Piggy...

I'll get to the menu in a minute. I got to cut up a piggy today! Not the whole one, we had ribs and loin. But it was still pretty cool, that was one of my favorite things ever. Tomorrow we take apart a chicken for a grade. Nervous about that one, I wasn't great at chicken. Anyway.

Menu
Braised pork loin (Mine for today)
Turned steamed potatoes (see tourne on 1.19.09)
Turned glazed carrots
Lentil soup with applewood smoked bacon
Salad with vinaigrette (see a pattern? Check pics for differences)

The way the pork was cooked wasn't ideal for the cut of meat. The loin isn't all that tough and braising is for tough meat, generally. So it was a little more tough than I'd have liked (overcooked texture). I braised it in coffee and chicken stock, which turned out better than I'dve thought, but the meat didn't taste of coffee. The sauce did a bit, but I'm thinking a little more coffee in the future (or at least more grounds in satchels). I do like cooking with coffee though. It's...temperamental, so it's a challenge. ^_^ The veg came out good, I liked the other side's carrot glaze. I'm rather fond of sweet veggies, so that was nice (two days in a row, even). Potatoes were good, about like yesterday. Kinda like mini mashed potatoes. I like tourne, it just takes a lot of work to get it right. The soups were pretty good too. I'm not fond of soup, in general. I don't really like eating it, I don't really like making it, but I'll try it. As a rule, I like the clear ones, more like broths and consommes than anything. I like Japanese clear soups very much. Oh, and miso even though it doesn't count. But stuff with chunks in it? Just not my thing. So I'm a little biased. Maybe Dad can give a better idea of the soup, he really likes them.