Prosciutto and melon is one of my all time favorite summer foods.  So when I found mini heirloom cantaloupes at the farmers’ market, I had the best of intentions as I asked the sweet old Amish lady to help me pick out the freshest one she had.  However,  as is prone to happen after carrying an 8lb slab of pork belly home (story for another post), my mind eventually turned to thoughts of something cooler and more refreshing. 

After giving initial consideration to trying to turn my cantaloupe into a nice frozen treat like a sorbet or granita, I eventually decided that it was a great candidate for a farmers’ market cocktail challenge. 

Why not, I thought, combine two of my favorite things – cocktails and prosciutto and melon.  And with that, the Can Elope Fizz was born; named for the effect it might have on you.

I’m now intrigued by the possibilities of melon cocktails.  Perhaps next time I’ll go ahead and make that sorbet and float a bit of it in a nice prosecco…you know, for the ladies.  I think the creaminess of tequila could also go well with the softness of the melon. We shall see.

Can Elope Fizz

2 lbs. Cantaloupe, cut into pieces

2 tbsp. chopped basil

3 oz. White rum

1.5 oz. Cognac

Soda Water

Grenadine

Prosciutto

Ahead of time, in a 350 degree oven bake slices of prosciutto on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 5 minutes or until crispy.  Puree cantaloupe pieces with chopped basil and set aside.

To make the drink, fill a glass with ice.  In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add rum, cognac and 2 oz. of cantaloupe puree.  Shake well and strain into glass.  Top off with soda and garnish with a splash of grenadine and a prosciutto crisp.

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Before Christmas we decided to try out a relatively new addition to the DC food scene, Sou'Wester in the Mandarin Oriental hotel. We went in with very high expectations given it was created by the highly touted chef of CityZen and staffed by many of those who made that an award-winning kitchen. Unfortunately, we were disappointed - very much so.  I promised a full review, but it has been a month and I still haven't done it. Quite honestly, the meal wasn't worth the time spent writing one. In lieu of a review, I'm posting the verbatim notes from my Blackberry I typed to help remember the meal. I think it gets the point across.  

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This weekend while on a visit back to my hometown in NC I realized that since I've been away for over 10 years, I no longer remember the phone number for the house I grew up in.  That's probably not that big of a deal because I also couldn't tell you other numbers I probably called a million times like my best friends or my dad's office; but strangely there is really only one I still remember - Speedy Lohr's (336-764-5509 if you're curious).

In a town known for little more than barbecue (check out the world famous Barbecue Festival for more), this is saying something and that's why Speedy Lohr's has become my own personal Mecca.  Whenever I'm home, I'll go way out of my way to eat there.  If anyone is coming to DC to visit, I request that they bring me a few pounds. And when my wife is looking to find the way to my heart through my stomach, she convinces them to FedEx a freezer-full to me.

I don't have any particular memories of Speey Lohr's growing up and in a town with dozens of BBQ joints I certainly wasn't exclusive to it, but from the hickory smoke billowing out the back to the unpretentous service and surroundings, it is everything a BBQ joint should be and it is now my own personal gold standard. You'll get good food for practically nothing served by the friendliest bunch of folks you'll ever meet.  I'd give one of my Un-Zagat reviews, but I guarantee it would get 4-stars.

These days, barbecue is a big part of my foodie personality.  I love to argue with Texas friends about whether or not real barbecue comes from a pig or cow (keep your beef, jerky); with NC friends about whether eastern or western NC is superior (Tupac forever); and with northern friends about whether or not the word barbecue is a noun or a verb (actually, I can't rationally discuss this).  I talk about barbecue with the same snobbishness a sommelier will use to dismiss entire varietals without so much as lowering his nose and as much as I try to fight it, a little piece of me probably looks down on you if you don't favor classic western NC Q. 

I'll share more about BBQ later including why we eat that weird red slaw, what the difference is between a chopped tray and a chopped plate, and how you can recreate the perfect western NC BBQ on your home grill.  But now my latest pilgrimage is complete and I've got 2 pounds of heaven calling my name.

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Quick synopsis: while it is in the Mandarin Oriental, it sure feels and acts more like a random hotel restaurant in some anonymous town. This one won't be pretty folks. Stay tuned. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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{p.s. sorry for the bad picture. I forgot about it and took it through the glass as I was leaving}

No, no - I don't only eat at pizza joints. I'll try and diversify the reviews in the future, but when the best pizza in DC (as declared by the Washingtonian's readers) moves into my work 'hood, I had to go check it out. Flippin' Pizza opened a couple of week's ago to little fanfare in a pretty non-descript location in North Bethesda. On the first day they offered two free slices to everyone, but my abject disdain for standing in line for anything led me to the Chipotle next door. Since then, I've tried Flippin' twice and while I'm not ready to declare it the best in DC, I do think it will have a regular spot on my work lunch rotation.

Flippin' is NY-style pizza. My bias towards wood-fired brick ovens is well known and Flippin' just has your run-of-the-mill pizza baker's ovens. Everything about Flippin' is very basic, no frills or pretense in this place.

The Ratings:

Value – 4-stars. $5 gets you two nice slices plus a soda. I just don't think that can really be topped.

Atmosphere – 2.5-stars. It is just a small little NY-style pizza place. They seem to generally cater to take-out folks and only have 6-7 tables inside. I could probably use some inappropriately loud music or shouting, tattooed dough flippers that look like Jersey Shore cast rejects just to liven the place up a bit and give it a little personality.

Service – 3-stars. Again, this place is about pizza and nothing else. Walk in, tell the lady at the cash register what you want, wait two minutes and take your pizza. The Capital Grill this isn't, but that's not why you're here. Staff is friendly and, most importantly for a lunch place, quick. Besides, if you're going to complain about the service when you're only paying $5, please go introduce your head to a ceiling fan in the middle of July.

Food – 2.5-stars. I thought the pizza was good, but not great. The crust is very thin. It has a great taste, but ends up being extremely crunchy - too crunchy if you ask me. If you come in for a slice, everything is made ahead of time and they just reheat it so I'm sure this contributes to the texture. On the good side, the pizza isn't greasy, the sauce is tasty and the all-important sauce-to-cheese-to-toppings ratio is spot on. As best I can tell, if you're buying by the slice you're limited to the 5-6 regulars in their rotation so this might not be the best place for the picky eater. Toppings are all basic pizza toppings so don't expect to fill up on some arugula, chevre and quail sausage crap pizza; you get pepperoni, meatballs and sausage and you'll be happy about it. There is nothing here I can't do at home except for putting the food on my tray in about 3 minutes.

Final rating – 3 stars. I can probably think of 10 pizza places in DC I like better than Flippin'. Unfortunately, I can think of zero anywhere within lunchtime driving from my office so I will hereby declare Flippin' Pizza the kind of North Bethesda. If I had one in my home neighborhood, I would probably frequent it because it is easy and reliable. Definitely check it out.

My rating guide:

Value – Fairly subjective call based on how much I felt like I got for my money. An expensive place can rate high here if I felt like I got a lot. A cheap place might rate low if I thought it sucked.

Atmosphere – Quiet is usually good. Crowded is usually bad. I’ll throw in intangibles like cleanliness and bathrooms and such in here. Just so you know, you automatically get bonus points if you have one of those new jet powered hand-dryers.

Service – Often, this is the most important to me and can generally be the deciding factor about whether or not I go to a restaurant. I can cook at home. When I’m paying you to do it, I expect a little effort and maybe some appreciation that I chose your restaurant over another. Just sayin'.

Food – I grade this based on whether or not I could have done it at home. 1-star means I make it better. 4 stars means there’s no chance I could have even thought of it, much less executed it.

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Anyone that has been to our place knows we have a lot of cookbooks.  There was a time that sentence would have read "Tiernen has a lot of cookbooks," but over time I've come accept that I probably like them just as much as she does.  In my opinion, cookbooks make great gifts. They last forever; there's such a wide variety that you can find one to suit anyone on your shopping list; and if you do your research you'll find one that will be well-used by cooks at all levels.

To help you decide what book to get when you're standing in the middle of about 5000 in the bookstore, here are my top 5 cookbooks that we use on a pretty regular basis.

1)  Everyday Food: Great Food Fast  

Although it came out shortly after the prison episode and her name is very much downplayed in the book, it should surprise no one that Martha gets the top spot.  We use this handy paperback more than any other book we have.  It has a wide variety of foods covering a range of cuisines, but it is all easy to understand and quick to make. This one is perfect for someone with diverse tastes, a person just getting into cooking or busy professionals who like to eat well but may be short on time.  Best recipe: Beef Bulgogi

2)  Williams-Sonoma Tools and Techniques  

I’m an absolute sucker for technique books.  Even though the basic techniques are pretty much the same throughout the culinary world, we still have several of these type of cookbooks.  This one is my favorite mostly because of the design and layout.  For each technique the book has multiple pictures as it walks you step-by-step through the process.  This one can be equally informative to both the beginning cook because of its simplicity and the advanced cook because it gives you room to experiment.  Best recipe: Pie crust (and the foundation for my famous chicken pie)

3)  The Glory of Southern Cooking

No cookbook recommendations from me would be complete without a good southern cookbook.  Now if you’re really from the south, most southern cookbooks come in one of two forms: either a big three-ring binder with clippings from the local newspaper and Southern Living or the cookbook your church produces every few years to raise money for the missionaries.  The Glory of Southern Cooking has all the classics that any good southerner grew up on, but it is also sophisticated enough that those born north of the Mason-Dixon can feel like they are eating an exotic foreign cuisine.  The appetizers are particularly good in the book making it a good buy for someone who does a lot of dinner parties.  Best recipe: Parmesan-herb drumettes.

4)  Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen

We cook a lot of Italian food and we have quite a few Italian cookbooks, all of which we use with some frequency.  I’m singling this one out because it has classics as well as some unique recipes and because we have never made anything bad from it.  Any Italian food lover will enjoy this one and any family feeding a lot of mouths will always appreciate the family-style cooking Italians are know for.  Best recipe: Classic Ceasar Salad.

5)  Mix Shake Stir 

While I fully appreciate the classics, I’m all about the new trend of artisan cocktails.  In fact, we now never plan a dinner party without some sort of season cocktail that everyone can enjoy.  This book is based on drinks poured in Danny Meyer’s NYC restaurants like Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke.  Get this one for the person who enjoys hosting dinner parties.  Best recipe:  not ready to pick a winner until I make I taste-test a few more, but the Pomegranate Gimlet and Hard Thyme Lemonade were both hits.

Honorable Mentions:

For the Farmer’s Market Lover – Check out either Harvest or Favorites from Stonewall Kitchen

For the Manly-man Carnivore – The Barbecue Bible is a must-have

For the Hardcore Foodie – Tom Colicchio’s Think Like a Chef will not disappoint

For the Food Network Fan – Stay the hell away from Rachel Ray and get anything from Ina Garten or Giada

For your Favorite Wannabe Food Blogger and Bacon Lover - Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing is the new bible

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1.5 lb pork belly

2 teaspoons pink salt

4 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon smoked salt

4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Dash liquid smoke

1) Combine salts and sugar and rub into meat.

2) Place meat in resealable plastic bag and add dash of liquid smoke.  Place in refrigerator for one week, turning daily to distribute liquid evenly. 

3) Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Wash pork belly and dry thoroughly.  Place into a roasting pan and cook until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees (approximately 1.5 hours).

4) Let cool completely and wrap well.  Will keep in refrigerator for one week or in the freezer for several. 

Note: To cook bacon, slice to desired thickness.  Cook over medium-low temperature until crisp.

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NOTE: be sure to check out the story behind the romanesco challenge here.

After doing a little research and getting a great tip from commenter Lisa, I decided to go with a saute preparation for this weird green monster.  We were having chicken stuffed with prosciutto and sage so I thought Lisa's Italian recipe would do the trick.

The Recipe:
1 Head Romanesco, florets removed and quartered
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
Grated parmesan cheese

Blanch romanesco florets.  When cool, drain and set aside to dry completely.   Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until garlic is tender.  Add tomato paste to pan and stir to incorporate. Add romanesco florets to pan, mix well and saute until warm, approximately 5 minutes.  Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

The Result:
Pretty good overall.  It was an ok side dish, but I can see how it would be a great addition to a pasta (treat it like a broccoli this way). Romanesco tastes exactly like cauliflower and has basically the same texture. If I did it again, I might add diced pancetta to give it a little more flavor, but I'm clearly biased towards the salty cured meats.  Also, I think this would be fantastic roasted or as a gratin - there are several recipes online that could be used for this. If you see one of these crazy looking things at the market, don't be afraid - give it a shot.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Inspired by the farmer's market challenges Florida Girl in DC always takes on, I took a chance on this alien.  I'm told it is called a romanesco and that it is sort of a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli.  The farmer described it as "nutty" which is how I feel people describe food when they have no idea what it tastes like.

No real clue what to do with it. We've done some roasted cauliflower and cauliflower gratin lately so I'm guessing that'll be the direction I take this bad boy in. Stay tuned...

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T and I decided to check out the new pizza joint in our neighborhood, 7th Hill (327 7th Street, SE, Washington, DC).  It was opened by the owners of the French bistro next door, Montmarte, and promised French-inspired pizzas focusing on fresh ingredients.  I had heard some ok reviews of the place since it opened and we decided to try it part out of curiosity and part out of laziness (read: we had no real pre-conceived ideas on this one).

I fancy myself a bit of a pizza snob.  A couple of years back I decided I needed to learn how to make great pizza at home so I did a lot of research, testing and tasting.  I am highly biased towards brick-oven pizzas…just so you know.

The Ratings:

Value – 2.5-stars.  We have a few gourmet pizza places around town and I suppose it is no more or less expensive than any of them.  Individually, paying $12-14 didn’t seem like that much for one pizza, but when the total for 2 people having pizza tops $50, it always makes me cringe.  That being said, you’re getting good pizza with great ingredients from people who clearly care about the craft so that’s worth something.

Atmosphere – 2.5-stars.  They’re a bit handicapped here. They opened up in a former Ben & Jerry’s so they really don’t have a lot of space.  I think there were 4 small café tables and about 7-8 seats around the counter (we were sitting at the counter as you can see in the pic).  It was quite packed and somewhat uncomfortable.  On the good side, I’m a big fan of watching chefs cook and at 7th Hill you’re right in the middle of the action.  Plus, Anthony, the head chef, is quite a showman with the dough so that was fun.  Oh yeah, they would occasionally drop some Snoop on the house iPod – always gets you points in my book.

Service – 3-stars.  This is kind of a relative rating.  Because of the size, you just order at the counter and a runner brings you your pie.  Everyone there was quite friendly and interactive, but could probably be a little more attentive (we had to ask for new drinks several times and eventually gave up).

Food – 3-stars.  Pizza had a great crust, cooked perfectly in their wood oven.  The toppings were all fresh and abundant. I had the Stanton Park with onions, eggplant, roasted red pepper, garlic, zucchini and tomatoes.  T had the Capitol Hill, which is a margherita pizza, but she added Toulouse sausage (I liked, she didn’t).  The only problem with the pizzas was they were very wet.  I know this can be a problem if you use fresh mozzarella since it has so much moisture, but my pizza was pecorino and parmesan so that wasn’t the case.  I think they just need to take better care to dry off their toppings a bit more.  Oh yeah, one pet-peeve: they serve whole pieces of basil.  How about giving that stuff a quick chiffonade? No one likes to eat whole leaves of anything.  Big bonus points here because they had a nutella calzone for dessert....outstanding.

Final rating – 2.75 stars.  It is a good addition to the neighborhood.  I’ll likely be back.

My rating guide:

Value – Fairly subjective call based on how much I felt like I got for my money.  An expensive place can rate high here if I felt like I got a lot.  A cheap place might rate low if I thought it sucked.

Atmosphere – Quiet is usually good.  Crowded is usually bad. I’ll throw in intangibles like cleanliness and bathrooms and such in here.  Just so you know, you automatically get bonus points if you have one of those new jet powered hand-dryers.

Service – Often, this is the most important to me and can generally be the deciding factor about whether or not I go to a restaurant.  I can cook at home.  When I’m paying you to do it, I expect a little effort and maybe some appreciation that I chose your restaurant over another. Just sayin'.

Food – I grade this based on whether or not I could have done it at home.  1-star means I make it better.  4 stars means there’s no chance I could have even thought of it, much less executed it.

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My weird fruit-loving co-worker (ummm...she's not weird, she just
likes weird fruit too) brought in a cactus pear this morning. It
looked frightening, but I was game.

The inside flesh was nice and soft and was a gorgeous shade of deep
red, kind of like when you spill a cabarnet all over your new white
shirt. It smelled a bit like a weak pear or maybe somewhat
watermelon-ish.

Upon taking a bite, my only thought was, "SEEDS!!!" There was a
million of them embedded into the flesh and they'd be impossible to
remove. Once I got over the seeds the flavor was ok - a little sweet,
but fairly fresh and light. This is probably not the best fruit to
eat raw (unless you're toothless), but I bet you could make a mean
jam, sauce or cocktail with one of these guys. Plus, they'd make for
a pretty dramatic presenation.

All in all, not too bad. I didn't run the numbers but I bet it would
get a good 3 out of 5.

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Should you be cooking to make your man happy? Lucina Scala Quinn's thinks so and she thinks you'd be a lot happier if you did.

It isn't often you come across a cookbook that could be considered provocative, but Quinn's Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys caught my attention from the beginning; so much so that I checked the copyright date to see if it was 1959 or 2009.  "Instead of being a chore," writes Quinn, "mealtime can be the foundation of a wonderful relationship with the men and boys in her life."  As a modern, progressive (read: well-trained, indoctrinated) male I knew such a life philosphy had gone the way of black & white tv. Sure, there's nothing wrong with wanting to make the loved ones in your life happy - and we'd all be better off if we tried it more - but a lifetime's worth of gender politics taught me that such happieness can't be found in such classic male/female roles like the woman in the kitchen cooking for her man.

Ultimately, however, Quinn's philosphy on cooking might be the epitome of a modern woman in charge.  Cooking is her passion.  She also loves spending time with the boys in her life: her husband and three sons.  In the process she has learned that in addition to keeping her boys healthy and happy, spending time in the kitchen eventually lead them there to see what was going on and over time each of the men in her life grew to share her passion for cooking. Quinn writes, "A man who knows how to cook is more self-sufficient, is a better roomate, boyfriend, father and son.  And as any wife knows, a husband who can cook is like one who can dance - the deluxe package."  That doesn't sound like a bad little situation to create for yourself and it certainly sounds quite a bit more Clair Huxtable than June Cleaver.

My experience is much the same. I often found myself gravitating to my mom or grandmother in the kitchen hoping to learn a little about what they were doing that always made everyone (including me) so happy.  When T began developing her love for cooking, I found the same thing happening. More often than not, cooking turns into something we do together - an activity where we can help each other our or try new things.

I suppose the way to a man's heart likely is through his stomach. More than that though, it is by doing rather than talking.  Send 43 texts telling your guy you love him and you can bet he'll be cheering for extra innings when he's hanging at the bar watching the game.  Give up 30 minutes of your precious sleep on a Saturday morning to make some french toast and you'll be watching The Notebook later that night without even asking. I think Quinn has mastered this idea and taken it to a whole new level.

You can get PC psychobabble anywhere - does it deserve a place alongside your beloved Joy of Cooking? The early verdict is yes. I'm a big fan of the layout and it has really nice photography throughout. Quinn's chapters are broken up into breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.  The recipes cover a pretty diverse range of tastes, but all are relatively simple and accessible, and many include good tips and techniques that will help you become a better cook.  You'll find many of your old favorites as well as plenty of new dishes to try.  To me, a bonus is that this book is quite personal and most recipes have a personal story to go along with them. You really get the impression that each of these recipes has been made a million times over the years and finely tuned. You can trust them.

We've already tried three recipes: granola, flat-roasted chicken, and scalloped potatoes. All were incredibly easy, very tasty and a bit unique.  I have a feeling this one won't collect much dust on the shelf and someone is going to have a very happy man in her life.

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<img src="http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy94/jeffdonald/bacon.jpg" border="0" alt="Bacon"></a>

Note: read about the beginning of the experiement here.

I expected good. I hoped for great. I didn't expect life-altering.

If you're remotely into bacon (and really, how can you not be?) you need to do yourself a favor and make it at home. You'll never buy the pre-packaged junk from the store again.  It really couldn't be easier and more low-maintenance - if you can cook bacon, you can cure it. The flavor is extremely intense, but not overwhelming, and the sliced bacon cooks perfectly and doesn't shrivel up at all. As I posted on Facebook, my vocabulary doesn't contain the words to properly describe how increbile it is. You'll just have to take my word for it or try it yourself.

We'll be giving it the ultimate test tonight when we dice some up and see if it can enhance brussel sprouts and I have little doubt that it will come through for us.  I'm already thinking of what I'll do next to play with the flavors. This recipe was quite savory, but I might try something sweet with some brown sugar (bacon lollipops anyone?) or maybe just do one with just salt and maybe some liquid smoke.

I have found a new obsession...call Jeff VanVonderen.

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Normal 0 0 1 311 1775 University of Wisconsin Law School 14 3 2179 10.2418 0 0 0

For anyone who isn't familiar, the Random Fruit Review stemmed from a co-worker sharing a nectarine with me.  Amazingly, I had never had one and I was blown away by how good it was.  I did what any normal person would do and posted this revelation on Facebook and asked what other great things I had been missing out on. I got a ton of responses and my desire to find my next nectarine and share the results with friends started the Random Fruit Review.  So far, I've had a pluot (*shrug*) and a donut peach (money!). With that, I give you the Persimmon.

Persimmon

Appearance: 2 out of 5 - You can see the picture here for yourself.  It looked like an heirloom tomato (I'm being generous here) with a gnarly looking leaf cluster on top. It was fairly firm with a little softness - a sure sign of ripeness, I thought.  The sticker on the outside said, "Eat hard like apple." At this point I was confused and slightly afraid. What does that mean? Is the thing supposed to be hard like an apple? Am I supposed to bite it really hard? Fruit shouldn't require this much thought.

Ease of eating (cutting / messyness factor): 1/5 - On the inside it was slimy - like the ooze left behind by a slug - and it was hard to hold while trying to peel the skin off.  I'm only giving it a point because it didn't have any sort of seeds or pit or anything, which I would have been tempted to try and lodge in my throat.

Flavor: 0/5 - It smelled like - how do I put this politely - latex? It tasted worse. I had 2 bites and drank half a liter of water. Let's just move on.

Texture: 1/5 - The texture was ok until I cut it open...then, slug.

Overall: 1/5 - First things first - persimmons are expensive. It cost $3 for this one piece of fruit. I think these are popular in third world countries and maybe if I made $5/month I'd appreciate it much more, but I don't and I didn't.  Supposedly persimmons can be used for all sorts of great things like pies, puddings, brownies and other stuff, but it would cost approximately $427 to get enough to make anything worthwhile. 

It is entirely possible the persimmon may kill the Random Fruit Review before it ever really starts. If they serve these in Guantanamo, I've got to rethink some things. I'll leave open the possibility that I got a bad one because I heard they were quite tart (mine was not), but I will never eat another one of these things again to be able to make that determination.  My friend Ed suggested I review a durian, which is politely described as smelling like a dirty sock. Maybe he wasn't joking.

Put your suggestions for the next review down below.  I'll get to it right after I finish the rest of this water.

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My love for bacon is well documented.  I mean, I'm the one that nicknamed Tom Colicchio's pork belly "Deep Fried Jesus."  It's not an obsession to me, it is a religion.  The only logical next step was to attempt to make it on my own. From everything I've read, homemade bacon is an otherworldly experience compared to the stuff you get in stores so I could be entering an exciting new era of elightenment. So zen.

After doing a little research, it looked like this recipe from the New York Times was a great starting point. On a side note, it is based on a recipe in the book Charcuterie and after looking at it last night in Barnes & Noble let's just say my Christmas list now has one item (hint, hint).

After a visit to my favorite butcher at Eastern Market to get the pork belly and a stop at Sur La Table to pay way too much for some pink salt (supposedly sodium nitrate is the absolute key), I came home to throw together the rub. My belly was a little on the small side so I used:

3 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons pink salt

3 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

3 bay leaves, crumbled

I left out the thyme leaves and cut back on the pepper and bay leaves, partly because I didn't have the thyme and partly because I'm a little nervous it is going to be too much on the savory side for me.  Anyhow, this is the result.  After curing for a week (7 days for bacon, 7 days for Creation...coincidence?) in the refrigerator it is ready for roasting (since I'm not building a smoker). Stay tuned.

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