The Art of Preserving a Whole Hog

August 8, 2013

How on Earth am I going to eat a whole pig by myself before it goes bad? As a part of the Whole Hog Project, I purchased an entire pig (butchered into primals) from a local farm. But I’m not having a big cookout and throwing the whole shebang on a fire pit. In fact, […]

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Know Your Pork: The Nasty Bits

August 3, 2013

(Warning: images of hog offal to follow. Look away if you can’t handle it!) Head cheese. Liver pâté. Grilled heart. Cooking and eating a whole hog from snout to tail involves ahelluvalot more than just pork chops, ribs, and bacon. It requires getting over the need to have all your meat disguised in boneless, shrink-wrapped […]

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The Most Important Pot In Your Kitchen (and 5 Reasons Why You Need to Upgrade)

July 30, 2013

Every kitchen needs one good all-purpose pot. You’ll need it to cook soups, stews, and slow braises made from meat and starches. You’ll use it for rice and beans, pasta, and boiled veggies. In fact, if a beginner could have only one piece of cookware to start learning how to cook, it would be a […]

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Know Your Pork: The Midsection

July 21, 2013

Call me crazy, but cooking and eating an animal bigger than me sounds like an insane and fun challenge. When I started the whole hog project, I knew it was gonna be a learning experience, but butchering the entire animal into manageable cuts has been more educational than any college anatomy class could ever be. […]

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Bring the Science! Essential Analytical Tools for Your Kitchen

July 10, 2013

Are you afraid you’ll mess up a meal you cook for the first (or hundredth) time? Food ain’t cheap, and when you’re a newbie in the kitchen, you might be afraid you’ll have to put a ton of work into something that will be inedible. And when you bring celebrity chefs into the mix–with their […]

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Book Review: Foodist by Darya Pino (PLUS: Win a Free Copy!)

July 5, 2013

“Life should be awesome.” -Darya Pino I find that most healthy living and diet books are pretty damn depressing. No matter how hard the author tries to sell you on his or her “system,” the fact remains that you are ultimately giving something up that you love. Personally, this is most frustrating to me when […]

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Know Your Pork: The Rear Limb

May 15, 2013

Between the delicious delights of a cured and smoked ham and the more obscure delicacy of trotter gear, the rear limb is an essential piece of pork to understand. I’m cooking and eating an entire pig–and along this journey I hope to teach you how to make use of the whole hog from snout to […]

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