Tag: pork

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Fried Rice

one and a half slices recipes local delicious food

Quintessential Fried Rice

Fried rice: the perfect solo or double date weeknight shutdown when there is leftover (white, long-grained) rice in the fridge.

This hits. Pretty much any night. The post is old but the recipe is updated.

what you need

2-3 eggs, whisked

1 tablespoon butter

2 carrots, peeled and diced tiny

1 cup frozen peas (take them out during prep, let them thaw)

1/2 yellow onion, diced tiny

2-4 cups cooked, leftover, long-grain white rice (like a basmati or a jasmine). For best results, use day-old rice. You actually need the rice to be dry for this recipe.

1/2 cup green onions, sliced thinly, with some extra for topping

1 knob of fresh ginger, grated

2 cloves of garlic, grated

1 small knob of fresh turmeric, grated

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon toasted or regular sesame oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce or Tamari + a bit more for cooking 

2 teaspoons chili oil and/or 1-2 tiny diced red Thai chilies 

2 teaspoons of rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame seeds 

1 bunch of green onions, washed and chopped

(optional) prepared/leftover protein such as chicken, steak, or tofu. Personally, I am happy with eggs + veg.

🌶️🔥🥢

how to make it

Here is how we are going to approach this. And hopefully you have a wok, but if you don’t, a regular old large frying pan will work just fine.

First, scramble your eggs in the tablespoon of butter and set aside. Leave them on the softer side and break up the curds into smaller pieces.

Next, dice all your veg and set it out so it’s ready to go. I recommend three piles:

  1. Carrots, onions
  2. Garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, chilies and chili oil 
  3. Green onion, green peas, sesame seeds

The creation of this is going to move quickly so best have everything set out.

Heat up a few tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil in your wok. For me, that is avocado oil (no seed oils in this house). Get it really fucking hot. And turn on the stovetop vent.

1 tablespoon of tamari + the carrots and onions. Two minutes.

Follow with the garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, chilies, and chili oil + 1 tablespoon of tamari. One Minute. (Stir it a lot). 

Move the veg to the sides of the wok, add another tablespoon of cooking oil, and add the leftover rice. Spread it out and stir it up a bit, optimizing for maximum rice contact with the wok. To the top of the rice, add 1 more tablespoon of tamari, the sesame oil, and the rice vinegar. Stir it all up and now let it sit for two minutes. Stir. Two more minutes. Stir. A little smoke is okay. 

// If you are using a protein, throw it in now, stir. One more minute. Just warm it up. 

Last step. Add the green onion, green peas, sesame seeds, and scramble egg. Stir it up. Then take it off the heat.

You’re done. You made it. 20 minutes tops. With no seed oils. Now go eat that shit with chopsticks and sake. 
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Moroccan Tagine

one and a half slices local simple recipes food

Moroccan Tagine

I have been SO excited to release this post!!! Why? Because this is your new weeknight dinner. It will impress your family, fill your stomach, warm your heart, and make your house smell like North African spices. I started making tagine [pronounced tah-jeen with a soft ‘j’] years ago when I first moved to DC and came across a tagine (distinction below) in World Market. I was instantly and aesthetically intrigued, and purchased the thing on the spot not having a clue what I would do with it. Well… figured that one out. A tagine is the OG slow cooker.  And whatever you put inside – lamb, chicken, chickpeas, rabbit, potatoes – you will taste the spicy exoticism. If you don’t have a tagine, no worries. You can make it in a Dutch oven, stovetop or, yes, in a slow cooker. And before you think this is just chicken slow roasted in tomato sauce… keep reading…

For reference, the clay pot pictured above (the vessel) is a tagine. What is pictured below it is the deliciousness you are about to create in said vessel, which also happens to be called tagine. Both the pot AND the dish are called “tagine.” A tagine (the vessel) is a clay or ceramic pot. A tagine (the food) is a stew. Both of these items are native to North Africa (think Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), but this cooking style is traditionally Berber and has its counterparts in both Cypriot and Ottoman cuisine.  In Cypriot cuisine, it is called the tavas and in Ottoman (present-day Turkish) cuisine, it is called testi.

In the traditional Berber implementation, a fire is made in a hole in the ground, the clay pot nestled inside, buried, and left for many hours. Upon return, the meat and vegetables inside have become a hearty stew and the meat is super tender (see? slow cooker…). In traditional Ottoman cuisine, the clay pot is made and preliminarily fired before the meat and vegetables are added. Then the clay pot is sealed (with more clay) and placed in the fire for several hours like a kiln. To extract the food, the pot is broken (often tableside for showmanship), and its contents poured onto a bed of rice. The streets of Turkey brought me this Ottoman delight in 2014, well after I tasted Moroccan and Algerian flavors in 2011. One of the best meals I have ever had in my life was rabbit plum couscous (made in a tagine) in central Morocco (the blue city, to be precise). While the cooking methods are similar, the tastes can vary drastically due to the spices! An exemplar Moroccan spice blend is pictured below. Cloves, fennel, anise, fenugreek, caraway, cardamom, turmeric, and saffron could just as easily find their way into the mix. As we move further east from the Berber origins, Lebanese (deep red) or Turkish (purple) Sumac may make an appearance. 

This has always been a personal fascination of mine… how culinary traditions jump borders. For example, German schnitzel is Argentinian Milanesa is American Country Fried Steak (well, almost). Similarly, almost every Eastern European country, to include Greece and Turkey, has its own version of borek (baked, fried, cheese-filled, spinach-filled, meat-filled… recipe coming eventually). Borek is not too dissimilar from the Latin empanada (which varies drastically from country to country –  baked, fried, with potatoes/peas/carrots, with egg/olives/raisins, with cheese, without cheese). 

Given the diversity of this dish and its multicultural origins, it is like almost everything I make – flexible. You can make it your own. You can also eat it on Monday with chicken, on Wednesday with lamb, and go vegan on Saturday – versatile. I’ve provided a base ingredient list and a base recipe below, with instructions for how to make it stovetop or in the oven. If you love it as much as I do, a simple tagine isn’t hard to come by. No, it isn’t technically required… but neither are sprinkles. For testing purposes, however, your Dutch oven or a large stovetop pan will suffice. Truth be told, I typically make it stovetop unless it’s for presentation. The quickest, weeknight version is made in the oven. Don’t be alarmed by the length of the ingredients list – it is mostly spices that you already have in your pantry.

You can serve this over rice or over couscous, or even just with the stewed potatoes all mashed up if you wanted to. 

what you need

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (2 cups for the stovetop version; 1 cup for the oven version)

1 cup dry couscous or rice

4 chicken pieces (drumsticks or thighs work best, but breasts cut into chunks work as well). You can also use rabbit meat, chunks of lamb loin, or a can of chickpeas for a vegan option.

fresh cilantro, coriander, or parsley

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground turmeric 

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you prefer your tagine super spicy)

2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil

1-2 tablespoons honey

1/2 onion, thickly diced

1 whole, small lemon, washed and cut into wedges with seeds removed

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 can crushed or diced tomatoes

1/4 cup golden raisins or diced dried apricots

1/4 cup sliced almonds, cashews, or pine nuts, roasted

(optional) 1/4 cup green peas

(optional) 1/2 cup green olives, pitted and sliced in half

(optional) 2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

(optional) 1 16oz can of chickpeas

My favorite: I prefer a chicken drumstick tagine made stovetop with golden raisins and lemon wedges, with or without the chickpeas, topped with toasted almonds. The golden raisins, lemon, and almonds are what make the dish. 

how to make it (stovetop method - recommended for best flavor)

Mix the dry spices together and set aside (cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and cayenne pepper).

Prepare the protein. Heat olive oil or ghee over high heat in Dutch oven or large pan on the stove. Brown the chicken on all sides, about three minutes on each side, and sprinkle with salt. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Add onions to the pan and sauté until softened, about 1 minute. Add sliced garlic and grated fresh ginger and cook another 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the garlic. 

Make the tagine. Reduce heat to low and add tomatoes, chicken broth, honey, drained chickpeas (if using), green olives (if using), lemon wedges, and golden raisins to the pan. Stir in the spices and bring to an extremely low simmer. Nestle the chicken back into the stew, cover, and cook on the lowest possible setting for 1 1/2-2 hours, or until chicken becomes extremely tender. Check the stew once every 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally to ensure there is enough liquid and nothing is burning. If the liquid dissipates, you can add about 1/2 cup of water. About 45 minutes out, throw in the carrots so they stay a bit firmer. You can do this with half of the lemon slices as well if you choose. 

Notes on cooking time: 1 hour is plenty sufficient for chicken breast or rabbit, but this dish is more delicious with bone-in chicken drumsticks or thighs.  These will do better with a 2-3 hour cooking time to ensure it is extremely tender. Lamb will benefit from the 2-3 hour cooking time as well. I will be posting a second rabbit couscous recipe down the road with a different set of ingredients.

Serve. While the tagine is cooking, make the rice or couscous according to instructions on the package, and roast the nuts in the oven as well. When the stew is ready, spoon rice or couscous into a bowl and spoon the tagine over top. Garnish with a lemon wedge, fresh cilantro or parsley leaves, and toasted nuts. 

how to make it (Dutch oven or tagine method - recommended for speed)

Preheat oven to 350 or 200 (see notes below). Mix the dry spices together and set aside (cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and cayenne pepper). 

Make the tagine. Place chunked meat in tagine or Dutch oven and nestle vegetables (carrots, chickpeas (if using), onions, and lemon around the meat). Top with sliced garlic, grated ginger, golden raisins, and green olives (if using). Sprinkle with spice mixture. Pour 1 cup of chicken broth and can of diced tomatoes over the mixture, secure the lid, and place in the oven.

Notes on cooking time: If you are making a quick weeknight meal and are using diced chicken or rabbit breast, you can get away with cooking this on 350 for 1 hour. If you have the time, aim for 2-3 hours on 200, checking once at the 1 1/2 hour mark to ensure there is still enough liquid. 

Serve. While the tagine is cooking, make the rice or couscous according to instructions on the package, and roast the nuts in the oven as well (or quickly under the broiler when the tagine comes out). When the stew is ready, spoon rice or couscous into a bowl and spoon the tagine over top. Garnish with a lemon wedge, fresh cilantro or parsley, and toasted nuts (almonds work especially well).

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Best Meatballs

one and a half slices recipe italian spaghetti meatballs
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Authentic Italian Meatballs

one and a half slices recipe italian spaghetti meatballs

Last weekend my world was changed forever when I was schooled by a friend very dear to me in the subtle art of the perfect Lady and the Tramp style meatball. That fine grained, tender, perfectly seasoned Italian delicacy resting lightly atop a bird’s nest of egg noodles dusted with Parmesano Reggiano. The ultimate comfort.

For a while now I have been faithfully married to my essential Bolognese sauce. Considering this sauce the pinnacle of comfort food, I had relegated meatballs to a facet of my childhood and did not intend to explore them much further. Until, that is, a friend of mine suggested we spend a chilly Sunday afternoon cooking meatballs in the style of this-is-how-my-grandma-made-it lore. Skeptical of such lore, but always willing to learn something new, we threw a cooler in the back of the car and drove out to visit Jesse Straight at Whiffletree Farm, purveyor of local chicken, pork, beef, lamb, turkey, and other pasture raised meats (see more about #eatlocal and Whiffletree Farm here). Upon our return, we set to work simmering a basic marinara. 

As it turns out, the secret to the very best authentic Italian meatballs is threefold: 1) cook them a long ass time, 2) use a combination of meats (beef, pork, and lamb), 3) the love of cooking. Slow cooking. With a loaf of fresh Italian bread by the stove for all day marinara sauce dipping and taste testing, a playlist, and plenty of good vibes, we cooked. We opened a bottle of red wine that was fantastic but I can’t quite identify beyond the bright red eyeglasses on the label. Free OneandahalfSlices swag for anyone who can tell me what this wine is. We talked and dabbed marinara sauce on the noses of my slightly grumpy kittens. And we connected.

So here we have it. The Whiffletree Farm three-meat authentic Italian meatball recipe, worth the lore, worth the investment, and worth every moment spent in friendship in the kitchen. Happy cooking.

🍅🍅🍅

Three-meat Blend
Meatballs
Marinara
Bird Nest 1
Unidentified Wine Pairing
Bird Nest 2

what you need

For the meatballs:

2 pounds Whiffletree Farm ground beef

1 pound Whiffletree Farm ground pork 

1 pound Whiffletree Farm ground lamb

4 eggs, or one egg per pound of meat

2 cups breadcrumbs, or 1/2 cup bread crumbs per pound of meat

5 garlic cloves, minced

one handful of parsley, finely chopped

1/8 cup dried oregano and basil

dash of cayenne pepper

salt and black pepper to taste

For the Marinara:

24 oz of canned, chopped Italian imported Roma tomatoes

three to four fresh Roma tomatoes, diced

one yellow onion or two shallots, finely minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

dried oregano, basil, and parsley

salt and pepper to taste

(optional) parmesan cheese rinds

how to make it

First, get the sauce going.  Place a few tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot stovetop. Add the minced onions and garlic, all the spices, and, if you are so inclined, a few pieces of ground pork. Sauté over medium heat for a minute or two and then add the canned and fresh tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, and spices, bring to a boil, then reduce to the gentlest possible simmer. Add the Parmesan cheese rinds and cover the pot.

Now, craft your meatballs. Set the oven to high broil and combine all three meats in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, breadcrumbs, garlic, spices, and fresh parsley. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Try not to compress the meat down into the bowl too much in the process.

Gently roll meat into 1 1/2 inch balls, careful not to squeeze or compress the balls too much. Ideally, you want finely-ground meat and loosely-compressed meatballs. Arrange on a baking tray and broil for five minutes, remove from oven, turn each meat all over once, and broil five minutes more. 

Simmer. Carefully transfer all meatballs into the Marinara sauce. Ensure all the meatballs are covered by the sauce and, if they aren’t, add a bit of water so that this is the case. Simmer your meatballs in the sauce for two to three hours covered, then an additional hour uncovered until sauce reaches desired thickness. Serve over pasta of choice and sprinkle with finely-ground Parmesano Reggiano cheese. 

Don’t forget the red wine! 🍷

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Coconut Harissa Meatballs

one and a half slices coconut harissa meatballs local recipe
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Coconut Harissa Meatballs

one and a half slices coconut harissa meatballs local recipe

This struck me as the strangest recipe and just the thing OneandahalfSlices needed after what shall henceforth be known as The Great Fridge Hiatus. In the midst of back-and-forth work travel to Florida and other exotic locales (Dayton, Ohio???), my freezer door was mysteriously left – ahem – ajar. Upon my return, with a 14 hour turnaround window, I discovered that the smell of death filled my house and, for once, my sweet felines were not to blame. Chicken and meat juices filled the freezer drawer and I stared in sadness as $300 worth of condiments, to include at least seven types of miso paste, expired in front of my eyes. Fixing the fridge, restocking the freezer, replacing the condiments, and getting my cooking mojo back took a good two weeks. So here we are…with coconut harissa meatballs – by far one of the stranger things I’ve tasted (and, yes, that includes the $100 upcharge at Pineapple and Pearls in 2017 when an overenthusiastic waiter proceeded to steam raw truffles (mushrooms) in brandy over a candle and then pour the concoction over what I’m pretty sure was Breyer’s vanilla ice cream in a desperate attempt at fine dining. I made this dish over the mashed white beans as originally instructed but was not a fan of the beans and am curious to try it over spaetzle or mashed potatoes. If you’re feeling experimental, give this one a try. 

what you need

1 pound ground pork or loose sausage of choice

2 shallots, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Fresh cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 teaspoon sumac

1 teaspoon harissa seasoning

1/4 cup Moroccan harissa paste (or sauce)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 can white beans, or 5-6 gold potatoes, or 2 servings egg noodles

how to make it

Mix the ground pork, half the minced shallots, half the minced garlic, and the garam masala together with salt and pepper. Roll the meatballs into 12 ~1 inch balls and set aside. 

Add coconut oil to a pan and sauté number of desired meatballs on several sides until brown, ~8 minutes. Remove the meatballs and set aside. 

Add the remaining shallots and garlic to the pan, sautéing until fragrant, ~2 minutes. Add the harissa seasoning, harissa sauce, and tomato paste to the pan, stirring well for another minute. Add the coconut milk, mix, and nestle the meatballs back into the sauce. Allow the mixture to simmer and thicken for ~8 minutes.

Prepare your egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or mashed white beans as desired, spreading them onto a plate and seasoning them with salt and sumac. Set the meatballs on top of your mash, topping with the harissa sauce and fresh cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.

one and a half slices coconut harissa meatballs local recipe
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Moroccan Tagine

I have been SO excited to release this post!!! Why? Because this is your new weeknight dinner. It will impress your family, fill your stomach, warm your heart, and make your house smell like North African spices. I started making tagine years ago when I first moved to DC and came across a tagine in World Market. I was instantly and aesthetically intrigued, and purchased the thing on the spot not having a clue what I would do with it. Well… figured that one out. A tagine is the OG slow cooker.  And whatever you put inside – lamb, chicken, chickpeas, rabbit, potatoes – you will taste the spicy exoticism. If you don’t have a tagine, no worries. You can make it in a Dutch oven, stovetop or, yes, in a slow cooker. And before you think this is just chicken slow roasted in tomato sauce… keep reading…

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September 21, 2024 4 Comments
stew soup recipe fall One and a Half Slices lemon chickpea vegan dish

Lemon Chickpea Stew

Welcoming Fall in vegan/vegetarian style, the theme of this October is lentils and other legumes. The chickpea is a protein-packed, fiber saturated, hearty meal staple. This soup recipe boasts a super unique flavor comprised of lemon zest, really good olive oil, red chili flakes, and the lowly potato. Just one more example of how fresh, local, in-season produce carries all the flavor you’ll ever need. This stew is filling yet humble. It is bold; it isn’t fancy. It doesn’t require an exotic cocktail pairing… it’s just a simple stew for a simple weeknight to remind you to be thankful for a warm stomach, an engaged palette, and a full plate … (or bowl, in this instance).

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October 30, 2021 No Comments
creamy coconut sweet potato soup recipe oneandahalfslices

Creamy Sweet Potato Stew

Coming out of Vegan October, we were a little tired of lentils and were looking for something to do with copious amounts of sweet potatoes. Hence this little gem was discovered. Creamy with coconut milk, almost like curry. Spiced with flavors of the same. Hearty with sweet potato and flourished with kale. Yes, there are still a few lentils, but they are hardly the stars of the show. This soup is light enough for any season and feels perfectly at home here at the end of October. 🧡

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November 7, 2021 1 Comment
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Pork and Apples

one and a half slices pork and apples simple recipe
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Pork and Apples

one and a half slices pork and apples simple recipe

This Pork and Apples recipe is one of my all-time favorites especially for the new year – the month of January in particular (though it is well-suited to anytime Fall through Winter). A good solid pork roast is combined with hearty potatoes, sweet cabbage, and tangy apples for a truly delicious, surprising, filling meal. Trust me, guys, this is super delicious and unique. Many in the Midwest eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day. I tend to favor a big pot of black eyed peas myself but Pork and Apples always comes sometime between January 1st and 10th. Do go get yourself a pork roast and give it a try. Mine came from Longstone Farm in Lovettesville, VA. For you Northern Virginian-ers, Longstone has a new self-service market open now on Route 9 – check it out!

Happy New Year, everyone!

what you need

1 pork roast (I have used loin, butt, and shoulder)

3-5 small white or red potatoes, halved or quartered

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 head of cabbage (green or purple), cut into wedges

1 yellow onion, cut into chunks

1 1/2 small apples, cored and cut into wedges

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup water or vegetable bouillon

1 tablespoon honey

 

how to make it

Preheat oven to 325. 

Stovetop, melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or other covered, oven-safe pot. Brown the roast on all sides then set it aside on a plate. Add the sliced garlic and sauté until fragrant, ~1 minute. 

Remove from heat and add the apple cider vinegar scraping any little brown bits up off the bottom to deglaze the pot. Add the honey and water/bouillon and stir. Replace the roast in the liquid sprinkling generously with dried thyme, salt, and pepper. 

Nestle 3/4 of the apple slices and all the onion slices around the roast. Secure the lid and roast in the oven for 2 full hours (note that butt and shoulder roasts will take a little longer than loins as a general rule). 

After 2 hours, remove the roast and add the remaining apple slices, the potatoes (submerging in the liquid if at all possible), and then layer the cabbage wedges over the top. You may need to add a bit of liquid if it’s looking low. Salt and pepper the cabbage generously and return to the oven for another ~45 minutes. 

Check your pork by cutting with knife and fork. It should be very tender and the vegetables should be soft but not destroyed, hence adding them later. Serve and enjoy! 
More Roasts
OneandahalfSlices roasted goose recipe simple holiday

Roasted Goose

Who else has heard of a Christmas Goose? Had the urge to make one? Okay, maybe that’s just a Mel thing, but mostly by accident, I ended up with a locally-sourced, 9-pound Goose to cook this Christmas courtesy of Whiffletree Farms of Warrenton, Virginia. Highly recommend for an elegant, unique holiday meal. It makes for a lovely table. Here it is paired with Citrus Dill Roasted Carrots, Perfect Mashed Potatoes, and Crispy Oven Brussel Sprouts. #Christmasvibes

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December 25, 2021 3 Comments
pot roast recipe one and a half slices whisky pairing

Pot Roast

This is the main course for the Whiskey Pairing Dinner and, my, what a deep, flavorful pot roast this is! Let me start by saying that I sourced a 4.6 pound chuck roast from the Spring House Farm Store to feed the four of us and had no regrets. A simple pot roast is easy enough to pull off especially if you have a slow cooker, but this really takes the flavor profile up a notch to make this velvety, sinful, fall-off-your-fork roast with plenty of fall veggies.

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November 14, 2021 3 Comments
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Local

Longstone Farm

cows local farm oneandahalfslices farm-to-table beef
OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

Longstone Farm

cows local farm oneandahalfslices farm-to-table beef

The OneandahalfSlices About page presents somewhat of a mission statement for the blog. Why am I doing this and why are we all here? – aside from the obvious: all the good food! (for the genesis of the name OneandahalfSlices, see Skillet Cornbread). The mission is simple.

 To explore ways to procure local ingredients, to cook more seasonally, and to make food healthier and more delicious at the same time. 

For those of you that know me well, you know that this topic of local, sustainable agriculture is of great importance to me and I do my best to ‘vote with my feet’ when it comes to what I eat. Once a good batch of recipes were up on the site, it was always my intention to bring the focus of the blog to the ingredients that go into those recipes. Because “when you are chasing after the best flavor, you are chasing after the best ingredients and when you are chasing after the best ingredients, you are in search of great farming.” – Chef Dan Barber (who has left his upstate NY Michelin restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns to consult at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee). I have many a friend and colleague who have said things like “I don’t eat seafood” or “I really hate green beans” or “mushrooms are gross,” and then proceeded to devour fresh caught Kingfish ceviche, grilled pole beans from the CSA, and fresh foraged morel and chanterelle risotto. You may not think you like green beans if you’ve only ever had them out of a can from the grocery store or slathered in Campbell’s mushroom soup in a Thanksgiving green bean casserole. But a fresh, crisp green bean, with all the flavor and sweetness of summer and sun, is something else entirely. Chef Barber said it more eloquently than I ever could. Food simply tastes better when it’s fresh. And made from ingredients that are in season and are grown in healthy soil that is part of a fully organic ecological system. 

Part of that system is meat (well, animals, really). Enter Longstone Farm in Lovettsville, Virginia. There are few farms in Virginia as dedicated to the narrative described above as Longstone Farm. Family owners Justin and Casey have gone all in with their lifestyle, their family, and their footprint, investing in the recursive, sustainable tenets of organic farming and local community, and producing some of the highest quality meats in Northern Virginia. The cream of their crop are their hogs and I firmly advocate that there is no better porkchop than a Longstone Farm porkchop. They also raise chickens and cattle. I have a lot to learn from the purveyors of Longstone Farm who engage in a lot of community outreach. For example, the photos you see here are from their Sunday Suppers, typically held over the spring/summer/fall seasons once a month, featuring local chefs who craft custom menus using Longstone Farm products. Before that dinner, Casey and Justin host a farm tour complete with hay ride where they show you their farm and briefly explain the rationale behind what they do every day and why. The evening is luxurious, relaxing, and enlightening for those who have never had the opportunity to think of food in a different way – food as community, food as nourishment for muscles and sinew, food as your personal connection to place, purpose, and your own body. 

Here is what you need to know about Longstone Farm:

  • They practice 100% organic, sustainable farming.
  • They have a self-service farm store in Lovettsville where you can buy as much or as little as you desire on your own time. Think it’s not worth the drive? Think about making a monthly trip out to beautiful Virginia countryside to buy local meat in bulk for the freezer to cook incrementally over the next 30-45 days. Not so difficult. Your meat would taste better and you’d be doing your part by supporting local farms!
  • They also have a smaller market on Rout 9. 
  • They offer bulk beef, pork, and chicken shares for those who want to purchase, say, half a cow.
  • Sunday Suppers are amazing but you have to be on their e-mail list to be notified of dates. Drop a comment if you want to be added. 
  • The farmers are serious, knowledgeable, and extremely open and generous with their time.

There will be more posts like these to come on OneandahalfSlices in the future as there are many great farms to explore in Northern Virginia. Ways to eat more locally and sustainably are things I very much want to explore through my cooking and, as mentioned previously, this blog is the chronicle of that exploration. I welcome you all to the OneandahalfSlices table for a 100% local dinner whenever you schedule permits – maybe join us for a Saturday Supper in Arlington and cook with us! And I challenge you all to take one step this year to do something slightly different around your relationship with food. Choose something like a Sunday Supper or The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm for date night. Stop eating foods that come in packages (chips, cookies, soups, instant meals and sides – it doesn’t take that much longer to make those things yourself if you know how – enter OneandahalfSlices). Sign up for a vegetable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share. Stop buying meat in the grocery store and try Longstone Farm, Spring House Farm Store, or Whiffletree Farm meats instead. Challenging yourself or your household to do just one of these things will make a difference and may just begin an unexpected journey (there and back again) for you and your family. 
Other Local Farms & Eats
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Three Year Anniversary

Three years of flavor, sprinkles, playlists, and exploration! Whoa. It’s been a ride, you guys. You know. You’ve been here. It may seem like things have been quiet of late – but not so. Here’s the best of 2023 and what we have to look forward to in 2024…

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January 29, 2024 No Comments
rabbit chicken cassoulet recipe simple one pot one and a half slices

Rabbit Cassoulet

Here we are with Protein #2 in our Protein Trio and it’s a bit of a non-standard one. We don’t often cook rabbit but… we totally should! It is more delicate than chicken with more flavor, but still not too gamey. Cassoulets are bean-based stews with a protein that can stew all day or come together quite quickly. They are hearty and Fall-ish, and I am thrilled to have this one on my table. You can make this with roasted chicken or a sausage if the rabbit is a stretch for you.

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September 22, 2023 No Comments
one and a half slices

Salt

“I have two lovers in life that I have never slept with. The city of Paris and potatoes.” – Francis Mallmann. The taste of empanadas, parrillada, and red wine came to flavor my adolescence, calibrating my tastes – both for food and experience – for something deeper.

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January 28, 2023 5 Comments
one and a half slices Christmas 2022 present package recipe gift

Happy Christmas 2022

Happy Christmas 2022 and a Rice Krispie Treat with #holidayvibes If you worked for me, with me, or with Merigold Analytics in 2022, chances are you got one of these in early December. These little boxes are filled with the stuff dreams are made of – stickers, marshmallows, and Oreo cookies. This Christmas season, OneandahalfSlices made layered rice krispies stuffed with Oreo, Biscoff, Graham, candy cane, and many, many, tiny marshmallows. We celebrated Christmas this

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December 25, 2022 1 Comment
One and a half Slices october oktoberfest fall vibes

Oktoberfest

October has always been my favorite month (for cooking, for being). Let me tell you why.

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October 30, 2022 1 Comment
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White Bean Chorizo Soup

OneandahalfSlices food blog recipes One and a half Slices Virginia eat local

White Bean Chorizo Soup

As we enter into the longest winter months with January barely having come to a close, it seems like it will never be warm again. These are the months for soups, stews, and roasts; hearty and cozy. This is one such soup. It is creamy (without any cream) and I hereby dub it my Winter Soup, topped with spicy chorizo, salty pepitas, and a dash of oregano. Thank you Whiffletree Farm for the chorizo in the January CSA. And thank you Edible DC for putting this recipe in my inbox right when I needed it most. 

what you need

2 cans canellini or navy beans in their juices

1 yellow onion, diced

2 Russet potatoes; peeled

1 tablespoon fennel seed

2 tablespoons oregano

1 pound spicy chorizo

4 cups chicken stock

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons salted butter

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or cooking sherry

1 tablespoon paprika

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

(optional) For serving: 1/4 cup pepitas tossed in olive oil, sweet paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and a dash of cinnamon. Toast under broiler for 1 minute until crispy and allow to cool.

how to make it

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a soup pot and sauté onions until translucent, adding the garlic and cooking slowly over medium heat. Add the fennel and oregano, and cook for another minute. 

Add beans with all their juices and chicken broth, and bring the mixture to a slight boil. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the diced, peeled potatoes, cover, and cook on a medium simmer for 30 minutes.

In separate pan, chip up the chorizo and brown like ground beef or, alternatively, roll the chorizo into tiny meatballs. Once cooked completely through, add the cooking sherry, paprika, and oregano, stir, and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. If using, simultaneously toast the pepitas under the broiler.

Once potatoes are tender in the soup, puree all soup contents in blender and return to soup pot. Ladle about two cups of soup into a bowl and top with about half a cup of chorizo, a dash of cayenne pepper or sweet paprika, and a pinch of toasted pepitas. Serve.

I have also had the thought that crispy, spicy kale chips would be an excellent topping for this in lieu of the toasted pepitas, but the cinnamon on the pepitas really rounds out the warmness of the soup.
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Chops

Wild Boar Chops
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Perfectly Juicy Pork Chops

I am always on the hunt for that impressive but foolproof date night meal. You know, the one you can cook with enough confidence that you won’t completely mess it up but that will garner more praise than a jar of Prego + Barilla. My go-to has always been charcuterie. Elaborate charcuterie. Or “picada” as we call it in Argentina. But these chops are date night perfection. This recipe is adapted from Adventures in Cooking (who has much more convincing photos). 

🍇

Have you ever wondered how to make pork chops tender? What separates the salty-yet-slightly-sweet chop that you can cut with a butter knife from the dry, stringy chop cooked stovetop? I’ll tell you a secret… it has nothing to do with cooking time or method and everything to do with brining. Yep. Brining. Basically soaking the chops in salty water overnight before you cook them.

Funny story about the foolproof date night meal though… I got very comfortable with these chops a couple of years ago. This method works on just about any chop (pork, wild boar, venison) and I make these chops on the reg when a special date night meal is required, or sometimes just for friends that I like to spoil. Each time, without fail, the chops come out perfectly. Tender, juicy, salty, and slightly sweet. It is a thing of beauty… until the fire alarm goes off.

As it turns out, my beautiful Valley House kitchen has no stove hood. There is a fan, sure, and from the sound it produces, I am pretty sure it generates enough power to launch a Boeing 747. But the steam and smoke the fan intakes… where does it go? Straight into the cabinet just above the stove where I house my extensive tea collection. In other words, it does not exit the house. 

So there I am with a nice glass of wine, my guest looking at me expectantly, with some ambiance and chill vibes to spare, when all hell breaks loose and the atmosphere in the room goes from elegant to tornado drill in under 3 seconds. Smoke billowing out of the oven (even though nothing is burning); cats zooming around the house at speeds unknown to light and sound. And a frenzied attempt by me and my befuddled guest to open every window and door in the house. Recently, I have taken to opening the patio door in advance and rushing steaming chops and other smoking cooking endeavors out to the deck to rest for a few moments before sliding them back into the oven… this seems to cut down on the smoke a bit. Either way, I am likely going to need to invest in a kitchen hood in the next several years. These chops are that good.

what you need

2 large bone-in, thick cut pork chops

1/4 cup salt

Black pepper

Several clusters of red grapes still on the stem, the larger the better

(optional) 1 tablespoon olive oil

(optional) 1 table spoon balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, or Tamari

For best results, use cast iron skillet

how to make it

The night before (!): Place chops in deep dish or water-tight bag along with enough room-temperature water to cover them. Add a ton of salt and mix a bit until it dissolves. Let chops brine overnight in the fridge. 

The day of: Preheat oven to 400. Once heated, toss the grapes (little clusters; 5-8 grapes per stem) in the olive oil, and vinegar or soy, place them on a piece of tinfoil and roast them in the oven until the skins begin to shrivel and split, ~20 minutes. Remove the grapes and set aside.

Now start heating your cast iron skillet stovetop. High heat. We want to sear these chops well. 

Remove the chops from the brine, rinse them, and pat them dry with paper towels. You can sprinkle them with a bit of olive oil and black pepper if you wish but they do not need any more salt at this point. The brine took care of that. 

Once the pan is hot (flick some water in it to see if it sizzles and to make an interesting cooking show for your guest), place both chops in the skillet. You want to place them and let them rest where they landed – do not pat them down, do not move them around. The searing occurs on the meat’s first contact with the pan. Put them in the skillet and leave them alone. Sear for 3-4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of your chops. 

Then get ready to transfer the chops to the oven. If you are using locally-sourced chops (I get mine from Longstone Farm), chances are they’ve got a good bit of fat on them which has begun to collect in the skillet (you can pour this out if you want the chops to smoke less in the oven). If you’re using store-bought chops and the skillet is dry, now would be the time to throw in a tablespoon of butter. I will occasionally add a splash of white wine and some sprigs of rosemary as well if I have them on hand and feel a little fancy.

Flip the chops a second time and then transfer all this to the oven. The cooking time here depends on the thickness of your chops and it is best to have a meat thermometer on hand. You want the internal temperature of the chop to reach 145 degrees which usually takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes. Due to the brining, you’ve got a little room to overcook the chops but not much, so watch them carefully. It is normal for the pan to smoke as the butter/fat in the skillet burns off – this does not mean the chops are burning. 

You can also cook the chops on the grill, in the cast iron or direct #openflame

How to Serve

Serve with grapes on stems placed on top.

I like to accompany the chops with a green vegetable like crispy roasted brussels sprouts or blanched asparagus. It also does well with a simple arugula salad. The pork meat becomes very salty in the brining process so pairing it with a darker, more bitter green vegetable is a good call.

Also, plums, apples, or peaches may be used in addition to or in lieu of the grapes. The sweetness of these fruits pairs well with the salty pork, but plum skin can become bitter and they are difficult to find when not in season, hence my predilection towards the grapes.  I once made a plum and black currant reduction (supa fancy) that accompanied the chops beautifully but it was a little labor intensive.  

pork chops
Pork Chops
Wild Boar Chops