Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential

Vegetarian-hater, foul-mouthed, pothead, sarcastic, raconteur extraordinaire--Anthony Bourdain is everything I'm not, and I should hate him for calling vegetarians "the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food" (which, by the way, includes eating unwashed warthog rectum). But I've enjoyed his Travel Channel show because I love to travel vicariously and I am entertained by/envy his globe-trotting adventures. I was actually unaware of his controversial bad-boy-chef reputation until I read "Kitchen Confidential", a hilarious Rabelasian read about his drugging days in rat-infested New York kitchens. He's sure to have made many enemies with his tell-all-and-spare-no-one style of defamatory writing and seems to have left a wreckage of closed restaurants behind him (including Les Halles, which was closed down by the health department). Yet he's charming and he's a remarkably talented writer. I just would never eat anything that came out of his kitchen. In "Kitchen Confidential", he talks about his fingernails: "My nails, such as they are--I gnaw them in the taxi home from work--are filthy; there's dried animal blood under the cuticles, and crushed black pepper, beef fat and sea salt...My fingertips are stained with beet juice (hot borscht as soup du jour yesterday), and if I hold my fingers to my nose, I can still smell smoke salmon, chopped shallots and a hint of Morbier rind." Really--he's never heard of a nail brush and copious amounts of soap and hot water? The rats were so bad at one place he worked: "The place was owned by a very aggressive rat population, fattened up and emboldened by the easily obtained stacks of avocados left to ripen outside the walk-in each night. They ran over our feet in the kitchen, hopped out of the garbage when you approached and, worst of all, stashed their leavings in the walls and ceilings. Every once in a while, the soggy, acoustic tile ceilings would crumble, and moist avalanches of avocado pits, chewed chicken bones and half-eaten potatoes would come tumbling out on our heads." But, he was the chef! He was culpable in preparing food in that type of environment. Yet, I still plan on reading his other books to revel in his descriptive prose. If I refused to read every author's whose opinion differed from mine, or whose private life was unsavory, I'd have a minuscule reading list. One doesn't need to live or work like Anthony Bourdain or Hunter Thompson to appreciate their writing!

Adapted from Urban Tavern in San Francisco by LA Times' writer Noelle Carter.
URBAN TAVERN'S SPICE-BRAISED PORK RIBS:
Total preparation time: 4 1/2 hours, plus overnight refrigeration and cooling times

Servings: 6 to 8
SPICE RUB:
1/2 cup fennel seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
2 tablespoons ginger powder
2 tablespoons ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1. In a medium sauté pan heated over medium heat, toast the fennel and coriander seeds until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
2. Grind the fennel and coriander seeds to a fine powder using a spice mill or coffee grinder, then combine with the ginger, nutmeg, paprika, salt, black pepper and cayenne powder to form a rub.
3. This makes a generous 1 cup rub, and you may not use all of it for the final recipe. Store the rub in an airtight jar or sealable plastic bag in a cool, dark place up to 4 to 6 weeks.

BRAISED PORK RIBS:
2 racks pork ribs, preferably St. Louis-style, silverskin removed
Spice rub (from above)
1 cup apple cider
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups diced apples, about 2 apples
2 1/4 cups diced onion, about 1 onion,
Scant 1 cup diced carrots, about 2 carrots
1 1/2 cups diced celery hearts, from about 1 bunch
1. Coat the rib racks generously on each side with the spice rub. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight to season.
2. The next day, in a large saucepan, bring the cider, chicken and beef broths and bay leaves to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat the oven to the broiler setting. Place the rib racks on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Broil the racks until browned on each side, about 2 to 4 minutes per side, depending on the heat of the broiler.
4. Reduce the oven heat to 300 degrees. In a large roasting pan, combine the diced apples, onion, carrots and celery heart, and place the seared ribs on top (pour any drippings from the rimmed baking sheet over the ribs). Pour over the hot broth.
5. Cover the pan tightly, first with parchment paper, then with a layer of foil, creating as tight a seal as possible. Place the covered pan in the oven and braise the ribs for 3 hours.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the ribs completely. Skim the fat from the pan and set the ribs aside. Strain the braising liquid (we had about 1 quart) into a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the sauce by half.
7. To reheat the ribs, place the ribs in a roasting pan and pour the sauce over. Place the ribs in a 325-degree oven and heat until the ribs are warmed through before serving.

Pair this recipe with the 2005 Corley Proprietary Red.