Mary Brown Malouf

Fortunately, not far away, is a table set with delicious rillettes, sausage, pate and salumi (also dead pig.) And wine. Fortification for what the four of us are about to do: Break down this pig carcass into edible portions of chops, hams, bacon, tenderloin, cheeks and grind meat. Philip Grubisa, owner and main butcher at Beltex Meats, is leading the class. Grubisa worked with Chef Mark Sullivan at Spruce, was Executive Chef at The Farm, worked with Briar Handley at Talisker on Main and staged at The Fatted Calf.

He starts by sawing off the head, then cuts out the cheeks, one of the most prized cuts on a hog.

“But there are only two per hog,” he reminds us. Customers come in wanting, say, eight cheeks to serve at a dinner party. That means something has to be done with the 1,000 pounds of pig left over from the eight cheeks. “We put the cheeks aside until we have enough to sell,” says Grubisa.

Meanwhile, he sells the rest of the pig—his butcher shop is committed to selling the whole animal. He gets in four hogs a month from Christiansen’s Family Farm and one or two cows a month from Pleasant Creek Ranch. In spring, he gets local, sustainably raised lamb. And unlike conventional grocery store butchers, which concentrate on the popular cuts—loin, mostly chops and steaks—he sells virtually all of every animal. By the time we have finished cutting up the front of our pig American-style, and the back of the pig, European style, there is only a handful of scraps, mostly glands, left over.

The students in this Monday night class are chefs and amateurs serious about their food. For those of us (all of us) accustomed to buying pre-cut meat in plastic wrappings, it’s enlightening to understand just where those chops, steaks, ribs and loins fit into a real animal’s anatomy. At first we watch as Grubisa wields his knife, saw and fingers. Then we each get a turn with the tools.

“You want to hear the knife against the bone,” says Grubisa, as he shows us how to cut along the chine. “That way, you know your yield is going to be high.”

He peels the fat apart from the muscle with his hands, probing with his fingers and finding the natural break. Again, using your hands ensures a good yield—less meat is wasted. There are added benefits: “A butcher’s hands are soft,” he says. “You’re rubbing them in fat all day.”

You can see the different kinds of fat and the distinct textures, the soft leaf fat usually rendered for lard and the stiffer back fat cured to make lardo, the luxurious “pig butter” beloved by the Italians.

Grubisa cuts off the thick skin. Before the pig is butchered, it’s blanched in boiling water to get the bristles off, with mixed results. “If it’s nice and white, we make it into cracklings,” says Grubisa. “If it still has some little bristles, we make it into dog treats. The dogs never complain about a little hair.”

You don’t have to cut up your own pig to enjoy Beltex’s handcut meats. You can sign up for a “meat share,” like a CSA share: Ten pounds of meat, various cuts, all from animals as local and ethically raised as possible. Or just drop in the small shop. Try the bacon.

Go to beltexmeats.com for more information about Beltex, which, by the way, is named after a hybrid sheep, a cross between a Belgian and a Texel, mainly raised in Britain. It’s known for its heavy hindquarters.

But every restaurant’s peaks come and go—rare is the establishment that can sustain excellence over years. So Franck’s slipped, and Franck himself left.

Now he’s back in his own kitchen again at Franck’s Angel. The place, a plain cafe in Cottonwood Heights, is humble, with little charm and none of the cheeky style of Franck’s former place. But our lunch there today was good, and in some ways, excellent. The menu is tiny—breakfast all day, a couple of specials and brief lists of salads and sandwiches. Plus a pastry case packed with tarts, croissants and other treats. I can’t wait to go back for breakfast, but today we wanted lunch, so I ordered a special—the pot roast French dip—and he ordered a meatloaf sandwich. First, though, we had to try the peculiar sounding parmesan crème brulee salad. I was assuming this was going to be one of those finger-quotation-mark dishes—in other wordds, not crème, not brule, probably not really a salad. But I was wrong. Three rectangles of yellow custard with glazed crusts rested on a pool of basil crème next to a tangled pile of mixed greens garnished with sliced strawberries.

Ah yes, that’s Franck all right. Odd, but delectable.

The quivering custard had a touch of sweet and not only from the hard sugar top but it elided with the naturally nutty taste of the cheese and with the crisp green salad made a perfect bite. The effect was a big like a solid soup and salad. We remembered Franck’s meat loaf from the old days—the recipe was more like a crab cake made with shredded beef than anything mom made. The version between the bread today had too much filler, bread crumbs, to contrast with the bread properly, and the flavor was a bit bland, even with the red cabbage topping. But the pot roast sandwich was delicious—a thick layer of tender braised beef shreds sandwiched in a crisp roll topped with skinny fried onion strings. And the fries that came with the sandwich were possibly the best I’ve ever had.

Well, in recent memory.

We took home treats from the pastry case for dessert, then Franck offered us some of his famous chocolates, available by order. Exquisite shapes and colors, filled with green tea, coconut, caramel pecan, lemon-lime and other exotica, these are made in Franck’s fun time, after the cafe is closed.

From downtown, lunch at Franck’s was an excursion, but on weekends, the line is out the door and when ski season really hits, the cafe’s proximity to the powder will make it a hot ticket. Welcome back, M. Peissel.  Can’t wait until you open for dinner.

Franck’s Angel, 2577 E. Bengal Boulevard, Cottonwood Heights, Utah. (801) 542-0797

Basically, we are asking you too rife on Mary Brown Malouf recipes we have posted on our interactive dining website On The Table.

If your recipe for the scarlet gel is superior, you’ll win a $50 gift certificate at Texas de Brazil.

Here’s how it works.

1. Read the recipes in our On the Table interactive magazine.

2. Digest the food sagacity there.

3. Crank out your world-beating recipe for bog berries.

4. Instagram it with the hashtap #OTTTWIST

5. Ta Da! You could be dining on something other than turkey at Texas de Brazil

Don’t be intimidated by Dining Editor Mary Brown Malouf’s concoctions. No all-American fowl feast is complete without cranberry sauce extruded straight from the can in it’s most-basic tubular and corrugated beauty!

So bring on the tiny marshmallows and get your recipe Instagramed by Thanksgiving eve.

A private party last Sunday marked a big change for Salt Lake food lovers: SuAn Chow, owner of Chow Food Truck, celebrated the sale of her business to J.Looney with champagne and hors d’oeuvres.

Chow, of course, was the first food truck in Salt Lake City—SuAn was the pioneer who blazed the trail and ran the red tape for all the trucks that have followed. “When I started,” she said to her friends and co-workers sipping wine with her on Sunday, “City Hall did not know what to do with me.” In 2013, she won the Golden Spoon award for hospitality from this magazine for her perseverance and excellence.

Looney, a private chef and caterer, has worked on the Chow Truck so he understands exactly how to maintain the standards of food and service set by SuAn, “the boss lady,” and he says, “We have no plans to change anything.” So you can still count on your elk slider, calamari and spiced root chips—find out where the truck is by going to chowtruck.com and friend Soho Food Park on Facebook to find a bunch of trucks together.

And David Harries let us know that one of our standbys will soon be gone: He has sold Vinto to his partners in the Park City location and will close the Vinto here, planning to reopen as “something else sometime soon,” according to our favorite server. We’ll miss it. Even after pastry chef Amber Angellili left, her butterscotch budini and gelatos remained some of the best desserts in town. And Vinto’s pizzas and pasta along with the wine specials provided us with much midweek sustenance.

Can’t wait to see what happens next.

From Candymaking by Ruth Kendrick and Pauline H. Atkinson, used with permission

Ingredients:

(12 oz.) can evaporated milk (you could probably use half and half)
1/2 cup butter (if using unsalted, add a pinch of salt)
4 oz. of 70 percent Millcreek or Amana chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, combine butter and chocolate and warm over low heat, stirring constantly. When melted, stir in sugar and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring, and cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cook slightly before using over ice cream. Store in refrigerator for several weeks. Can be warmed in microwave or served cold.

-Mary Brown Malouf

Crepes with Mascarpone & Fruit

Roll these the traditional way, as shown, or make them easy finger food by tying into a pick-up “purse,” as described.

Serves 15

1 cup all purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Kosher salt
1.5 cups fresh strawberries, finely chopped
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 bunch mint, leaves only, chiffonade
1 bunch long chives

The crepes: Mix the flour with a pinch of salt in a bowl. Whisk the eggs and milk together, then whisk the egg mixture and flour together. Whisk in the butter. Pass the batter through a fine mesh strainer. Heat a nonstick crepe pan over a medium flame. Spray the hot pan with non-stick spray. Using a 1-ounce ladle, pour the batter into the center of the pan. Roll the batter around in the pan in a circular motion so that it becomes evenly distributed across the entire bottom of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds, or just until the second side is set. Remove the finished crepe to parchment paper. Repeat, layering parchment paper between each crepe.

The compote: Mix the diced strawberries, mascarpone and mint chiffonade gently in a bowl until incorporated well. This compote must be made just before you intend to fill the crepes, as it will not hold its consistency for very long.

The chives: Blanch chives, and reserve.

To serve: Place crepe with the best side facing down. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the compote into the center of the crepe. Fold all sides of the crepe evenly up to a point above the center of the compote. Carefully tie the crepe “purse” with a blanched chive. Repeat.

Variations: 

1. Chop mushrooms very fine and saute in butter with a little chopped onion and a tablespoon of cream. Cool to room temperature and drain. Fill crepes.

2. Fill crepes with a tablespoon of creme fraiche and a bit of cavier or a sliver of smoked salmon.

3. Blend equal parts cream cheese and goat cheese wth 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 minced garlic clove and a tablespoon of chopped basil, dill or thyme. Fill each crepe with a tablespoonful and tie with a chive.

-Mary Brown Malouf

The story is that Serio Maccione invented this dish for his fabled New York restaurant, Le Cirque, in 1974. True or not, pasta primavera is a New World invention and caught on across the country in the ’70s and ’80s. Most of us have had a dismal version of this dish, made with frozen vegetables and sticky cream sauce. Forget that. Pasta Primavera should taste as light and fresh as the season it’s named for.

The beautiful secret about pasta primavera is that all-season vegetables can be used for a taste of spring, even before the season’s produce hits the market.

Pasta Primavera

serves 4

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 med. onion, minced or sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced
A total of about 6 cups of the following
vegetables, your choice: thin asparagus, cut into 3-inch pieces, sliced, mushrooms, cauliflower florets, broccoli florets, sliced zucchini, thinly sliced carrot, sliced yellow squash, grape tomatoes, julienned red and yellow bell peppers, sugar snap peas, English peas
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. chopped basil
3 Tbsp. sliced scallions
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. pasta, cooked, drained

Heat butter and oil, cook onion and garlic until onion is soft. (Be careful not to burn garlic.) Add vegetables and stir-fry for a few minutes. Add half-and-half and stock, lower heat and simmer until vegetables are barely tender and liquid coats a spoon. Season to taste. Toss vegetables with pasta, cheese and scallions and sprinkle with basil.

-Mary Brown Malouf

Prosciutto and pear waffle.

BASIC WAFFLE RECIPE

Makes about 8, 7-inch light, crispy waffles

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup dried buttermilk powder (available in most grocery stores)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups unflavored
• soda water

Whisk together the dry ingredients, including buttermilk powder. Combine sour cream, eggs, vanilla and oil in a separate bowl and mix well. Gently stir soda water into wet mixture. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in wet mix. Fold together with rubber spatula until barely combined. Do not over-mix. Cook waffles according to waffle iron manufacturer’s directions, using about 1/3 cup batter per waffle.

Freeze any leftover waffles.

PROSCIUTTO AND PEAR

For each waffle:

• 3–4 thin slices of prosciutto or speck
• about 1/4 a pear, thinly slice
• sprig of thyme
• 1 tsp. apricot jam

Arrange the ham on the waffle; top with a fan of pear slices. Drizzle the pear lightly with apricot jam (thinned with a bit of hot water if necessary) and garnish with a sprig of thyme.

Bon Appetit!

-Mary Brown Malouf