The Best Ham You'll Never Eat

OK, folks....after 16 months of time spent hanging in our cold cellar our first 'Pennsylvania Pro-shoot-o' was cracked open. Honestly, we have a pretty serious, quiet kitchen...so, when I cut into this ham and all of us shouted like we were 10 years old and it was Christmas morning(ok, maybe I was the only one shouting) people took notice. I have to be pretty straight forward here. We put two hams up last November(2006) and when we cracked into this ham today I don't think the expectations were very high. Like I always say, if you have no expectations you'll never be disappointed. Anyhow, upon tasting this ham all of us discovered what a wonderful flavor it has. Slightly reminiscent of the Italian versions, a bit more balanced and less salty than our beloved country ham. It is truly a unique and amazing product.(Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not just blowing smoke, either. It's just not in my make-up.) However, since this ham was a personal experiment and the fact that I'm an idiot, there are no notes on the process. So, it is officially the best ham you'll never eat.(unless you're a close friend of the restaurant...then we might be able to work something out) Anyhow, we're getting a lot better about note keeping, so hopefully sometime soon( well, it's soon if you consider 16 months soon) we'll have a ham that we can share with everyone. Until then, enjoy eating hams from all over the world, but know that soon there will be a new ham on the block!

Preserved Lemons

Here is a quick video of Scott doing our preserved lemons. These jewels will be ready in about a month and will provide us with another finishing element that can really put a dish over the top. We also are experimenting with preserved oranges and perhaps limes this week. I think the options are pretty much endless once these guys come out of the salt. I'm thinking of taking some of the preserved lemons over to the sweet side of the kitchen and see how we might be able to twist up the classic lemon meringue tart. Who knows? That's the fun of it!!!

Going Whole Hog

OK, here you go folks....a true example of our farm to table connection. The video shows a Berkshire hog raised by rockstar farmer Beau Ramsburg. This particular hog is the second of three hogs that we raised as an experiment with different feeds to see if we can raise an 'old-style' Virginia hog. All the usual humane and natural standards applied, Beau simply had three different types of feed for these guys. I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THESE ANIMALS. Anyhow, I'll let the video speak for itself. I will mention that in terms of freshness, this particular animal was alive on thursday, inspected friday and broken down by us on saturday. Now that's shortening the food chain. Here's an important point I touched on in the video: 'Local' and 'sustainable' have become the current vogue terms for chefs talking to magazines these days. I'm providing this video to prove that we are dedicated to this type of cooking. I guess the most appropriate way to describe it is 'nose to tail'. It's not a trend for us. It's just the way. I think it is very important to cook by the seasons(and be aware of Mother Nature's nuances), support our local farm economy and also use the whole animal. It's admirable to cut pork chops from a local farmer out of a bag and throw them in a pan, but what is happening to the rest of the animal? Can we as chefs take less desirable cuts of meat and make something amazing with them? Always remembering that Mother Nature is the true artist, we're just technicians.(Thanks, Marco) How good can we be as technicians to show off everything that nature provides. So, yes this means changing the menu and putting some heavy thought into how to use all these parts. That's the fun of it!!! I've included a photo of the processing just so everyone can see how it's all done!!!