HUNGRY GERALD

Ten for dinner. The extended HG clan plus Noel and Yossi M., BSK’s sister and brother-in-law (owners of super verdant PEI property south of HG/BSK’s home). After many nights of seafood, it was SJ’s turn to create a pork feast. SJ knows how to glorify the piggy wiggy. The dinner group, maddened with hunger honed by salt air, walks along the bluffs and beaches, awaited the food with (understatement) eagerness. SJ had rubbed a pork shoulder with a mix of brown sugar, chile powder, white pepper, garlic powder, celery seed, mustard, cumin and salt. Smoked it on the barbecue for five hours. This was the basis for pulled pork enhanced by a homemade vinegar based barbecue sauce. In the oven was another slow cooked pork shoulder prepared in the Mexican/Oaxacan/ Puerto Rican (pernil) style. The pork was stuffed with slivers of garlic and baked with onions, orange juice, lime juice, salt and cumin. Produced lots of sauce to enrich rice. As a side SJ also produced a spicy stew of black beans and Hungarian sausage and some fresh pico de gallo. BSK did a salad of PEI’s wonderful yellow beans and Lesley R. sliced heirloom tomatoes, sweet onions and avocado into a sprightly mix. There were plenty of tortillas on the table plush icy Gahan’s beer and Spanish Tempranillo wine. Finished with Lesley R.’s blueberry and strawberry gratin — a perfect desert balancing the sweet, the buttery and the sour. Though the day was grey, SJ created food that brought Mexican and Caribbean sunshine to the table. Viva SJ !!

HG will watch the Super Bowl with discerning BSK. The lady knows football having grown up in Ohio where football is a religion. BSK’s first boyfriend (HG is still jealous) was a high school All-American. Given that Super Bowl Sunday is (next to Thanksgiving) the biggest food consumption day in the United States, HG has given the day’s menu some thought. HG’s guide is SJ. Yes, when it comes to barbecue, pork roasts, gumbo and many other hearty culinary items, SJ is the ultimate authority, proof of Brooklyn’s leadership in robust dining. So, following SJ’s lead, HG will be off to the Pojoaque Super Market for a pork butt rimmed with a goodly amount of fat (the fat will baste the roast as it cooks). With a sharp knife, HG will make many small incisions in the butt and fill them with slivers of garlic. Then a rubdown with chile powder, adobo, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper. (HG will add his own touch–a bit of soy sauce mixed with brown sugar). Let that sit in the fridge for the night wrapped in plastic. Then, come Sunday, HG will take the pork butt out, place in a cassarole dish, cover with tin foil and pop it into a 300 degree oven for a bit over four hours (which will hopefully conclude with the end of the game) Sounds good, right? Accompanying the roast will be warm tortillas, canellini beans, chopped raw onions, avocado slices, pico de gallo and an array of salsas (hot and sweet). Giving the meal a gala touch will be BSK’s green chile sauce (thoughtfully preserved in the freezer) plus BSK’s version of Calabacitas (a melange of fried zucchini, peppers, onions and corn). Dessert: Salted Caramel Gelato. During the three hour (or more) game, commercials, half-time extravaganza, learned analysis, HG will be sustained with a bowl of red chile menudo from El Parasol in Pojoaque. Menudo (for the uninitiated) is Mexican tripe stew. The way it is prepared at Jose and Alicia Atencio’s delightful, casual restaurant, it tops tripes a la mode de Caen or any other French or Italian tripe stew. While watching the TV, HG will drink (a modest amount) of tequila with Samuel Adams Ale chasers. BSK will nibble olives, Marcona almonds and Manchego cheese with her white wine. And, who will we root for?. The Broncos. But, because of HG/BSK’s love of the Pacific Northwest, there will be no mourning if Seattle wins. The overall winner, of course, will be HG and BSK’s happy, Southwestern-fed bellies.

Hey, amigos, Sunday was a day of sheer pleasure. Gave a pork butt a good rubdown with oil, garlic and adobo. Popped it in a 300 degree oven early in the morning (for a five hour roast). Spent the day pig pickin that piggie. Wrapped meat in romaine and butter lettuce leaves. There was kimchi (locally made and bought at Ziggy’s great international food store in Santa Fe) and naan, and sriracha, and Korean chili paste, and scallion/ginger/sesame oil/vinegar sauce. Yes, tequila and cold beer. And, on the TV, football playoff action. The Patriots won (am very fond of stylish Tom Brady even on his very few off days) and HG and SJ’s beloved Giants pulled off a last minute field goal victory. Close, exciting, unpredictable games.

Ray Lewis, the great, bruising Baltimore linebacker, commented on his team’s effort (lost by two last second plays–a dropped pass and a faulty field goal try): “We win as a team. We lose as a team. We will not blame any single player.” Classy comment from a future Hall of Famer.