Food Porn

Who of us can resist it?  Not I and not when it is written as seductively as it was by Sam Sifton on December 5th in the NYT  magazine.  The lure was asado negro, a Venezuelan roast, that he claims "makes a mockery of pot roast".

He also writes " The meat in napped in blackness that comes not from fire or smoke but from the absorption of all colors into one, a color as deep as space itself.  It is beef the color of a velvet dinner jacket seen across a dark lawn at midnight".

 Okay, okay, you had me at velvet jacket.  I made it. Actually I doubled it. I caramelized the sugar and added the white vinegar and red wine.  I browned the beef and then cooked piles of thinly sliced onions and cloves of smashed garlic in its juices.  I added the soy and Worcestershire sauces  along with several bay leaves to the onions.  I skipped the celery because I never have celery.

Then I covered the browned beef with the vegetable mixture, covered both roasts with thinly sliced green peppers, added salt and pepper and poured the caramelized sauce over it all.  Covered it went into a 375 degree oven for 3 and 1/2 hours.

I served it with white rice and a simple green salad.   First I read our guests the same parts of the article that I have quoted here.  Then we ate.  And ate.  And ate a little more.  Our appreciation was as deep as space itself.



Blaise said his friends asked him "What does Jane do while everyone trims the tree". "Jane cooks" he replied.

You didn't think they did this out of the kindness of their hearts did you?

And Sam Sifton where ever you are, Word.  Read it yourself if you think you're strong enough.