Before and After

 I rarely take pictures while I'm cooking (so kudos to all those bloggers who do step-by-step tutorials), mostly because I'm up to my elbows and don't want to make more of a mess than I'm already making. But I happened to have these photo pairs and glancing back at them made me so happy.

This first pair is a lovely lemony meatball from Ottolenghi. I loved how orange that egg looked with the meat and seasonings. These were really delicious -- very light and juicy. I made a quick substitution of frozen edamame for the fava beans called for, and that made this a very simple weeknight dish. However, it ended up only somewhere on the mid-level of the Lucas Thumb Scale. I did much better subsequently with an adaptation of a kofte dish that was served with a tahini-yogurt sauce and a sauce of roasted peppers and pomegranate molasses over pita with caramelized onions.

The set below is a fabulous slow-roasted pork shoulder I did after reading a very enjoyable romantic comedy called Out to Lunch by Stacey Ballis. The novel is about a caterer who is mourning the death of her best friend and business partner while trying to pursue a romantic life, and it's peppered with delicious-sounding food. I was pleased when I reached the end of the book to find a collection of recipes for the dishes described. This pork sounded so good, and it was. After cooking it over all those vegetables, including fennel, the vegetables and pan juices are blended to make a delicious sauce. I served it with another dish from the book, a fennel-green apple-green cabbage slaw with a ginger soy dressing. This one got unanimous thumbs up. I wish I'd gone for an even bigger pork shoulder, because I could have eaten those leftovers for a week straight if I'd had them.

Bacon in Jamaica, Day 1

The Beach Bar

View from the Terrace





View from the Beach

First of all, thanks to Meg for the title.

Due to my friend Pam's excellent foresight in choosing a spouse, My friends Pam, Meg, Anne and I had access to a stunning and luxurious villa in Jamaica for a long weekend to celebrate an upcoming Very Special Birthday. I will not go into any greater detail on that matter.

Having departed New York at the crack of dawn, we arrived at the villa in time for lunch. We didn't have much settling in to do, because the excellent staff took care of all that. First, Pam sat down with the house staff to discuss menus for our visit. Pork products were stressed. Then we changed into light clothing and headed to the beach cafe. We started with a round of Ting soda, sort of a sugary Fresca, just to get the blood sugar flowing. I had a salad with papaya and curried shrimp that immediately got me into the Caribbean mood. Anne had the same, Pam had an Asian chicken salad, and Meg had a terrific looking club sandwich that not only contained bacon but also a fried egg, with fries.

After that, we hit the beach. And here I can say I wholeheartedly recommend visiting the Caribbean in the off-season. The beach and the resort's bars and restaurants were quiet, but not entirely empty, so there was no jockeying for a lounge chair or a table. It was pure, unadulterated relaxation. One morning we had the beach all to ourselves. It was bliss. That afternoon we enjoyed frozen drinks at the beach bar -- your pina colada, your strawberry daquiri, your gin rickey. I will simply say that the bartenders did not pour with a light hand.

We followed this with Red Stripe on the terrace at the villa while dinner was being prepared.

After relaxing at the villa's pool, we heard for the first time the sound that we came to know and love so well during our time there -- the sound of the bell calling us to the table.

Dinner began with conch soup, which was creamy but had a nice spicy bite. We then had a simple salad served with a homemade ranch dressing. I'm not usually a ranch fan, but this was all natural and thus didn't taste like sour glue with a few herbs in it. Next, the main course was laid out buffet-style -- a fabulously juicy and spicy jerk pork tenderloin, with carrots, stringbeans, rice and beans, and fried plantains. I'm sure we had red wine with this, because I don't think we ever turned down red wine. After we'd done major damage to the jerk pork, we were surprised with a birthday cake arranged by Pam's mother-in-law, served with champagne. The cake was strongly flavored with vanilla, and tasted sweet and warm and just like a birthday cake should.

After dinner we collapsed in the open-air living room, leafed through magazines, finished our drinks, and gabbed. We've been friends since forever, and what's really nice about that is (1) you never run out of things to talk about and (2) if you do, nobody minds just sitting silently and companionably until it's time to talk again.

Then we slept the sleep of the just, while our husbands took care of the kids and/or our fathers looked after our dogs.

Recent eats

Yeah, yeah, I know, I suck. It's been ages since my last post, and even longer since regular posting was going on. Honestly, I've just gotten really busy and tired and not that interested in eating anything that someone else didn't cook for me.

However, I have somehow managed to continue taking in sustenance, and, unsurprisingly, pork products have figured in heavily. For example, tonight I made one of my favorites, inspired by a Donna Hay dish from her excellent cookbook Off The Shelf. This is a pork roast which you simply slather with whole-grain mustard, drizzle with honey, and sprinkle with oregano. You can salt and pepper it, you can roast it on a bed of carrots and parsnips, or you can leave it alone, as I did. With that I made some roasted cauliflower with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and though everything was kind of beige, it was delicious. What I love about this dish is the only prep tool that gets dirty is a knife to spread the mustard. You don't even have to dirty a mixing bowl.

Some other good stuff I've eaten lately:

• at Mr. Gateau's office party -- buffalo "sliders" with smoked cheddar and bacon, on brioche buns
• breakfast of two microwaved eggs (I do these in little Pyrex dishes, 29 seconds each for a runny yolk) topped with Chilean hot sauce my friend Dave gave me and several strips of bacon on the side, plus tea
• breakfast of steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon, brown sugar, and a little vanilla sugar
• barbecue brisket and pulled pork, plus bacon-studded collards and baked beans at a new place that opened near my home, praise the lord
• buddha's delight (tofu skin stuffed with mixed vegetables and deep fried, with vinegar sauce) at the shockingly wonderful Chinese restaurant near my office, plus excellent steamed pork buns
• cranberry-fig-port-rosemary-balsamic vinegar sauce I made for Thanksgiving and could eat with a spoon
• brandy-marinated dried cherries (aka "Casey's Boozy Cherries") I made a while ago and just discovered in the pantry. If I keel over from botulism, you'll know why

Meatstuffs

My friend Pam has done it again. This time the awesome hospitality was extended at the new apartment she and her husband moved into this year, by far the most beautiful New York apartment I'll probably ever see. But never mind that, we need to talk about the jerk pork, which was marinating happily away when we arrived. The flavor was amazing, with just enough heat for a pleasant slow burn, while not alienating the small Gateaux. Also soft and juicy. And as if that weren't enough, there was chocolate angel food cake with ice cream and strawberries. Well, played, Pam!