The Next Day... Leftover Pork

Ahhhh... the morning after a really good meal is always, for us, a time of reminiscence about what worked well, and/or not so well about the evening before - the food preparation, as well as the repast itself. And then, it's time to move on to further ideas - what to do with the leftovers? The pig had been 51 pounds, so there was plenty of meat to work with.

Jack was anxious to make a version of Jambon Persille, which is one of our favorite picnic staples when we're in France. The real French recipe for Jambon Persille uses uncooked and cured, salted ham, so this would be a variation on the theme. Jack began by taking all of the bones, adding the gelatin from the night before (top picture), and simmering them in water with garlic, onions, carrots, celery and fennel root, to make an aromatic stock.

Leftover chunks of pork, sitting in it's natural gelatin that has congealed overnight

Simmering stock

Chopped pork, cornichon pickles and sauteed shallots,

ready to be assembled.

The mold is rubbed with olive oil and then lined with

chopped parsley leaves.

Meat, shallots, cornichons and more parsley are added to the mold and pressed over the layer of parsley; then the strained ham stock is poured in to cover. The entire mixture is then refrigerated for about 12 hours, until firm, so that it can be sliced into individual servings.

Jack was pleased that the finished terrine was as tasty

as it was beautiful.

I made a version of pulled pork on the stovetop with shredded meat, and a barbeque sauce, which I heated gently over a couple of hours to let the sauce permeate the meat.

MY BARBEQUE SAUCE

Stir together and simmer for at least 1/2 hour: tomato paste, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, chopped garlic, ground cinnamon, ground cayenne pepper, salt and ground black pepper. All amounts are to taste.

KC, who in addition to being Lisa's son, is the head chef at Jimmy's No. 43 Restaurant in Manhattan, was busy brining lemons with peppercorns. Some of this lemony liquid went into my barbeque sauce, cutting the sweetness a bit.

KC also made garlic confit in the oven...

... as well as roasted beets and shallots, which would become

a beet salad.

Chopped roasted shallots

KC, Lisa and me

Hungry cooks need sustenance to keep the creative juices flowing

Hooray for another great meal!

Russ's charming dining room off the kitchen, opens onto the porch

A mix of North Fork, French and Australian wines

await our eager palettes

View from the porch on our last morning

C'est moi, relaxing with a good book!