My friendscape is continually evolving it seems. There are those friends that have been a part of my life for decades and continue to be so. There are those that came into my life very quickly with friendships as intense as the sun and then faded away just as quickly. A few years ago, our house was a hub of activity. I never knew from one evening to the next who or what to expect. It was not uncommon for folks to drop by at dinner time, we would add another plate to the table and carry on. Those were wonderful times! I miss them, truly.
Since then things have changed. Some friends have moved away physically and though we keep in touch, it’s just not the same. Some have moved away spiritually, making decisions that isolate themselves in a world of compromise and suffering. They are unreachable even by those of us who love them dearly. Those are the ones that hurt the most.
People break up, get with new partners. They get new jobs, go to school or take up new hobbies. I love all of my friends present and past. Friendships sweet, savory and sometimes bitter, I am grateful for them all.
A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to a party. I have to say, this really doesn’t happen so often for us as we are usually the entertainers. This was a new circle of friends and I was in the mood to try something different. I had been reading different recipes for “Devil on a Horseback”. There are many variations to the recipe, but basically it is a date stuffed with something (or nothing), wrapped with bacon and broiled. The first time I had this at a local tapas restaurant; the date was not stuffed and was served with a sage-infused olive oil. They were surprisingly wonderful!
After reading what seems like a hundred recipes, I decided to stuff the dates with pepper jack cheese and wrap them with apple smoked bacon. I chose Medjool Dates because of their jumbo size. First, I sliced the dates along the side and took out the pits. I then cut the cheese into matchsticks and the sticks into lengths that would fit into the pitted dates. I cut the bacon crosswise into thirds. I set up an assembly line and stuffed each date, wrapped with bacon, secured with a toothpick and placed the finished date on a baking sheet. Sounds like a lot of steps, but it only took half hour from start to finish for 3 dozen pieces.
I set my broiler on high, placed the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and broiled for 6 or 7 minutes on the first side. I turned them and broiled on the second side the same amount of time. The result was a very hot, crispy sizzling bite. My first taste convinced me this was a wonderful success. The saltiness of the crisp outer layer giving way to the sweet lusciousness of the date was a textural wonderland. There were so many flavors on my tongue, salty, sweet, smoky and spicy taking turns delighting my taste buds. Wow! I was hooked! My mind immediately started going to all of the possibilities of sweet and savory.
Judging by the empty plate soon after we arrived and all the people asking me questions about it, I would say the other guests enjoyed them as well. It was a great way to start conversations with new friends. I hope we see each other again and this marks the beginning of yet another transformation of our friendscape.
Inspired by the success of the “Devils on a Horseback”, I started think of other ways I could create sweet and savory combinations. The following Saturday was a day of culinary experimentation in my kitchen. I decided I was going to try a savory brittle and glaze a pork butt.
The brittle started with rendering 6 pieces of chopped bacon. I removed the bacon from the pan to a bowl and sprinkled with a couple of tablespoons of bourbon. I set this aside so the bacon could soak up all that bourbon goodness. After pouring to bacon fat into another bowl, I added 2 cups of raw sugar to the skillet and set the flame to medium high. As the sugar was beginning to melt, I chopped 4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme. I measured ¼ t. salt, ½ t. baking soda, ½ t. cumin and ½ t. red pepper flakes into a cup. I then used the bacon fat to oil a cookie sheet.
When the sugar had melted, I added the bacon and the cup of spices and herbs to the skillet. I stirred very quickly and then poured the mixture onto the cookie sheet. Working as fast as I could, I spread the mixture as thinly as possible. Careful, it’s really hot! I loved this brittle. It was very complex in flavor with a fiery finish that frankly some folks didn’t like. I can imagine using this same method with cardamom, pistachios and cinnamon for a less hot version. I know I’m going to try this again.
I started the pork with a spicy dry rub. I used cayenne, smoky paprika, cumin, ground thyme, instant coffee, minced garlic, salt and black pepper. I set the roast out at room temperature for about 30 minutes as the oven was preheating to 275 degrees. I coated the roast on all sides with the rub, placed it on a rack in my roasting pan and got it in the oven. After 6 hours had passed, I made a glaze with 2 cups of brown sugar and ½ cup of bourbon. I set this on medium heat and reduced to a syrupy consistency.
When the internal temperature read 155 degrees, I started glazing the pork. I glazed it every ten minutes until the temperature reached 165 (about 45 minutes later) at which time I brought it out of the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes. The pork was now covered with hard coating of the sugary glaze. The meat was so tender with a wonderful sweet and savory crust.
That's odd. I just read a book yesterday that mentioned those bacon-wrapped-date things. First time I'd ever heard of them, and thought they sounded DELICIOUS! With the addition of pepper jack cheese, Yours sound WAAAAYYYY YUMMY!!!! :-)
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