A new year...

Well, Its been two months since I have written anything. Christmas has come and gone as well as the new year. I have officially changed my major to University Studies (like a liberal arts degree) and culinary arts is one of my emphasis. I am now in the full swing of school and loving all of my classes, especially pastry and culinary nutrition. I really like all of them... these I guess are just the most interesting.

For Christmas I got an enamel cast iron dutch oven and I have been dying to use it ever since I saw that I got it! I finally used it tonight... It is just so good at browning meat for stews... and creating those unctuous flavors in the bottom of the pan... FOND! I made a pork stew with roasted potatoes and fire roasted tomatoes. A trick I discovered is deglazing the pan multiple time to allow multiple fond to form. So I deglazed with a little water after I added the vegetables... let it cook down and caramelize again... then deglazed again!

I seasoned and floured the meat and browned it in batches and removed it from the pan. Then I added the onions and carrots and later the garlic. once they were soft I deglazed with 1/3 Cup of water. I let that cook then deglazed with water and a splosh of apple cider vinegar (since I don't usually purchase wine for such a small amount... but I wanted the same acidic qualities). I then added the tomatoes, and about 3 cups of water and a tsp of chicken bullion. I also added some rosemary, a bay leaf, salt and pepper of course, some crushed red pepper flakes and a bay leaf.

I then added the pork back and let it bubble away for a couple of hours until tender. I roasted some red potatoes in the oven till crisp. When the pork was tender I took some of the liquid and vegetables and pureed them in a blender until smooth. I then added it back to the stew along with the potatoes.

This is one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten! And it was really cheap because I used boneless pork spareribs that I cut into chunks. the whole thing probably cost $7 ... and I have tons of leftovers.

Well, that's the most exciting news that has happened since November... I know I live a daring life!