Christmas in Baltimore 2009

Christmas was very fun this year. Having Gabe home was special but we did miss the rest of the clan... We made an awesome pork loin cooked in 8 cups of kosher salt with spices... it cooked really slowly. After it was done we had to break open the salt casing to get out the roast. It was delicious.
We paired it with a lovely buttery Chardonay, roasted carrots, parsnips, and fingerling potatoes, and a wonderful carmelized roasted onion grantine that was to die for. I hope the pictures do it justice. For dessert we had mini buche du noel and a pear tart that was sooooo good...

25 Things I Love About LA #5 - TACOS!!!

I'm fairly certain it's an unoriginal comparison, but tacos are to Los Angeles what pizza is to NYC and kebabs are to London. In LA, you'll find a taco stand/truck/shop on every corner. And everybody has their "local". Mine is Cactus Tacos (#1, the original Hollywood outpost) at Vine and Romaine.
It's a small operation, what I would refer to as a taco shack - in the best possible way. But despite the tiny size (and kitchen), they put out a huge menu. They offer all the standards - tacos, burritos, tortas and other things like salads and breakfast dishes. I also noted a curious recent addition of french fries, which I'm fairly certain are for the late night, post-bar crowd.

To create many variations on these dishes, they offer nearly a dozen meats, including: carnitas, pollo, cabeza (cow's head), tinga (a smoky shredded chicken), lengua (tongue, which is awesome), carne asada and my all time favorite pastor. Pastor is BBQ'd pork, as opposed to carnitas, which is fried pork. And in my humble opinion, Cactus' is the best in LA.
You order at the window, wait a few minutes until it's all put together and then grab a seat at one of the nine picnic tables scattered around. Dining al fresco is the perfect way to eat these hand-sized treats. How else are you going to hear all the neighborhood gossip, gawk at the fine ladies and gents and get a tan?

Three tacos plus a soda come to a whopping $5. It's not only one of the tastiest lunches in town, it's one of the cheapest as well.

NYT Mag Recipe Challenge #2 - Grilled Pork Porterhouse with an Apple-Maple-Ginger Sauce

I'm trying to do this thing where I challenge myself to cook at least one recipe a month that's printed in the NY Times Sunday Magazine. I hadn't done one in a while, due in part to laziness and in part to the only tempting thing from the past month being a crazy good, crazy fattening recipe for Tortoni. But last Sunday I opened the Magazine to find a recipe for brined pork chops that I had all but three ingredients for - those being the chops themselves, apple juice and agar. And this recipe has at least 2 dozen ingredients, so, you know, score!
This is another one of those recipes that sounds more labor intensive than it really is. Sure, it takes time, but most of that time the pork chops are sitting in a brine in your fridge. Which means, don't try and do this less than 8 hours before you want to eat it, but come up with something else to do with 7 of those hours.

Sure, the recipe says brine the pork 24 hours. But eff that, I brined for 8 hours and the pork chops were HEAVEN. In all honesty, better than the stuffed pork chops from a few months back. Cause, the thing with pork chops is, it's really easy to screw them up and overcook them. Brining the chops makes the cooking time a little more forgiveable. The chops are going to be moist even if you freak out about getting trichnosis and leave them on for two more minutes JUST TO BE SURE. I love a recipe that makes you look good and this one does.

I served the chops on Monday night with a red cabbage, apple and prune side that was inspired by Clotilde over at Chocolate & Zucchini. The cabbage was a great pairing with the pork, a classic match. And a convenient one, since I had (and still have) a ton of red cabbage left over from the Farmers Market last week. Score Part 2: Electric Score-a-loo.

The only component of the dish I wasn't totally in love with is the sauce that goes over the top, and that may have to do with my lack of agar use, the fact that it made WAY more sauce than necessary and that the apple juice I used was a bit sweeter than I wanted. Used sparingly, the sauce was fine, but too much would make a sweet mess on your chops. Be warned. But don't be scared away. These chops are too good to miss.

Grilled Pork Porterhouse with an Apple-Maple-Ginger Sauce
from Christine Muhlke for the NY Times Sunday Magazine "Field Report", March 1, 2009

For the brine:
1/4 c. maple syrup
5 tbsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. peeled, sliced ginger
3 tbsp. crushed garlic
1 sprig fresh sage
3/4 c. onion slices, cut into 1/4 inch rings
5 bay leaves
2 tsp. peppercorns
6 1 1/4 inch thick pork loin chops (also known as pork porterhouses), preferably Berkshire organic (*I used the TJ's brand, I'm no snob)

For the infused oil:
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. peppercorns
2 tbsp. minced shallot
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1/2 c. vegetable oil

For the sauce:
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. minced shallot
1 tbsp. minced garlic
2 c. apple juice
1/2 c. chicken stock
3 star anise
2 tbsp. minced ginger
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 tbsp. agar
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Twenty four hours before cooking (*I did this 8 hours before and it still turned out lovely), stir all of the brine ingredients except the pork into 1 quart of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Let cool to room temperature. Submerge the pork chops in the brine, cover and refrigerate.
2. The next morning (*or at the same time, if you're doing day-of), prepare the infused oil. Grind the coriander, bay leaf and peppercorns in a spice mill or a clean coffee grinder and combine with the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Let sit at room temperature. (*Hehe, I just realized I totally never did the spice mill grinding bit, and the oil infused just fine).
3. Make the sauce: in a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and saute until carmelized, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the apple juice, chicken stock, star anise and ginger. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until reduced by one-quarter. Add the maple syrup, vanilla pod and seeds and agar and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard the star anise and vanilla pod. Puree the mix in a blender (*I used an immersion hand blender in the pot), then pass through a fine mesh sieve (*I did not pass through a fine mesh sieve because I am lazy like that). Season to taste with salt and pepper. **Now that I think about it, maybe adding a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar may have helped cut the sweetness while preserving the key flavors.
4. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill (*or a grill pan for indoors) to medium-high heat. Rinse the meat and pat dry with a paper towel. Brush the chops with the infused oil, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Grill to medium doneness, or until the internal temperature reads 135-140 degrees on a thermometer and the middle is light pink, about 6 minutes per side. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Drizzle with warm sauce and serve.

Serves 6

And about that cabbage side? Here's a really simple rundown.

Take 1/2 a red cabbage, cut it in half again, then slice it thinly. Mix it with 1-2 chopped apples (I used Fuji), 8 prunes and 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Cook it in a little oil (1-2 tbsp. max), then after it's reduced a bit, add in about a cup of apple juice and 2-4 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar, to taste. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes and serve along side the pork chops.

Did You Hear? I Love Pork.

I think, if you've read this blog before, you may have realized that pork and I are totally BFF. In fact, my husband should be a little worried that some day I will run off with the pork guy at the farmer's market. Because, free pork for life? Tempting. So it's pretty obvious that for the Valentine's Day dinner cook-off (please, like it wasn't a competition in my brain), I went with a porky first course. That would be the Country Terrine with Pistachios from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook.
Like I said in an earlier post, this wasn't a particularly difficult dish (given that you own a stand mixer with a meat grinder attachment, which lucky me, I do). It just took a HELL of a long time to make. Like four days. Maybe five. I kind of lost count at some point. Most of that time is spent letting the meat marinate - first after cutting it into cubes, then again after grinding it (I deviated from the recipe a bit in this) and then AGAIN after you cook the terrine.
Hopefully you're not creeped out by the above picture of meat as it comes out of the grinder. If you are, I would seriously reconsider ever attempting this dish on your own. And also, SISSY!
But after all the crazy time and (at least procuring the meat products) effort, THIS DISH KICKS ASS. Like it's almost a week later and I'm STILL eating it. Even though I think it's probably as bad, if not worse than the Porkstrosity we had at the Super Bowl. I love this terrine. I would make out with this terrine at a junior high school dance. And if you're smart, you'll get the taste of porky goodness on your lips, too.

Country Terrine with Pistachios
by Alice Waters, from the Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook

3 lbs. lean boneless pork shoulder
1/2 lb. back fat (from a pig, natch)
3 oz. pancetta
1 1/2 tbsp. salt
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
8 allspice berries
1/4 tsp. dried thyme (I used fresh from the garden and went with a full tablespoon)
1 clove
A pinch of cayenne (about 1/4 tsp. in my dish)
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/2 c. shelled whole pistachios
4 bay leaves
OPTIONAL: Caul fat

1. Day 1 - Cut the pork shoulder, back fat and pancetta into 1 inch thick pieces. Toss the meat with 1 1/2 tsp. salt and refrigerate. (I tossed it with the spice mixture from the next step and let the cubes rest over night).
2. Day 1 or 2 (I did it on day 1) - Pulverize the 2 bay leaves, the peppercorns, allspice, thyme, clove and cayenne in a mortar or spice mill (or coffee grinder). Add 2/3 of this spice mixture to the meat and mix together. Reserve the remainder.
3. Day 2 - Grind the seasoned meat using the 1/4 inch plate of a meat grinder (this would be the bigger holed grinder attachment on the Kitchen Aid). Grind 1/3 of the ground meat again. Combine the two meat mixtures and refrigerate overnight.
4. Day 3 - The next day, add the parsley, garlic and pistachios, and mix lightly with your hands. Do not overhandle or the texture of the terrine will be too dense. To taste for seasoning, fry a bit of the mixture and chill it (it will taste different when cold, which is how the dish is served). It may require more salt or spice mixture at the time (mine didn't). Don't fuss with it too much.
5. Day 3 - Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place 2 bay leaves on the bottom of each of two 5 cup (1.2 L) earthenware terrines or glass loaf pans. Add half of the pork mixture to each terrine. (OR: Freeze half of the mixture, enough for a second terrine, as I did). Cover each with a lid or with foil. (If you wish, line the 2 pans with caul fat, leaving some hanging over the sides; add the bay leaves and pork mixture, wrap the caul over the top and do not cover.) Tap the pans on a tabletop to settle everything. Put a kitchen towl in the bottom of a deep roasting pan and set the terrines on it (the towel will insulate the bottom of the pan). Fill the pan with enough hot water to come 2/3 up the sides of the terrines and bake until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F, in about 1 1/2 hours (mine took about 98 minutes total). Remove the terrines from the roasting pan and cool at room temperature for about 2 hours, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Days 4-6 - The terrines CAN be eaten the next day, but they will develop more flavor if left for 2-3 days. To unmold, dip the pans in hot water for a few minutes and invert. Cut into thick slices and serve with strong Dijon mustard and cornichons.

Variations: Use half the mixture to make a terrine and the other half to make rustic sausages wrapped in caul fat for a meal the same day (well, the same day being Day 3). For a more complex terrine, add poultry livers and hearts, a little black truffle and a splash of Cognac.

A Valentine's Food Extravaganza

This year for Valentine's Day, Noah and I decided to forego the ridiculously overpriced restaurants (yeah, I'm talking to you Sona) in favor of a homemade Valentine's feast. I proposed a fun idea - each of us makes three courses (app/main/dessert) and we end up with a six course tasting menu. Above is the table, set with the first round of dishes.
This homemade pork terrine was my first course. I used a recipe from the Chez Panisse Cafe Menu Book (which I will be posting later). And while it was time intensive, 2-3 days of meat marinating and 2-3 days of terrine resting, it wasn't all that labor-ific. And when the pork guy at your farmer's market doesn't blink when you ask for half a pound of back fat, you know you're good to go. I served it with a crusty sourdough boule, cornichons and Dijon mustard. I like to think it was as good as the one at Le Regalade in Paris.
Noah's dish was this Venetian Shrimp on Polenta dish, with a yummy butter lemon garlic sauce drizzled on top. The recipe came from an old Food + Wine article and was really simple and tasty.

My main course was the above crab duo. Bonus points for creative use of a claw. It's the crazy simple crab cake recipe from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market Cookbook and an equally simple Dungeness crab salad recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. The salad is deconstructed and made up of roasted beets, avocado, watercress, crab and creme fraiche. The crab is dressed in a light dressing of oil, vinegar, lemon juice (which I subbed for the recommended lime juice), shallots and jalapeno. It was brilliant and complimented the crab perfectly.
Noah's main was a roasted game hen with thick bacon slices and roasted grapes. This simple combination kind of blew my mind. In fact, I'm thinking I'll eat the leftovers for lunch in a few minutes... Strangely enough, the recipe came from the same article in Food + Wine as the shrimp polenta, even though Noah had planned them out separately.
Above is the table, set with the second course. We drank an Alsatian Pinot Gris with all four of the dishes. A nice, dry match.
And finally, the dessert courses. I had been obsessing over the Whole Lemon Tart recipe that Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted a week or so back. I decided to use one of the precious Meyer lemons from my tree to make it, and instead of a full sized 9" tart, I went with mini tartlettes. I was kind of worried, having never tarted it up before (that's what she said), but everything turned out really, really well. Noah put together a mini cheese course - St. Andre triple cream and a 6 month aged Manchego. We ate it all, along with a 1999 Veuve Brut Rose champagne that Noah had given to me for Valentine's Day in 2005. So good!

By the end of the three hour meal, we were both stuffed and very, very happy. Who needs $500 dinners when you can make something even better at home for nowhere near that amount?

And did I mention I have enough dough and filling for two or three more tarts hanging out in my freezer right now. Yeah, let's see how long that lasts.

Super Bowl Funday and the Porkstrosity

That's right folks, we did it.

We made the Porkstrosity aka Pork Explosion aka Heart Attack in a Dish for the Super Bowl. Actually, Noah and Jeremy did it, with an assist from Param, Rice and Christina. I was just a post-pork spectator. And maybe I sampled the wares.
C'mon, you can't tell me this doesn't look fantastically tasty. It's a freakin' basket weave of bacon, encasing the best Sweet Italian sausages on offer at the H-wood Farmers Market. And there's BBQ sauce!
Okay, I know - it makes Paula Dean's typical offerings look like diet food. BUT when you break down the 5000 calorie, 500 fat gram log into its 15 serving slices, that's only 333 calories and (okay, gulp) 33 fat grams per slice - less if you use turkey bacon (gag). And I only had half a slice, and it was wrapped in a lettuce leaf, so damn, that's like health food right there.

Are you going to tell me that the ribs/burger/fried chicken YOU ate during the Super Bowl was any healthier than that? Yeah, I didn't think so.

All photos by Christina Stahlheber.

Two Dinners

Lest you think all we do is desserts, here are two awesome dinners Noah and I made recently. The first is the above dish, our take on a meal we had at Angeli Caffe recently - Penne with Ricotta, Cherry Tomatoes and Bacon. The second, in the pictures below, is Stuffed Pork Chops with Spinach, Goat Cheese and Green Tomato Chutney.

The penne dish was a Monday Night Special, which inevitably means quick and easy. And because the LA weather can't decide if it's going to be hot or freezing on any given day lately (whoo! global warming), it's a dish that's warm, but not heavy. Meaning it goes both ways. In a totally non-porno way. We had to make some substitutions on the original because I was totally lazy and forgot to roast any garlic for the pasta and also because we had some awesome bacon to use up and didn't feel like battling the crowds at TJs to get pancetta.
The stuffed pork chops were all Noah. I'm guessing that on Saturday, while I was writing in the bedroom he was watching the Food Network, because the dish is a riff on a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis (the lollipop head who loves to host kicky "impromptu" dinner parties). Okay, no more bagging on Giada, 'cause honestly she has good ideas for simple meals and is also one million times less annoying than RachRay and P.Dean.

Noah whipped it up for dinner last night and bless him, totally let me veg on the couch nursing a nasty, but diminishing hangover. Note to self: you cannot drink like you're 27 anymore, sugar. Again, there were substitutions (I think if you're a person who enjoys eating and cooking at all it's basically impossible not to tweak a recipe to fit your own needs/likes/timelines). The only one of real note is that the recipe calls for sun-dried tomatoes, of which I am not a big fan (though more of a fan than roasted red peppers which just kind of gross me out). Also, we didn't have any. So my genius ass chimed in from the couch with the brilliant idea of subbing in some of the Green Tomato Chutney Noah's Aunt Debra made us for Xmas. Okay, Deb, that stuff is AWESOME! And was perfect for the pork.

I added a salad to the meal, along with some sliced baguette and the crack-tastic Jean-Yves Bordier butter that we still have from Paris. If anyone knows where I can get this in the States, tell me now. I'm almost out and an $800 plane ticket seems like a slightly elevated price tag for butter. But for this butter, only slightly.

So there you go, not one but TWO non-dessert recipes for y'all to enjoy.
Whole Wheat Penne with Ricotta, Cherry Tomatoes and Bacon
inspired by Angeli Caffe

2 servings whole wheat penne (I'm too lazy to measure out how much exactly, but am guessing it's about 2 c. of dried pasta)
1/2 c. fresh ricotta (if you can get it, the cheese dudes who sell the Winchester Farms goudas at the H-wood Farmers Market have the best fresh ricotta in town)
3-4 strips of bacon, more meaty than fatty OR 1/4 c. pancetta
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
Garlic (half a dozen cloves if roasted or 2 chopped cloves if raw)
Basil (we didn't have any, so we left it out)
Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

Cook up the penne. Reserve a few tablespoons of cooking liquid for sauce. Slice the bacon/pancetta into small strips. Sautee. Remove when they've reached your desired level of crispy. Discard all but 2 tsp. bacon/pancetta fat. Use this to cook raw garlic in on medium flame. Once garlic has browned (1-2 mins), add the cherry tomatoes. Cook 1 minute, then add in pasta, bacon/pancetta and a bit of the reserved cooking liquid. Cook another minute. Take off flame and pour into a large bowl. Add the ricotta and stir, adding more cooking liquid if you want a saucier sauce. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste. Serve with a few shavings of parmesan if you're a cheese whore like myself.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Green Tomato Chutney, Spinach and Goat Cheese
adapted from a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. green tomato chutney OR 6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1-10 oz. bag of frozen spinach OR 2-3 cups fresh spinach, sauteed
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/4 tsp. thyme, fresh or dried
1/4 c. (2 oz.) goat cheese
1/3 c. reduced fat cream cheese or 1/4 c. non-fat greek yogurt
4-4oz. center cut pork chops
1 1/2 c. chicken broth (or, if you're Noah and I, the duck broth you've had in the freezer for while)
1/2 lemon, zested
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Warm 1 tbsp. olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato chutney, spinach, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese or greek yogurt. Stir to combine and set aside.

Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop. Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of the spinach and tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing. Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice and mustard.

Warm the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the pork. Cook until golden and cooked through 4-7 minutes a side (ours took longer as the pork was quite thick). Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium high heat and deglaze the pan, scraping up the cooked pork bits as the broth simmers. Reduce by half to make a light sauce. Spoon some over the pork before serving, putting the rest in a gravy bowl (or, if you're Noah and I, a crappy, chipped ramekin) for spooning over as you eat.

Brussels Sprouts Are The Best

First off, please excuse the photo. Our real camera's battery was out of juice, so Noah took this picture on his Blackberry. I'm guessing the above photo isn't exactly the best way to persuade people that Brussels sprouts are, indeed, the best.

I honestly don't think I'd ever eaten them until a few years ago - both of my parents loathe (or I should say loathed) them. Until Brian made them for us one Thanksgiving. One bite and I was convinced, as were mom and dad. Perhaps it was the added bacon (or was it pancetta), because as we all know, PORK MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER. And Noah actually liked them, too, which is crazy since I still can't get him to let go of his broccoli phobia and broccoli is a million times less intimidating than Brussels sprouts. I guess that's how good a chef Brian is. Hmm, note to self - have Brian make something with broccoli next time we're in town...

Sunday I picked up some sprouts at the farmers market and had to make them, stat. They just looked that good. Plus Sunset magazine had a recipe for them in the October issue that I'd been dying to try. However, being the cooking tweaker that I am (does that make anyone else think I huff glue and bake cookies? I don't) I had to add in some of my favorite twists from Suzanne Goin's recipe in her "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" cookbook. Namely balsamic vinegar and some of the awesome bacon from the pork guy at the farmers market - think nice thick rashers, not that crappy stuff in the supermarket aisles.

It was perfect for the cool-ish evening (we've been having crisp nights, despite our 90 degree days in LA). Noah and I made it our main course, along with some leftover sourdough, fresh mozzarella, garden basil and tomatoes that we turned into a grilled panini. Yum!

Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan and Pine Nuts
Sunset magazine, October 2008

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add 2 tsp. minced garlic and 3/4 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered; cook, stirring often, until softened, 8 minutes. Add 1/4 c. vegetable broth; cook until sprouts are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 2 tbsp. toaste pine nuts. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper. Sprinke with grated parmesan cheese.