used to finish the job.

While Christoph and Isabell wrapped up the scraping Mark moved a front-end loader closer toward the site. Once the scalding and scraping was accomplished, Christoph took a large propane torch and singed off all the remaining hair. Nothing like the smell of burning hog bristles in the morning. It was now time to eviscerate and split the pig.

Christoph tied the pigs feet and threw the bindings over the front of the tractor and Mark lifted the front end up to bring the pig to a workable height. Christoph began with some introductory score marks to line his path and began cutting. First, the removal of the bung and bladder was shown. The removal of the viscera and specific instructions as to the cutting to avoid damaging the organs was thoroughly explained and demonstrated with a few different approaches. After the organs were taken he removed the tongue and used a meat saw to halve the pig, finishing the job with a cleaver half way through the head.

Following Christoph and Isabell's demo, the groups took turns following their example and processed 3 additional pigs. Eric Patterson of The Cooks' House had prepared dinner for us using the first pig and it was delicious. The last job finished up at around 6 pm if I remember correctly and shortly after we loaded back into the bus and headed back for TC.

The ride back was an unexpected surreal experience. People had known each other better by the end, engaging in conversations about the events that had taken place throughout the day. Nearly all of us had shared a new experience for the first time together and we were all excited about the days to come. The clouds in the western sky burned amber on the way back blending perfectly with the fall leaves and the smell of the fires clung tightly to our clothes. This was such an appropriate, even perfect setting for the onset of the traditional pig killing season, and the end to an amazing day.

Headcheese 2

Sorry for the delay in posting. I know the legions of head cheese fanatics have been waiting with bated breath. For the rest of you Grand Rapidians still on the fence and letting this headcheese go disregarded on Reserve's shelves, let me assure you again that you are missing something truly outstanding. Headcheese is one of the most enjoyable ways to make use of the whole beast, an ethic every carnivore should probably feel at least a little compelled to embrace. But believe me, it's not difficult, not as scary and weird as you might think. So take a chance. You'll be glad you did.

For those who make charcuterie, headcheese is also challenging and incredibly fun, the kind of fun you find in Halloween. A little dark and disturbed. Wrong but so right.

This deliciously macabre photo was taken after our brined pig's head spent several hours on the stove simmering in an intense broth of pork stock and aromatic vegetables, herbs and spices. Brandon is picking off the flavorful and tender meat and the broth has gone back on the stove to reduce. One thing we learned from trial and error is that head cheese is at its best when no outside gelatin is added. Instead, we reduce the cooking liquid and add additional pork skin to the pot to make our own gelatin and intensify the head's natural flavor. The gelatin content is important in binding the pieces of lean meat together in the finished sausage. To help matters along a bit more, the cooked skin is scraped clean of fat, finely ground and added to the mix.

When the stock is sufficiently reduced we add it to the lean and skin and pack the whole mess into a large casing. The casing is tensioned to fill it as tightly as possible then hung to chill and thoroughly set overnight. Two days is better. The longer the rest, the more mature and cohesive the flavor becomes.

When head cheese is made properly, when each detail has been attended to carefully, it can be sliced paper thin and this is how we like it best. When eaten, it yields without protest, melting almost instantly and releasing waves of flavor. No pork tenderloin can hold a candle to it.

The Importance of Paul Bertolli

I have a lot of cookbooks that I don't use. I have maybe ten that I've actually used in the last year, of which there are three or four that I consider indispensable. Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli is far and away the number one book on my list. This is a cookbook that actually brings tears to my eyes. I am really struggling trying to figure out a way to tell you what this book means to me. It has great recipes, but also philosophy, essays, ideas, resources, and techniques. More than any other book I have come across it will teach you how to cook. It will teach you how to think about food. It will teach you how to live a better life. Skip the self-help section at the bookstore, just pick this up and go to your kitchen.

Bertolli presents a culinary philosophy of food made by hand, with care and attention to detail. Bertolli on pears:

To neglect a pear on the table and then return to find it ripe days later is merely a lucky coincidence. But to keep a pear in mind as it ripens is to practice cooking in its simplest form. It is through such observance of any food from the point of purchase throughout its preparation and later in the act of eating itself, that cooking is purged of lapses of attention, imposed formula, impatience, or expediency. Like a fresco restored to its former glory, food reveals what we wish for or remember it to be.

Why is Bertolli important? He articulates what we have in our hearts here at Reserve, and he does it more eloquently than I, at least, am capable of. Cooking starts in the mind, with thinking about the ingredients, trying to understand how best to reveal their essence, before we ever get to the part of shaping them with steel and with fire. We pay attention to food, we buy the best ingredients and we strive to honor them. It's simple and it's very complicated. We take our time and we cook with our hands.