Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Slow Food Kansas City Presents Pig 102
 "From Snout to Tail"


Local Duroc Pork, Local Wine & Local Chefs
February 25, 2010 6:30 PM

Jasper's Ristorante 1201 W. 103rd. Street
Kansas City, MO 64114

Call 816.941.6600 for reservations
45.00 per person
(Tax and gratuity not included.)

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Join Slow Food Members Kay Tucker & Chef Jasper Mirabile for our 2nd annual
small plate dinner featuring Pork Belly, Jowl, Trotter, Neck Bones & more.
Our Mission: To teach the home cook how to use the whole hog from snout to tail.
Jasper will be serving Tuscan Bean Soup, Mama's Sunday Sauce & Neck Bones and
Bucatini all'Amatriciana, & Porchetta.

I am making Guanciale, Head Cheese, Zampone & Country Pork Pate.
To finish off our Pig 102 Dinner, how about an
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake with Gelato and Caramelized Pancetta!

Slow Food members Dennis & Cindy Reynolds will be offering their
Somerset Ridge wine produced locally in Somerset, Kansas.

A portion of the dinner price will be applied to Slow Food philanthropies.

Jasper and I had such a good time preparing our Pig 101 dinner last year that we have decided to continue on with our mission to use every part of a pig.
If you are planning on joining us but have not made your reservation yet,
please do not delay. Seating is limited!
Call Jasper's today at
816-941-6600
I would love to see you there!

One of the dishes that I am making is head cheese! So many people draw back when I say that....the dreaded head cheese.  Sure it may sound peculiar, but it is actually very good! It isn't like I grind up a pig's head. Instead, you gently simmer it (by the way, it is completely clean of strange stuff like brains, eyeballs, tongue, etc). You see, the skull bones have a great deal of natural gelatin in them. As I simmer the head, the meat on the cheeks, which is absolutely succulent, and the natural gelatin separate from the bones. I strain the meat from the broth, dispose of the skull bone and proceed to make a formed meat sausage from the broth and meat. It is flavored with good things like onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. See, it isn't so bad after all!
Now, as for the Zampone.....
you take pig trotters (the feet)...
Okay, I never said I was normal!

So, now I feel I need to share a pork recipe that does not call for strange body parts! Are you tired of sausage that has so much fat that each patty shrinks drastically when you cook it? Try this, I think you will be pleased. And, you get some bran!

Lean Pork Breakfast Sausage
3/4 cup shreds of whole bran cereal
1/3 cup apple juice
1/2 pound ground pork loin
1/4 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

 In medium bowl, combine cereal and apple juice; let stand 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Shape into six patties. Heat broiler. Place patties on oiled broiler pan. Broil 4-5 inches from heat for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink. Makes 6 patties.

                            

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy
oil painting by Kay Tucker

Somerset Autumn on Wea Creek

Somerset Autumn on Wea Creek
Oil Painting by Kay Tucker, Private Collection

Floral

Floral
oil painting by Kay Tucker

Kansas Storm

Kansas Storm
oil painting by Kay Tucker, Private Collection

Watercolor Collage

Watercolor Collage

Tempo al Tempo....All in Good Time

Tempo al Tempo....All in Good Time
48"x36" sculptural painting by Kay Tucker