Country-Style terrine, pg. 80

(all photos in this post were taken by the talented Jackie Baisa)

Way back in January of this year, a group of friends and I formed a cookbook club, the premise of which was simple: the host chooses an interesting cookbook, and we all select one dish to prepare and share at a monthly potluck. So far, we’ve cooked through Giorgio Locatelli, Mario Batali, David Waltuck (of the famed Chantrelle restaurant), Claudia Roden, and more. This month, it was my turn to host, and I added Fat, by Jennifer McLagan to the parthenon of great chefs we’ve previously highlighted.

there’s the birthday boy!

Part of the fun of this month’s gathering was that we were also planning a surprise birthday party for our friend, Marc. He didn’t know it, but we’d spent the month co-ordinating an event that would be befitting to celebrate such a kind and thoughtful friend.

duck fat biscuits with cracklings, pg. 141

Due to the number of guests–about 40 in all–we were at a loss as to where to host this surprise birthday. Luckily, photographers (and friends) Lara Ferroni and Clare Barboza generously loaned us their beautiful, sun-lit photography studio “Spare Room” so we could eat, drink, and laugh well into the night.

food photographer Lara Ferroni, who shares this studio with…

food photographer Clare Barboza (far right)–thanks ladies!

bacon baklava, pg. 119

Due to the festivities that night, not all the food we cooked got photographed. Apologies to Matt Wright, Marc Schermerhorn, and Jeanne Sauvage–I can’t seem to find photos of the delicious pork rillettes (pg. 79 in the cookbook), faggots in onion gravy (pg. 104) and salted butter tart (pg. 57).

(And yes, you read that correctly–there really is a dish called Faggots in Onion Gravy in this cookbook, along with a lengthy explanation of the origin of the word. Essentially, “faggot” comes from an old English term that means “bundle”. This recipe was a pork “bundle”–meatballs, wrapped in caul fat–covered in a savory onion sauce.)

Marc’s birthday gifts were all hilarious, vintage cookbooks

bacon and onion kugelhopf, pg.110 (spiced butters in background)

Scott (aka “Seattle Food Geek”)

it isn’t a party without libations!

look how happy Becky and I are to be eating (she’s the one in the cap)

bacon fat spice cookies, pg. 118

Matthew Amster-Burton (author of Hungry Monkey)

Marc’s better half, David

Yoshiko, Brian, and Joe

Kim and Jenise dig into the salad

Birthday banana cake with salted whiskey caramel (recipe here) and Spicy Buttered Popcorn (pg. 30)

I think I speak for all of us when I say we really enjoyed cooking out of Fat. It was my first time making a pork terrine, and I was surprised how easy it was. (Let me know if any of you are interested in the recipe, and I’ll post it later today.)