This week on the Hog Blog we have Chef Lance Fegen, Culinary Director of F.E.E.D. TX Restaurant Group in Houston, Texas, joining us with a multi-Cheshire Pork recipe for his Pepper Pot Stew Cartagena Del Cowboy Surfer that uses Cheshire Pork’s bacon, pork shoulder, and spare ribs. Talk about a #porktastic recipe!

Chef Lance is an avid surfer who travels the world to search for something very personal, very spiritual to him, that perfect mixture of immersing himself in an often unique or isolated culture, their cuisine, to find the structure and purpose of their food and cooking methods and of course surfing alongside the local men, woman and kids. Culinary Director Lance Fegen is an adventurer on many levels. Surfing is considered a very individual and often times lonely sport. Lance’s approach to food offered at the Liberty Kitchen Restaurants comes from the influences and experiences of his solo travels and his absolute personal requirement that he represent these cultural gifts flawlessly on the menus.

Lance’s approach is full-throttle in every aspect – from his surfing to his contributions to the F.E.E.D. TX partnership. This includes menu crafting, teaching and mentoring the crews and public relations. The goal is to excite and educate restaurant patrons and to provide them the perfect mixture of true value, creativity and ultimate execution. Lance has garnered numerous culinary awards in his 20+ years as a Restaurateur. His menus reference his passion as a surfer and are inspired by the natural life styles of the coastal regions he loves. As he has grown through the years he has become more in touch with who he is as a chef, his cooking craft values have changed, as well as his social values and personal lifestyle. He is bringing a cleaner, lighter hand to the dishes in all of the kitchens. Now, it’s all about fresh, it’s about clean and simple ingredients, but as always with his own particular creative style, sense of humor, authentic delivery and ability to not take himself or his food too seriously.

Fegen is a graduate of the renowned Culinary Institute of America. He served as the Executive Sous-Chef of The Houstonian Hotel, opened and owned Zula restaurant in downtown Houston and went on to open and own the popular Glass Wall – The Restaurant in 2005, located in the Historic Houston Heights.

We thrilled to have him featured on our blog so let’s find out more about his impressive recipe!

PEPPER POT STEW CARTAGENA DEL COWBOY SURFER

Ingredients:

4 Slices Bacon, in 1/2" lardons

3/4 Cups Yellow Onion, medium dice

3/4 Cup Carrot, medium dice

3/4 Cup Celery, medium dice

2 Red Bell Peppers, medium dice

4 Garlic Cloves, smashed

2 Pounds Pork Shoulder, diced 2"x2" chunks

2 Pounds Pork Spare RIbs, cut into 3" lengths at Buthers

1 Pound Honeycomb Tripe, washed, given a 15 minute simmer, and washed again

2 Jalapeños, diced with the seeds

2 Cups Sweet Potato or Yucca Root, medium dice

1 Quart Pork or Chicken Broth or Beef Broth

1 Colombian or Central American Beer

2 Bay Leaves

2 Teaspoons Thyme, dried

2 Teaspoons Oregano, dried

3 Clove Studs

1 Cup Parsley, chopped

To taste Sea Salt

To taste Pepper

INGREDIENTS – FOR THE GARNISH PLATTER(S)

1 Cup Red Onion, julienne thinly

1/2 Cup Jalapeño, thinly sliced with seeds

3 Limes, cut in half

1 Cup Radish, sliced 1/4"

2 Avocados, diced

3/4 Cup Cilantro, roughly chopped

2 Cups Plantain Chips or Patacones

PREPARATION

1. Render bacon over medium heat in a large stock pot unit just about to crisp.

1. Add the onion, carrot, celery peppers, and garlic. Sweat slowly for 15 minutes.

1. Add the diced pork shoulder, ribs, tripe, jalapeño, yucca or potato, broth, beer, herbs and spices (except parsley)

1. Simmer for about 1.5 hours but never let the broth boil rapidly. A slow steady simmer is the proper speed.

1. Check seasoning towards the end. You can adjust and even add an extra beer if you’d like. When the shoulder and the ribs are tender, the soup is ready.

1. Serve hot with big bowls and the platter of the cold garnishes so your guests can

interact with the soup by adding things they want.

It’s a great weekend lunch soup! Enjoy.

About F.E.E.D. Texas Restaurant Group:

F.E.E.D. TX Restaurant Group is the parent company of three Liberty Kitchen locations throughout Houston:

• Liberty Kitchen & Oyster Bar at 1050 Studewood in the Houston Heights (opened in 2010)
• Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette at 4224 San Felipe Street in River Oaks (opened in 2013)
• Liberty Kitchen at The Treehouse at 963 Bunker Hill Road in Memorial City (opened in 2016)

The restaurants specialize in seafood fare and modern comfort food and offer matching lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus. Chef Lance Fegen, a surfer, traveler and 20-year veteran in the Houston hospitality industry, serves as the culinary director for the restaurant group. Décor and ambiance at each restaurant are tailored to the neighborhood by creative and development director Carl Eaves.

Prior to opening Liberty Kitchen, the restaurant group owned BRC Gastropub, a celebrated casual eatery that offered a wide selection of beer and comforting American favorites. BRC closed in 2016, but its sprit lives on through a throw-back menu item at Liberty Kitchen, along with the 1.5-ton BRC that looks over Liberty Kitchen & Oyster Bar.

All photos courtesy of: Lance Fegen