OK, it's down to the wire, and I think I've figured out the menu for the Mover Dinner I'm putting on tomorrow. Mover Dinner? A thank you to all the folks that helped us move. When I'm short on cash, I pay in food!

First Course: Laksa a la Boris

I spent Monday making pork stock. This is going to be the basis for a Laksa-inspired soup - I'll add coconut milk, bean sprouts, noodles and likely some chicken. Fresh green onions and coriander will round it out.

Second Course: Spinach salad with Guanciale

I've talked about the beauty of guanciale before - I'll crisp up some cubes of it with garlic and make a honey / mustard dressing to go over spinach leaves and some tomatoes.

Third Course: Pita Wraps with Chicken

I'll marinate / grill the chicken in pieces, as well as have some roasted peppers, sautéed onions, a tomatillo-based salsa (maybe sort of like this one?), some fresh tzatsiki, and other fixings for people to make their own wraps.

Dessert Course

Some sort of white vanilla cake served with the strawberries & rhubarb that we got last weekend.

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More on the magic of guanciale in the previous post.

Now that the Olympics are over, Oyama again has guanciale. I picked some up to cook while on Bowen.

The "traditional" recipes for guanciale are all pasta dishes (Bucatini alla Amatriciana, Spaghetti alla Gricia, Spaghetti alla Carbonara - here are recipes for all three plus instructions on how to cure your own guanciale).

Here are some non-traditional recipes I found online:

• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Ponzu Fried Garlic, Guanciale, and Bonito Flakes - I have my own bacon + mustard recipe for brussels sprouts, so I know this would be yummy
• Whole-wheat pasta with cabbage, mushrooms, and caraway seeds - I'm not a fan of caraway seeds, but I can see how the whole wheat pasta would mesh with the smokiness of the pork
• Tiny potato dumplings with Tomato Onion Guanciale sauce - pretty similar to the pasta sauces, but done with potato dumplings aka gnochetti instead. Mashed potatoes with caramelized onions and guanciale would also be stellar, I think …
• Seattle Shellfish Stew with Kale and Guanciale - there are a variety of recipes that mix mussels with guanciale. Lots of bacon + mussel recipes out there, so this makes sense. The kale has a bitterness to it that goes with the smokiness, which is what I'm hoping for with my recipe.
• Sautéed Ramps in Guanciale - I've never had ramps, which are a sort of scallion/leek/onion/garlic - but are apparently wild leeks

My recipe? I'm doing pasta with a bunch of Red Boar Kale.

Spaghetti With Guanciale and Kale