On Saturday evening I was perusing the aisles of Whole Foods gathering desirables to create a delicious dinner. Potentially thousands (if not millions) of people around the United States at that very moment were engaged in the exact same activity - weaving through aisles making specific determinations about groceries.

Now we could analyze the psychology of grocery stores (brands fight for “eye level” shelf placement) and why people buy what they buy – either because of branding (you buy Tropicana because it LOOKS fresh, not because it is fresh) , product placement (impulse purchase…6 o’clock!) or creative labeling (”The healthiest Crisco yet!”) until we are blue in the face.

And it’s also in vogue to think “locally” and ”organically.” But what I personally had yet to contemplate for even a minute was buying sustainable fish.

So when I approached the seafood counter and bought Chilean Sea Bass, I thought absolutely nothing of it, except that a)I love Chilean Sea Bass and b) I was excited to put it into my belly as soon as possible.

After eating the meal, I sent out a tweet from @FreshmanKitchen

Dinner: Chilean sea bass w/roasted red pep,green olives,capers.roasted delicata squash+zucchini.crispy weiser farm tatos+garlic slivers)

and got this response from @Cookingstudent (http://twitter.com/cookingstudent)

@FreshmanKitchen Chilean sea bass – I do believe they are listed as over fished and, therefore, best not eaten: http://bit.ly/bgBvJe

So my initial thought was – Wow! How have I not been paying attention to the sustainability fish issue and how come Whole Foods is selling it? I needed to dig a bit deeper to see if blame could be assigned to someone so I could shuck off some of the guilt.” If it at first you don’t succeed blame blame (someone else) again.”

So I called the Manager of the Whole Foods Seafood Dept. who referred me to the main website to check out WF’s statement on its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified seafood. So here it is direct from the site:

Offering sustainable seafood is part of our philosophy because we care about the health of the world’s oceans. We are proud to be the first U.S. retailer offering several varieties of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified seafood. The MSC is an independent, global, non-profit organization set up to find a solution to the problem of over-fishing to ensure healthier marine environments and abundant fish stocks for future generations. Here you will discover a growing number of choices displaying the MSC label, indicating the seafood is sourced from responsible, well-managed fisheries.

So whether or not you believe WF’s is a purveyor of 100% responsibly caught fish, they seem to be making a strong effort. But if Chilean Sea Bass is over fished and since you can obviously buy it other places than WF’s…what are some good alternatives if I am at a store that does not serve MSC certified seafood?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium website (which I was linked to via twitter) has this ”Good for you/Good for the Oceans list http://bit.ly/YQctd . If the person selling you fish doesn’t know what’s up or you aren’t in a place selling MSC certified seafood, at least if you select from this list you can feel good while you stuff your face with those (farm raised) scallops or (wild caught) Salmon (from Alaska).

For Additional reading on the subject here is an extensive NY Times article called “Tuna’s End” http://nyti.ms/axbTIh written by  Paul Greenberg author of “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food.”

Photo credit: Kenji Aoki for The New York Times

Ok – that picture of coleslaw sucks. I knows it. But hey, you try starting to drink at 1pm while cooking and entertaining 40 people and then trying to remember to take picture of the food. Yes, the coleslaw recipe will be in this post…but wait…we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s rewind to Saturday evening around 7.30pm.

I went up to my favorite place to buy meat - Marconda’s at the 3rd street Farmer’s Market (http://www.yelp.com/biz/marcondas-meat-market-los-angeles) to snag 8 lbs. of beautiful fatty pork butt. Little known fact - Jews actually  learn how to spot a good cut of pork butt while studying for their haftorahs. And…now that we’ve offended several dozen people with that joke let’s move on. 
At Marcanda’s I  had a good conversation with a guy next to me at the counter who was buying 20 lbs of pork butt for his Super Bowl party (ok, showoff Mcgee). He and HIS buddy had gone halvsies on a $500 smoker and were going to town starting it at 5am (oooo la-fuckin la, Im SOOO impressed early risers). 

Since I had just drank an orange pop, which to my sensitive system might as well be made out of adderall,water and orange food dye, and since I wanted to knock this guy off his meat high horse, I told him I was starting my pulled pork THAT NIGHT bc I’m that dedicated to my craft. I then did some side to side finger snaps, told him to talk to the hand and took a huge bite out of a raw steak to let him know a) I’m crazy b) don’t step to this bull bc he WILL get the horns. Supposedly he was just trying to make casual conversation, but I was way too much in the zone.

I got home at about 8ish, cleaned some of the fat off the top for the (heart attack alert)pork fat sauteed onions and then put a nice dry rub all over the PB. The dry rub consisted of Salt,Pepper,Onion powder,Paprika,Brown Sugar,Cayenne Pepper,Cumin and Garlic Powder. I seared the pork belly and cut off a small hunk to make a pork sandwich for that evening cuz, dudes gotta eat. 

 Then I put the remaining butt in the dutch oven with the braising liquid, which consisted of – apple juice,ketchup,grey poupon mustard,more cayenne and a whole yellow onion. Into the real oven set at 220, I placed the dutch oven ever so gently and waved goodbye.”When I see you again you’ll be pulled pork!!” I said. It was as emotional as it sounds.

At 1.30am as Ashton Kutcher continued to be consistently unfunny on SNL,I knew I needed to taste the PB and make sure this train hadn’t gone off the rails on the way to flavortown. I pulled the pork using two forks,my massive triceps and all the personal will i had to not gobble it all down right then and there. The aroma wafting up was like if Albert Einstein built a special BBQ in heaven for Julia Childs to make God’s BBQ lunch. I put the shredded meat back in da dutchie,closed the oven door and let it do it’s damn thang.

Still awake at 3.30am, I made an executive decision to not leave the oven on all night for fear of liquid evaporation and separated the pork from the liquid allowing both to cool faster. At around 4.15 I put it all in the fridge. The next morn at 10am it was back in the 220 degree oven cooking away till 2pm. By mid-party, the sun still high in the sky, discouraged party guests were left with nothing else but the ability to wipe clean the sides of the dutch oven to gather the last tasty morsels of liquidy porky goodness. 8 lbs taken down in no time. Save your clock/portion management mumbo jumbo for someone else.To me, THAT is party success.

In addition to the coleslaw and the slow cooked pulled pork I made a variation of German potato salad with pork fat onions and bacon and then a sample pack of handmade donuts. Here’s a shot of the donuts

from L-R : M&M encrusted, Vanilla Frosted, Almond and Vanilla, Caramel coated.

Overall the Super Bowl party was a slambash of epic proportions. Half a keg, 100+ beers, a handle of Johnnie Walker, 8 lbs of pork, 5 pounds of slaw and 10 pounds of potato salad. If you were to tell ME that you left hungry, I would tell YOU that you also left a goddamn liar (or perhaps you just came a vegetarian…)

Jalapeno Coleslaw

1 head green cabbage, quartered then sliced into strips. 
2 medium sized jalapenos,cut in half lengthwise then sliced on a mandolin
1 whole carrot, grated
1 red onion, quartered, sliced nearly paper thin on mandolin (while drinking Gin)
juice of 1 lime
2-3 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cloves of raw garlic diced fine
salt and pepper to taste
OPTIONAL – 1-2 shakes Cayenne pepper (this will obviously make it spicier)
 
 Cut all veggie ingredients. Mix well.
Add mayo and gently toss.
 add vinegar and lime juice.
salt and pepper. Mix well.
Taste it.
if you want it to have more of an acidy flavor (more bite) add another 1/2 tablespoon vinegar until its where you want it.

Remember that as this sits overnight, the flavors/spice will intensify

In order to make bacon you need to start with a pork belly. These are available at any good butcher and I got mine via eve from Heritage Foods. First thing is you need to rub the belly with a blend of sugar, salt, and spices. Next wait about a week to let the cure do its thing as the salt and sugar soak in to the belly. It’s not an exact science and I use my favorite technique – poke it to see if it’s done. I used the smoker set-up at SELMA (thanks Jeff!) which is very basic but gets the job done.

On the left there is where we put the coals and once they cooked down a bit we threw some hickory sawdust on there. If you a good smoke going you can walk away which is what I did. Two hours later I had some intensely smokey delicious bacon!

However, the best part was later that night, since Kate and I were already planning on making burgers. Then some friends brought over some fresh morels they found earlier that day, so we made some bacon-morel cheeseburgers–a perfect way to finish the day.

At Eve – The Restaurant in Ann Arbor, Max prepared pork belly braised 3 ways with 3 complimenting slaws while Eli made steamed buns with pork belly, picked vegetables and a spicy hoison/chili sauce paste for the SupperClub’s appetizer night at 8449.

Eli:  Pork Belly is “so hot right now” as every cool chef in America seems to be using pork products in every dish no matter how extremely unhealthy or absurd the execution.
So, as the great trend follower that I am, I wanted to jump on this Pork Belly train and ride it straight to flavor town. I braised my PB in a mixture of chicken broth, soy, srracha chili sauce, hoison sauce, diced onions, chopped green onions,finely diced garlic and grated ginger for about 4 hours at 275 degrees. I pickled Daikon, cucumber and carrots in a rice wine vinegar, sugar, soy, terriyaki and chili pepper marinade.
I love diving head first into a product and preperation I have no experience with.  As a young cook trying to push myself to try new applications in the kitchen, winging it with the PB was invigorating.

Max: I knew I wanted to do pork belly for a while but it was a matter of getting the technique down and coming up with a preparation that would match with the menu at eve.  We couldn’t settle on any one flavor we ended up coming up with Pork Belly 3 Ways.  First belly gets rubbed with fresh minced lemongrass, ginger, shallot, curry powders and brown sugar overnight and then gets braised in coconut milk, chicken stock and a little fish sauce.  Second belly gets a hoisin and garlic rub and then is braised in an aromatic marinade (one of my favorite sauces at eve).  Last belly goes BBQ style with chipotle, brown sugar, and smoked paprika and then is braised in our house made BBQ sauce.  I could go on for another paragraph about the matching slaws but who wants to read about slaw. Just come to eve and order the Pork Belly 3 Ways!

Feta Bites

15 mini Fillo Shells
4 ounces Greek feta cheese
1 eggs
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced (see recipe)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup frozen spinach
pinch salt and pepper

Directions

Break apart feta cheese with a fork into smaller crumbles. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. Place 1 teaspoon in each fillo cup. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until top is lightly golden brown. Let cool and eat. You might have some leftover filling, we suggest making an omelet or frittata the next morning.

Sesame Peanut Noodle

This dish has developed a trendy following as of late, but my version was first.  Okay, maybe not the very first, but it’s got a serious chance in a Sesame Peanut Noodle battle.  It is best served cold with fresh chopped green onions sprinkled over the top.  Try adding a chopped chicken breast or salmon filet.

Ingredients

1/2 pound dry spaghetti
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon chili sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 small clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 carrot, shredded
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, medium dice
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions
1. Cook spaghetti according to directions on box.  Drain and rinse pasta, then toss with 2 tablespoons sesame oil.
2. Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, seasoned rice vinegar, chili sauce, water, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and remaining tablespoon of sesame oil in a mixing bowl.
3. Toss the pasta with the peanut sauce mixture, 1/2 the carrot, 1/2 the green onion, and cucumber.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with sesame seeds, remaining carrot, and remaining green onion.