This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy went on a spit.

This week’s topics include more Gospel According to the WF, crap in the glass means crap in the pan, a review of Barrio Café in Phoenix, a whole pig roast (oh baby), and a veritable cornucopia of porky goodness.

The Gospel According to the WF - Cooking with wine.  So, like yourself, I’ve often heard the pinheads on Food Network tell you not to cook with bad tasting wine.  My typical response is something akin to “Yeah, right.  Like I’m going to use this good Cab to cook with.  You must be high or just stupid!”

I have been horribly wrong on this.  Recently, I was browning sausage for a spaghetti sauce and had the bright idea of deglazing the pan with some red wine.  I reach for some wine in my wine cooler that I’ve absolutely hated since I was persuaded to buy it.  Deglazed the pan with a little of the wine, and the sauce was ok.  Then I added some more to let it simmer down.

And it tasted like crap.  Sweet, like crap red wine.  I poured some of the wine in a glass and it tasted exactly the same! 

Lesson learned and, frankly, it makes sense.  If it tastes like crap in the glass, it will taste like crap in the pan.  If you can’t afford to buy decent wine to cook with, find another liquid to use.

Restaurant Review – the Barrio Café, Phoenix, Arizona.  In a recent trip to Phoenix, my friend R brought me to this restaurant and spoke very highly of it.  Supposed to be southern Mexico flavors.  As we’re driving there, the neighborhood starts sketchy and doesn’t get any better.  This is most definitely in the barrio (aka – the hood).  Being who I am, I’m thinking that this place should have promise. 

So the outside is the barrio, but the inside is nice.  Plus this place has someone who purports to be a chef.  A chef in a Mexican restaurant?  I’m sorry.  I think I misunderstood what you said.  What kind of Mexican restaurant has a ‘chef’?!  Well, they do, and he sure as hell knows what he’s doing.

First, I have to mention the tequila selection.  I’m not the biggest tequila drinker in the world, but I appreciate a monumental collection when I see one.  Check out the wall of tequila.  They had a menu for just the tequilas.  Literally hundreds.  They have some tequilas which cost more than $200 per shot.  I can’t imagine what a $200 per shot tequila would taste like, but ok.

Back to the menu.  R and I order two house margaritas and Queso Fundido for appetizers.  Roasted poblanos, sauteed spinach, mushrooms and melted Oaxacan cheese with queso fresco and chorizo.  Cheesy goodness. 

I ordered the Cochinita Pibil, which is slow roasted pork with anchiote rojo and sour orange.  Imagine really good carnitas (bark and all), with a bit of heat and a subtle yet complex citrus flavor.  Check out the pickled onions on top.  Not your typical “Mexican” dish, but absolutely fabulous and melt in your mouth tender.   It also came with some sort of sweet mashed potato.  It was good, but I was clearly distracted by the succulent pork product surrounding it. 

R ordered the Enchiladas de Mole, with the red mole sauce on the side.  Check ‘em out.  These enchiladas were nicely stuffed with creamy goodness, though the red mole sauce was clearly the star of the show.  It had a nice, earthy flavor without the dark cocoa flavor I normally associate with mole sauces.

All in all, Barrio Café is a fabulous restaurant.  Very, very different than the Mexican food I grew up on and continue to love, such as Los Dos Molinos.  I can’t wait to go back and try more of their food.

A Pig Roast.  So every year, my friend D has a pig roast where he roasts a whole pig on a spit.  When I heard about it, I’m fairly sure that I invited myself, without actually waiting for an invitation. 

Caution – if you’re a vegetarian and/or squeamish, you may want to skip the rest of this week’s blog.

So D ordered a 75 lb pig, with special instructions to butcher it in true Filipino style (leave the tail on, don’t split the rib cage, etc.).  Apparently, Mrs. D, who is Filipino, has very clear ideas on how a pig should be done.  None of her instructions were followed by the butcher, so the annual pig roast got off to a dubious start.

None of this bothered me.  I was just happy there was a whole pig on the menu.

Here’s Porky shortly after going on the spit.  D rubbed the inside with various spices, inserted a bunch of lemon grass into the cavity, and stitched it up around the spit.  He actually drove some lag bolts through the back of the pig to hold it in place during the 8+ hour roast.    

Towards the end, D and others mopped Porky with water and cola to darken up the skin and crisp it up.  Below is a picture of the pig as it’s about to be carved.  Nice, deep color on the skin.

After D carved, I asked if I could carve some.  I just couldn’t help myself.  If there’s a critter around that needs carving, I’m in.  But, momma didn’t raise no fool.  I flipped the pig onto the back and carved out both pieces of belly meat.  For you non-foodies, pork belly is where bacon comes from.  Do you think I’m going to leave those tasty morsels if I’m given the knife?!  Methinks not.

The review?  Pretty awesome.  The pork meat was tender and flavorful, and it’s fun to have the whole pig to choose tasty bits from.  I was partial to the belly, but the whole thing was good.   

There was lot of other really good food, including various Filipino dishes.  But, let’s face it, we were there for the pig.  Did I mention that Thing 2’s nickname is pork chop?  You can guess why.

I can’t wait to cook my own whole pig.

Happy cooking.

WF