It's that time again! Supper Club weekend is here...and it's our turn to host this one. We're excited, but we also feel (or at least I do) that this could be our last chance to really cook something good before Baby Kouts arrives. So it's not that we're going all out, but I've been dying to make a Porchetta for the longest time and I'd rather do it now instead of waiting and then never getting to it. Risky to do something for the first time for guests, but I'm going with it. And well...who doesn't love pork? I'm obsessed.
So what is porchetta? It's basically the Italians way of doing a roast pork. You eat is as a roast, or possibly even better...as a sort of upscale deli meat in sandwiches. Particularly...Cubanos! One of my favorites with pickles and swiss cheese. You may have heard that I have pickles on hand these days too! But back to the porchetta. I used to sell it and eat it a lot when I worked in Boston. It's the boneless center cut loin of the pig wrapped in the pork belly (bacon) with seasonings in between them. You roast it really hot at first to get the skin nice and crackly...and then slow it down so the juices and spices run throughout. Oh I just hope this comes out okay.
Luckily, I still have some great connections to amazing chefs who know just how to make a good porchetta. After a few tweets (to a family member's family member) and some texts, and one phone call - I think I got it down. I opened up my 10lbs of pork today and immediately realized it wasn't the most appealing smell...and then got to work. There wasn't much for today, but I figured I'd update you now instead of trying to get it all in one post.
I first toasted some fennel seeds with crushed red pepper flakes.
Once they cooled, I ground them in my coffee grinder which is primarily used for spices. Added that to a bowl with some minced fresh rosemary and sage. I also minced up some garlic cloves and added that in.
Now for the pork belly! Yes, this is what bacon looks like before it becomes bacon. I got a hint to brine the porchetta, but I decided to cure both the belly and the loin over night instead. Hopefully it will dry them out a bit and make rolling it all together a little easier...and tastier would be a nice side effect too!
The verdict is in...DELICIOUS!!!
The lovely ladies of Supper Club! Karyn, Mary, and yours truly.
This is Jad showing us all how to put the Shawarma together. It's almost like their version of a gyro (year-oh). The meat was so tender and juicy, it was awesome!
So what is porchetta? It's basically the Italians way of doing a roast pork. You eat is as a roast, or possibly even better...as a sort of upscale deli meat in sandwiches. Particularly...Cubanos! One of my favorites with pickles and swiss cheese. You may have heard that I have pickles on hand these days too! But back to the porchetta. I used to sell it and eat it a lot when I worked in Boston. It's the boneless center cut loin of the pig wrapped in the pork belly (bacon) with seasonings in between them. You roast it really hot at first to get the skin nice and crackly...and then slow it down so the juices and spices run throughout. Oh I just hope this comes out okay.
Luckily, I still have some great connections to amazing chefs who know just how to make a good porchetta. After a few tweets (to a family member's family member) and some texts, and one phone call - I think I got it down. I opened up my 10lbs of pork today and immediately realized it wasn't the most appealing smell...and then got to work. There wasn't much for today, but I figured I'd update you now instead of trying to get it all in one post.
I first toasted some fennel seeds with crushed red pepper flakes.
Now for the pork belly! Yes, this is what bacon looks like before it becomes bacon. I got a hint to brine the porchetta, but I decided to cure both the belly and the loin over night instead. Hopefully it will dry them out a bit and make rolling it all together a little easier...and tastier would be a nice side effect too!
Now for the curing mixture. It's a 2:1 ratio of salt to sugar with the leftover sage I chopped up mixed in.
And then....this little piggy went into my fridge!
Took a little work to get it in there, but there it is. I officially have pork curing in my fridge - how exciting!
That's all I got for now on the pork. Tomorrow I'm going to put it all together and roll it up tightly. And then I'll let it sit uncovered in fridge over night again to really dry the skin. Crackly is the word I'm looking for on Saturday.
We love Supper Club and I think we all look forward to it. Karyn shared some pics from the last one at their house. They prepared a ton of Lebanese food for us and it was so delicious! There are a lot of similarities between Greek and Lebanese so nothing was really foreign to me and the Hubs, but it sure was tasty.
Here's the Hubs tasting the Shawarma for the first time.
The verdict is in...DELICIOUS!!!
The lovely ladies of Supper Club! Karyn, Mary, and yours truly.
This is Jad showing us all how to put the Shawarma together. It's almost like their version of a gyro (year-oh). The meat was so tender and juicy, it was awesome!
So that's Supper Club! I've been meaning to give an August update, but I'll wait until I get done this porchetta business before sharing all that. I will give you a quick update on Baby Kouts, since we're almost in single digit weeks. Yikes!
Yesterday's Doctor's appointment went really well. I have normal blood pressure, no real swelling, and with my extremely low blood sugar - no risk of gestational diabetes. Although they were going to start monitoring my weight gain after my 24 week appointment (I gained 8lbs in 4 weeks), I didn't really gain anything weight wise this time, but my belly is growing at the correct rate. They figured that since I didn't gain a lot of weight in the beginning, there was just a little growth spurt. So far, almost 29 weeks in I've gained 23lbs total. BK's heart beat, which I won't get sick of hearing ever, is still up there in the 140's to 150's bpm. I stopped jogging around 24 weeks because it was just getting uncomfortable. I still love my yoga class and am really making an effort to swim more because it feels so good to get this extra weight off my back and hips. The baby's movements are getting pretty intense. Sometimes they catch me off guard and I let out a little gasp. But I love love love watching my belly move and seeing how the baby is moving. It's so weird, but intriguing at the same time. I was playing with baby yesterday. If I poked my belly where I thought BK was, BK poked back with the same amount of pressure. We poked back and forth all around my belly. Maybe the baby wasn't playing anything, but I'll think of it that way. The Hubs relates it to tapping the glass on the fish tank at the pet store, so I only played that one time. :-) I definitely can't see my feet anymore when standing still. And sometimes I forget and try to squeeze through spaces I used to fit through...can't suck baby in though, gotta take the long way around. All in all, I still feel great. I'm sure I'll start slowing down but I hope the last 11 weeks are as good to me as these first 29 have been.
Ok, that's it for now. I'll be sure to post some more pics of my porchetta. Maybe if you're lucky I'll post a belly pic of my own belly. Hope everyone has a nice, long weekend!
Chow,
KK +1 :-)
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