Thursday, December 16, 2010

Going Whole Hog and a Winner

It's that time of year where we're all tempted to over-indulge a little but Matt & I went from a little to whole hog indulgence this week.
#348 - Whole Pig Porchetta
Yes, that is a whole pig! Tuesday night we joined chefs Scott Pampuch of Corner Table & Mike Phillips of Green Ox Meats for a Whole Hog Dinner at The Local in Minneapolis. These are two men who know their away around a pig (heck, they actually butchered one in a local Williams Sonoma a few weekend ago) so, we knew we were in for something good.
Chefs Mike Phillips & Scott Pampuch
It was a cold, blustery night so we were happy to be ushered into a cozy private room & served a Rush River Unforgiven Amber Ale while pondering over the menu.
Charcuterie Platter
The first course was one we used to go to Mike's former restaurant, Craftsman, specifically to have, a lovely charcuterie platter. It was all wonderful but we especially enjoyed the terrine, wild mushroom salami & rillettes (must make terrine & rillettes at home).
Charcroute Garni
The second course was a Charcroute Garni. Once again everything was great but the pork pie made with all head meat covered in a lard crust was sublime. There is talk of adding it to the menu at The Local & its sister restaurants & we vote a very loud yes.
Whole Pig Porchetta
Next, we were presented with the entrée (even though we were stuffed already), a whole pig panchetta. The pig had been cooked for 7 hours in a large pizza oven. It was certainly tasty but we loved the fist two course so much it had a hard time living up to them.
Parsnip Cake
Finally, dessert, even if had porky goodness in it. A parsnip cake was topped with a crispy bacon toffee & served with a walnut beet ice cream. Even the cream creme anglaise had been infused with pork flavor buy have ham bones seeped in it.
Rush River Porter
To top it off each course was paired with a Rush River beer from Wisconsin. The beers work beautifully with the pork. I'm a big fan of their Lost Arrow Porter & it was perfect with the charcuterie. Their Winter Warmer, which is just in stores now, was really interesting with flavors of orange, cardamon & other spices. I asked if I was tasting it right & was surprised to hear that even though it has those flavors no spices or flavorings have been added to it at all. With dessert we were treat to the Nevermore Chocolate Oatmeal Stout which had just been bottled for the first time that morning. It is an amazing beer with such an outstanding chocolate/coffee flavor, it'll be perfect in front of the fire & should be in stores in the next week. We headed back out into the cold feeling a lot warmer & a lot fuller!

Finally, we have the winner in our Figgy Giveaway - Ranee of Arabian Knits. Congrats Ranee & thanks to everyone who entered.



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9 comments:

  1. So envious (and happy) you guys could make this dinner. Anders and I really wanted to, but ended up with a conflict and couldn't make it. Boy did we miss out. Looks fabulous. Happy holidays! - jen

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  2. Jen - We had hoped to see you guys there, it was a good one!

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  3. Oh my word! That looks so good!

    Thank you again for the giveaway. I am so excited to win something. :-)

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  4. Wow what an evening of food. You have so many foodie adventures. Consider me jealous in NY.

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  5. My goodness that pork looks good! And toffee bacon? Awesome. You had to be loving that beet ice cream. :)

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  6. talk about going whole hog! (insert groan here.) toffee bacon may be the most enticing creation i've come across all week.

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  7. I am SO sceptical about that dessert, but everything else sounds gorgeous! And this is certainly the weather for it.

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  8. Sounds like an awesome dinner! That is one huge pig!

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