Distance.

Steadying.

Evenings at this point in the Oyster Months find this house engaged in the ancient and sacred rite of the Welsh Rarebit, repeated as needed ...

WELSH RAREBIT

Ingredients

• A knob of butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp Coleman's mustard powder
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1c. Guinness
• A very long splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1lb. mature strong Cheddar, grated
• 4 pieces of toast

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour, and let this cook together until it smells biscuity but is not browning. Add the mustard powder and cayenne pepper, stir in the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce, then gently melt in the cheese.
2. When it’s all of one consistency, remove from the heat, pour out into a shallow container and allow to set. Spread on toast 1cm thick and place under the grill. Eat when bubbling golden brown. 
3. This makes a splendid savoury at the end of your meal, washed down with a glass of Port, or as a steadying snack.

Recipe courtesy of Fergus Henderson, from The Complete Nose to Tail

Thanks to Grandma Chenoweth.

Plan.

Marco Pierre White has a plan for all of your weekend dinners.

Venison Tartare: You don't have to be a cook to do this ...

Soused Herring: There's no real skill to this job ...

Fish Pie: If it burns, don't blame me ...

Sighing.

Saveur has the antidote ...

Driving down the Carretera Transístmica in Panama, I caught a whiff of smoke. Around the bend, a young woman swathed in billowing smoke caught my eye as she tended the grill outside a restaurant.  Hypnotized, I pulled over and approached the cinder-block building as a dozen people, who I found out were her family members, looked on skeptically. This restaurant was their life, and after I complimented the char and aroma of the grilling chicken and asked for a taste, they warmed up to me. Grandma proudly sat mixing garlic, allspice, sherry vinegar, and orange juice, while her daughter, the grill master, made my plate. Eating juicy chicken straight from the flames, sighing with pleasure at each bite of crisp-skinned flesh dripping with garlicky marinade, we shared a moment of intensity and informality particular to the cookout, where the cook is part of the party and everyone is warmed by fire, smoke, and good company.

Life-Changing.

Julia Reed finds the poetry in a pork chop ...

I’d read—and loved—his poem “The Theory and Practice of Rivers,” in which he makes menudo, the Mexican tripe soup, for New Year’s revelers, and I knew something about his appetites. But I wasn’t expecting a life-changing meal. I figured we’d dine at the Dune Saloon, site of the pay phone that had served as our only means of communication.

But then I drove my rental sedan up the cabin’s rutted driveway, marked “Trespassers Will Be Shot,” and there he was, preparing the grill for pork chops, a bunch of hardwood sticks in one hand and his beloved English setter Tess by his side. Our dinner consisted of a single course, but it remains among the most memorable of my life.

Cassoulet.

From The Splendid Table ...

No one has recorded a better version of this ultimate southwestern French dish, nor is it likely anyone ever will. Paula Wolfert learned it in the dining room of Pierrette Lejanou, a local Toulouse woman known to make the best. This is a three-day project, made more pleasurable if you can collaborate with a friend. The biggest challenges lie in the shopping: in addition to Tarbais beans and duck confit, the dish contains six kinds of pork. It’s an ideal excuse to visit that new nose-to-tail butcher shop that just opened. The staff will be excited to hear you are tackling this and should have most items.

The cooking is relatively straightforward. On day one, you lightly cure the pork to enrich its taste. On day two, you make a dense ragout of onions, carrots, beans, and five of the six kinds of pork. The final day, you bake the ragout with the duck confit in a large pot (preferably a traditional clay cassole, see Notes), with the sausages nestled on top. I guarantee you will never forget the results.

I recommend Wolfert's masterpiece, The Cooking of Southwest France. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds dried Tarbais, cannellini, or other runner-type beans
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh ham hock with skin (Wolfert advises against it, but I recommend using smoked hocks)
• 1 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks
• 12 ounces fresh pork skin with ¼-inch (6-mm) layer of hard fat attached
• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup rendered duck fat
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 small carrots, cut into rounds 1/4" thick
• 8-ounce piece pancetta (Wolfert advises against it, but I recommend using your favorite thick-cut, smoked bacon, rustically rough-cut)
• 1 head garlic, loose skins removed, plus 4 small garlic cloves, peeled (triple this)
• 1 large Roma tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• Herb bouquet of 4 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs, 3 small celery ribs, 2 fresh thyme sprigs, and 1 Turkish bay leaf, tied together with kitchen string
• 2 quarts lightly salted chicken stock
• 6 confit duck legs (procure extra for snacking, this is going to take three days)
• 4 ounces pork fatback
• 1 pound Toulouse or other mild fresh garlicky pork sausages (such as sweet Italian sausage)
• 2 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil 

INSTRUCTIONS

Day One:

1. Rinse the beans and pick them over to remove any grit. 
2. In a deep bowl or pot, combine the beans with water to cover by at least 2 inches. 
3. Let soak in the refrigerator overnight.

1. In a shallow dish, sprinkle the ham hock, pork shoulder, and pork skin with ¾ teaspoon salt and 10 grinds of pepper. 
2. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Day Two:

1. In a saucepan, combine the pork skin with water to cover by 1 inch and bring to a simmer over medium heat. 
2. Cook until plump and supple, about 15 minutes. 
3. Drain and let cool. 
4. Roll up the pork skin, skin side out, and tie securely with kitchen string.

Meanwhile, pat the ham hock and pork shoulder cubes dry with paper towels. 

1. In an 8- or 9-quart (8- or 9-l) oven-proof stainless steel or enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the duck fat over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the pork shoulder and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly brown on all sides, about 7 minutes. 
3. Add the onions and carrots and sauté, stirring, until the onions are soft and golden, about 5 minutes.

Nestle the ham hock and bacon in the casserole and cook, turning occasionally, until browned a little around the edges, about 5 minutes. 

1. Add the garlic head and tomato and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 
2. Add the pork skin and herb bouquet, pour in the stock, and bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. 
3. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer gently for 1 ½ hours.

Meanwhile, once the pork ragout has completed its first hour of cooking, start the beans. 

1. Drain them, then put into a large saucepan. 
2. Add fresh tepid water to cover by 1 to 2 inches, place on the stove top, and slowly bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. 
3. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer for 3 minutes. 
4. Drain the beans immediately and add them to the simmering pork.

Re-cover and continue simmering the pork and bean mixture until the beans are tender, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, depending on the age and type of bean. Remove from the heat, let cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Day Three:

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). 

1. Remove the pork and bean ragout from the refrigerator and skim off any fat that has solidified on the surface, reserving 2 tablespoons. 
2. Set the ragout over low heat and rewarm to room temperature.

Meanwhile, warm the duck confit to soften the fat.

1. If using store-bought duck legs sealed in plastic pouches, submerge the pouches in a large bowl of hot water for 10 minutes or so. 
2. If using homemade confit, set the legs on a foil-lined sheet pan and rewarm in the oven. 
3. Pull the duck meat off the bones in large chunks. 
4. Discard the skin, bones, and any large, dark veins. 
5. Save any fat for another use. 
6. Set the meat aside.

When the ragout has come to room temperature, pick out the garlic head(s), separate the cloves, and squeeze each clove to extract the pulp from its skin; return the pulp to the ragout. 

1. Remove and discard the herb bouquet. 
2. Pick out the ham hock, discarding bones, large fatty parts, and skin. 
3. Cut the remaining meat into 1-inch cubes and set aside. 
4. Pick out and untie the pork skin and cut into 2-inch pieces. 
5. Place the skin pieces, fat side down to prevent sticking, in the bottom of a 5 ½- to 6-quart cassarole and at least 4 inches deep.

In a food processor, combine the fatback and the 4 garlic cloves and process until pureed. 

1. Scrape the puree into the ragout and stir until blended. 
2. Bring the ragout to a simmer over low heat and cook for 30 minutes. 
3. Remove from the heat. 
4. Fold in the cubed pork shoulder and bacon.

Using a large slotted spoon or skimmer, add half of the ragout to the prepared casserole in an even layer, letting any excess liquid fall back into the pot. 

1. Scatter the duck confit on top of the ragout. 
2. Using the same spoon or skimmer, cover the confit layer with the remaining ragout. 
3. Taste the ragout cooking liquid and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 
4. Ladle just enough of the ragout liquid over the ragout to cover it. 
5. Be sure to leave at least 1 inch of “growing space” between the ragout and the casserole rim. 
6. Dollop the surface with the 2 tablespoons fat reserved from the chilled ragout.

Transfer the casserole to the oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, prick the sausages in several places. 

1. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the sausages, turning them a few times as needed, until browned all over, about 10 minutes. 
2. Transfer to a plate. Cut larger sausages into 3- to 4-inch pieces.

Remove the casserole from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 275°F. 

1. Gently break up the skin that has formed on the surface of the beans, being careful not to disturb the layers of confit and pork skin beneath. 
2. Spacing them evenly, nestle the sausages partway down among the beans. 
3. Dust the surface of the cassoulet with the bread crumbs.

Return the cassoulet to the oven and bake for 1 hour longer. 

1. If you like a dark brown crust, raise the heat to 400°F after the first 30 minutes (Highly recommended -Ed.). 
2. After 1 hour, if the surface is still not browned to your liking, turn on the broiler (make sure the vessel you are using is broiler-safe). 
3. Broil until richly browned.

Remove the cassoulet from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes. 

Just before serving, drizzle with the walnut oil, if using. Ladle onto plates and serve at once, and repeat as needed.

Editors notes:

• Don't pass on the walnut oil.  The experience isn't the same without it.
• The Hammock Papers staff found a room-temperature Sauvignon Blanc went well with the first bowl, awakening the tongue after a Sunday afternoon nap. The subsequent servings were accompanied by the high alcohol-content house red, making the spice, smoke, and duck funk really enjoyable.
• Bake some bread.

Thank you, Jessica.

Pudding.

Mrs. Crocombe makes the Christmas pudding ...

Zanzarelli.

Zanzarelli in Beef Broth

4 servings

Ingredients

4 cups beef broth 

½ cup grated Grana Padano, DOP

2/3 cup bread crumbs

4 eggs

pinch saffron

nutmeg, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Bring the broth to a boil, and then add the packet of saffron
2. Mix the eggs with the cheese and bread crumbs, form small balls and drop them into the broth 
3. Stir
4. Cook zanzarelli until firm
5. Distribute the broth with zanzarelli into bowls
6. Add salt and pepper, freshly grated nutmeg
7. Serve
8. Repeat as needed

Pleasant.

Fine oranges well roasted with sugar and wine in a cup, they’ll make a sweet Bishop when gentlefolk sup.

Jonathan Swift

Originating in Britain and immortalized by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), a Smoking Bishop is a "smoking" hot drink of wine and port mulled together with the juice of roasted bitter oranges, cloves, star anise, sugar and (occasionally) cinnamon. Compared to traditional mulled wine, which can sometimes be overwhelming, the spices take a minor role in a Smoking Bishop. With port, oranges and sugar, one would expect an overly sweet drink. But the after-punch of bitter fruit is the real star here, pulling our taste buds along a pleasant tightrope of flavor. Finding the balance is key to a good Smoking Bishop… and people have been trying since the 1800’s.

CONNECT

Squidge.

FERGUS' SARDINES on TOAST

You've had a proper dinner, but sometimes you might feel peckish before heading for bed. I once worked in a kitchen with a splendid chap called Charles Campbell, who always made himself sardines on toast at the end of the night. This he took to bed with him and ate in the dark, which he insisted was an essential part of the experience. It's also the perfect moment for a bedtime cuppa ... except we are eating in the dark, so the likelihood of third-degree burns from spilled tea is high. A much safer companion would be a dram of malt whisky, with which, hopefully, the only singe you will feel will be internal. Sorry, we somehow got through the day without so much as a sip of tea passing our lips.

INGREDIENTS

• Good brown bread
• Butter
• 1 tin good-quality sardines in oil
• Lemon

PROCEDURE

1. Toast and butter the bread
2. Squidge the sardines on to the toast with a fork
3. Squeeze over the lemon
4. Devour.

Steadying.

Evenings at this point in the Oyster Months find this house engaged in the ancient and sacred rite of the Welsh Rarebit, well-repeated as needed ...

WELSH RAREBIT

Ingredients

• A knob of butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp Coleman's mustard powder
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1c. Guinness
• A very long splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1lb. mature strong Cheddar, grated
• 4 pieces of toast

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour, and let this cook together until it smells biscuity but is not browning. Add the mustard powder and cayenne pepper, stir in the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce, then gently melt in the cheese.
2. When it’s all of one consistency, remove from the heat, pour out into a shallow container and allow to set. Spread on toast 1cm thick and place under the grill. Eat when bubbling golden brown. 
3. This makes a splendid savoury at the end of your meal, washed down with a glass of Port, or a steadying snack.

Recipe courtesy of Fergus Henderson, from The Complete Nose to Tail

Liquor.

Lucy Buffett's Oyster Dressing is a nearly thirty year-old tradition in our house (but I've yet to surpass the quality and longevity of Mum's sage dressing, the technique of which will remain a family secret) ...

INGREDIENTS

• 12 tablespoons/1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, divided, plus more for baking dish
• 1 (8-inch-square) baked and cooled cornbread, preferably on the sweet side
• 15 slices white or wheat bread, toasted and cooled
• ½ large white onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• ½ large green bell pepper, finely chopped
• ½ cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 2 dozen freshly shucked or jarred oysters, preferably Gulf oysters, drained and coarsely chopped (reserve the oyster liquor)
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, preferably Crystal
• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 ½ teaspoons truffle salt or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
2. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
3. Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove cover, add broth, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook mixture for 1 more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt and white pepper. Add to bread mixture and stir well to combine. If dressing seems too dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to 1/2 cup more chicken broth; mixture should be very moist.
5. Pour dressing into greased baking dish (cast iron skillet. -Ed.). Cut remaining 4 tablespoons butter into small pieces and scatter over top of dressing. Bake until top and sides are browned, 40 to 45 minutes.

Real.

Through these turbulent times it’s been up to us to keep the standard going and maintaining its position as a desirable product – at least when Fortnum’s produces it. Always made with care and love, ours is the real thing.

CONNECT

You know the world has really, really gone to hell when Fortnum's is centering their copy.

Grog.

Singleton, Admiral Vernon, 1793

Whereas it manifestly appears to be the unanimous opinion of both Captains and Surgeons, that the pernicious custom of the seamen drinking their allowance of rum in drams, and often at once, is attended with many fatal effects to their morals as well as their health...and which...cannot be better remedied than by ordering their half pint of rum to be daily mixed with a quart of water, which they that are good husbandmen may purchase sugar and limes to make more palatable to them.

Admiral Edward "Old Grogram" Vernon, August 21, 1740

As a tradition (shouting) ...

A toast then to Horatio, and another to the Queen

And may we all, 

Wherever we are,

Remember where we’ve been

UP SPIRITS!

STAND FAST THE HOLY GHOST!

Grog (traditional)

• 1 part rum
• 4 parts water 
• add limes as your pockets will allow

To be generally distributed between 11 and noon, and then again between 4 and 6 in the after-noon.

Pleasure.

Don’t be afraid of cooking, as your ingredients will know and misbehave. Enjoy your cooking and the food will behave; moreover it will pass your pleasure on to those who eat it.

Fergus Henderson, from The Complete Nose to Tail

Henderson's St. John Bread & Wine ...

Beef mince on duck fat toast ...

The technique is HERE.

Fish.

Fergus Henderson's Fish Pie ...

INGREDIENTS

Fish

• 3 fillets smoked haddock
• 10 black peppercorns
• 3  ⅓ c. milk
• 1 stick plus 2 T. butter
• ¾ c. all-purpose flour
• sea salt and black pepper
• 4 10-minute hard-boiled eggs

Potatoes

• 3½ lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• 3⅓ c. milk
• 1 stick plus 2 tablespoon butter
• sea salt and black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In an ovenproof dish, cover the smoked haddock and peppercorns with the milk and bake in a medium to hot oven for approximately 20 minutes. Check the fish has cooked through; it should easily flake when prodded with a knife. Remove it from the milk, strain and save the milk, and flake the fish flesh off their skins into hearty bite-size chunks.
2. Meanwhile boil and mash potatoes with the milk, butter and seasoning. 
3. While this happens, melt 10 tablespoons of the butter in a pan, and when it’s starting to bubble, add the flour and stir until the mixture smells biscuity (this suggests the flour is cooked), but do not let the mixture change color. There must be no browning at all, so be cautious with the heat. 
4. Add the warm fish milk, whisking to avoid lumps. Thicken until it easily coats the back of a spoon and check for seasoning. (Ed.- Add a shot of Pernod at this point)
5. In a pie dish place haddock and hard-boiled eggs. Add fish sauce, leaving room to top with layer of mashed potato. 
6. Run a fork across the top of the mash, as if ploughing a field. This is not for mere decoration, but aids the crisping factor. (Ed.- Dip the fork in olive oil before ploughing)
7. Dot the top with little knobs of butter, place the pie in a hot oven, and cook for 30 minutes or until piping hot and golden brown. 
8. Serve with boiled peas.

Steadying.

Welsh Rarebit, from Fergus Henderson’s Nose to Tail Eating 

To feed six

Ingredients

A knob of butter

1 T flour

1 t English mustard powder

½ t cayenne pepper

7 oz. Guinness

A very long splash of Worcestershire sauce

1 lb. mature strong Cheddar, grated

4 pieces of toast

Method

Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour, and let this cook together until it smells biscuity but is not browning. Add the mustard powder and cayenne pepper, stir in the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce, then gently melt in the cheese.

When it’s all of one consistency, remove from the heat, pour out into a shallow container and allow to set. Spread on toast 1cm thick and place under the grill. Eat when bubbling golden brown. 

This makes a splendid savoury at the end of your meal, washed down with a glass of Port, or a steadying snack.

Liquor.

Lucy Buffett's grand and glorious Oyster Dressing recipe.

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons/1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, divided, plus more for baking dish
• 1 (8-inch-square) baked and cooled cornbread, preferably on the sweet side
• 15 slices white or wheat bread, toasted and cooled
• ½ large white onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• ½ large green bell pepper, finely chopped
• ½ cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 2 dozen freshly shucked or jarred oysters, preferably Gulf oysters, drained and coarsely chopped (reserve the oyster liquor)
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, preferably Crystal
• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped, or 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 ½ teaspoons truffle salt or sea salt
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
2. Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
3. Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove cover, add broth, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook mixture for 1 more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt and white pepper. Add to bread mixture and stir well to combine. If dressing seems too dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to 1/2 cup more chicken broth; mixture should be very moist.
5. Pour dressing into greased baking dish. Cut remaining 4 tablespoons butter into small pieces and scatter over top of dressing. Bake until top and sides are browned, 40 to 45 minutes.
6. Yields 8 to 10 servings

Editorial ... I recommend adding 1/2 cup of dry vermouth to the vegetables and reducing before adding the broth in step three.

Jerk.

Few Caribbean dishes are as well-traveled, or as beloved, as Jamaican jerk, a humble meal of bone-in chicken or pork parts doused in a blend of spices and hot peppers, and cooked slowly over smoldering pimento wood branches. Peppered across the island, roadside jerk stands entice passersby with wafts of fragrant smoke rising from makeshift grills encased in sheets of tin siding. Supple, juicy, and crispy in spots where the meat has been charred by the fire, jerk is an integral part of Jamaica's economy too, with restaurants like the perpetually busy Scotchies or the relaxed Pepper's Jerk Center serving tourists and locals year-round. It's typically eaten with your hands alongside fried cornmeal "festivals" (dumplings), scorching-­hot Scotch bonnet pepper sauce, and cold beer.

Although jerk comes across as a leisurely beach food, it's actually a dish of resistance, born out of necessity and circumstance. The origins can be traced to the Maroons of the 17th century, a tribe of enslaved Africans who fled into the mountains of Jamaica's eastern Portland parish to escape Spanish-owned plantations. Here, the Maroons barbecued whole wild hogs, burying the meat in the earth to smother the smoke and keep the Spanish and British forces from discovering them. "They had to live off the land and find ways to survive," explains Suzanne Rousseau, co-­author, with her sister Michelle, of Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking.

Thanks to the popularity of bottled jerk seasonings such as Walkerswood and Grace brands, the flavors of jerk have become one of Jamaica’s most famous exports worldwide. But Suzanne believes the roots of the dish have been lost. “Jerk is not a seasoning; it’s a type of cooking,” Michelle says. “It’s like whole-hog barbecue [in the American South].” The singular combination of ingredients found on the island, and the technique of smoking with the leaves and branches of the pimento tree (also known as the allspice tree), are what make “jerking” so deeply connected to the island—so much so that it’s become a part of Jamaicans’ shared heritage. As Michelle says, “It’s truly tied to our identity.”

Jamaica-born chef Cheryl Smith—who serves jerk at her Brooklyn, New York, restaurant, Cheryl's Global Soul—says that even if it's not grilled over a smoldering pile of pimento logs, her version is still a tribute to the dish's history, and to the people of the island, past and present. "It's the ingenuity of Jamaicans," she says, "who figured out how to make something out of nothing. You've got some meat, some vegetables, some wood—and you've got a way to make a living."

CONNECT

Excellent.

An excellent book ...

BACON FAT MAYONNAISE

Ingredients

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 7 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups rendered bacon fat
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Freshly ground Tellicherry black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Put the egg yolks, mustard, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the into a blender or mixing bowl. Beat on high for 2 minutes, until well blended.
2. Add the bacon fat (no need to add gradually if everything is properly chilled), continuing to beat until the mixture is thick. Depending on how thick and rich you like your mayonnaise you may or may not need the entire amount of fat.
3. Slowly blend in the remaining lemon juice, sea salt and pepper, whipping it pretty much continuously throughout. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

The mayonnaise keeps for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.