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Confession Of An PT Addict

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I confess !
I am a lifelong PT addict, ever since I was a child and my mother fed me my first dose of PT ………
I will eat PT (pig’s tails) with gusto, in whatever guise you set them before me – braised in soy sauce, salted, fried, in stews, souse, soups, or just by themselves with bread and condiments, as shown here.
For today’s lunch, one bucket of 5 lbs was the exact right amount for Bella and me to pig out (pun intended). Of course, there are a lot of bones, so the actual amount of meat is not really that excessive (well, maybe a little……).
One might call this a case of “PT Overdose” 🙂
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Excerpt from an article by Chichi Wang on Serious Eats :
” I want to make the case that pigs’ tails contain everything desirable in the pig, and in exactly the right proportions. Unlike ox tail, the tails of pigs come with the skin intact so that each segment is a perfect cross-section of skin, fat, tendon, and meat.
Fried or roasted, the skin of the tail is chewy and crisp, with a gelatinous layer underneath. Tail flesh is fork-tender like that of the neck bones, but meatier than trotters. There’s a modest amount of tendon around each bony hub–just enough to make the gnawing enjoyable, but not so much as to distract from the whole. All in all, a Pigs tail is a little porky universe unto itself. “
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– Looks like I am not the only “PT Addict” 🙂
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for more PT on ChefsOpinion
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Confession Of An PT Addict

serve with fresh pretzel bread (laugenstangen), hot and mild chilies and mustard (or fresh horseradish if available)

a bucket of heaven……

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: one bucket of heaven……

: rinse the tails overnight, simmer in fresh water, fresh-ground black pepper and onions until tender, usually between 2 and 3 hours; after one hour, check the water – if it is salty, drain and add new water, if needed, repeat

: serve with fresh pretzel bread (laugen stangen), hot and mild chilies and mustard (or fresh horseradish if available)

: Confession Of An PT Addict

: Confession Of An PT Addict

: Confession Of An PT Addict

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Pied De Cochon

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ANYTHING sounds better in french ?! 🙂
I used to call my wife “Mon Petit Chou”, which sounds perfectly sweet and romantic in french. Translated, it’s “My Little Cabbage” :-(. Not as sweet and romantic, no doubt.
Same with my dinner today : “Pied De Cochon – which translates into “Pig’s Trotters”, one of my all time favorite second cuts.
Pigs trotters are very versatile, they are great fried, steamed, braised, and pickled.
The following dish was created today in my kitchen and, I must say, it was absolutely delicious (and pretty to look at, to boost).
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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More “Pig’s Goodies” on ChefsOpinion
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Wiki on Pigs Trotters
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More about Pigs Trotters
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Pied De Cochon

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: poach pigs feet in salted water, drain, rinse, cover with salted water, simmer until very tender but NOT falling apart (about two hours)

: meanwhile, blanch baby bok choy

: shock in ice water

: drain

: after 1 1/2 hours, add kosher salt, chili paste, garlic paste, grated ginger, sliced onions to the soup

: after 2 hours, add fresh shiitake mushrooms

: also add blanched, rinsed sliced rice cakes and blanched, sliced lotus roots

: simmer slowly until pigs feed are done,, check / adjust seasoning

: add bok choy and chili paste (optional) to serving plate

: add pigs feet, rice cake and lotus roots

: ladle soup over all ingredients

: Pied De Cochon

: Pied De Cochon

: Pied De Cochon

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Pasta Salad With Squid And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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Conventional wisdom dictates that squid (Calamari) for salad should be cooked in liquid or steam.
Not so, say I 🙂
I am of the opinion that squid when done in liquid lack enough taste and texture to add interest to a salad. In my opinion, coating the squid with a mixture of corn starch and corn meal, then frying them in very hot oil to a scrumptious crisp, will give a far superior result and brings out the best of the little sea critters. Should you decide to use this method, add the squid to the top of the salad for presentation, then mix with the rest of the salad just before eating to ensure the crispness of the squid.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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P.S.
When cooking pasta for salad, you should cook the pasta all the way ! Al dente is for hot dishes;
It is not a good texture for pasta salads. (This is of course my very own opinion, make your own decision according to your own preference 🙂
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Pasta Salad With Squid And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: remove innards and spine, cut eyes and fangs from tentacles

: cut bodies lenghtwise (or into rings if you prefer)

: season with granulated garlic, plenty of sriracha and kosher salt

: coat with a mixture of half cornstarch, half corn meal

: deepfry for a few seconds in VERY hot oil

: remove to absorbent paper, sprinkle with chopped cilantro

: capers, sun dried tomatoes, corn, grape tomatoes, peppers, scallions,

: pasta of your choice (I used casarecce), add veggies and honey/mustard dressing

: love this serving dish 🙂

: add lettuce in honey/mustard dressing

: top with pasta salad

: top with squid

: Pasta Salad With Squid And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

: Pasta Salad With Squid And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

: Pasta Salad With Squid And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

: Pasta Salad With Squid And Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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EASY DOES IT # 17 – Hans’ Homemade Buffalo Sauce

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While buffalo sauce is most famously used for chicken wings, I use my recipe for many other dishes, such as steak sauce, light coating for sautéed shrimp, sautéed vegetables, sautéed potatoes, etc, as well as fried foods such as chicken hearts, duck gizzards, chicken wings ( pictured below). I also use it as a spicy dipping sauce for french fries and whatever else needs a bit of a pick-up 🙂
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Recipe :
Melted butter 1/2 cup
Sriracha 1/2 cup
Green tabasco 1 tablespoon
Confit garlic paste 1 tablespoon
White vinegar 1 tablespoon
Honey 1 tablespoon
Maggi seasoning to taste
Kosher salt to taste
Mix all ingredients well, check / adjust taste

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Easy Does It # 17 – Hans’ Buffalo Sauce

Easy Does It # 17 Hans’ Buffalo Sauce

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Calamari Rellenos – Stuffed Fried Squid

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The first time I ate this dish was in 1974 in Vigo, Spain. I was in Spain for the very first time and I fell head over heels in love with the country, the food, the wine, the culture, the music and, of course, the women 🙂 I remember many things from these first visit’s to this beautiful, fascinating country. However, what stands out from all these memories is my first lunch with friends at a small restaurant on the pier in the port of Vigo. Most of my friends had fried calamari, the way we were all familiar with, fried breaded rings which are probably the most widely known calamari dish of all. I however wanted to try something I never had before, so I ordered the “Calamar Relleno”.
To this day I can recall the platter that was served to me and how much I admired the dish, so much richer and tasty compared to the fried rings I was used to. They were served with a simple salad and lemon wedges. No fancy sauce, garnish or other fru fru that would have destracted from the wholesomeness of this amazing dish.

Buen Provecho ! La Vida es Buena! Viva España !

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Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

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Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

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: mise en place

: saute garlic paste in its own oil

: add diced onion

: add coarsrly chopped squid tentacles and coarsely chopped shrimps, saute briefly

: mix shrimp and tentacles with kosher salt, cayenne pepper, egg, chopped herbs and panko, fill mixture into tubes, close with bammboo skewer

: mix flour, paprika, sea salt and cayenne, mix well

: dredge squid in flour mixture

: fry for two minutes on both sides

: remove to absorbent paper

: Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

: Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

: Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

: Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

: Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

: Calamar Rellenos -Stuffed Fried Squid

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Dear Friend’s, to help support this blog,
please be so kind and click on the video on the bottom of this page. Thank you 🙂
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Fried, Fried, Fried, Fried & Fried

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My own Superbowl dinner yesterday. I loved every bit of it 🙂
The secret is to make sure that everything is very crispy and not greasy at all.
Fried chicken breast, fried scallions, fried mushrooms, fried pickled artichoke hearts and fried dill pickles.
Served with tonkatsu dipping sauce and scotch bonnet hot sauce – absolute fried food bliss 🙂

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Fried, Fried, Fried, Fried & Fried

: Mise en place

: season everything with salt, pepper and granulated garlic, coat with standard breading, fry until golden and cooked through

: while frying, remove all loose crumbs swimming in the fryer

: almost……..

: remove all items to absorbent paper

: Fried, Fried, Fried, Fried & Fried

: Fried, Fried, Fried, Fried & Fried

: Fried, Fried, Fried, Fried & Fried

: Fried, Fried, Fried, Fried & Fried

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” For Offal Lover’s Only ! “

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Friend’s, by now you have probably realized that some of my recipes and / or pictures
are of food which is a bit outside the mainstream. ( Some of my articles as well ? )
Yesterday I came across this article in the huffpost which reminded me again how
far most of our young “colleagues” and their guest’s / client’s in the culinary world
have moved away from the well rounded professionals we oldtimers were trained to be.
It praised the new generation of inventive and adventurous and oh so clever chef’s for
using the whole animal. WOW!
When I apprenticed in the sixties back in Germany, we were used to getting delivered
the whole animal, or if this was impractical because of it’s size and weight, a half (veal,
pig, stag, boar) or a quarter (beef). Fresh game was always dropped off whole by
the village hunter, and two four times a year we slaughtered our own pig’s which we
raised mostly on food scrap’s from the restaurant. So, on most restaurant’s menu’s
you wood find cut’s from ALL part of the animals. From snout to huff and tail and just
about anything in between was used for a well rounded menu, at small country inn’s
all the way up to five star restaurants.
So, in this spirit, here is my take on Gizzards :

” Fried Spicy Gizzard’s, Guacamole & Totopos ”
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Simmer the cleaned gizzards in red wine, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper until tender. Strain, dry.
Season with salt, cayenne pepper and garlic powder and fry until the edges become crisp.
Don’t fry too long or they become dry and tough. Season and fry the onions the same way.
To serve, sprinkle with cilantro and chili flakes.

Because I served these with guacamole, I did not need a dipping sauce .
If you want to use a dipping sauce, try this:
Soy sauce with scallions, lime juice, sriracha and a bit of rice wine and sugar. 🙂
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