People who don’t eat pork don’t know what they are missing.
Ingredients:
One 3 1/2-pound fresh picnic pork shoulder with skin
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced shallots
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
3/4 cup Champagne vinegar
2 cups dry sparkling wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 large sage sprigs
1 pound red grapes, stemmed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons snipped chives
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300°. Using a sharp knife, score the pork skin in a crosshatch pattern. Make deep slits all over the pork and insert a slice of garlic into each slit. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the pork and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until browned all over, about 12 minutes. Transfer the pork to a plate.
Add the shallots to the casserole and cook over low heat, stirring, until lightly browned, 5 minutes. Stir in the cumin, coriander and mustard. Add the vinegar and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the casserole. Add the wine, stock and sage and bring to a boil. Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the casserole. Cover and braise in the oven for 3 hours, or until the pork is very tender.
Carefully transfer the pork to a platter and cover with foil. Set the casserole over high heat and boil the braising liquid until it is slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes. Add the grapes and boil until they just begin to soften, 8 minutes. Remove the casserole from the heat and whisk in the butter, parsley and chives. Slice the pork and serve with the vinegar sauce.
Seth Godin: Profile of a Marketing Guru How the author of Permission Marketing used online savvy and smart self-promotion to become a speaker, writer, and blogger in demand
Sports Illustrated is planning to webcast several days of this year’s Swimsuit edition shoot as part of a campaign launched in conjunction with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Ustream will handle the live video beginning Feb. 9 with a noon (PT) Q&A with this year’s cover model. SoBe is sponsoring the group’s Facebook page.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Amazon.com announced its list of the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in America.
After compiling sales data of romance novels; sex and relationship books; romantic comedy DVDs; Barry White CDs; and sexual wellness products since Jan. 1, 2010, on a per capita basis in cities with over 100,000 residents, the top 20 most romantic cities in the U.S. are:
Did you play Dungeons and Dragons as a kid? I did.
In his documentary, “The Dungeon Masters,” Keven McAlester follows two men and one woman who devote their lives to D&D. One is an evil drow elf displaced by Hurricane Katrina, another is a sanitation worker who lures friends into a “Sphere of Annihilation” and the third is a failed supervillain who starts a cable-access show involving ninjas, puppets and a cooking segment.
Their fantasy lives clash with their real ones in this movie, which is being shown as part of the Tribeca Cinemas Presents: Doc Series. The screening begins at 7:30 tonight. Stick around after to grill the director on druid spells.
Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) delivered the closing keynote address of the first-ever National Tea Party Convention, held in Nashville, TN. I really wanted to go and looking at the crowd shots I’m quite certain I would have stood out, just as I have at the NYC Tea Party rallys.
While you may rightly deserve praise for every glorious feat you perform in the office, the simple truth is that no one is going to give it to you every single time. That said, when you actively claim credit for everything you do, you may aggravate your coworkers or your boss.
Performing well is your job, and no one is going to give you a gold star for every small personal victory. Be content to quietly accept praise when it is given, and your employer will appreciate you all the more.
Equally as important, remember to share credit with others when it is due, and your coworkers will be gracious. When you try to one up the people working around you (or appear to do so by drawing unnecessary attention to your good deeds) you sow the seeds for resentment in the minds and hearts of your office buddies.
To celebrate the new decade and keep myself open to new possibilities, ideas and experiences I and going to do something I have never done before every day and keep track of my activities just to see what happens.
I invite you to join me on this journey and share your suggestions in the comments or email me.
Now raise you glass of Procesco or Cava high and repeat after me... Here's to 2010, A year full of new beginnings, every single day. Cheers!
