Pig - - Page 10

by Emily

New Favorite Type of Potato Chip: RIB FLAVORED

Just when you thought the world of meat-flavored junk food couldn’t get any more exhilarating… may I present to you:

Baby back rib flavored chips from Zapp’s. What?! I know. I had never even heard of Zapp’s until I moved to the south, and now they are my very favorite potato chips (even before this rib-flavored discovery!) Made in Louisiana, they’re crunchy, Cajun-made kettle chips with all sorts of great seasonings and flavors—try the Voodoo flavor if you can get your hands on them.

These ribby wonders were discovered via my roommate Eric, who Tweeted about them (complete with Instagram of the bag, of course). We were both home at the time (“the Tweets were coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!”) so I ran downstairs to sample the wares. Of course the bag was already torn apart and a bunch of chips devoured.

“Sorry,” shrugged my roommate Lisa. “I couldn’t wait to open the bag properly, I just had to tear into it. Literally.”

Fair enough! Wondering what they taste like? Well, kind of like BBQ flavored chips, but with a little more…salty, porkiness to them, I guess. Is it just a placebo effect? Whatever. The more meat-flavored snacks the better, I say!

by BS

The Endless Road Trip: Porklandia

Portland, Oregon may seem like the type of hippie-dippie place that knows its silken tofus from its seitan (and it is). But as I recently discovered, these hipsters also know their swine, from head to tail. Oregon is a serious pork-producing state, and Portland chefs get crazy/creative with pig parts of every variety. I ate my way through Porklandia so that you don’t have to.

At Tasty n Sons, nearly every dish, from salads to kimchi to chicken, comes with an egg on top (as god intended). It climaxes with this perfectly golden-brown, intensely crispy fried pork cutlet, served over spinach, with a soft fried egg for a crown.

The Woodsman Tavern is the first place I have ever been served a ham plate and then told the proper order in which to eat the hams, as if this was a fancy wine tasting—from most delicate to heartiest. Each one was prosciutto-thin, but with the full salty taste of a good ol’ Virginia-style baked ham.

Don’t forget the ears! At Whiskey Soda Lounge, a casual spot from acclaimed Pok Pok chef Andy Ricker, they’re stewed in 5-spice and deep-fried until crisp, served with a black vinegar dipping sauce. They’re crusty on the edges and chewy in the middle, with the texture of…well, ear.

by hungry monster

Shouldn’t Work But Does: Hawaiian Pizza Sliders

I’ve been thinking about Hawaiian pizza lately. How weird is it that pineapple, ham, cheese and tomato sauce would get together and make it work? It works, though.

So, I cracked my knuckles and did some research on Hawaiian pizza. Ok, I just went to Wikipedia—whatever. So apparently it is not a Hawaiian invention and it is the most popular pizza of choice in Australia. Huh. Who knew?

I know one thing. This flavor combo goes beyond pizza. I have made a Hawaiian pizza grilled cheese that was the bomb-diggity, so I figured it would also be an awesome burger.

It is.

Hawaiian Pizza Chicken Sliders

in Cheese / Featured / Fowl / Pig / Recipe / Sandwich 2 comments

by Emily

Beet Fries, Pork Belly and Tongue Buns

Pork belly is having a serious moment in Austin. I know it’s been a trend for awhile now (what, the past 3? 5? years…?) and I know I recently gushed over Tacodeli’s pork belly tacos. But seriously! I had never seen SO. MUCH. Pork belly love until I moved down here. This is evident in the popularity of East Side King, Top Chef winner Paul Qui’s Asian fusion food truck with three locations in East Austin. Ask anyone what they like about ESK and the answer is always the same: “oh my god, the pork belly!”And yes, it’s good. Really good.

I’ll happily state that East Side King is one of the best, if not THE best, food trailers in Austin. Their original trailer at The Liberty is my favorite. To be slightly controversial, though, I will say this: I think the ESK pork belly hype unfairly overshadows some of the other delights on their menus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely amazing, but I feel as though most people discount the fried chicken and even some other less obviously delicious options like the tongue buns and beet fries.

Want to see what really, really, REALLY good food from a truck looks like? Of course you do. (I’m really trying hard to restrain myself from making any sort of obvious “food porn lol buns” remarks here.) Photos a the j.

in Fowl / Pig / Restaurants / Sandwich 1 comments

by BS

The Endless Road Trip — San Diego’s Top 10 Eats: 8. Endless Porker

I am normally extremely skeptical of any Mexican food that is billed as high-end, farm-table, or just generally cooked by white people. It’s not that Mexican food can’t be creative or fancy, it’s just that in my experience I have found “modern Mexican” to generally mean smaller tacos, higher prices, and less flavor than the taco trucks (and of course — the dreaded no free chips and salsa).

So of course I was hesitant when I head that San Diego’s hot taco spot of the moment is Carnitas Snack Shack, a new venture from Chef Hanis Cavinserves (red alert – chef!) that serves slow food-inspired, pork-centric American cuisine, snacks and locally sourced craft beers. But then again, I’ve never turned down any meal described as pork-centric. I’m almost embarrassed to report that this was the best taco I ate in California. Slow-cooked salmon creek farm pork carnitas are layered on fresh, hearty homemade tortillas and topped with a vividly green mound of guacamole. The crispy-on-the-edges, melty on the insides strands of pork are like a weird, amazing fusion of southern BBQ and traditional Mexican. Fine, maybe Mexican food is allowed to get inventive after all.

But that was only the begining of a pork party that would know no bounds…

in Bacon / Cheese / Food Travel / Pig / Red Meat / Restaurants 0 comments

by ML

The Endless Road Trip — San Diego’s Top 10 Eats: 7. Pork, It’s What’s for Breakfast

“Part of me really has a hard time looking at someone straight in the eye after they tell me they don’t eat bacon and not laugh….”

This is what my friend told me he added to his online dating profile after meeting too many women who didn’t eat meat. I don’t know what’s worse; the fact that these women exist or that he kept meeting them. Regardless, I found a place he should probably take women on dates.

I walked into Imig’s Kitchen and Bar in the Lafayette Hotel & Swim Club expecting run-of-the-mill breakfast that you so often get in a hotel restaurant, even if it was in San Diego. I was pretty tired and haphazardly ordered the braised pork and applewood smoked bacon hash (above), which the menu told me contained the hash, plus poached eggs, chile de arbol, and hollandaise on a crispy corn tortilla. My lovely dining companion, BS, went with the breakfast sammy: grilled country bread, eggs over easy, arugula, avocado, prosciutto, oven roasted tomatoes, fontina and chive pesto:

in Bacon / Breakfast / Food Travel / Pig 4 comments

by unsightly

Endless Ice Cream: Coffee-Maple-Bacon

My house in the summer gets disgustingly, unbearably hot. I once clocked 96 degrees in our living room. This means the oven pretty much gets a three-month vacation starting in June. However, no air conditioning can be the mother of invention. I’m forced to grill everything (I’ve made pizza, soup, bread, even lasagna on the grill), or get creative with no-cook and make-ahead recipes. This ice cream is in anticipation of those sticky, crabby mornings where it’s so hot I dream about moving to Alberta.

Whole bean coffee is steeped in cream, then cooked into a custard base. Maple syrup is whisked into the chilled custard. Then after it’s churned you fold in some pre-made chopped, candied bacon.

So there you have it: coffee, bacon, eggs, and maple syrup. Ice cream breakfast. If you’re lucky enough to have air conditioning, make pancakes and scoop this on top of ’em. I guess I’ll be tinkering with cast iron skillet pancakes on the grill.

Coffee-Maple-Bacon Ice Cream

in Bacon / Breakfast / Desserts / Endless Bacon / Endless Ice Cream / Featured / Pig 1 comments

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