Tiff 1, Pig 0

So delicious, I had to share...home-made (not my home, but nevertheless) smoked & braised trotters. My parents have these friends...who do a lot of random things. 

For instance, they found a goat, who got knocked up by another goat, then had a baby goat. Six inbred goats later, neighbors called the county, who gave them one-month to be "goat free" - there were a few roast goat dinner parties in the following weeks. They're those people.

Last week, they brought a bag with 2 whole pig's feet. I'd say from about hoof to shin, and said they figured out a different "red cooked" (basically an amazingly aromatic braise) recipe for pig's feet. They smoked the whole trotters, which from their description came from several pigs...then braised them.

I wasn't sure what to think when my mom presented the whole foot on a plate to me, so I did what I do when I'm just not sure what to do: I ate it. ADVENTURE!

a challenge? I ACCEPT!

the aftermath

Pastry Sunday

Ever since Baking 1 of the enormous waste of money I call my culinary education, every 2 months or so, danishes are requested. More like demanded. I think of it as part of the rent I don't pay, so I happily spend one morning and one afternoon (yes, these are a two-day operation), making the house smell of butter and love. 

Each batch I make yields around 20 individual pastries, not including the "uglies" made from edge-scraps. As they've been shared and fought over, the Official Pastry Recipient List (OPRL) has grown. Depending on my direct relationship to potential recipients and their geographical proximity to my home, some people have claimed the OPRL is harder to get a place on than some organ transplant lists. 

All by way of saying, if you never get one, don't take it personally. So, until you get one in your grubby little paws, I've documented the process...ADVENTURE!

the dough...after kneading.

after proofing in the fridge

that would be the 1+ pounds of butter about to join the party

all the envelope folds later, here's the guy ready to go...back to the fridge!

ingredients for bear claw filling

bear claw filling, READY!

      

    ingredients for cream cheese filling

i've often thought of baking this cream cheese mixture in a tart shell...
perhaps another adventure?

this is what my dough looks like a day later...over-proofed, just the way i like it =)

cream cheese & cherries

a naked window

cream cheese & almond windows

bear claw...bears have 5 toes, right?

so close...but no cigar. poor mr big.