I know, I know its summer….but…

When I woke up yesterday to move the car for alternate side parking, I decided to go get a much needed haircut.  After the haircut I visited my favorite store: The Natural and roamed the aisles trying to plan dinner.  It was cooler that morning than it had been and at the butcher counter the boneless pork loin roasts were calling my name.  Logic said that it wasn’t going to be 90º today so it might not be a bad day to roast some meat and have the leftovers for a few meals.  Along with my new best friend, the tied boneless pork loin, I grabbed some sweet potatoes and some broccoli crowns and shallots.  No exact plan in mind, but I figured it would come together at home utilizing pantry items.

Once home, I was still less than inspired, so I turned to Mastercook, the recipe storage program I use for my business and searched for Roast Loin of Pork.  I got a gazillion recipes for everything pork and roasted.  Narrowed the search and it was a much more manageable list.

Read several interesting recipes and eliminated them as most would require a return trip to the store to procure at least one missing major ingredient.  Then I stumbled on one from The Too Hot Tamales,  AKA Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken from the Food Network TV show of the same name.  The recipe is from 1997 and is below for your perusal.  It requires the pork to be marinated for 8 hours or overnight.  So I instantly scrap the plan for that nights dinner and go "freezer-diving" for some scraps and ended up with 5 Sea Scallops and 1 boneless chicken breast.  I broiled these with lemon butter shallots and a healthy sprinkle of Hungarian Paprika.  Found a small amount of tri-colored Israeli Couscous and made Succotash with Yellow & Shoepeg Corn, Edamame, Onion, Red Pepper, Dill and fresh tomatoes, not a bad slap-dash meal.

So for the Pork I prepped the marinade while cooking dinner. Here’s my twists on the recipe:

*I’m not a big fan of reserving marinades that meat has spent some time in to use for a sauce.  Sometimes I’ll make extra marinade and put it aside before adding the meat to the balance.  Other times I figure out a sauce later.

*The only beer in the house was some old Pumpkin Ale I had purchased to make Pumpkin Chili with and to enjoy while eating that Pumpkin Chili.  So it was anything but new, but I figured since it’s a marinade and possibly a sauce it’ll be cooked enough to not worry about its flatness!
 
*I had a jar of basic organic Dijon Mustard, next time I’ll use something a bit more exciting, even if its only country style.

*I browned the roast in my cast iron frying pan and transferred it to my 12” All Clad skillet for roasting in the oven and I added some water during the cooking time to keep the pan drippings from burning.

* When it was done I pulled the meat out to a sheet pan covered it with a foil tent and put the All Clad Skillet on the stove.  Heated it up and added chopped Shallots. Then I added 1 tablespoon of Mustard, a pinch of Herbes de Provence and reduced the liquid to a nice sauce, which I mounted with butter to finish.  After the usual 10 minute wait I sliced the roast and napped the slices with the sauce making sure that we had a substantial amount of the shallots.
 
*We enjoyed it with Roasted Broccoli with Garlic and Dried Chili Flakes and Lemon and Simple Baked Sweet Potatoes.  Delish!
                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                    Roasted Pork Loin With Beer Sauce

Recipe By     :Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken
Serving Size  : 6     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Main Dish                       Pork
  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  2        tablespoons  Butter
  1              large  Red onion -- thinly sliced
  2                     Garlic cloves -- minced
  1           teaspoon  Ground cumin
     1/2      teaspoon  Ground cinnamon
     1/4      teaspoon  Ground allspice
  2            bottles  Beer - (12 oz ea), not dark
     1/2           cup  Dijon mustard
     1/4           cup  Honey
  3 1/2         pounds  Boneless pork loin, tied
  2        tablespoons  Vegetable oil
                        Salt -- to taste
                        Freshly-ground black pepper -- to taste
  1         tablespoon  Butter -- room temperature
  1         tablespoon  All-purpose flour
   Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté until tender and golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Add garlic, cumin, cinnamon and allspice and stir 1 minute.  Add beer, mustard and honey and bring to boil (sauce will foam).  Remove from heat.  Puree in batches in blender until smooth.  Cool to room temperature.  Pour into baking dish.  Add pork loin; turn to coat.  Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   Remove pork from marinade; pat dry.  Reserve marinade.  Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat.  Season pork with salt and pepper.  Add to skillet and brown on all sides.  Transfer to baking sheet with rim.  Roast in oven for 3/4 to 1 hour or until thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 155 degrees.  Transfer pork to work surface; reserve any pan juices.
   Combine pan juices and marinade in saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to simmer.  Mix butter and flour in small bowl until smooth paste forms.  Add to sauce and simmer until sauce thickens.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cut pork into slices.  Pour sauce over.
   This recipe yields 6 servings.
   Recipe Source:
TOO HOT TAMALES  with Susan Feigner and Mary Sue Milliken
From the TV FOOD NETWORK - (Show # TH-1E07 broadcast 10-27-1997)
Downloaded from their Web-Site  -  http://www.foodtv.com
  Formatted for MasterCook by Joe Comiskey, aka MR MAD  -  jpmd44a@prodigy.com   -or-   MAD-SQUAD@prodigy.net
     10-27-1997
                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Enjoy, we sure did!!

Corn finally cooked!

Finally, got around to cooking the corn we bought at the farm over the weekend! I wasn't feeling like corn before today and kept wavering back and forth as to what I wanted to do with it.  This morning Mark Bittman was on the Today Show with fresh corn recipes which you can find here. They include Corn Salsa; Guacamole with Corn; Cornbread; Corn and White Bean Salad and Corn Chowder!  That's it, I want Corn Chowder.  He took the corn cobs and boiled them in water for broth and cooked other ingredients adding the broth and half and half. 

Chicken Corn Chowder is another childhood memory of a visit to a Lancaster, Pennsylvania summer fair where the volunteer fire department served the best soup I'd ever had at that point in my young life!  It was Chicken Corn Chowder, my Mother's Uncle was instrumental in making sure we got a good serving.  I've followed bunches of recipes over the years and while nothing was ever inedible nothing was star quality.  Even ones from "authentic" Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks!

Tonight that is all changed.  Yes, I have learned a thing or two over the years about cooking, proper seasoning, how to combine flavors etc.  But, also, I have learned that trying to duplicate taste memories is folly for the most part!  So I've begun focusing on making a good quality, fresh tasting, well seasoned version of whatever I'm creating.  So I read another recipe of Mark Bittman's for Corn Chowder, from August 2008, and went to the kitchen.

Here's what I did:  I stripped the corn from the cobs and put the cobs in 4 cups of water and simmered them with some salt for 20 minutes.  Sauteed a diced yellow onion and 2 diced white potatoes with salt and pepper.  Added the corn kernels and sauteed a bit, added a pinch of sugar and a tablespoon of flour.  Strained the corn broth and added to the pot, stirring to fully mix. Simmered this for awhile to thicken a little. I might suggest a little more flour for a thicker soup, if that is your preference. I added 1 1/2 cups half and half and heated through, did not let it boil. Tasted and adjusted the seasoning, adding salt and white pepper.  Meanwhile I poached two boneless skinless chicken breasts simply in chicken broth with salt, pepper, sprigs of parsley and rosemary. 

For serving I pulled the chicken out of the broth cut into 1 inch cubes and placed in soup bowls, ladled the corn chowder over the chicken and garnished with chopped scallion and chopped roasted red pepper.  The tasty result can be seen here:

It was very good, and made a wonderful meal with a sliced heirloom tomato with Russian Dressing and garlic bread!  Can't beat summer farm fresh ingredients!

Road Trip: Farmstands in Old Brookville, NY

We drove out to Old Brookville on Long Island's "Gold Coast" on Saturday to visit two farms that we love.  Purchased lots of goodies.  The first one is Rottkamps on McCouns Lane see here: 


 
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Here we bought wonderful Tomatoes, yellow, green and red heirlooms; three colors of Eggplant: lavender, white and graffiti;. Yellow and Green Zucchini; Pale Yellow Hungarian Bell Peppers; Corn; Basil and Yellow Melon; Peaches and Nectarines.

Next we went to Young's Farm on Hegeman's Lane here: 



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At Young's we bought Blueberries, Blackberries and Red Onions in the produce section and in the Annex we got a delicious Dark Cherry Pie, Tangerine Shortbread Cookies and a jar of Tart Cherry Jam.

On Sunday I got busy cooking these wonderful finds.  First I made a gratin inspired by Claire Robinson on the Food Network show: 5 Ingredient Fix. Her recipe was with Green Tomatoes & Caramelized Onions with a Breadcrumb & Bacon Topping that you can find here.

In my version I cooked two strips of Bacon, removed them for later, caramelized a sliced Red Onion in the Bacon Fat and drizzled them with Balsamic Vinegar.  Placed them in the bottom of a glass deep-dish pie pan and layered thinly sliced Green and Yellow Zucchini on top.

Then I sprinkled with Dried Oregano, Olive Oil, Kosher Salt and shredded Parmesan Cheese. 

Next I sliced the Green Tomatoes and seasoned them with Kosher Salt, Dried Basil, Olive Oil and placed them atop the squash layer.

I toasted Bread Crumbs with a chopped Garlic Clove in the remaining little bit of Bacon Fat and added the crumbled bacon.

I placed this on top of the tomatoes and put it into the oven for 40 minutes and then topped with shredded Parmesan Cheese and baked for another 5 minutes.  The aromas were incredible! 



While cleaning up I went to pour the remaining bread crumb mixture into a ziploc bag for storage and had a slight mishap as  you can see here:

My beautiful breadcrumbs literally down the drain!

This was dinner along with a salad of Roasted Yellow Beets, Crumbled Goat Cheese, toasted Marcona Almonds and Arugula. My vinaigrette was Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar, dry mustard, chopped shallot, sugar, olive oil.  It was very tasty and good pairing with the cheese and Arugula.  Found some frozen Sun-dried Tomato Foccacia in the freezer and heated it up and served it with a dollop of basil pesto sans Parmesan!  Another highly flavorful summery meal! 

                 

I also made roasted vegetables using the Lavender and Graffiti Eggplants, Green & Yellow Zucchini, the Yellow Pepper, Red Onion, and Garlic.  Will use these as side dishes and on top of grilled Polenta Squares as an accompaniment to the Sun-dried Tomato Sausage and Diced Tomato Saute I cooked up. 

Used the Basil for a batch of Pesto most of which I froze without the Parmesan Cheese added. This way it's more versatile when used in the future. 

Need to cook the Corn tomorrow, still considering what I want to make with it, am leaning towards a Corn, Red Pepper Risotto!  Sounds interesting!  Or maybe a corn puree like we had @The Mermaid Inn on Friday night! It was under Grilled Scallops with cubed Bacon and Fava Beans!  Awesome dish!

Although, honestly, I have been really craving old fashioned Corn Relish!  Stay tuned, I'm sure it'll be interesting!

 

Chicken (under a brick) with Black Pepper Maple Sacue

This is another recipe from Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie that I was inspired by while working on the elliptical!  They used two cast iron skillets and cans for weight.  Since storage is an issue in our NY apartment I've never invested in a second Cast Iron skillet--especially since I'd probably only ever use one at a time anyway! So I decided to finally go buy two bricks from Home Depot.  Bonus: they only cost 65 cents each!  A lot cheaper than another skillet! 

Now wrapped in foil. I didn't have heavy duty so I double wrapped them to in case the foil ripped:

First you Spatchcock the chicken:

If you've never done this along with the description in the recipe this site Cookthink has beautiful step by step photos!

I used a combo of canola oil and butter in place of all butter.

Cooking the chicken this way was awesome, filled the apartment with a delicious aroma.  There are many recipes for this process and many will have you start it on top of the stove and finish in the oven, which I do with lots of recipes, but I followed the recipe and cooked it on top of the stove the whole time.  Didn't need to heat up the kitchen more than it was!  Also listening to the crackling of the chicken was complimentary to the wonderful smells!  I did cook my chicken a little longer based on my instant read thermometer checks.

The sauce is amazing! Nana, who isn't the biggest fan of Chicken on the bone devoured her portion including the wonderful crispy skin!  Enjoy!


Chicken with Black Pepper-Maple Sauce

Recipe By :Paul Grimes and Ruth Cousineau

Serving Size : 4

1 whole chicken -- 3 1/2 lb
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 sprigs rosemary
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1/4 cup dark amber or Grade B maple syrup
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Special equipment:kitchen shears; 2 (10-inch) heavy skillets (one well-seasoned cast-iron or heavy nonstick); a 10-inch round of parchment paper; 5 to 6 lb of weights such as 3 (28-oz) cans of tomatoes

Cut out backbone from chicken with kitchen shears and discard. Pat chicken dry, then spread flat, skin side up, on a cutting board. Cut a 1/2-inch slit on each side of chicken in center of triangle of skin between thighs and breast (near drumstick), then tuck bottom knob of each drumstick through slit. Tuck wing tips under breast. Sprinkle chicken all over with salt and ground pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons butter in 10-inch cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Add chicken, skin side down, and arrange larger rosemary sprigs over chicken. Cover with parchment round and second skillet, then top with weights. Cook chicken until skin is browned, about 15 minutes. Remove and reserve weights, top skillet, parchment, and rosemary, then carefully loosen chicken from skillet with a spatula. Turn chicken over and re-place rosemary sprigs, then re-cover with parchment, skillet, and weights. Cook until chicken is just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes more.

Make sauce while chicken cooks:

Toast peppercorns in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, shaking pan occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a clean cutting board and coarsely crush with a rolling pin. Return peppercorns to saucepan and bring to a simmer with syrup, 1/2 cup broth, and small rosemary sprig, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a platter and loosely cover with foil. Add vinegar to skillet and deglaze, boiling and scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in maple mixture and remaining 1/4 cup broth and boil until slightly syrupy, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and swirl in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Season sauce with salt and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Serve chicken with sauce.

Source:
"Diary of a Foodie: Season Three: Montreal: Cooking on the Wild Side"
S(Internet Address):
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/diaryofafoodie/2009/04/chicken-with-black-pepper-maple-sauce

Beet Gazpacho

One of the DVR'd shows I enjoy while I'm working out on the elliptical is Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie.  I'm always trying to make a mental note to go grab certain recipes from thier site on the Internet but then forget after the workout and a shower.  Last week I finally sat down and reviewed the recipes online for two seasons worth of shows.  Grabbing some I didn't even remember seeing!

This one for Beet Gazpacho was one of those that I only have a vague memory of seeing on the show.  But as I read it I imagined the glorious color it would be and thinking the mouthfeel would be awesome so I decided it would be worth the effort.

On Sunday I hit the kitchen to make a few things, Beet Gazpacho, Sun-dried Tomato Foccacia, English Muffin Bread, and Chicken en Papillote.  My theory being that if you're gonna be hot, might as well cook a bunch of stuff and get it over with!

The plan was for the soup to be Monday's dinner with a Chef's Salad after cooking in Manhattan.  It's a very simple preparation here's a picture of the sauteing of the ingredients:

Two adjustments to the recipe that I made: 1 cup of vegetable broth and 3 cups of water in place of 4 cups of water. And the garnish--remembering the many gazpachos we've enjoyed over the years one of our outstanding favorite things to do is add some cut up veggies at the table.  So I chopped some cucumber tossed it with sea salt, white balsamic vinegar and lots of dill, after 10 minutes I combined this with Greek Yogurt and placed dollops in the center of the bowls. YUM!!!

Here's the original recipe:

Beet Gazpacho

Recipe By :ADAPTED FROM CHEF JAIR TÉLLEZ, RESTAURANT LAJA, VALLE DE GUADALUPE


Serving Size : 6 
1 medium leek (white and pale-green parts only) -- halved lengthwise and coarsely chopped
2 beets (3/4 lb without greens) -- peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 medium onion -- sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 Granny Smith apple -- peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar -- or to taste
1 bouquet garni (2 large sprigs fresh parsley and 2 large sprigs fresh thyme tied together with kitchen string)
2 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped dill

Wash leek in a large bowl of water, agitating it, then lift out and drain well.
Cook leek, beets, onion, and apple in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, 10 to 12 minutes. Add water, vinegar, bouquet garni, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, uncovered, until vegetables and apple are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Discard bouquet garni.
Puree soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then chill, covered once cool, until cold.
Just before serving, season soup with salt, pepper, and vinegar. Serve cold, drizzled with yogurt and sprinkled with dill.
Cooks' note: Soup can be chilled up to 3 days.

Source:
"Diary of a Foodie: Season Two: Baja: The New Provence"
(Internet Address):
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/diaryofafoodie/2008/02/beetgazpacho

Spice & Easy

Food Network has a new show called SPICE & EASY.  I keep missing it and forgot to set the DVR for it for several weeks now! Finally, today I made sure I watched it.  It is a pretty good show, the hostess is Janet Johnston, who with her husband are the owners of three spice shops in Colorado called Savory Spice Shops.  Actually, a friend from Cookstalk forum has visited the shops in Denver, and told us about the show!  You can also order from their website.

Janet has a passion for herbs, spices and cooking so she's a natural for explaining how to "spice" things up!  Today's show was about a barbecue blend that they make from a recipe submitted by a customer during a contest held in the stores.  She made Ribs with Peanut Barbecue Sauce made with Chinese five spice; Chile Glazed Shrimp with Pineapple Ginger Salsa; Celery Root Slaw with wasabi and honey. And her dessert was Grilled Spiced Sugar Bananas with Spiced Nuts.

She used a brine to prep racks of ribs and then after slow baking them she basted them with the Peanut Barbecue Sauce. This got me thinking, I had boneless chicken breasts that needed to be cooked today in the fridge, why not use this brine and sauce for them? I had all the other ingredients as well and love Chinese five spice!  I also had broccoli/carrot slaw mix, so I'd make the dressing from her slaw too!  Yeah, two new recipes to test out today, admittedly tweaked, but still new! 

Brined the chicken breasts for 1 hour then baked @375º for 10 minutes; basted with Peanut Barbecue Sauce and baked for another 20 minutes until done!  Very moist and delicious!  I cut back on the wasabi as Nana is not a fan, and probably will go full on next time, it was so mild she didn't even notice it was there!  Also looking forward to trying the Celery Root version!  I used the broccoli, carrot slaw mix and added scallions, we finished it all! 

I think I'll make the shrimp in Rhode Island next time we visit, they would love it!  And maybe the bananas too!

Check out the show and definitely try the recipes!

Friday Roundup

Decided to post quickly before our trip to RI.

  Will post a weekend roundup on Monday!  Looking forward to a great time in RI, tonite we're having Italian Grandma's Spaghetti and Meatballs!  Haven't planned the rest of the weekend's menu as of yet, will be feverishly catching up on Food Magazine reading in the car on the way to RI and hopefully get inspired!! (Like that's ever a problem!)

Here's two pics of meals we made this week at home.

First is the Roast Chicken with Tapenade from Alex's Day Off on the Food Network.  It's from Chef Alex Guarnaschelli who says it's from her fond childhood memories of the food she ate at home.  You can get the recipe here, the only things I did differently was to add a clove of garlic in the cavity of the chicken and I started it by roasting breast side down for 15 minutes then turned it over.  The tapenade was plentiful and we ate it later in the week with little baguette toasts.  The side dish was steamed baby carrots and asparagus with ramp pesto!  Awesome way to use ramps!

Yummy, yummy!

Second Picture is of my own version of Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup. Simple ingredients list:
Roasted yellow peppers, peeled
White onion chopped and sauteed
Chicken broth
Heat all then puree
Served with a dollop of Greek yogurt and chopped chives.

The inspiration came from the soup I had at Motorinos earlier in the week!  Delish, and soooooo easy!  Really just try it!

This was Nana's plate with a slice of her leftover

Brussels Sprout Pizza!