This Sunday, South on Main will host Bacon & Brine X South on Main: Chef Pink and Local Cuisine as part of the Kaleidoscope LGBT Film Festival. The event will include a screening of Hungry, a documentary about women in the restaurant industry and also a farm-to-table dinner prepared by South on Main chef Matthew Bell and Bacon & Brine's chef Pink (Crystal DeLongpre). For more information about the event or to buy tickets, visit kaleidoscopefilmfestival.com.
DeLongpre, with her wife, Courtney Rae, own Bacon & Brine, a "hyper-local" restaurant in Solvang, Calif. The restaurant's menu, as you might have guessed, includes a variety of smoked meats, pickles and other ferments made from produce and animals sourced from Santa Ynez Valley farmers and ranchers.
If you can't make it to the dinner Sunday or to the restaurant in California, but would like to sample one of Bacon & Brine's specialties, DeLongpre and Rae shared this pickled watermelon rind recipe.
Vietnamese Pickled Watermelon Rind
2 cups rice-wine vinegar
2 cups water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup coriander seeds
Juice and zest of 1/8 lime
10 whole cloves
4 whole star anise
4 cups watermelon rind
In a large saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, coriander, lime juice, zest, cloves and star anise. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar melts. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Pour mixture over watermelon rind, making sure to submerge the rind completely. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Will keep, refrigerated, for about 1 month.
Makes 4 cups.
Food on 08/09/2017