When a Sticky Bun Meets Pork

Pork Sticky Roll, Northern Spy Food Co.

How could you possibly make a sticky roll better than it already it is, you ask?  How about filling it with pork?

At least, that is what the good people at Northern Spy Food Co. in New York City are doing.  And damn is it a fine improvement to an already scrumptious food. 

Listed under the “snack” section of the dinner menu, the sticky pork roll resembles its breakfast cousin only superficially.  Just looking at the spiraled roll with creamy glaze it would be hard to distinguish from the cinnamon filled sugar topped pastry found in the glass case of just about every coffee shop. 

But take one bite of this sinful, savory pastry and expectations give way to surprise then delight, as the full flavor profile unfolds.

First, there is no cinnamon, and any perceptible sweetness appears to come solely from the grass fed pork morsels tucked away in the folds of the soft roll.  As for that glaze, far from molten powdered sugar, the topping on the pork sticky roll is made of locally sourced parsnips pureed then hit with a good mustardy kick.

The look of this dinner roll is all whimsy but the taste- soft roll, luscious pork, sweet and spicy sauce- is pure classic flavor combo. 

As for the pork sticky roll’s place on the dinner menu, if I were to show up at my local coffee shop one morning to find Northern Spy’s pork roll in the glass case next to the typical sweet version, I know which one I’m buying.    

Amy Powell is a food and travel writer based in New York City. She is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and the French Culinary Institute. Follow her on Twitter @amymariepowell

Best Bites of 2011- Cooking Edition

After an epic three days of Christmas cooking I am finally coming up for air.  Between the seafood chowders, chocolate pecan pies and standing rib roasts I’ve had time to reflect on some of the best cooking I’ve done this year.  Whether over an open fire in the bush or in a borrowed kitchen in Manhattan, whether putting a $40 clay pot to work or working with every odd bit of a homegrown pig, it has been a good year for cooking.

Here are some highlights in no particular order.

Chicken Thighs with Meyer Lemon, Fennel, and Olives:  Where does one start when throwing a dinner party for your spry grandfather and his nonagenarian friends?  I started with my grandfather’s Meyer lemon tree, heavy with fruit in early April.  I thought I had an appetite.  The old folks took down a whole Dungeness crab appetizer then licked clean their plates of chicken thighs roasted with the lemons, fennel, and olives.

Etosha Paella

Etosha Paella:  Boyfriend John gets all the credit for suggesting the heavy cast iron Dutch oven rental along with the standard mess kit for our Namibian car camping adventure.  We put that pan to use right away with a dish we called Etosha Paella- curried lamb sausage cooked with rice, red peppers, onion, olive oil, and lots of garlic over an open fire under a blanket of stars in Etosha National Park, the Serengeti of Namibia.  

Clay Pot Beef for Tacos: At one of the first appearances of the clay pot, cubes of beef simmered away in peppers, onions, garlic, and chilies for hours until the beef could be pulled apart into shreds.  We filled tortillas with the mixture and topped with salsa.  This was just the beginning of clay pot love.

Eggplant and Roasted Garlic Soup

Eggplant Soup: I love my mother’s garden.  One of the only bad things about moving away from California is that I no longer will be able to partake of her summer bounty.  But I got one last shot the last time I was in Hemet with eggplants she had just harvested.  Eggplants roasted side by side in the oven with heads of garlic.  When the garlic cloves were golden and sweet and the eggplants fully collapsed, all went into a pot with chopped onion, thyme, oregano, and chicken stock.  Blended to a puree it was the sort of simple garden dish I could have eaten all summer long. 

Soft Shell Crabs with Lemon Chive Vinaigrette and Arugula: Staying with friends in Manhattan while we looked for a place to live, one night John and I cooked for them as a way of saying thanks.  I expected our hostess, a proficient cook herself, to be a tough critic.  Little did I know that soft shells crabs are a family favorite, one that they never really eat at home.  We were beyond grateful to have a soft landing and friendly welcome in a new city, and we whipped up a mid summer meal worthy of that gratitude.

Fregula with Clams and Chorizo:  There are two amazing things about our new apartment in New York. 1. The open kitchen.  2. Its proximity to Chelsea Market.  I put both of these features to good use one night while John was out of town.  My girlfriends sat at the counter watching me cook up a dish of Sardinian fregula from the Italian store in Chelsea market with clams from The Lobster Place and vegetables from Manhattan Fruits. 

Cambodian Beef Curry

Cambodian Beef Curry:  Diminutive in size but huge in flavor, the spices John brought me back from a trip to Cambodia turned out to be one of my favorite 30^th birthday gifts.  Black peppercorns, white peppercorns, and sinus clearing red chili powder blended with lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and coconut milk for a fragrant, and very spicy, Cambodian Beef Curry. 

Rabbit Ragu: What can you make with a $7 domestic rabbit from Western Beef in New York City?  A lot it turns out.  In our case, at least 6 meals of delicious ragu spooned, tossed, and slathered on many kinds of pasta.

Pernil Style Pork Shoulder

Sir Hamsalot: It is possible that no one pig has brought so much delicious joy to so manypeople.  This year I had the pleasure of enjoying one of his shoulders classically roasted by my friend’s father and I did the other shoulder Pernil style a few months later.  We had ribs slathered in hoisin sauce and thick smoky bacon.  I’ll be using the rendered fat as cooking lard for months to come.

Sonoma Bouillabaisse: Before the pies, roasts, and stockings filled with candy, it was nice to get the holidays off to a flavorful, somewhat healthy start. I made the broth for my west coast bouillabaisse from Dungeness crab shells, then built flavor into the stew with lots of fennel, white wine, and a pinch of saffron.  A couple of waxy potatoes for heft, then every kind of good looking fish I could find- crab legs, clams, shrimp, and escolar.


Amy Powell is a food and travel writer based in New York City. She is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and the French Culinary Institute. Follow her on Twitter @amymariepowell

Straight from the Backyard: Cooking the Whole Hog

Pernil Style Pork Shoulder

Back in my cooking school days, I never shied away from breaking down large pieces of meat.  Today, as I do not work in a restaurant kitchen, I make do like most people and have the butcher do the hard work for me.

But I miss it.  I dare say that working with the whole animal, whether its pig, cow, or chicken, gives me more respect for the food I eat.  It is not just filet medallions from the meat case- it is a cut from a tubular piece of beef, part of the tenderloin that runs along both sides of the cow’s spine.  Understanding where the filet comes from on the cow it is easy for me to see how the meat is so tender and so valuable- it is the part of the cow does not get much of a workout.

Lard rendering in crockpot

It was great fun for me last week then to work with some parts of a pig I don’t get much time with- like pig skin and back fat. About 18 months ago, some friends in rural Massachusetts bought two piglets to raise on their mini farm- Sir Hamsalot and YouBaconMeCrazy.  Over the next few months those piglets became full grown swine, and those swine became a freezer full of pig parts the couple has been slowly making their way through ever since.

Good lard is a treat.  Sir Hamsalot, raised on a diet of pumpkins and corn, has some really tasty fat.  To render the lard I removed the skin, cut the fat into chunks and then added them a few at a time to a hot crockpot.  Over the next couple of hours, the pile dissolved into a luscious amber liquid.  Strained and poured off into glass jars, my friends and I will have lard to work with for months to come.

Still warm rendered lard

Working the pig skin was more difficult than I imagined, but as long as it was there, I had to give pork rinds a try.  Using a few recipes as reference, I tried to cut down the three-day process recommended by the blogs into a one-day marathon.  The skin was boiled in a pot, cooled in a freezer, and scraped clean off the remaining fat.  After letting it dry out for a couple hours I cut the skin into squares and heated up some oil for frying.  The result? Crunchy, slightly chewy pig snack.  Not really my cup of tea but hey, not everyday uncooked pig skin comes my way.

A partial rack of spareribs got the appetizer treatment one night.  Slipped into a shallow pan with a spicy-sweet Asian inspired sauce and some water, they came out tender and intensely flavorful.

Pig Skin getting ready to fry

The highlight of the great pig experiment was roasting the pork shoulder on my last night with the friends at their home.  Twenty-four hours before cooking time, I covered the shoulder with a marinade comprised of things I scavenged from their refrigerator: onion, garlic, orange juice, lime juice, honey, and pickled jalapenos.  About four and a half hours before dinnertime, I transferred the shoulder to a roasting pan fat side up along with the marinade and enough water to come about an inch up the side of the meat.  A sort of cheaters pernil, the Puerto Rican classic pork dish, the beast emerged from the oven dark, pink, fat oozing, and so tender it could be eaten with a fork.

Sir Hamsalot’s shoulder was the best pork I’ve ever had.  From where he lived happy days eating pumpkins and playing in the mud to the table on which he was eventually served, there lies a distance of no more than 100 feet. A happy ending to a very piggy tale. 

Pernil-Style Pork Shoulder

Time: 24 hours

Yield: 6 servings

5 lb pork shoulder

1 ½ cup orange juice

½ cup lime juice

1 medium onion

4 cloves garlic

¼ cup honey

3 T. chopped pickled jalapenos

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Salt

Pepper

Place pork shoulder in a dish or bowl that is a snug fit with just a bit of space on all sides for the marinade.  In a separate bowl, mix orange and lime juice with the honey.  Thinly slice onion and chop garlic.  Mix in with juice mixture, jalapenos, and black pepper.  Pour the marinade over the pork.  Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.  About 4.5 hours before dinnertime, remove the pork from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for half an hour.  Preheat oven to 400°F. Transfer pork to a slightly larger roasting pan, preferably one where it will fit with a lid on (like a Dutch oven).  Season the pork with salt and pepper on all sides.  Add the marinade to the roasting dish along with enough water to so the liquid comes about 1 inch up the side.  Place pork in the hot oven uncovered for 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350°F, place a lid (or foil) on the roasting pan and cook for about 3 hours.  After 3 hours, remove the lid or foil.  Increase heat to 400°F and cook for another 20 minutes.  Top of the pork should have a nice dark crust and the fat should be unctuous at this point.  Remove pork to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Amy Powell is a food and travel writer based in New York City. She is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and the French Culinary Institute. Follow her on Twitter @amymariepowell