Pork on a Stick

Bacon on a Stick

Another weekly image from my archive. Click on it to make it larger.

Not your typical backyard barbeque from January 1973 in the North of New Zealand where we used to go for weekends.  We lived in Auckland for about four years and this would have been right before we left for Australia.  This was taken by by grand father but I must have been standing right next to him because I have a grainy black and white Instamatic image from almost the same spot.  Both are in my Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980   

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

I now have an iPad version of this book for sale ($4.99) on the Blurb site which you can find here: STORE

I have to say, even on the iPad the book looks pretty good.

Meet Me at Michael's

Long the favourite lunch spot for media types, Michael's has the reputation for media executive sightseeing par-excellence. If anyone wants to announce some new alliance or potential hire whether officially or not all they need to do is have lunch together at Michael's and the pr work is done. It is expensive as you might expect and contrary to expectation it is apparently not the place for consistently good food. From Frank Bruni in the NYTimes:

Then I had this restaurant’s jumbo shrimp appetizer. The shrimp were entombed in a dense, soggy beer batter and interred in an almost monochromatic landscape of goat cheese, puddles of dark miso aioli and shavings of summer truffle that might have been shavings of summer rubber for all the flavor they had. California cuisine? More like gloppy, affected pub grub, for which Michael’s charges $25. That’s what happens when a restaurant starts throwing truffles around, and that’s probably one reason this restaurant does it. Until that dinner I thought Michael’s prided itself on produce. Then I had its appetizer of peekytoe crab with spears of white asparagus, which might as well have been spears of white wax for all the flavor they had.

He notes the excellent Cobb salad which I agree is worth ordering although over breakfast I have had (inadvertently) some $12 orange juice.

Giles Coren on Editing

Spoiler alert: There is some very colorful language in the attached article written by food critic and writer Giles Coren. Giles has taken exception to what might appear to a disinterested party as a fairly minor editorial change to one of his recent restaurant reviews. As Mrs PND notes he is quite elegant in the manner in which he abuses the parties responsible. Giles and Gordon Ramsey are said to be good mates and it is clear after reading this where the common affection resides.

Consider yourself forewarned. There is no way anything like this would ever be published in a major US newspaper.

The Guardian.

Best Travel/Food Show on TV

In case you don't know this already, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show on the Travel Channel is the best Travel/Food show going. So forget little Rachael and even gorgeous Giada and check out some real life travel and cooking. A new series has just started.

Serves 8 to 10

I have often said that caramel is the desert equivalent of bacon but I never thought you could put the two together. Apparently, this is a dish that can't be ruined. You got that right! From The New York Times magazine:

Caramelized Bacon
You can make this up to 3 days in advance. Keep in a tightly sealed container at room temperature. This is a dish that can’t be ruined. You can freeze the leftovers. But why are there leftovers?

1 pound bacon
1 1-pound box light brown sugar (about 2 ¼ cups).

1. Go to a butcher and spend as much money as you have on very good bacon. Cut it into medium-thick slices, say, 3\16 of an inch.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large, rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dump a box of brown sugar into a big bowl. Light brown sugar is best, but if you want to use dark brown, I won’t stop you. Add ¼ cup of water, so that the sugar becomes more than damp but less than soupy. Some bacon caramelizers add a dash of cayenne pepper, but I think this makes the dish too nutritious.
3. Dredge the bacon in the sugar, one slice at a time. If the sugar isn’t sticking to the bacon, add some more water a teaspoon at a time until it sticks. (By the way, you won’t use all of the sugar, but it’s good to have extra.) Place the bacon strips on the paper. I then smear some sugar on top of the bacon, on the theory that if a little sweet is good, more is better.
4. Place the bacon in the oven. It’s impossible for me to tell you how long to cook the bacon because it depends on whether you like it chewy or crispy. Some recipes tell you to keep it in the oven for 8 to 13 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the bacon. I keep it in on the longer side. You should take yours out when it resembles the kind of bacon you would like to eat. Cut it into roughly 1 1/2-inch triangles. Serve at room temperature. Serves 8 to 10.

Of course, had I been more inspired I would have pictures; but it is just a matter of time.