FoodGal said:
Since it was published four years ago in Gourmet magazine, I’ve
made this “Braised Pork with Orange and Fennel” at least annually, if
not twice or thrice a winter. It’s the one stew I can’t wait to make
once the weather turns the least bit chilly.
Moreover, it’s the stew that created a sensation when I wrote about
it a year or so ago in the San Jose Mercury News Food section. Readers
wrote to tell me how much they loved the flavors of orange zest, fresh
ginger, soy sauce, cinnamon, and anise seeds. A friend even recalled
that women friends at her gym were all gabbing non-stop about how
divine the dish was.
How could I not try this?
It really is a great dish, with great flavors. I love working with fresh fennel. The licorice flavor mostly cooks away so yes, you can use several big bulbs of it and not destroy the flavors. In fact, you even add some anise to the recipe to bring some more licoricey flavor to the pot. But worry not about this and the cinnamon: The flavors are in perfect harmony.
First, brown the meat in a heavy pan:
Then, as with most braises, it's easy: Toss everything in the pot, cover, place in the oven and go do something else.
I added a lot of root vegetables, as I usually do for a braise: Carrots, rutabaga, parsnips, onions, garlic:
I used ground cinnamon rather than a cinnamon stick (unlike most spices, the unground form of cinnamon is not as flavorful). I think I used 1/2 tsp.
Because I added all the root vegetables, next time I would double the spices.
For the anise seeds, rather than fuss with a cloth bag, I used a teaball. But usually, I will toast such spices in a pan and grind them in my spice grinder (an old coffee grinder). I want to try star anise next time because -- well, because I have some.
For the recipe, visit FoodGal's article.
On a personal note, we all of course wish Steve Jobs the best and hope his health improves. But this is about the professional issue of how a prominent leader affects the organization's health. Jobs' leave of absence places the future of the company in question. The real question is, how could their management not have prepared for this?
Having a strong, well-known CEO is a double-edged sword. The company benefits from his fame and his "reality distortion field," which makes the company and its products into celebrities. But he is mortal and Apple has never made visible any structure to take his place. When Bill Gates stepped aside, he did so wisely and the company's direction (such as it is) was never in question. Apple (and Jobs's ego) has never allowed that. Oracle and Larry Ellison is another example. Starbucks and Dell are recent examples of companies that faltered so badly when their well-known leaders took lesser roles, that in both cases the CEOs took it back a couple of years later.
The company I work for was led by a force of nature not unlike Jobs, but he clearly and publicly had a couple of very able lieutenants. When he retired suddenly for medical reasons, they were ready. They stepped in and the company continued its course. His succession plan was an act of maturity, wisdom, and humilty that are apparently lacking at Apple and Oracle.
I expect Apple's stock will be clobbered until such time as investors see evidence that the company can weather his absence and they see if product and marketing strategy will remain as focused without Jobs at the helm.
Investors and the company management should have been considering this all along.