This fall we slaughtered two beef (picking them up from the butcher this afternoon, whoop!), and in the next several months we’ll butcher two pigs, so to clear out freezer space, I’ve been working my way through hunks of lesser-known meats: beef cheeks, beef heart, oxtail, and pork fish. 

I never knew what the fish of the pork was, but I always ordered it because the internet said it was good. But then I never cooked it because I didn’t know what to do with it. So a few nights ago I pulled four packs to thaw — and to force myself to figure it out — and it turned out to be an exercise in Surprise & Delight. 

The fish is the tail end of the tenderloin (so says Google). It’s tapered like a fish (thus the name) and quite lean, so you’re supposed to take care not to overcook it, a warning that always strikes terror into my heart — because I have a track record. 

The random recipe I rustled up looked like it might be complicated but wasn’t. Working with the meat, I felt fancy and rich, like I was dealing with some high-end steak, and then it browned up fast and pretty, and then roasted to perfection in just minutes. The marinade’s final stove-top simmer transformed into a salty and tangy river of sweetness that smelled like heaven and tasted of magic.

And the pork? It was bonkers good. Tender, candied, and caramelized, the meaty bits were pure perfection. 

I didn’t take any photos — I was too busy a) thinking it wouldn’t be great, and then b) being euphoric — so the next day when I fixed a plate of leftovers for my lunch, I snapped a few.

The photos don’t look that great, sorry. The microwave reheat killed the meat’s pretty pink center, but don’t be fooled — the deliciousness factor was not in any way compromised.

And then I scraped the plate’s contents into a bowl (because it’s how I do my kimchi bowls).

It’s what I’m having for lunch again today, and I can not wait. I’ve been watching the clock all morning, just whiling away the time — 

Oh, will you look at that. It’s 11:55, yeehaw!

Pork with Honey Garlic Sauce
Adapted from Recipetineats.

I’m plumb out of pork fish, but this recipe would be good with just about anything, I think: meatballs, chicken, stew pork (got some!), salmon, tofu…

about 2 pounds of pork fish
bacon fat or a glug of olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ cup honey

Trim the meat of any extra fat and the thin membrane covering the meat.

Mix together the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle over both sides of the meat. This is a light dry rub — just a dusting. Cover the meat and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes, or half a day. Whatever.

Mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, and honey and set aside. 

About 45 minutes before supper, brown the meat in the bacon fat over high heat. You want the meat to take on a nice crust — but quickly. Don’t cook it all the way through. After it’s brown, remove the meat to a plate.

Add the minced garlic to the hot pan and saute for a couple minutes. Add the wet ingredients. Add the meat, and then flip each piece so it’s been coated in the marinade. 

Clap on a lid and transfer the meat to a 350° oven for 15 minutes. The meat’s done when it reaches 155°. This may take a little longer if your meat is thicker — my pork was the shape and size of cucumbers — but take care not to over do it. The meat should still be pink on the inside.

Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the pork to a plate. Cover the meat with foil.

Place the pan over high heat, bringing the marinade to a rapid boil. After a couple minutes, it will change from a boiling marinade to a boiling syrup — it gets thicker and looks like a forest of raging bubbles so thick you can’t see the brown sauce beneath. 

Slice the meat and drizzle with marinade. 

This same time, years previous: water kefir, interview with a menopause researcher and specialist, the quotidian (9.18.23), what are your three favorite recipes from this blog?, fruit crisp ice cream, cottage cheese, saag (sort of) paneer, the unraveling, black bean and veggie salad.

Quotidian: daily, usual or customary;
everyday; ordinary; commonplace

Testing a new ferment.

Knee-swaz (in case you, like me, never know how to pronounce Niçoise).

Cream lines.

Butter bender.

The funnest-shaped loaf ever: hazelnut chocolate.

Needs 3x the chocolate chips.

Skins and innards.

Sausage and onions, cultured cream and tomatoes.

Raspberry sticks.

Bakery Boy breakfast.

Reunioning: I got pushed in twice.

Togetherness.

Two of us.
^{photo credit: my aunt}

Guess what we have!!!

I do not always win.

The neighbor’s artistic view of our house.

This same time, years previous: if you give a mouse a cookie, behind the scenes, growing boy lunches, the quotidian (8.31.20), at home, crunch week, chomper, the quotidian (8.29.16), the quotidian (8.31.15), it all adds up, the new bakery, walking the line, my mornings.

I’ve had it with the current protein obsession. 

Eat half your weight in grams of protein a day. Eat protein every 90 minutes. Eat protein to lose weight. Eat protein to build muscle. Eat protein to stay full. Pack it in. Count grams.

Here, have a beef stick.
Here, eat some cottage cheese.
Here, HAVE A COW.

(Vegetarians, y’all are screwed.)

You can tell people have completely lost their everloving minds because protein is now showing up places it doesn’t belong: in brownies, poptarts, iced coffee, pretzels, water — WATER!

(So, vegetarians, maybe you aren’t screwed after all?)

Whatever happened to — I don’t know — just eating food? 

Meat is meat. 
An apple is an apple. 
Cake is cake. 
The end.

I’ve run the calculations, and even as a meat-eating human, most days I’m not even close to getting my current recommended amount of protein. To do so, I’d either have to overeat, or forgo other beloved staples like rice and bread, veggies, and ice cream — and y’all know I’m not about to give up my ice cream.

But weirder than putting protein where it doesn’t belong is the messaging. No matter the food fad — low-fat, atkins, keto, paleo, juice, 100-mile, etc — it’s always the same: “Food is salvation.” 

But we all know that’s not true, right? I mean, we all know that drinking an ice-cold Coke isn’t going to transform us into scantily-clad, sexy beach babes, and yet somehow protein in our coffee is going to turn us into the best version of ourselves?

Oh, come now.

And there’s another thing that bothers me: the idea that I must have — that I need — more. Millions of people live well with simple diets — beans and rice, ugali and greens, injera and lentils, dal and roti, hummus and pita. To say we need more protein strikes me as presumptuous or entitled. Maybe even elitist. 

If anything, what we probably need is less — less Doritos, with or without the extra protein. 

Sure, protein is important, and some people absolutely need protein-enhanced foods. Medically speaking, protein smoothies, granola bars and water can be lifesavers.

(Awhile back when I was fussing about yet another raging fad, my younger son pointed out that fads have benefits: a heightened focus on anything — be it a new diet or a social movement — allows for advancements. When the pendulum inevitably swings the other way, it leaves behind the benefits of deeper understanding and expanded world views.)

So once this current craze blows over, people who really do need protein-boosted foods are going to have so many great options.

But for the rest of us? Soon most people will (once again) be like, Yeah, protein is good — in moderation.

our traditional non-protein-enhanced Sunday supper

P.S. When I was almost done writing this post, I happened upon an excellent Fresh Air interview with Daniel Lieberman, author of Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet, Health, and Eating Well. In the interview, he quoted a seventh century B.C. Greek poet: The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

When being chased, Lieberman explained, foxes try all sorts of things to escape, but the hedgehog just curls into a ball. Meaning: the fox sees complexity and the hedgehog fits everything into one big (often simple) idea. So when it comes to fad diets, hedgehogs are the ones with the one-plan-fixes-all mentality, while foxes seek the nuance and complexity.

Lieberman’s plea (as I heard it): be foxy.

P.P.S. I almost forgot! I have a great protein bar to recommend! (Because I am nothing if not riddled with inconsistencies.) It’s called The Perfect Bar. My daughter made me try one and they are sooooo good. Like a cross between homemade peanut butter honey balls and the inside of a Reeces cup, but way better than both. Super dense, no weird flavors or textures, with a satisfying chew. Sometimes, we like to cut a bar into tiny cubes to eat with our morning coffee; this way, a single bar lasts several days. They’re on sale at Costco now, I think. In the refrigerator section with all the cheeses. Cost is about a dollar a bar. (Similar on Amazon.)

This same time, years previous: the second first day, jammy oat bars, on eating meat, quark, walk the walk 2020, chocolate cake, full circle, fresh nectarine galette, family extended, on love and leftovers, the quotidian (8.25.14), he got me.