Pig in a Pumpkin – Trick and Treat

Okay, so we’re not using a whole pig, but we are using a whole pumpkin, which not only produced some very succulent, flavorful pork, but also made for an absolutely stunning presentation. This looked so good, that many people might think it was faked, which really is the ultimate compliment.

While this would work in any pumpkin, try to find ones sold as “sugar,” or “pie” pumpkins,” since they have a thicker, sweeter flesh, compared to the ornamental ones sold for jack-o'-lantering. I believe the variety I used was called “cannonball,” but simply look for round, heavy-feeling varieties about the size of a volleyball, displayed in the produce department, and not outside, or in front of the store.

As I said in the video, you can season this anyway you want, but regardless of what exactly goes in your gourd, make sure you roast it until the meat is tender. How long will depend on the size of course, so be sure to test the meat as it cooks. The only thing I’d do differently next time, would be to pour in a little more cider after a few hours in the oven, since a lot of it evaporated as it roasted, and I wanted more “sauce” when I was done.

After you remove the meat for service, ladle out all the braising liquid, and let it sit for a few minutes, so you can skim off most of the fat. Thanks to the little bit of flour on the pork, it should have a nice thickness, but you can always adjust that with some more roux. Or, simply make a sauce separately, and then just spike it with your drippings.

Also, if you wanted to add another step, you could use a blender to make a smoother sauce, but I’ll leave that up to you. Either way, if you’re looking for a fun, and very seasonably appropriate way to cook some pork shoulder, I couldn’t think of a better, or more beautiful way, which is why I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one Pig in a Pumpkin:

1 volleyball-sized cooking pumpkin

3 1/2 to 4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder

1 rounded tablespoon kosher salt (the pumpkin will absorb some of this)

2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds

1 tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary

1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots

- garlic and sage would have also been great here

2 tablespoons flour to coat pork

1 tablespoon olive oil for browning meat

at least 2 cups hard cider, or more if you can fit it in before or during cooking

- I roasted mine at 350 F. for about 4 hours

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Black Lentil Stew with Sausage & Kale – Dark Food for Dark Days

There’s nothing like a big, steaming bowl of comfort food to make everything seem all right, and this dark, but delightful black lentil stew with sausage and kale is no exception. Whether you’re battling a lack of sunlight, or troubles at work, or you’re a NY Giants fan, a dish like this can do wonders to brighten your mood. 

Sausage and lentils is a marriage made in heaven, and so good together, that not even kale can ruin it. I’m kidding, and actually love kale, but if you’re not the biggest fan in the world, maybe try it one more time in this. As long as you cook the greens until they get nice and tender, you’ll be surprised how sweet, and mild they become.

In case that’s asking too much, spinach, and/or other vegetables will also work here, as these types of recipes are a perfect catch-all for seasonal produce. You people with neighbors who grow zucchini should pay especially close attention to that last part. Regardless of what you add, or don’t, I really do hope you give this black lentil stew a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 large portions:

2 tablespoons butter

1 yellow onion, large dice

1 large carrot, cubed

1 rib celery, cubed

12 ounces smoked garlic sausage, or any kind of sausage (cook fresh sausage first, and then slice)

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups black lentils

6 cups chicken broth

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

2 bunches (about 12 ounces by weight) kale or other leafy dark greens, chopped, washed

1 large diced tomato, optional

sour cream and cayenne to garnish

Spicy Pork & Vegetable Tofu – Probably Not Mapo Tofu

This might look like I was trying to make a version of a famous Chinese dish called mapo tofu, but that's not the case, and in fact, I'm pretty sure I was making this before I knew what mapo tofu was. And now that I’ve addressed the people that were going to complain this isn’t authentic, we can continue.

I'm assuming that whatever I did get this idea from was most likely a version of mapo, but that's as far as it goes. Which reminds me, this is a great recipe to adapt to your own tastes, not only with the sauce ingredients, but also in regards to what vegetables you include.

Zucchini is our favorite, especially if you take the extra 15 minutes to salt it, but pretty much any dice-able seasonal vegetables will shine. So, please keep this one in mind as you browse the farmers market, but no matter what you put in, I really do hope you a give this delicious tofu dish a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 Portions:

1 1/4 pounds ground pork

1 pound firm tofu, cubed (my package was 14 ounces)

handful of sliced green onions

minced hot chili peppers, as much as you like

3 small zucchini, cubed, toss with 1 tablespoon kosher salt (rinse after 15 minutes)

freshly chopped cilantro to finish

sliced green onions for the top

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons Korean chili paste aka Gochujang, or other chili paste product to taste (click here to read a little more about Gochujang)

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao) – Sweet, Steamy Memories

In younger, leaner times, I’d often rely on the delicious, inexpensive calorie bomb that is the steamed barbecue pork bun. They were twice the size, and for a few bucks you could get very full…for about 30 minutes, and then you were starving again. Nothing a Mission-style burrito couldn’t fix.

Anyway, the filling was chopped Chinese-style barbecue pork mixed with some kind of mysterious, gelatinous red sauce, which was significantly sweeter than what I’m doing here. 

That’s probably why they don’t seem to come out quite the same as I remember. I probably need a lot more sugar, as well as copious amounts of MSG. Having said that, I was pretty pleased with my insides, but as usual I encourage you to freestyle. 

Here’s a link to a fairly classic pork bun filling recipe, in case you want something slightly more authentic, and since it looks just like the stuff I mentioned above, I might give it a try next time. But, regardless what you fill yours with, I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 12 Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao):

For the dough:

3/4 cups warm water

1 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoon white sugar

2 cups *self-rising flour

For the filling (this made more than I needed):

2 cups chopped Chinese-style barbecue pork, or other barbecued pork product

1/4 cup finely sliced green onions

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1/4 cup hoisin sauce, or as needed

salt (soy sauce) and cayenne to taste

2 teaspoons white sugar, optional

*If you don't have self-rising flour, you can use 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted with 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon fine table salt.

Homemade Italian Sausage – I Was the Uncle Bill of My Slow Casing Fill

The last time I remember making sausage was with my Uncle Billy many years ago, who was doing his famous dried Italian sausage for Christmas Eve. By the way, I said “making,” but for the record I actually meant mostly watching. Anyway, this fresh version is inspired by those, and while we loved how they came out, I’m kicking myself for not saving a few to dry. That’s how Uncle Bill did them, and they’d be fried after Midnight Mass, and served on bread with roasted red peppers. 

They were incredible, and one of my earliest and most vivid food memories. If you’re going to make your own sausage on a regular basis, you’ll want to get a little more professional sausage-making set-up than I suffered through here.

It did the job, but was slow, even after I figured out what was holding me up. You can also grind meat in a food processor, and there are plenty of videos out there showing how, but then you’ll have to get a sausage stuffer. Speaking of videos, I know I said I’d try to find a link to a more detailed demo using better equipment, but just head over to YouTube and watch literally any other sausage video. Besides, the actual recipe is the hard part.

For a little nicer flavor, you can toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan just until you begin to smell them. This goes for any other whole spices you may want to grind and toss in. Also, if you can manage not to eat them right away, I think letting them dry for a day or two really deepens the flavor, and firms up the texture as well. So, with a wink heavenward to Uncle Billy, I'll close by saying, I really do hope you give these homemade Italian sausages a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 8 to 10 Italian Sausages:

3 pounds pork shoulder

28 grams kosher salt (1 ounce)

4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons whole fennel seed, toasted

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon anise seed

2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon marjoram

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice berries

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 tablespoons cold water

Deviled Ham is Coming Back! Start Spreading the News

Deviled ham isn’t nearly as popular as it used to be, which even in its heyday, wasn’t very popular, and that’s a shame, since it’s such a delicious, and easy-to-make spread. By the way, its decline in popularity was a major factor in the collapse of America’s steamed ham industry. Just ask any Simpsons fan.

Besides providing a tasty treat, it’s always nice bringing something that no one else will. That means there’s no added stress wondering if your [insert popular dip or spread name here] is the best. I’m proud of my guacamole, but I don’t need it judged against three others. Besides, it's all politics.

I’d be happy to give you some additional tips here, but there aren’t any. Just be sure to taste and adjust for heat, and salt. The saltiness of different hams will vary greatly, so just because I didn’t need to add extra, doesn’t mean you won’t. And, like I said in the video, not only is this a great spread, but it also make a magnificent sandwich. Regardless of your delivery system, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 4 cups Deviled Ham:

1 1/2 pound smoked ham, cut into cubes

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup chopped celery, with some leaves included

1/2 cup shredded hot pepper cheddar, or other cheese, optional

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons hot sauce

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2/3 cup mayonnaise, plus more if needed

salt to taste

chives and pickled red peppers to garnish

New England Clam Chowder Dip – Because Great Soups Make Even Better Dips

Truth be told, this New England Clam Chowder Dip is actually the first soup I’ve ever turned into a dip, but I still stand by my title. After all, what are soups, if not really thin, hot dips you eat with a spoon? 

The point is, while this may be my first soup-to-dip conversion, it’s probably not going to be my last. I’m looking at you, Mulligatawny.

I thought I was inventing something new here, but of course, like everything else, many people had already given this a go. The funny thing was, every recipe I looked at called for this to be served with sliced bread, which I thought was odd. To me, potatoes are like the second or third best ingredient in a chowder, so why not serve this with chips?

Besides that, my other big improvement was to up the bacon content. Some recipes called for as little as two slices. Two slices of bacon? What am I supposed to do with that? So, I went with three times as much, and it turned out to be a very good decision. While quite “bacon forward,” the clam flavor still came through, and all in all, this really was very chowder-like.

The only semi out-of-the-ordinary ingredient used was a spice blend called, “Old Bay.” This is not very hard to find in the big grocery stores, but just in case, here is a link to make a your own. Besides, even if you have some in the pantry, it may have been there for quite sometime, and while Old Bay works well, old, Old Bay may not, so it might not be a bad idea to make a batch anyway.  Either way, I really do hope you give this a great hot dip a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one small casserole dish:

6 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/3 cup diced celery

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more if needed

1 pound cream cheese, room temp

4 ounces white cheddar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

2 cans (6 1/2 ounces) chopped clams, drained

2 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian parsley

pinch of cayenne for the top

potato chips to serve alongside

Sticky Garlic Pork Chops – What Do You Think, About Slightly Pink?

This sticky garlic pork chop recipe seems too good to be true. It only takes a few minutes of prep work, requires no tricky techniques, and doesn’t call for any hard-to-find ingredients.

And for the last time, Asian fish sauce is not hard to find. It used to be, but it’s now carried in every major grocery store, and I consider it a must-have in anyone’s kitchen.

Above and beyond the sauce, which is also our marinade, the other key to this recipe is finding some nice, thick, bone-in pork chops. While this will theoretically work with thin, boneless “chops,” we give ourselves much more room for error when it comes to achieving the perfect doneness.

Speaking of which, I shoot for about 140 to 145 F. internal temperature, which will produce a very juicy, tender piece of meat. Sure, you may see a subtle, pale pink hue, but it’s still perfectly safe to eat, and you’ll be amazed at how much nicer the texture is, especially after sitting in the brine-like marinade.

Of course, if you’re one of these people who always cooks pork well done, because your grandparents told you about the horrors of trichinosis when you were a kid, then fine. Go ahead and cook it all the way through, until it’s nice and dry, but you really are missing out. You’re still not convinced? Either way, I really do hope you give these sticky garlic pork chops a try soon. Enjoy!

For the marinade/sauce mixture (would probably be enough for 4 chops):

1/3 cup light brown sugar

6 to 8 cloves crushed or very finely minced garlic

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon ketchup

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

2 thick-cut pork chops, bone in (about 10 to 12-ounce each)

Tourtière – A Meaty Holiday Main Course That’s Easy as Pie

Many holiday main course recipes involve expensive ingredients, and/or time consuming, complicated techniques, not to mention the anxiety that comes along with worrying whether all that time and money will have been worth it. I’m looking at you, dry, overcooked beef wellington.

If you want to avoid all that, maybe consider making tourtière. This French-Canadian meat pie is hearty, satisfying, easy to make, visually impressive, relatively affordable, and since it’s best served at room temperature, doesn’t require any kind of precise timing.

You can also easily tailor this to your own tastes, since other than the ground meat and mashed potato, pretty much anything goes. Or, make it just like this. I’ve only had tourtière a handful of times, so I’m certainly no expert, but I thought this came out extremely well, and I wouldn’t change anything when I make it again.

Although, I may try it with some beef gravy, as a few of my Canadian friends have suggested. Some even suggest ketchup, which I did try on a cold slice, and not surprisingly it was delicious. But, no matter how you serve this tourtière, I really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one 9-inch Tourtière:

For the crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, sliced, frozen

7 tablespoons ice cold *water

2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar

*add a little more if dough isn’t pressing together

1 large russet potato, boiled in enough salted water to cover (reserve water)

1 tablespoon butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 cup potato water, plus more as needed

For the spice blend:

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 teaspoon  ground ginger

1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

pinch cayenne

For the egg wash:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon water

Please note: Once your filling has cooled, taste for salt, and adjust before filling the crust.

- Bake at 375 F. for 1 hour, or until browned

Pork Saltimbocca – Jumps in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands

You have to give it to the Italians when it comes to naming recipes, and this pork saltimbocca is a perfect example. By now, you’ve probably heard that “saltimbocca” means “jumps in the mouth,” which makes perfect sense if you’ve had it before.

Maybe we should start doing this to American recipes? For example, we could rename Buffalo Chicken Wings, “Order More Beer Bones.” Let me think that one through a little more, but the point is, I love the idea of trying to describe a food’s affect in its name.

If you don’t want to mess around making the fake pork stock with the chopped up trimmings, you can still use the gelatin trick, and simply dissolve a teaspoon into a cup of chicken broth, and reduce it by half. However, the browned scraps do add extra meatiness, and this way you won’t have to feel guilty about trimming off too much meat. By the way, if you’d made our demiglace, you could skip the gelatin and add a nugget of that.

Feel free to use the more classic veal loin for this recipe, but the pork tenderloin really works beautifully. It’s just as tender, and maybe even a bit more forgiving if slightly overcooked. Which reminds me, don’t overcook this. Slightly pink pork tenderloin is completely safe, not to mention juicy and delicious. So, whether you use pork, veal, or even a chicken breast for this, I really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:

1 to 1 1/4 pound pork tenderloin, seasoned generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

about 12 sage leaves

4 large thin slices prosciutto

flour for dusting

2/3 cup white wine, or Marsala wine for a little sweeter sauce.
- Be sure season the final sauce before serving.

For the stock:

1 tablespoon butter

chopped pork trimmings

1 cup homemade or low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup water, or as needed

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

- simmer until reduced by half

Bigos (Polish Hunter’s Stew) – Go Bigos or Go Home

I don’t often get requests for Polish food, but when I do, they’re usually for bigos. Which makes perfect sense, since this meaty stew is one of the most delicious dishes you’ll ever taste. It’s also low-carb, highly nutritious, and very simple to make, as long as you don’t consider having to wait a day to eat it, “complicated.”

While you can eat this as soon as it’s made, and I bet most of you do, it’s much better the next day, as all the flavors have time to properly meld together. You can also really customize this to your personal tastes by changing up which meats you use.

Traditionally, this is made with wild game, such as venison, boar, and other shootable animals, but is perfectly acceptable, if not amazing, using easier to find domestic livestock. Regardless of which meats you include, be sure to use a lot of them, as I think this stew should be at least 50% meat.

Since you can, and should make this ahead of time, it’s perfect for feeding large groups, especially when the weather turns cold and dreary. But, no matter what it’s doing outside, I hope you give this a try, and have a pot simmering inside soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 portions:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 packed cups drained sauerkraut

1 small head green cabbage, quartered and sliced (2 pound head before trimming)

4 strips bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces

1 lb pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 lb beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 lb polish sausage links, sliced (or any other sausage)

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

3 pitted prunes, diced

1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked until soft and chopped

1 cup dry red wine

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 large bay leaf

freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Zombie Meatloaf – Better Than Brains

After seeing various versions of this Halloween-themed, zombie meatloaf on social media over the years, I decided it was time to post my very own. I’ve seen many approaches to this; such as covered in “blood,” or mummified in strips of pastry, but the ones wrapped in bacon always looked the most realistic, and the most appetizing.

Ironically, “appetizing” is the last thing you want this to look like, but if we’re going to do some kind of gimmicky, holiday recipe, it might as well taste great, and this most certainly did. It’s been a while since I posted a meatloaf recipe, and I was very happy with how this one came out. You can use a food processor make chopping the mushrooms a bit easier, but don’t leave them out. They add a lot of flavor, as well as help keep the meat moist, and tender. 

By the way, if you're trapped in one of these households where certain people don’t eat mushrooms, add them anyway, since they’ll never be able to tell they’re in there. Then, next week, after they’ve eaten this, and loved it, you can come clean. Trick or treat, indeed.

Having said that, this zombification will work with any of your favorite meatloaf recipes, and you won’t be hurting my feelings. Much. Regardless of what you use, I really hope you give this fun-to-make, even funner-to-eat, zombie meatloaf a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 8 large portions:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup diced celery

1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion

8 ounces brown mushrooms, chopped fine

3 cloves minced garlic

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 pounds ground beef

3 teaspoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons milk or buttermilk

1 large beaten egg

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs

1 pound strip bacon for  zombie “facial muscles”

1 onion for eyes and teeth

- Bake at 325 F. for about 1 hour, or to an internal temp of 155 F.

- I went for a realistic muscular look, but if you’d rather have something that looks like crispy bacon, go ahead and put foil over the eyes and teeth, and pop this under a hot broiler, until it looks just right.

- Serve with “blood sauce,” which is made with equal parts SFQ bbq sauce and ketchup, spiked with hot sauce.

Potstickers – For When You Can’t Decide Between Fried and Steamed Dumplings

Potstickers (or Pot Stickers, depending on which style guide you’re using) are very fast and easy to make, unless you only do them once or twice a year, in which case they’re going to take a little bit of time to fold and shape. 

Just for fun, find a video that shows professionals doing these, and marvel at how they come together in seconds. That's what happens when you do hundreds each day, for years.

Having said that, every second spent producing these, is a second well spent. The play between the crispy, crusty bottom, and the tender parts, makes for a truly unique dumpling. They’re also very versatile, since you can fill them with anything you want. No matter what you use, you’ll know exactly what you’re biting into, which is not always the case when you get these out.

Don’t get me wrong; I love the occasional take-out binge, and its associated mysteries. But, it’s nice being able to control the contents, as well as the generosity of the filling. There is nothing worse than biting into one of these, and realizing it’s only half-full. So, for all those reasons, and more, I really hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

One production note: While I’ve made these many times, I’ve never actually measured the ingredients before, so I ended up with extra filling. So, I’ve increased the dough amounts from what I used in the video. Instead of getting 24 wrappers, you should get more like 32 (cutting each quarter dough into 8, instead of 6 portions), which should be a better match. Of course this depends on exactly how much you fill, but it should be close.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 pound ground pork

4 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

3 tablespoons very finely minced ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

pinch cayenne

1 1/2 cups finely chopped green cabbage

For the dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup hot water (about 130-150 F.)

For the dipping sauce:

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

Optional: You can spike dipping sauce with things like hot sauce, garlic, minced green onions, ginger, etc.

Cider Braised Pork Shoulder – And by “Braised,” We Probably Mean Stewed

If you watched our recent spaetzle video, you saw me serve up a nice hunk of cider braised pork shoulder, during which I wondered out loud if we’d done that video yet. Turns out that we hadn’t, so as promised, here you go.

As the title may indicate, this isn’t technically a braised dish, since the meat is pretty much covered with cooking liquid, but whenever I have to choose between alliteration, and accuracy, I predominantly pick the former.

I kept things very simple here, so feel free to add extras like carrots, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and other fall veggies, if you like. There’s really no way to screw up a dish like this. Unless, of course, you stop cooking it before it’s done. I’ll never understand recipe reviewers complaining that the meat in a dish like this, never got tender.

Tough meat always gets tender, if you cook it long enough. Always. The problem is, people go by the times given, which may or may not be long enough. No matter what a recipe says, always continue cooking until it’s fork tender, and can be easily broken apart.  So, with that in mind, whether you’re topping spaetzle or not, I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for four portions:

3 to 3 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut in 3 to 4-inch chunks

Enough Kosher salt to season pork generously

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or rendered pork fat

1 large onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup freshly torn sage leaves

1 bottle (750 mil) hard cider, or regular cider, or apple juice

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup crème fraiche, or heavy cream

pinch cayenne

crème fraiche and chives to garnish