Matt Phillips provided the baking chops for the Clam bake. This Jalapeño-cheddar Corn Bread may have been my idea but the recipe was all his, and it was real damn good.

Procedure Jalapeño-cheddar Corn Bread

1. In a bowl, evenly mix flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil and eggs until evenly mixed.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined; do not overmix.
4. Add jalapenos and cheddar to cornbread mixture.
5. Spray a 9-by-13-inch cake pan with cooking spray or a standard muffin pan.
6. Place cornbread mixture in pan or fill muffin cups about half way. Distribute batter evenly.
7. Bake at 325 degrees for about 35 minutes. Halfway through, turn pan around and bake until the middle of the cornbread springs back.

This has 3 major elements to this recipe. All of them can be done at the same time with some good time management.

Process for braising pork shoulder

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and place the dutch oven onto the stove to begin warming it up.
2. Take the pork shoulder and cut it down into pieces about the size of a fist.
3. Prep the aromatics. These will not be served with the dish, therefore they don’t need to be cut in any fancy way. Cut about 3 celery stalks into large chunks, quarter 1 onion and cut about 10 serrano peppers into halves, leaving the seeds to add a kick.
4. Lightly coat the pot with olive oil and begin to sear all sides of the pork shoulder.
5. Once they are lightly browned, throw in your aromatics and a few bay leaves.
6. Pour in just enough broth to cover the contents of the pot and bring to a boil.
7. Cover and put in the oven for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
8. Once the pork is done braising, you can take it out of the liquid and use 2 forks to pull apart and shred the cooked meat.

This part was not done in the video, but is awesome, delicious and important! The braising liquid has tons of porky, spicy goodness in it. You don’t want to lose that.

9. After you have pulled the pork, strain the braising liquid into a small sauce pan.
10. Simmer the braising liquid over a low flame to reduce until the braising liquid is a thick sauce.
11. Add a bit of butter to mellow the flavors and salt to taste.
12. Pour this sauce over the pulled pork and mix it in.

Process for the Cherry Cola BBQ sauce

1. In a small sauce pan, slowly reduce a liter of cherry cola, gradually adding more to the pan as it cooks off. This is a long process, so there is plenty of time while the pork braises.
2. After you’ve reduced the cola, in a larger pan, saute and brown 1 roughly diced onion and a few garlic cloves.
3. Add some brown sugar to help caramelize, 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard, a good amount of paprika, a little chili powder and a whole lot of ketchup.
4. Mix in the reduced cola and allow to simmer.
5. Pour the sauce into a food processor to break down the large chunks in the sauce.
6. Taste and season to your liking.
7. The sauce can be mixed with the pork, or just dizzled on top.

Process for the cole slaw

1. Take 1 full head of cabbage and remove the outer shell. We used half red and half white. Cut in half, remove the core and thinly chop.
2. Place the chopped cabbage into a collinder and mix it with a lot of salt. This is to remove any extra moisture. Place collinder into a sink or a large bowl to catch excess liquid. Allow this to sit for about 1 hour.
3. Thoroughly rinse the salt off of the cabbage and allow it to drain or squeeze out as much of the water as possible.
4. In a medium sized bowl, combine 3-4 scoops of mayonnaise, with about equal parts buttermilk and just a little bit of pickle juice to add some tartness.
5. Toss the cabbage in the sauce and serve on the sandwich or as a side dish.

I’ve broken down the dish into the braising of the short ribs and the recipe for the potato parsnip puree to accompany it. The braising takes a few hours, so you will have tons of time to prepare the side item while you wait.

Process for braising short ribs

1. Preheat the oven to 300° and place the dutch oven onto the stove to begin warming it up so that you can sear the short ribs before the braising process begins.
2. Prep the aromatics. These will not be served with the dish, therefore they don’t need to be cut in any fancy way. Dice 1 onion. Peel and dice 2 parsnips. Peel and dice about 5 or 6 garlic cloves.
3. We used a concentrated tomato paste, so take about a tablespoon on the paste and pince it. To do so, add a little water and mix it, just to make it into the consistency of ketchup.
4. Salt and pepper the short ribs to help bring out their flavor.
5. Now that the pan is hot, lightly coat it with olive oil and begin to sear all the sides of the short ribs and then set them aside.
6. Once the short ribs have all been seared, in the same pot, lightly saute the aromatics.
7. Add the pinced tomato paste, the ENTIRE bottle of chianti and allow this to boil so that some of the alcohol cooks off.
8. Add the can of diced tomatos, then begin to add your short ribs to the pot.
9. Once you have all of the short ribs in, you want to add just enough beef broth to cover the top short ribs.
10. Add a few thyme sprigs and a bay leaf and bring everything to a boil.
11. Cover the pot and place it into the oven and allow it to cook for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. This allows the meat to get very tender and really moist.

This sauce was not done in the video, but is awesome, delicious and important!

12. When they are finished cooking, remove the ribs from the Dutch oven. Place them in another cooking vessel and put them in a 170° oven to keep them warm.
13. Strain the braising liquid into a small sauce pan.
14. Simmer the braising liquid over a low flame to reduce until the braising liquid is a thick sauce.
15. Add a bit of butter to mellow the flavors and salt to taste.
16. When you plate the ribs, brush the ribs with this sauce.

Process for the potato parsnip puree

1. Take equal parts potatoes and parsnips, peel them and cut them into about 1 inch cubes.
2. Boil both the potatoes and the parsnips until they become a mashable consistency. The parsnips are denser, so they will take a little longer to become soft.
3. Once they are cooked, you want to strain the potatoes and parsnips, then return them to the stove for a few minutes. This is to cook off any extra moisture.
4. Take the hand masher and begin to mash them together.
5. Add heavy cream to eye, to make them a little creamier than regular mashed potatoes.
6. Add an entire stick of butter and proceed to mash until it is a smooth consistency.
7. Salt to taste.

Try making the duck confit salad we made in our Duck Confit Salad episode.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Procedure for making duck legs confit

I’ve separated the duck legs confit out into their own process. It’s pretty involved but not terribly complex. Duck confit can be used in a lot of ways.  The best part is, if you make a ton of them at once they store for a really long time. In the refridgerator they’ll store for about 6 months.  In the freezer they’ll keep nearly indefinately.  Cook a ton of these bad boys and thank me later.

1. Rinse, dry then heavily salt and pepper the duck legs. This is curing. You’re pulling out some of the moisture from the meat. The less moisture there is the longer the confit will keep.
2. Refridgerate the cured legs for 24-48 hours.
3. Rinse the salt and pepper off the legs. You want to get as much salt and pepper off of the legs as possible. They have done their job and you want to put as little salt as you can into the fat for the cooking process.
4. Add the duck fat to a large dutch oven or a roasting pan.  You want enough to cover all the legs that you’ll add but not so much that the pan overflows when you add the legs.
5. Bring the fat up to 170°, Use your candy thermometer. Maintaining a steady temperature between 170° and 180° throughout the entire cooking process is important.
6. Add the duck legs to the fat. Make sure that all of the legs are completely covered with fat.
7. Bring the temperature back up.
8. This is the part where you wait. Just maintain that temperature.  The legs will cook for between 3 and 5 hours. You’ll know they are done when the joint between the leg and thigh is loose.
9. Let the legs and fat cool down so you can store them. Place your legs in a seal able container. I like to use sandwich sized containers so I can store each leg individually.
10. Cover the legs completely with the leftover fat. It’s important to make sure the entire leg is covered, this is the part that preserves the leg.
11. Put your legs in the fridge or the freezer and rejoice in culinary delight.

Procedure for the salad

1. Toss the walnuts with simple syrup.
2. Cut off the stems of the Turkish figs and chop them in half.
3. Roast the figs and walnuts on a baking sheet at 350° for about 15 minutes. The natural sugars on the figs should caramelize and the walnuts should smell very rich and nutty.
4. Add blackberries, chopped shallot and bay leaf to a sauce pan. Add enough water that the blackberries are almost covered. Place the saucepan on the stove and bring it up to a simmer. Let these go for about 30 minutes. You are breaking the berries down to separate the juice from the skins and seeds.
5. Use a potato masher to break down any berries that haven’t turned to mush already. Strain the berries through a fine mesh strainer reserving the juice.
6. Return the juice to the burner and reduce until its a thick syrup.
7. Pour the blackberry syrup into a bowl.  Add a bit of balsamic vinegar and champagne vinegar.  Whisk in olive oil until until you reach the consistency of a vinaigrette. Salt to taste.
8. Put your duck legs confit in a saute pan. Turn your broiler on high and broil the legs. Remember they have already been cooked and you are reheating and most importantly crisping that delicious skin.
9. Once the legs are ready, toss the greens with some vinaigrette. Plate the dressed greens, top it with the figs, walnuts and crumbled goat cheese. Serve it with a duck leg.