In the Kitchen - with Brian Rood - Tomme Restaurant

S  I  G  N  A   T   U   R   E      D   I   S   H   E  S

Photos by C. Whitney-Ward

Brian Rood, Executive Chef at Tomme, a wonderful downtown bistro, invited me into his kitchen to see how he made  - MORCILLA  or  Blood Sausage - a signature dish on the Tomme menu that his grandmother taught him to make. According to Brian, there are lots of variations and recipes for this ancient dish  - which dates from the first century A.D.. - but he likes to keep it simple - pork shoulder, Spanish sweet paprika, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and a bit of ground oats for  a binder.

The seasoned meat is freshly ground in a commercial Cuisinart and then mixed with pork blood - hence the name.

Brian has to special order the casings - not something readily available in Santa Fe - and when the pork mixture is ready, he feeds it through the Cuisinart and the casings balloon  and are twisted and looped into links. Looks easy, but I think it takes a bit of practice and a master hand to pull it off.

The sausages are then poached and chilled.  When an order comes up,  they are   quickly seared with rosemary...

A wedge of bread is cooked in garlic and thyme...

an egg cooked sunny-side up...

Plated with some cannelloni bean puree and a bit of greens, the finished dish  is worthy of the ancient Greek poet Homer,  who penned a few passages in the Odyssey about roasting blood sausage over a roaring fire.

 Thanks Brian and kitchen mates - Lisa Graff and Gabe Archuletta. I'm amazed that something as simple as sausage and eggs can take hours to make from scratch and 3 skillets to pull it off!

T O M M E

 (pronounced TUM)

229 Galisteo St. - Santa Fe, NM

      (505) 825-2253     

Classical Gas Museum -

G A S  .  A R T  .  H I S T O R Y

Three disparate words offering a unique cultural moment if you take the time

to stop at Johnnie Meier's CLASSICAL GAS  MUSEUM along highway 68

in Embudo, New Mexico. I've passed this colorful roadside wonder a million

 times on my way to and from Taos, but never stopped.

Photos by C. Whitney-Ward

 But, the other day I did. And, what a hoot. Johnnie was there, all smiles and quiet pride in his collection of vintage gas pumps, signs, oil cans, and other amazing stuff that graces the front, sides and back of his 1,000 sq. ft. building that houses even more wonderful stuff.

Johnnie clearly sees art where others see old, rusted gas pumps and by-gone cans of oil. He's enamored with their sculptural beauty, graphic design and explosive colors and he invites one and all to stop and enjoy his ever-growing collection. He began collecting more than 20 years ago and will 'introduce' you to his pumps as if they are old friends...

And taking pride of place is a an amazing vintage diner that Johnnie is refurbishing. He thinks it would make a dandy ice cream parlor....I'd love to live in it!

C L A S S I C A L   G A S   M U S E U M

Hway 68  Embudo, New Mexico

505.852.2995

johnniev@roadsideculture.com

And just down the road is  S U G A R S, a tin-sided trailer that has the best take-out BBQ you're likely to find anywhere. Written up in Gourmet Magazine.

A must!