Jeanette's parents were just in town, and Friday night they were off visiting Alcatraz (I've already been--it's actually really cool), so I had the kitchen to myself to play. Back when I made mutton shoulder, I rolled some up, vacuum-sealed, then poached it to preserve it, confit-style. So Friday was a perfect time to finally get around to eating the mutton shoulder.
I kind of threw this pairing together in my head while I was at the little market near my house (the "Organic Produce" place on Church between Market and Duboce, adjacent to Safeway--it's got very good veg, cheaper and better than Safeway). First I saw some spring rhubarb with a really deep red skin. I figured the sour sharpness of rhubarb would be a great foil to the fatty gaminess of the mutton. Next I saw some fresh garbanzo beans, some with green leaves still attached, and I figured "Hey, I've got a couple hours--I might as well spend some time shucking chickpeas." I'd never had fresh ones before, so I didn't entirely know what to expect, but I figured they'd be a mild-flavored pea/bean flavor. They turned out to be amazingly delicious. More on that later.
After the chickpeas, I got some artichokes. They didn't seem particularly necessary to the dish, and could have been left out, but they're in season and were on sale. After that the rest of this came together based on what the flavors needed and on what I had available. It needed some salty crunch, so I added some dehydrated kalamata olives I'd made a while ago. I had stale baguette, so I cut it into planks and fried it into delicious croutons for tons of crunch. I crushed up a couple of these planks and left a couple whole. Finally I added some pistachio powder that I'd pulverized a while ago. That also could have been left out. Here's how it all ended up:
- Pulled mutton shoulder - Smoked, grilled, sous-vide 8 hours @ 65.5C, then pulled, rolled into a cylinder using plastic wrap, vacuum-sealed, then sous vide 3 hours @ 82.2C and held in the fridge for a long time until ready to use. Finally, removed from bag and plastic, rolled in flour, then deep-fried and sliced into a large round.
- Rhubard dice
- Pickled Rhubarb - Rhubarb sliced thinly and lightly pickled in fig vinegar
- Rhubarb-buttermilk puree - Rhubarb simmered until completely soft, then strained and pureed with buttermilk. Adjust with a bit of honey and a bunch of salt.
- Fresh chickpeas - Fresh chickpeas/garbanzo beans, shucked, blanched, shocked. They can be peeled after that, like favas, but it's unnecessary.and not, in my opinion, worth it. Warmed with a bit of olive oil.
- Chickpea leaves - Still on twig, the whole thing deep-fried for just a couple seconds then drained and salted.
- Deep-fried artichoke hearts - Artichokes, trimmed and hearts extracted. Hearts cooked in water until tender. Sliced into 1/8" slices then deep-fried in peanut oil @ 365F, and then drained and salted.
- Dehydrated kalamata olives - Kalamata olives, pitted, quartered lengthwise, then dried in the oven for about 24 hours @ 170F.
- Croutons - Planks cut from a stale baguette, deep fried until very crispy. Half crumbled and sprinkled into dish, half of the planks kept whole.
- Pistachio powder - Pistachios, ground into a powder using a mortar and pestle.
Even though this came together in a haphazard way, the flavors were all spot on. The buttermilk was the odd element, but it drew the mutton into focus. The olives were there as the salty backbone. The chickpeas, though--God, the chickpeas! I had never had them fresh, but they are just like favas, with an amazing, delicate flavor. Yum.
Posted by Barzelay on 2009/04/13 @ 1:44 | Comments (0) | Meat, Sauces, Condiments, Veggies, Fruit, Grain, Cheese