Weekend Wrap-Up (May 22-23)

Pig Trotter Terrine

This weekend was a quiet food-weekend in our house. It was almost disastrous on a major level- our oven stopped working on Sunday. Tom was braising a pig foot in the oven, when it suddenly shut off and the digital display went black. I expected a melt-down of epic proportions, but Tom shocked me and didn't seem to mind too much. The burners on the stove still worked, so maybe that helped ease the situation. Tom had been planning to bake bread, but instead had to turn the dough into English muffins, since they're cooked on a griddle. I guess when life hands you a broken oven, you turn it into English muffins.

(Note: we were able to get the oven working several hours later. All we had to do was unplug it and plug it back in, and it worked! It's amazing how many things can be fixed by unplugging it, pulling a battery, or just whacking it really hard.)


Here's what Tom made this weekend:

- Rhubarb syrup
- Rhubarb/Strawberry Ice Cream
- Snap Pea/Parsley Pesto
- Multigrain Sourdough English Muffins
- Confit of Leek and Green Garlic
- Pork Stock
- English Breakfast: Bangers, Baked Beans, Toast, Fried Eggs
- Whole Wheat Pancakes w/Strawberries or Bananas (I had the banana ones, I don't like the seeds in strawberries)
- Terrine of Trotter Served over Radish Greens
- Cheddar Spinach Omelet w/Leek and Spring Garlic Confit
- Asparagus with Spring Garlic Vinegrette Over Lentils
- Mixed Bean Puree

Several weeks ago, Tom got pig feet from the CSA meat vendor. He got two of them. They are pretty decent sized, about the size of my forearm. As soon as he got them, I told him he'd be eating them by himself because I am not eating them!

 Doesn't that hoof look tasty?

I don't really know how Tom made it, because I was still sleeping when the process began. I know at one point he had it in a soup sock with vegetables, and since the oven stopped working, he finished up the cooking on the stove. He can elaborate more in his post about how he cooked this. I know you're all dying for the recipe.

He picked the meat/fat/gelatin off the bones:

Pig Bones. Even more disgusting than the frozen leg.

Tom pressed it into a terrine, which he breaded with panko and threw into the toaster oven/broiler (see top photo for finished product).

This is what the inside looked like:

I didn't taste it. Even if I was offered $20, I wouldn't taste it (maybe for $50 I would have...). Tom said it tasted like offal, which to me would be a complete turn-off, but to Tom, that's a good thing. He was pretty satisfied with it, except he left it out of the fridge for too long and it got a little soft, so it was tough to cut. He has one more trotter in the freezer, so he'll be trying this again.

The English muffins Tom made turned out really good, especially since this is the first time he's ever made them.

You could even open them up with a fork, just like the store-bought Thomas brand. (I just noticed theTom/Thomas/English muffin connection there...) We had these for lunch on Sunday with some butter, and they were really good.

The rest of the food Tom made this weekend was good, but nothing else was really blog-worthy (and I don't have any more photos). Since we had dinner out on Saturday night for a friend's birthday, Tom really only cooked one dinner, so it was a pretty quiet weekend in our kitchen (which was a nice break). Now that the oven is working again, we have to get back to work fixing that food processor...