How I’ll cook myself

Everyone should know. When there is no other choice, that there is one last glorious, sumptuous meal to be had.

First, let’s examine the meat. Old, pretty marbled, mostly marbled actually. Not good for the grill, and not good as a roast.

But on a slow cooker? Oh man...

First smoke the shank , get it steeped in Hickory, let those fats drip.

Then, take it out, braise it for a while and let it simmer endlessly in a rich stock of wine, musterd and honey. A star of anisseed could add much, perhaps sumac, cinnamon, as well. The fats will slowly dissolve over the next few hours and the meat will soften considerably in the alcohol. Now, add roots: celery, parsley, carrot. You’d do well to prepare the entree in the mean time. Baby potatoes roasted in rosmary. An avocado and anchovy salad, with bourgul mixed in gently.

Another exciting salad, could be a cold salad of deep fried cauliflower, smothered with tihini, and parsley. Sprinkle some spicy red peppers on top.

Sautee some string mushrooms, wrap them around small blots of cold mashed potatoes.

Check the meat, add some stock if it gets too dry.

Make a bread bowl. Plenty of sesseme. Chop in some sage with the dough.

Open the pot again. My shank should be bubbling in the stew. It’s a good time to add some sweetnesss. Prunes, and dried apricots. You can also add fruit leather shreds.

Boil some peas, and then fry them up with bacon.

Roast a head of garlic with some olive oil. Serve with a platter of rosted sweet peppers, mushrooms, eggplant and sun dried tomatoes. Good antepesto.

Food’s almost ready. Get some bread sticks, or just toast some more bread. Serve the dishes first, then serve the shank, bubbling in the bread bowl, surrounded by everything else.

For dessert, serve chopped slices of strawberry in pistachio/rum raisin ice cream. But I doubt people will need that.

Offer cognac, or a good whiskey for later.

Oooohhhh that’s good.