Posted by Joy Manning, June 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by their book, Almost Meatless.
At my local banh mi joint, I’m always torn between the oh-so-virtuous tofu sandwich and the all-out cholesterol fest that is the pork and pâté version. Finally, I’ve bridged the gap with my homemade Meat Lite rendition. It’s a great recipe to have on hand if you, as we recommend in Almost Meatless, cook a big pork shoulder when you have time and freeze the meat in 8-ounce portions.
It couldn’t be simpler. Just buy a 4- to 6-pound pork shoulder, cut it up into four big but manageable pieces, season liberally, and brown pieces on all sides in a large Dutch oven. Add a bit of water, enough to come one-third of the way up the pork pieces, and bake on 350 degrees for about 3 hours—until it falls apart when prodded.
Of course, you can get rid of the pork altogether with an extra slice of tofu and have almost as excellent a banh mi. I like to spice up the mayonnaise with a squirt of Sriracha and a splash of lime juice. You can also add slices of fresh jalapeño before serving to increase the heat.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, June 26, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Each week Joshua Bousel drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
I have yet to jump on the banh mi bandwagon, but my fiancée has been all over them. She's been singing the praises of the banh mi so much, that I felt it was my obligation to try them, so we can we ride this food craze together.
Having made a Vietnamese grilled pork not too long ago, I was looking for a different filling option. I came across this recipe for Vietnamese grilled meatballs that was just calling to me. I loved that this recipe had me mixing pork fat and sliced pork loin together in a food processor, along with the flavors I loved so much from my previous Vietnamese venture. This produced a very pleasing, fine-textured meatball with the great taste I was expecting—but the meatball wasn't what I set out to experience.
When I added these already delectable meatballs to a baguette, and stuffed in some pickled carrots and daikons along with a big bunch of cliantro, it was like being in flavor nirvana. The vegetables added a crunch and acidity that matched perfectly with the fish sauce flavored meat; and throw that much cilantro on anything, and I'm sold. Since I was the newbie, I had to turn to my fiancée and ask if these were the correct flavors of the banh mis she loves so much—to which she gave a big nod of approval, then promptly got up to fix herself a second sandwich.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 21, 2009 at 8:00 AM
All serious eaters know how much I love Robb Walsh's books, so why did it take me so long to discover this seriously delicious chorizo recipe, which I've adapted from Mr. Walsh's brilliant The Tex-Mex Cookbook. As Robb notes in his headnote he himself adapted this recipe from a "cookbook published by El Chico restaurants in the 1970s".Serve it with softly scrambled eggs and some good old white toast or warm tortillas, and you will be mighty happy.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, June 16, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Photograph from Old Shoe Woman on Flickr
There is a peach tree in my backyard, and for the past few weeks I have been paying more attention to it than usual. Ever since those tiny green peaches appeared on its branches, I have been counting the days until they are ripe enough to be picked and eaten. I've been daydreaming about all of the ways that I am going to use them once they are ready—pies, cobblers, sliced in salads.
When I came across this recipe for peached pork in Francis Mallmann's Seven Fires, my peach anticipation was taken to a whole new level. I am not generally a pork loin fan; it's typically dry and dull. But scented with rosemary and garlic and served with caramelized peaches? I cannot wait for my peaches to ripen so I can try this one for myself!
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Posted by Caroline Russock, May 28, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Doug Fincke contributed this recipe for Smothered Pork Chops to Endangered Recipes. Fincke is one of Lari Robling's "recipe rescuers," and his life revolves around apples. Fincke takes care of the orchards on the grounds of Montgomery Place in the Hudson Valley. Several varieties of heirloom varieties of apples are grown on the estate, and Fincke has grown to know each one personally.
"The old apple varieties are like people," says Doug Fincke. "You get to know all of their intrinsic qualities."
Pork and apples are a great match, but add mustard and sauerkraut and you have something really special. Robling prefers sweeter apples for this recipes, Braeburn or Rome varieties are perfect. They will break down during the cooking process creating their own sauce for the chops.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, May 18, 2009 at 1:55 PM
Bacon, delicious, crisp, fatty, chewy bacon. Aside from a handful of vegetarians, I have never encountered someone who didn't like bacon. It seems like no matter what time of day it is, there's always a way to incorporate bacon into your meal. Frying up some bacon for breakfast is de rigueur, a BLT makes for a classic lunch, and, of course, bacon cupcakes serve as dessert. Cooking with bacon isn't difficult, but what about curing bacon at home?
According to Eugenia Bone, making bacon at home is relatively easy. In her new book, Well-Preserved, she demystifies the curing process. As it turns out, there is very little to making bacon beyond a spice rub, a lengthy rest in the fridge, and a slow roast in the oven. Besides the bragging rights that making bacon at home will afford you, this recipe is free of nasty nitrates that store-bought bacon often has.
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Posted by Blake Royer, May 12, 2009 at 4:00 PM
One thing I love about braised fennel—besides the fact that gentle cooking brings out its sweetness and tones down the anise-y flavor—is that it retains a good sharpness along with its richness. I love braising vegetables because they cook in a fraction of the time it takes to braise meat, and braising turns them sumptuous and succulent. But sometimes the flavor lacks punch. Not so with fennel.
Which was part of the reason this recipe from Nibblous worked so well—it had the rich flavors of a braise but was also quite lively. Extra fennel seeds in the braise amp up the fennel flavor, but could be left out as well. Just be sure to start the onions sweating first thing, so they have plenty of time to caramelize slowly for the best flavor, and to deglaze the pork chop pan to take advantage of the pan drippings.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, April 27, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Photograph by Robyn Lee
Tacos al pastor, or "shepherd's tacos," are thought to have been inspired by Lebanese immigrants who came to Mexico City in the 1930s. Mexican taqueros cook pork shoulder on a vertical spit similar to Middle Eastern shawarma or the Turkish doner kebab. This recipe from Mark Miller's Tacos uses an overnight marinade of dried chiles, spices, orange juice, cola, and beer to impart a deeply satisfying sweet-savory flavor to the pork. Tacos al pastor are traditionally garnished with sliced pineapple. Miller recommends serving these tacos with flour tortillas, Roasted Pineapple-Habanero Chile Salsa, and either margaritas or dark Mexican beer.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, April 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM
It's funny how a missing ingredient can lead to a whole new dinner. The original idea was to remake the poblano tacos I had so loved from last summer. It's a relatively easy recipe, but I was missing something, and so I searched through my fridge to see what kind of taco I could get away with. That's where I find some leftover pork and a whole gob of tomatillos from a previous batch of salsa.
I snatched this salsa from a grilled nacho recipe by Bobby Flay. I love the way he blends the tang of tomatillos and the heat of the poblanos with the slight relief of honey. You'll only need about half the salsa for the tacos, but I think it's good enough to just dip tortilla chips in—or eat with a spoon. I'd make the whole thing.
Though the pork is a great balance for the salsa, some skirt steak would be a perfect choice, too. As would shrimp, now that I think about it.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, April 17, 2009 at 8:00 PM
When I first move to the big city, I was a total food hermit, I would hardly ever eat anything outside of my comfort zone. Luckily, I've come out of my shell, but 12 years ago, when my future college roommate forced me to try his native Vietnamese cuisine, the only thing I would order off the menu was barbecue beef, which I enjoyed so much that it's still a mainstay for me at Vietnamese restaurants.
Prowling the food blogs last week, I came across this recipe for a Vietnamese grilled pork that looked very similar to my beloved bbq beef. I tried it out over the weekend and the flavors were spot on, it was so good that a serving for four was devoured by two in no time. As I was chomping my way through the delicious bowl, I was thinking about how the warm pork, mixed with the crisp lettuce and cool noodles would be perfect the meal on a warm summer day, so it's sure to find its way to grill again when the seasons change, if I can even wait that long.
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Posted by Kerry Saretsky, April 16, 2009 at 6:00 PM
All summer long when I'm baking like a Thanksgiving turkey in the New York City heat, I’m praying for fall—for my birthday, for the turkey to roast instead of me, for the crisp air blowing the season’s crisp leaves. From fall to the first snowfall, and during the requisite ambling up and down Fifth Avenue while staring through the glittering panes glistening with frost, I wish, again, this time for Santa to hurry down the chimney. But then winter white turns to grey: grey slush, grey buildings, grey skies, grey moods. I'm cold. I marvel at the strength of old man winter's clutch on New York—tenacious for a reputedly geriatric season. Even though I know spring heralds summer and the resulting pizza oven-like weather, I begin to pray for spring, for the white carpet that coats the sidewalks to change miraculously from snow to fallen cherry blossoms. And then I spot the first bud, and for a few blissful weeks of confused climate, it is spring at last.
Spring in France is always all about the flowers. The flower markets just on the Seine. The great buds that spring up from the grasses of the Tuileries. The jasmine and lily of the valley that make their way into the country’s Easter-egg macarons. The rose éclairs and sorbets. The orange flower tea. The perfumier opens his doors to another sense, allowing taste to revel a bit with smell in the springtime garden. I can think of no better time than Easter week to eat flowers in a slightly different, but more visual way: Dijon Pork Paillard with Spinach and Flower Salad.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, April 13, 2009 at 2:45 PM
This recipe for pork patties from The Asian Grill is perfect for making your own variety of banh mi at home. Just fill a sliced baguette with a few pork patties, some cilantro, sliced cucumber, a few slices of jalapeño, and a little mayo and sriracha. If you don't feel like firing up the grill, these pork patties are just as delicious cooked in a cast iron skillet.
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Posted by Kerry Saretsky, March 27, 2009 at 10:05 AM
There is a little something you should know about me: I love to shop. And while my closet can attest to that fact, so can my pantry. When I travel I am always sure to devote at least half a day to culinary pursuits—wandering through markets like the Boqueria in Barcelona, or visiting little gourmet shops in Paris. Inevitably, I return laden with corked perfumiers’ bottles of French rose extract, painters’ tubes of Moroccan harissa, and tiny ominous packets of Venetian squid ink. And when I’m grounded back home in the States, I still find excuses to dally around any corner gourmet shop, combing the aisles like a pirate who stands on the X on his map and expects, rightly so, to uncover unprecedented treasure.
I get a secret thrill when I bring out of these little bottles or jars, and guinea pig them on my friends and family. Inevitably, eyes widen in delight and speculation, and a general chorus echoes down the table: "Mmm! What is that?” I love revealing the answer: "Orange flower water!" "No!" "Yes." All of a sudden everyone at the table feels like they are sharing in a gourmet adventure, whisked away to some corner of a forgotten world where everyone sits around snacking on orange flower water and Raz-el-Hanout. What they don’t know is that I paid less than three dollars for a bottle of the stuff just across town at Fairway.
This is the premise of my new series, The Secret Ingredient. If you, like me, find yourself fascinated in the food aisles, leaving shops with little items stashed away for your imagination, then I hope you will enjoy it. Once or twice a month, I’ll choose a new Secret Ingredient, tell you where it comes from, what it is, and what to do with it—recipes included.
March’s Secret Ingredient is pomegranate molasses.
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Posted by Grace Kang, March 23, 2009 at 2:10 PM
"I love ribs and ribs love me." That was the opening line for the best song about ribs I've ever heard, penned by a younger yours truly along with a vegetarian friend. You might wonder what kind of sick childhood I had, but honestly I have no idea why I would co-write and sing a ribs ditty. I just liked ribs, plain and simple, or rather, I loved them if you take my lyrics to heart.
Sheila Lukins' recipe for honey ribs is laughably simple. I'm serious; it's basically just honey + ribs. There's not much to mess up, and the balance of salty and sweet is seriously satisfying.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, March 20, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Out of all the Greek establishments in my neighborhood, my absolute favorite gyro and souvlaki joint is BZ Grill in Astoria, only two short blocks away. The proximity has left me little reason to cook the staples at home, but with a looming move that will find me farther away from these beloved pita sandwiches and platters, I realized that I had some learning to do in the kitchen.
I never really thought about the ingredients inside a souvlaki marinade before; I just knew that the meat always tasted bright and fresh. So I scoured souvlaki recipes and came up with a formula that I thought would best replicate the flavors I'm used to. After letting cubes of pork loin marinate overnight in a mixture of olive oil, red onion, garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and Greek oregano, I skewered and grilled them off.
The pork was everything I imagined it would be—the lemon juice gave it a nice tang and the mixture of onion, garlic, and oregano made it taste distinctly Greek. The souvlaki just wouldn't have been complete to me unless there was pita and tzatziki nearby, so while the pork was resting off the grill, I heated up some pita, adding a dollop of tzatziki to the plate, and found comfort in knowing that even though I'll miss my around-the-corner souvlaki haunt, a fitting replica is only as far as my backyard.
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Posted by Grace Kang, March 20, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Begin and end a good week with pork. That sounds like a good rule, no? Starting with pork jerky on Monday, we're going to end this week with pork with chives from Beyond the Great Wall. Now aren't you glad all the recipes in between were vegetarian?
This is a quick stir-fry made even simpler if you already have some pork in the freezer. The authors suggest slicing meat still frozen to help it defrost quicker. Chives are here for flavor and color, but you can also substitute garlic shoots or scallions if needed.
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Posted by Grace Kang, March 19, 2009 at 4:15 PM
I needed a quick and easy meal to make for my cousin last night and this Balsamic Pork with Shallots from the March issue of Cooking Light definitely fit the bill. Easily a 30 minute meal, the recipe is straightforward and simple. Sauté the pork, caramelize the shallots, add some vinegar and water, and it's basically done.
The recipe originally called for one pound of pork tenderloin, but we were shopping at Costco where they only had gargantuan five-pound tenderloins. (The meat section at Costco is a bit scary). Thus, I settled for the more manageable pork chops. The shallot mixture would also go well with chicken, beef, or turkey, so feel free to switch it up if you don't eat pork. To make the dish a bit more luxurious, add a tablespoon or so of heavy cream at the end. It'll smooth out the tartness of the balsamic vinegar.
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Posted by Grace Kang, March 16, 2009 at 2:15 PM
My favorite jerky memory is of the teriyaki beef jerky you can pick up at the airport in Anchorage, Alaska. My mom always bought bags of it without fail on our layovers at 3 a.m. on the way to South Korea when I was younger. There's something seriously awesome about munching on jerky in the middle of the night next to stuffed bears. (Ever been to that airport? They have polar bears, birds, and other crazy wildlife in glass cases.)
This pork jerky recipe, if you can even call it that, was inspired by a Hani woman in Jiangcheng, a town a few miles north of the Lao border. All you need are two pounds of pork and an hour of spare time, mostly inactive, and you're set. Because you slice the pork so thinly, the jerky takes no time at all. Don't eat too much, though; my mom told me my teeth would fall out because I ate too much jerky. Confirm or deny?
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 28, 2009 at 12:00 PM
- serves 4 -
These Grilled Pork Burgers with Molasses Barbecue Sauce are adapted from Burgers Every Way by Emily Haft Bloom. They can be broiled in the oven if it's too cold outside to fire up the grill. The author also suggests trying different types of sausages and add-ins, such as garlic, in the burgers to boost flavor. The sauce has a "rich, intensely sweet taste" that is good paired with pork.
Ingredients
5 strips thick-cut bacon
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 small Hungarian wax peppers (also known as banana peppers) or other mild chili peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1/2 pound spicy pork sausages
1/4 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Procedure
1. Cook the bacon and garlic in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. When the bacon is about halfway done, add the chopped pepper and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cumin and lemon pepper and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Pour off, then discard the bacon drippings. Pour the contents of the pan into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until the bacon and peppers are finely chopped.
2. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high. Split the sausage casings with a knife and crumble contents in a large bowl. Add the ground pork then add half the bacon-pepper mixture, and using your hands or a wooden spoon, mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Form into 4 burgers of equal size. Grill or broil the burgers, flipping once, brushing the cooked side with 1 tablespoon of the barbecue sauce until the juices run clear, 4 to 5 minutes on each side. While the burgers are cooking, mix the remaining bacon-pepper mixture with the mayonnaise. Serve the burgers on corn bread or onion rolls, topped with the warm Molasses Barbecue Sauce, found after the jump.
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Posted by Blake Royer, February 24, 2009 at 4:40 PM
I cook a whole lot of noodles in my kitchen, but the dishes I prepare are almost exclusively Italian. The Mediterranean flavor profile is just more familiar to me, so it's what a gravitate towards. But the moment I stumbled on this recipe at Gourmet.com, I knew I had to cook it. It promised a harmonious blend of curry powder and fish sauce, a spicy and pungent combination that would gloriously coat the noodles and ground pork. I stashed it in the to-cook pile and waited patiently for the grocery store to stock cilantro (it's not very common in this part of the world).
The result was bold and flavorful, the noodles silky, the pepper slightly crunchy, all with an herbaceous freshness from the basil and cilantro. I deviated from the recipe by adding extra fish sauce (you'd never guess from its odious smell, but it adds a complex saltiness) and next time I'd throw in a fresh chili for more heat. I already have plans to make Pad Thai from the leftover rice noodles. Any other great rice noodle dishes I should try?
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, February 13, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Ever since this summer, I've been on a kick of rolling up my meat roasts with fillings. This method packs flavor throughout the entire roast, instantly creates a cool presentation, and is just fun to make. While browsing Cook's Illustrated last week, I came across a recipe for a grilled pork loin with an apple-cranberry filling that was just begging me to make it.
The recipe started with dried apples and cranberries, simmered in a mixture of apple cider, cider vinegar, and spices that filled the house with the sweet smells of winter warmth. The liquid and solids were then separated, the liquid boiled down to a glaze, and the solids pulsed in a food processor and spread into a butterflied pork loin and rolled up.
The idea was that the mixture seasons and moistens the meat from the inside out while cooking, and while it did achieve the flavor portion quite well, the pork was still a tad on the dry side. The sweet and fruity filling was so well paired with the pork that this recipe will assuredly be gracing my grill again, but to make it totally perfect, I'll probably brine the loin first next time.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, February 4, 2009 at 4:45 PM
"If there is one dish that makes me want to march down Fifth Avenue waving the American flag, it's shrimp and grits," Bobby Flay writes in Bobby Flay Cooks American.
Though I might trade Flay's Manhattan avenue for one of my Chicago streets—I'd probably pick State Street—I see no reason to disagree with him on the dish. It's definitely something to feel proud about. Though we may argue whether apple pie and hamburgers are more American, we can agree this dish is absolutely delicious—and unique.
Though the dish may have its roots in the South, I am certainly no stranger to grits. My parents even have a copy of my late grandmother's recipe for grits framed and hanging in their kitchen. At first I just didn't know why there needed to be anything else in the bowl. It sounded just a tad heavy. Cheese grits aren't exactly light, and the addition of bacon doesn't help matters. But that's what the shrimp is for. They lighten the whole dish—or at least appear to—making this patriotic dish easy to devour in minutes.
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Posted by Michele Humes, February 3, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, pork porterhouse with pancetta-dried cherry vinaigrette, has been outlined very stringently by authors Rick Tramonto and Mary Goodbody; it calls specifically for thin porterhouse pork steaks, to be cooked over a grill.
It's cold out, though, so I think you could get away with doing the chops on an indoor grill pan and finishing them in the oven. And if you prefer a thicker sort of chop to the two thin chops they suggest per person, by all means have it. The important things are the herb marinade and that vibrant vinaigrette, floating with the dried cherries that pair so well with pork's natural sweetness.
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Posted by Gretchen VanEsselstyn, January 31, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Editor's note: Gretchen VanEsselstyn of Chile Pepper Magazine, will be dropping by each week with a recipe for heat freaks. This week, though, in honor of the Super Bowl, she'll have a recipe a day before the big game.
Where there’s chipotle, there’s smoke. These medium-hot, flame-licked, ex-jalapeños are the greatest convenience food we know—widely available in canned form, they come with the bonus of spreadable, fiery adobo sauce. Our salsa was inspired by the affinity between smoked pork belly—otherwise known as bacon—and the campfirelike flavor of chipotles. Raise your hand if you dunk your grilled cheese in ketchup. Yup, we do too. But this salsa may change your ways.
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Posted by Michele Humes, January 29, 2009 at 3:30 PM
I don't like the word "fusion" being used to describe cooking, because it implies a combination of ingredients that's contrived. Sure, the Provençal aïoli in these pork belly and steamed bun sandwiches isn't especially traditional—neither, for that matter, is putting Sriracha in Provençal aïoli. But I'm half Chinese and half American, and I live in New York City, where all culinary traditions bleed into one another. This is just how we eat here.
The pork belly sandwich is assembled from four components:
1. Mantou, or Chinese steamed buns, which can be found in the freezer section of most Asian grocery stores. The milk-white buns are fluffy, slightly sweet, and can be as small as an apricot or as large as a fist.
2. Soy-braised pork belly
3. Sautéed, sesame-scented cabbage
4. Homemade chili aïoli
Personally, I live in fear of spectator sports—but I'll venture that these boldly-flavored stuffed buns would make a popular game day dish. I spent $7.44 to make six substantial sandwiches, but, if you buy the miniature steamed buns, you can serve at least double that number as snack-sized "sliders."
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Posted by Tara Mataraza Desmond, January 27, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by the book coauthored by the two, Almost Meatless, due out in spring 2009.
If you’re bent on adopting the Meat Lite lifestyle, take a page from the ancient book of Asian cuisine. Far Eastern kitchens have always been stocked with less animal protein and saturated fats than Western counterparts (even well before Western kitchens ever existed), calling on vegetables and grains as the bulk of a dish and using meat as something of a garnish. Even traditional recipes for a dish like panaeng neua—a signature Thai dish centered on beef, coconut milk and curry paste—call for less than a pound of beef for 4 to 6 servings.
In addition to an emphasis on non-meat ingredients, Asian gastronomy employs a variety of fermented protein condiments and sauces as flavoring and seasoning agents. Fish sauce, bean sauces and pastes all pack a mouth-filling punch because of glutamic acid, an amino acid brought forth during natural fermentation. These amino acids are the foundation of “umami," or that meaty, satisfying “flavor” that’s so distinct, yet so difficult to articulate (this flavor is replicated in controversial MSG).
Scientific mumbo-jumbo aside, Asian food is delicious, often simple and quick to prepare and versatile. This recipe is sweet, salty, tangy, and sour, from tamarind, miso, sugar and lime. It’s full of texture, from a bit of pork, sturdy carrots, crunchy bok choy, chopped cashews and crisp, vibrant scallions. Serve it on top of rice and alongside garlic sesame green beans.
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Posted by Ed Levine, January 26, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Serious bacon lovers know that if bacon had a team in the NFL, it would most certainly be in the Super Bowl. So if you're having people over for the big game, or even if you're watching with immediate family, or hell, even if you're watching the game by yourself, you know that you want dips and chips and other finger food at your side.
The best source for seriously delicious bacon-centric finger foods and dips is James Villas' incomparable
Bacon Cookbook,. So we're going to feature recipes adapted from Vilas' book every day leading up to the big game.
Today, chunky guacamole and bacon canapes.
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Posted by Michele Humes, January 15, 2009 at 3:15 PM
When I was a little girl growing up in Hong Kong, it was a cold weather ritual to watch my mother, grandmother, and assortment of aunts wrap dumplings with deft fingers. I'd insist on joining in, but my crumpled parcels of pork and cabbage invariably leaked or fell apart.
Now a grown woman and living in Brooklyn, I like to think my fingers are just as deft as theirs were then. I don't have any family here with whom to share the wrapping process, but I've been known to make my guests wrap for their supper. (A glass of wine can be very persuasive.) Sometimes I'll stick with a more traditional filling of pork and napa cabbage, or I'll do a meatless version with edamame, kale, and cilantro.
Either way, I'm well within budget at just under $7.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 9, 2009 at 4:15 PM
I hope I wasn't the only one who watched Anthony Bourdain's season opener of No Reservations where he and his crew visited Mexico City and Puebla and ate about a hundred tacos al pastor. After eating each one Bourdain would groan with such ecstasy, I was overcome with genuine taco jealously. I needed one.
This started out as the anti-Dinner Tonight. I figured I would find a ridiculous recipe that would require days of preparation, a marinade, and some contraption I hadn't yet built to roast the meat. But as I searched I kept hitting road blocks. Rick Bayless, my mentor for all things Mexican, didn't seem to have a recipe, and many of the sites that did have something looked dubious. I finally came across a little blurb that Rick Bayless had written for Epicurious where he professed his love for tacos al pastor before admitting that he's never given a recipe because it's nearly impossible to make at home. He does recommend Rubi's at the Maxwell Street Market (in Chicago suckers!), which I will have to check out.
But it's not all a downer. At the end he tosses away a simple recipe that he uses when he doesn't have much time but still wants that al pastor taste. And it really couldn't be much simpler: No marinade, just a quick dip in chipotle sauce and a sizzle on a grill. Definitely not the same tacos I had dreamed of, but still incredibly good and remarkably quick.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, December 20, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Ham is a funny thing in my life. It was the food that I missed most when my parents decided to keep a kosher household when I was 5. After leaving home and its kosher ways behind, I have had no qualms with cooking massive amounts pork, but a whole ham has never graced my kitchen; I suspect there's a place in my subconscious that has kept this super-trafe on the outskirts.
I don't know what triggered the change, probably just getting into the holiday spirit, but last weekend I had a hankering for some ham, went to the grocery store and picked out a bone-in beauty. Even though it was precooked, I heated it up in my smoker, using a mix of oak and cherry wood, for five hours, slathering on a mustard-whiskey glaze in the last hour. Each piece of this ham was pure sweetness, with an added hint of smoke in the glazed ends, which took me back to a more pure time when I had no notions of ham being anything but delicious.
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Posted by Blake Royer, December 18, 2008 at 4:30 PM
When I cooked this pasta the other night, spaghetti all'amatriciana, I was surprised to find that it hasn't made its way onto the Dinner Tonight column already. It's one of my favorite quick dinners. A bit like pasta carbonara, it's a member of a trio of pastas based around bacon and cheese in the area of Italy around Rome. The closest cousin is pasta alla gricia (sometimes known as "amatriciana bianco"), with just bacon, cheese, pasta, and sometimes chili or sausage depending on who you ask. Carbonara never has chili but adds egg and lots of extra pepper. Amatriciana draws its deliciousness from the sweetness of onion and tomato.
If you can find guanciale (a type of bacon made from pig jowl), it's truly superior, but pancetta or American bacon will do fine. I use tomato sauce when I have it on hand, but simply starting from canned tomatoes and simmering the sauce a little longer is about the same. This recipe from the Babbo restaurant website calls for thick half moons of red onion, which brings a sweetness I think works wonderfully against the spice of the chili and the acidity of the tomato. Truly a classic, standout dish.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, December 15, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Modern soubise? I wasn't even acquainted with the old soubise until I found this recipe in James Peterson's Sauces. I only picked it because it was advertised as a perfect topping for pork chops. The original sauce is apparently a stewed-onion mixture with some béchamel thrown in that is cooked for an hour and half, then finished with heavy cream and butter. This modern version forgoes the béchamel, and focuses on a onion purée that can be whipped up in 15 minutes. This is then strained and added to the drippings leftover from cooking the pork chops.
I'm sure nearly any sauce would have gone well with these guys. I found these double-thick ones at my local butcher. When I cooked them up, the outside turned nearly the color of well-browned bacon, and after a quick finish in the oven, they remained nice and juicy inside. I'm not sure why I thought I needed any sauce at all. But I'm so glad I found this one.
Taking some cues from the notes in Sauces, I added a little tomato paste to the soubise and deglazed the pan with wine instead of stock. But the rest of it is really straightforward, as the small number of ingredients attests to. It just didn't taste like it.
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Posted by Michele Humes, December 10, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the December 10th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
If a dish is a hit as a street food, chances are it will also work well as a cocktail nibble. In How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman takes a popular Indonesian snack and simplifies it for the Western kitchen. Dark-meat chicken and pork loin are marinated overnight in a spicy blend of peanut butter and fish sauce, before being grilled or broiled to charred, smoky perfection.
Don't forget to make a second batch of the marinade to use as a dipping sauce. Accompany, if desired, with slices of raw onion and cucumber.
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Posted by Kristen Swensson, October 20, 2008 at 11:00 AM
On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share a healthy, delicious, and budget-conscious recipe with us. Today, the classic combo of pork and apples.
All too often, when it comes to lean cooking, pork (glorious pork!) is passed over in favor of the omnipresent chicken breast. Maybe it's because healthy eaters associate pig with bacon, ribs, and all things Paula Deen. Maybe chicken just has better PR. Either way, moderate servings of pork can be incorporated in any nutritious diet, and provide valuable variety after weeks, months, and years of (more freakin') poultry.
This week, boneless center-cut pork loin was on sale at my local supermarket. Trimmed of visible fat, it's a decent substitution for expensive pork tenderloin, especially in dishes where it's not featured as the main event. Curried Pork With Apples, pulled from Casual Kitchen (one of my all-time favorite cooking blogs), is a good example of that principle. A neat twist on pork chops and applesauce, the fruit-spice combination makes it more interesting than the average weekday meal, while the meat provides substance and chew for ardent carnivores.
Even better, curried pork can be altered and embellished all kinds of ways. My boyfriend's mom suggested adding raisins for a full-on fall experience, and Casual Kitchen's Daniel believes toasted walnuts sprinkled over the finished product would be a worthy addition. For vegetarians, chickpeas might make a suitable pork substitution, and for pork-phobic dieters (*sigh*), chicken breast could be an option. Ultimately, the variations are endless, so don't be afraid to experiment.
Oh, and next time you're searching for a lean meat, consider the all-powerful pig. There's more to it than meets the bacon. (I don't know what that means, either. But it sounds good.)
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Posted by Lucy Baker, October 16, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jameson are two of my favorite cookbook authors, so when I saw that they had created the cover recipe for the October issue of Cooking Light—Walnut-Crusted Pork Chops with Autumn Vegetable Wild Rice—I knew I had to make it for this week's Cooking from the Glossies post. Besides, I'd been looking for an interesting and new way to prepare wild rice, one of my favorite fall staples.
While the results were hearty, salty, and juicy (more on that in a bit), I first want to point out that there was a typo in the print version of the recipe. The photo clearly depicts a large, bone-in pork chop, while the ingredient list calls for 4-ounce boneless chops. The bone isn't the issue, but the weight is: a 4-ounce piece of meat is a tiny portion, even by "lite" standards! Knowing it had to be wrong, I asked my butcher for 7-ounce boneless chops. (This turned out to be a wise move—Cooking Light has since revised the recipe on their website, and now it calls for 8-ounce bone-in chops. You can use whichever you prefer.)
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Posted by Lucy Baker, October 16, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Here in America we love to argue about food, from chili (should it have beans?), to macaroni and cheese (creamy or crusty?), to bagels (to toast or not to toast?). In France, they like to argue about cassoulet, the classic slow-cooked stew made from white beans and fatty meats. According to Jennifer McLagan, author of this week's Cook the Book selection, Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes, "some add lamb, others tomatoes. Some add broth, and some believe that neither should be included. Then there are endless discussions on how to make the crust."
Jennifer's recipe for cassoulet is smaller than most (it serves 6 to 8, instead of the more traditional 10 to 12), so you can plan an intimate dinner party around it without having to eat the leftovers for the next week. To the white beans, she adds a luscious and dizzying array of meats: pork belly, lamb shoulder, duck confit, and garlic sausages.
Needless to say, this is a rich dish. Serve it with a simple salad and a fruit-based dessert.
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In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we're also giving away five (5) copies of Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes. Enter to win here.
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Posted by Blake Royer, September 30, 2008 at 4:35 PM
I recently had the good fortune of spending an afternoon with a someone well-versed in the art of mushroom hunting who took me on a search for edible fungi in the forest. Hiding under leaves, behind trees, and tucked away in the moss, the volume of mushrooms is inspiring if you know what to look for. On the other hand, I had little idea what would kill me. My regular refrain—"can we eat this one?"—grew rather tiresome. So I trained my hunting efforts on one variety: the chanterelle. Its bright-orange color is easy to spot and makes identification a breeze. By the end of the afternoon we had a whole bagful of them, dirt and leaves still clinging to their undersides.
Much of the mushroom haul ended up simply sautéed and tossed with pasta. But this recipe, adapted from Saveur, was also good. It reminded me a bit of Frisée aux Lardons, which depends on the sharp, bitter frisée to stand up to a warm dressing of rich bacon and a poached egg.
The richness here comes from the heady mushrooms, pancetta, and shallots. A combination of lemon juice and red wine vinegar goes into the sauté pan to pick up all the lovely caramelized bits, then is whisked with olive oil to create a warm vinaigrette. It makes for a lovely fall salad.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, September 26, 2008 at 8:15 PM
It may be a little early in the season to start dolling out the "I'm thankful for's," but there's really isn't a time that we can't be grateful for the porky, fatty cuisine from the Philippines. I owe so much my fiancée; and her family for opening me up to the world of tocino, lumpia, lechon, and adobo—just to name a few. Among all the tasty dishes, I've found a real affinity for the Filipino breakfast meats, one of my favorites being longanisa, a garlic and vinegar-rich pork sausage.
An excellent recipe came my way about a year ago via Marvin over at Burnt Lumpia. Like him, I wanted to create a sausage remnant the ones cooked by my (future) family, and although I'm used to a slightly sweeter version, this recipe pulled it off pretty well.
I usually have longanisa pan-fried alongside a fried egg or garlic fried rice, but they stood up and tasted great on the grill. The heat of the grill added an extra crispness to the casing that first popped in my mouth, then oozed the juicy innards, which brought on these early feelings of thanksgiving.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, September 3, 2008 at 1:15 PM
In Italian, spiedino means 'little spit' and refers to meat grilled on skewers over an open fire. Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from A16 Food + Wine, is for Pork Loin Spiedino with Pine Nut, Garlic, and Currant Soffritto. A soffritto is a combination of aromatic ingredients simmered in olive oil. It can be used as a simple flavor enhancer; a base for other recipes; or a sauce, as it is here.
For this dish, wine director and co-author Shelley Lindgren recommends Magliocco from Calabria, a "muscular" wine with notes of plum, blackberry, clove, and white pepper. If you can't find it, opt for a spicy Nero d'Avola instead.
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In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week we're giving away five (5) copies of A16 Food + Wine. Enter to win here.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 20, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I picked this guy from Bon Appétit mostly because it involves yogurt sauce slathered on pork. It reminded me of the Baked Chicken with Yogurt and Chile Paste I made last year. And as it turns out, they're not just similar; they're almost identical.
Both involve meat covered in a yogurt-cumin sauce that's spiked with something spicy. This one replaces chili paste with the chilies in adobo in the baked version—a swap I completely endorse.
Overall, it wasn't disastrous, but certainly lacked the flavor of the baked version. After the yogurt gets brushed onto the meat, it doesn't marry the meat flavors like the baked version does. By the end, the meat felt lonely. You're supposed to top the pork with guacamole, but that part bothered me, so I skipped it—yet the flavor still needed something. Next time I'll set aside extra sauce at the beginning and drizzle it over the pork at the end.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, July 22, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Rhubarb season generally runs from late spring to early summer, but this year it seems to have lasted a bit longer: the bright red stalks are still available at my weekend farmers market, and I've spotted them at high-end grocery stores such as Whole Foods as recently as a few days ago. As a lover of rhubarb's snappy, tart flavor, I can only hope its recent proliferation is a sign of increasing popularity. If there is enough demand, maybe someday rhubarb will be available year-round. Sure, it won't taste as good in January as it does in June, but baked into a pie, I doubt anyone will complain.
Today’s Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Summer on a Plate by Anna Pump, pairs a chunky rhubarb-honey sauce with a spicy grilled pork tenderloin rubbed with ground sage, fennel, cayenne, and Dijon mustard. If you have time, prepare the rhubarb sauce one day ahead to give the flavors a chance to blend.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, July 18, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Tacos and gyrating meat hold a special place in my heart, making tacos al pastor a super food in my book. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, a vertical broiler has yet to make its way onto my wedding registry. Not to be discouraged, I set out to recreate tacos al pastor the best way I know how: by grilling them.
The deep smokey spiciness provided by guajillo and chipotle chiles mixed with the sweetness of the pineapple came through extraordinarily on the grill. These flavors combined to make a truly delectable taco, leaving me content on the taste part of meal—but the absence of gyration left a bit to be desired on the texture side. What I love about gyrating meat is how the outer layer becomes nice and crisp due to being exposed to the heat; when that layer is sliced off for a sandwich or taco, you get a unique combination of the crunchy outside and tender inside. I was unable to achieve that crunchiness on the grill without totally overcooking the pork, and in the end, a well cooked meat was more important. Even though the grilled tacos al pastor were excellent, they will never be a replacement for the real deal.
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Posted by Blake Royer, July 17, 2008 at 3:30 PM
A few months ago, I featured a recipe from Gourmet for roasted pork tenderloin with a toasted walnut vinaigrette—I loved the way it paired fresh, spicy arugula with the warm, savory dressing. Someone at Gourmet must also love this combination because this month's issue features another tenderloin salad with arugula and nuts. This time the salad is a take on Romesco sauce.
Romesco sauce is a Catalan dish that wonderfully combines almonds, garlic, peppers, chillies, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and sometimes bread. While the ingredients are traditionally bashed together to the thickness of pesto, the elements in this recipe stay separated and are scattered throughout the salad. I found the original recipe overwhelmingly spicy, but I've toned it down a bit in my adaptation by using half the dressing required and bulking it out with olive oil.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, June 23, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from Grill Every Day by Diane Morgan, is for Southeast Asian Pork Satay. The spicy marinade (composed of lemongrass, ginger, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes) can be prepared up to three days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, making it an ideal choice for a busy weeknight family meal. But keep this recipe in mind for your next dinner party as well—it would make a terrific appetizer.
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In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we're giving away five copies of Grill Every Day. Enter to win here.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, June 19, 2008 at 12:30 PM
I love everything about ribs: the smoldering aroma; the dripping sauce; gnawing the last, crispy bits of meat from the end of the bone. But I've always been a bit too intimidated to make them at home. For one thing, I don’t have an outdoor grill. For another, all the spice rubs, pastes, and condiments (soy sauce? ketchup? dry mustard?) were overwhelming, not to mention selecting the type of ribs themselves—babyback, short, or spare? Beef or pork? Whenever I craved a barbecue feast, I'd sooner hop on the subway to Dinosaur than roll up my sleeves in the kitchen.
But Martha Hall Foose, author of this week's Cook the Book selection, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, has me inspired. Today she shares her simple, no-frills recipe for Slow, Low Oven Ribs. Not only is the ingredient list super-short (10 items, including salt and pepper!), but Martha also recommends using Country-style pork ribs, which are relatively inexpensive. Best of all, they can be prepared through the final steps up to a day ahead, then finished just before dinner.
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In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we're giving away five copies of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea. Enter to win here.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, June 13, 2008 at 11:30 AM
On Mother's Day I was thoughtful and asked my Mom what it was she'd most like to have grilled for her, but Father's Day is a whole different beast. Even though my own father isn't much of a griller, I know that I'm destined to be the reason Hallmark produces countless grilling cards. So I thought, "What would could a son or daughter do that would both impress and make me relinquish hold of the grill?" The answer: sausage.
I don't think there's anything else in my repertoire that so consistently causes awe, but in all honesty, sausage is not all that hard to make, and the final reward far outweighs any difficulty or time. Beer Brats seemed especially fitting for Father's Day, packing almost every Father's Day cliché nicely onto a 6" hard roll. Cooking bratwurst in a bath of dark beer and onions adds the perfect slightly bitter compliment to this sweet-spiced sausage. Then, top that off with some ketchup, mustard, pickles or sauerkraut, and the whole thing just explodes with flavor with every bite. I'm not quite there yet, but I know the day one of my offspring make some of these for for me, I'm going to be one proud papa.
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, June 11, 2008 at 6:15 PM
- serves 4 to 8 -
Adapted from Taming the Flame by Elizabeth Karmel.
Ingredients
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, coarsely ground
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons red chile flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon fine sea salt
4 slabs back ribs, about 3 pounds each
Special equipment: disposable aluminum turkey roasting pan
Procedure
1. Make the rub: Combine all the spices in a small bowl. Divide the mixture in half. Put half of the rub in a spice (coffee) grinder or mortar and pestle and grind the spices to a medium consistency. Mix that with the reserved spice rub. (This will make a rub that is easily absorbed by the meat during "rubbing" and still has texture.) Set aside.
2. Make the mop: Mix 1 tablespoon of the dry rub with the apple juice, water, and salt until the salt is dissolved. Set aside.
3. Build a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill, setting up the grill for indirect heat.
4. Remove the silver skin from the back of the ribs, if desired. Sprinkle the ribs liberally with the spice rub and let sit, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Place an aluminum pan on top of the cooking grate.
5. Arrange the ribs on a rib rack. Place the ribs in the aluminum pan on the center of the cooking grate over indirect medium-low heat. Pour 1 cup of the apple juice mop into the drip pan.
6. Grill covered (at about 325°F, if your grill has a thermometer) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the meat is tender and has pulled back from the ends of the rib bones.
7. Leave ribs untended for the first 30 minutes—this means no peeking. Then, using the apple juice mixture, baste or "mop" the ribs every 20 minutes, adding a little more apple juice mop (about 1/4 cup) to the drip pan each time. You will do this twice. When the mop is gone and the juices have accumulated in the drip pan, baste the ribs with the drippings one more time. If the ribs start to burn on the edges, stack them on top of one another in the very center of the foil pan and lower the heat slightly.
8. About 10 minutes before the ribs are done, remove them from the pan and place them on the cooking grate over indirect heat to finish browning and crisp the surface crust. (If your ribs are already crispy and have a caramelized crust on the outside, this last step may not be necessary.)
9. Meanwhile, pour the pan drippings through a fine sieve or fine-mesh strainer into a saucepan and bring to a boil, adding any leftover apple juice mop. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
10. Remove the ribs from the grill and let them rest for 10 minutes before cutting into individual or 2 to 3 rib portions. Serve the ribs with warm drippings on the side.
Posted by Blake Royer, June 10, 2008 at 4:30 PM
This recipe turned out nothing like I imagined it, which is completely my fault because I didn't bother to read it through to the end. "Press the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve," it advised, which quashed my idea that this was going to be a chunky, rustic dish that highlighted in-season rhubarb. I thought I was was going to have a meat-and-vegetable all-in-one dish that could stand on its own and make a satisfying meal. What I ended up with was the pork tenderloin with some ugly-looking cooked-down brown mush that, good thing, the recipe told me to strain.
Anyway, it still tasted good (although it would be even better over creamy polenta with a side of spinach). After the tenderloin gets roasted, rhubarb and pear are cooked down in the same pan, everything is deglazed with a wheat beer, then it's finished with a little honey and butter. It's just a little fussier than the kind of recipe I usually enjoy. The taste of the rhubarb, which is what I wanted to highlight in the first place, was a little lost. I'm still confident that pork and rhubarb would be great together—but I've yet to find that recipe.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, June 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Like Blake, my first experience with kimchi came in a piping hot bowl of soup that our friend Duncan made after returning from Korea. I’ve been addicted for a few years now, but for some reason have never tried to make the soup that first got me hooked. I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the recipe I did find, but it is delicious. Even the fianc—e, who has no particular love for the fermented cabbage, had to admit she loved it. The addition of the sugar helps calm this spicy stew, making it a little less aggressive and more rounded.
Bacon can surely be substituted for the fresh pork belly, though you’ll want to adjust the seasoning because of the added salt. But really, it’s more fun to buy a big hunk of uncured belly. I found mine at the local Asian supermarket for about 2 dollars a pound. So even though they wouldn’t let me get anything less than a pound and a half, I got out for under 4 bucks. I also got to practice removing pig skin with a large knife, which is a good time if I ever knew one.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, May 30, 2008 at 10:15 AM
I can barely control my excitement as I sit here and stare at my Fast Pass for the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, thinking about the enormous amounts of 'cue I'm destined to consume next weekend. The anticipation was a little too much for me handle the other day—I couldn't wait a second longer for some smoke-kissed meat, so I fired up the smoker and threw on a bunch of beautiful racks of spare ribs and was eating pretty five hours later.
I've been partial to Mike Mills's Apple City Ribs both at home and at the BABBP for years now, never finding a good reason to stray from perfection, but I decided to switch it up a bit and tried a recipe from Chris Lilly, pitmaster at Big Bob Gibson's (who makes the best pulled pork that will ever cross your lips). The recipe gave me pause for a second—with its smoke/braise/smoke formula, I questioned the authenticity of it being true 'cue, but then I figured it sounded too delicious to pass up and forged ahead. It ended up that this was a recipe for success—the ribs were succulent, retaining their smokiness while adding a layer of depth with the sweetness from the pineapple braise. The only problem is that they were gone so fast that I'm now left with no 'cue, and with my thoughts trained on the BABBP, I'm coming to the realization that one week is too long to live without more.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, May 12, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I found Food and Wine's Recipes of 2000 as an aging, massive book amongst the library shelves and figured I could find something in there. But it almost has too much to choose from—it’s such a daunting task trying to sort through its hundreds of recipes. There are only pictures for a small percentage of the dishes, and the text is very small. I finally picked out this recipe for mustard and sour cream sauce to go with my pork chops because the sauce sounded wonderful. It uses two different kinds of mustard—something I’d never heard of that before, but it somehow works. The sauce is thick and rich, and the perfect vinegary counterpoint to the chops.
The technique for cooking the pork chops comes straight from Cook’s Illustrated. I’d always been disappointed with pork chops; they would undoubtedly end up dry and flavorless. While brining helps, this method work every time. You start with the chops in a cold pan and then then turn the heat to medium. Once they are browned on one side the heat drops to low and the cover goes on. It’s a little finicky, but by following these directions I’ve gotten moist, flavorful chops every time.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, May 9, 2008 at 3:15 PM
My poor Mom, she bought herself a Weber Q only to be told by her condo board that she can't use it, since the odor of grilling may disturb other residents. So this Mother's Day I decided to ask her what she'd like in order to bring a little bit of grilled joy back into her life. Like any good mother, she quickly responded, "Pork," directly referring to a pulled pork I made for her a couple years back. Seeing as that may not be the most universal holiday meal, I used it as starting point and found a fitting recipe for an Orange, Sage, and Garlic Rubbed Pork Tenderloin.
When assembling the rub, the aroma of orange and sage conjured up memories of Sunday brunches with Mom. Unfortunately, the smells did not translate as well to taste after grilled. The tenderloin was hit or miss with each bite. If a piece had retained enough rub through grilling, it was sweet and succulent, but if not, it was a bit bland. I think this can easily be fixed by either glopping on more rub before cooking or reapplying after moving the tenderloin to the cool side of the grill to finish cooking. I still recommend this as a good choice for Mother's Day, and one of the best parts is it's fast, so you can deliver the two best gifts to mom: food and time together.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 29, 2008 at 4:30 PM
This "mojo" sauce has nothing to do with the word for magic touch, but you could have fooled me: this is one of the most delicious marinades I've had in ages. The recipe comes from Our Latin Table, and describes mojo sauce paired with pork as what Cubans are weaned on and live for. It "might possibly have all the ingredients that make up Cuban cookery," which isn't surprising. The marinade is simply olive oil, garlic, oregano, cumin, and citrus, yet it's far more than the sum of its parts. This stuff tastes good enough to build an entire cuisine on.
It also did wonders for the juiciness of thick cut pork chops, though it may have helped that I also brined them beforehand. But I'm convinced that the acidity of the citrus—traditionally made from sour Cuban oranges, but in this case with a combination of orange and lime juice—makes its way into the chop and tenderizes. Though it wasn't quite warm enough outside to go through the trouble of lighting coals when I made this, it did fine on a very hot cast iron skillet. As soon as summer gets here, I'm keeping some of this marinade very close at hand—it will go fine with that one other Cuban ingredient that mojo doesn't have: rum. Is it warm enough for mojitos yet?
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 22, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Sometimes I find myself in a rut when it comes to quick pasta tomato sauces. The usual canned tomatoes, a few herbs, garlic and onions—it's good, but it's a little boring. I thoroughly enjoy Batali's marinara on a regular basis, which grates carrots into the sauce, but I've been eating it all winter out of the freezer. When it's the middle of summer, I can chop up some juicy market heirloom tomatoes, marinate them with garlic, basil, and olive oil, then serve uncooked with hot linguine. But what about when tomatoes still suck and I'm out of ideas?
This recipe suggests simmering pork sausages in white wine, then using the resulting fat-infused liquid to flavor the sauce. I was further convinced by the use of butter instead of olive oil to begin the onions and garlic, which adds a little richness and creaminess to everything. And finally, freshly shelled peas are appearing at my farmer's market, and this recipe calls for those, too. Once again, Diana Seed's The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces came through in a clutch.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, March 26, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Photo courtesy of Adam Fields
If you love meat and you love sandwiches, then it doesn't get better than a sandwich made by a butcher. Makes sense, right? I mean, if a guy can take apart an animal, he probably knows how to make it taste delicious. That's all I could think about last night as I stood with 11 other "classmates" at a pig butchering class in the Brooklyn Kitchen (a hipster's Williams Sonoma for New Yorkers who love to cook). The butcher, Tom Mylan, was dissecting half of a 200-plus-pound Berkshire pig, and the 12 of us had paid $75 to watch him do it, ask him anything we wanted, and, of course, divvy up the meat at the end of the show.
My question (aside from how I could get his job): If you were going to make a sandwich from this glorious animal, what part would you use and how would you do it?
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 24, 2008 at 4:30 PM
In my family, Easter means a big old ham and lots of leftovers. When the parents hugged us goodbye they sent us on our way with much more ham than a normal person should eat. Instead of just going with the regular old ham sandwiches, we decided to try our hands at the Cuban sandwich. I know there are lots of rules, and I was initially was leery about approaching a sandwich as contentious as this one. Hell, even poor Howie of Top Chef fame (remember him?) got crucified for not pressing his interpretation of the sandwich down.
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Posted by Ed Levine, March 23, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on braised pork. —Ed Levine
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Posted by Ed Levine, March 23, 2008 at 8:00 AM
As today is Easter Sunday, I thought it only appropriate to publish a big ol' roast pork recipe that could be substituted for the big ol' ham you might usually make. This recipe, adapted from the great French butcher cookbook Pork & Sons by Stéphane Reynaud, takes less than 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, so you can start cooking at 10 and have it on the table by 12:30, perfect time for an Easter brunch (or so they tell me). Plus, it's a great, festive one-pot meal.
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 20, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Every time I open Rick Bayless's books, he proves to me that Mexican cooking is more than tacos and burritos. It's not that I didn't already know this--but somehow I'm still surprised when ingredients and flavors I'm used to eating in tortillas end up outside them. His book Mexican Everyday is his most accessible, full of quick meals from salads to soups to meat off the grill.
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 18, 2008 at 4:45 PM
Pork tenderloin is a great cut of meat to cook with—it's simple to prepare, inexpensive, and easily sliced into pleasing medallions for serving. It behaves very well and predictably, being a long cylinder of meat with little fat and tendon. The only problem is, just like that other conveniently-shaped protein that makes its way into so many dishes—the boneless, skinless, chicken breast—the pork tenderloin can often lack flavor. Buying one from a nice well-loved heritage pig rather than a commercial hog does add something, but it's never going to have the porkiness of a bone-in chop, much less a belly or shoulder.
Thankfully, the dressing from this Gourmet recipe packs a serious, unexpected punch. Building on the basic red wine vinegar with garlic and olive oil, it's fortified with the caramelized pan drippings of the roasted tenderloin and thickened with warm toasted walnuts. Arugula and sliced endive are the refreshing bitter counterpoint against the warm pork.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, March 18, 2008 at 2:15 PM
When I have a craving for a really decadent dish—macaroni and cheese, say, or rice pudding—I prefer to make it for myself as opposed to ordering it in a restaurant. This is for two reasons: first, I think that rich, comforting foods are best enjoyed at home; second, when I am the cook, I am in control of the specific ingredients and the portion sizes. The end result is, I believe, always a little bit healthier.
For this week's magazine recipe review I made the orecchiette carbonara with leeks from the April issue of Bon Appétit. Spaghetti carbonara is something I would never eat out, for fear of popping a button off my pants in public. There is just no way to tell how much butter, oil, and bacon fat is being used. I was drawn to the version in Bon Appétit because it didn't use heavy cream (unlike some less traditional carbonaras), and because it called for fresh, seasonal leeks. Also, I happened to have a lot of eggs on hand.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 15, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
I'm on a pork kick with Sunday Supper lately. This is one I've made for a small dinner party and it turned out admirably. I've only ever made it for a dinner party because it's a darn big roast for only one or two people, which is usually the number sitting down for dinner in my house. It's from Seattle chef Tom Douglas's Big Dinners (look at that title—what'd I tell you?), and he recommends serving bread dumplings with it. It's all I can do to manage a roast like this, so I'd probably do something a little less time-consuming, like mashed potatoes. Whatever you serve with it, though, make sure it's gravy-friendly, because even after pouring a quarter of it over the pork, you'll still have an ample supply.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 8, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Each Saturday evening we bring you a Sunday Supper recipe. Why on Saturday? So you have time to shop and prepare for tomorrow.
If you've been following along this week, you might know that I picked up a panini press for the office and have been using it to cook lunchtime sandwiches like a madman. Well, this crazy appliance also doubles as an electric grill, so I'm eager to try my hand at some recipes that require the use of either an outdoor grill or a grill pan on the stove. I figure the press/grill/griddle will work almost as well as a grill pan, which is what I would have to use (if I had one) on such a cold and rainy weekend. This recipe is for a dish that I'm going to try this week—Vietnamese-style grilled pork. While the first half of it requires the use of a stove, it's one that I've only ever finished over coals. The new electric grill worked like a charm for panini, so it's time to force it into some new territory.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, March 7, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I had little chorizo leftover from Monday’s fantastic chorizo, egg and raisin meal, and instead of making that same meal for the third time, I figured I’d try to see what else I could find. Contrary to all rationale, I was still in a taco munching mood, and so I quickly went for the Mexican guide to all things quick and easy, Rick Bayless. This isn’t the first time.
I’ve made this before with just the chorizo and potato, but I decided to finally pony up and get the mushrooms too. For some reason they felt unnecessary before. The potato was already going to add body and the chorizo had all the goodness. The mushrooms certainly don’t lighten up the dish like the raisins did, but they do make things a little more savory and a tad less greasy. It’s odd that it works so well, but I guess that’s just Bayless you.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, March 6, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Monday was a croque monsieur. Tuesday was a ham-and-brie-and-apple sandwich. Yesterday we went vegetarian with a goat cheese, artichoke, and tomato sandwich. Today we're back on the pork tip. Sorry. We're like junkies here at the Serious Eats office. The Catskills Cubano recipe called to us from the pages of this week's featured cookbook, Panini Express, and we couldn't resist. I'd been wanting to make a sandwich on ciabatta to see how it reacted in our new panini press, and this one was pretty darn simple, with no pre-press prep other than chopping some peppers. From there, it was a simple matter of layering on pork and cheese.
The book's author, Daniel Leader, named this a Catskills Cubano in honor of the region in which his bakery is located. It's a slight variation on a traditional Cuban sandwich, in that he calls for pickled jalapeños instead of regular pickles and he uses serrano ham or prosciutto instead of the the more common cured ham used. We riffed on this one a little more, subbing in Hatch green chiles.
Win 'Panini Express'
If you're just now tuning in, you should note that we're giving away five (5) copies of this book here on Serious Eats this week. More details on that here.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, February 20, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the February 6th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
Pork, apple and stilton? That's three food groups! Four if you count the sage leaves. Combine the goodness of these ingredients by trying Jamie Oliver's recipe for old-school pork chops with apples and sage from his book, Cook with Jamie. Although he says the cheese is optional, you know you have to use it.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, February 1, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I’m a little nervous about putting this recipe before this crowd, which probably includes more people with dearly-held opinions about barbecue and tacos than I could find anywhere else. Me, I like pulled pork, but I’m from Texas, so that’s not the brand of barbecue I was raised on; and again, I’m from Texas, so I’ll accept a crispy shell full of ground beef and orange cheese as a “taco” just as happily as I’ll eat carnitas wrapped in a fresh tortilla. In short, people with standards more exacting than mine might argue that this is not real pulled pork and these are not real pork tacos. But recently I fed them to a discerning friend who went back for seconds and thirds, and their excellence has made it hard for us to enjoy pork tacos at our former favorite places, so…I’m going to risk putting this out there.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, January 31, 2008 at 1:45 PM
When I read the comments on my first post about Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.
I realized that I had underestimated the delicacy of the thumbnail biographer’s task. As an educated, experienced woman who brings home the bacon (okay, a small piece of bacon, but still) and cooks it up for her husband every night of the week, I never considered the possibility that I could be somehow insulting Marcella Hazan by writing that she learned to cook to feed her husband (something she herself has said), and I didn’t mean to imply that a woman who teaches herself to cook is necessarily without other accomplishments (such as Hazan’s doctorates in natural sciences and in biology). Heck, even if we didn’t have her amazing career to demonstrate what a formidable woman she is, we have her writing, so full of authority and character it leaves no doubt about the intelligence and strength of personality behind the words. I certainly meant no disrespect! I know most of us cook because we ourselves love food and being in the kitchen, but don’t we love to feed other people, too?
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 24, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I'm sure everyone has their pork chop recipe, since it's a great cut for weeknight dinners—it takes well to quick-cooking and the directions for possible sauces are endless. Bourbon teriyaki, soy-and-honey, fennel seeds with sage and rosemary, cherry barbecue—just a few that have been posted on Serious Eats. It's such a great pan-frying cut, in fact, that it's the featured recipe in that section in Alice Water's marvelous Art of Simple Food. She gives some coaching advice on the cooking technique, then offers up a number of variations, from pressing herbs onto the chops before frying to topping with gremolata, a mixture of chopped parsley, garlic, and lemon zest.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, November 14, 2007 at 1:00 PM
Although the name of today's recipe from Jean-Georges Vongerichten's
Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges is simply called Baby Back Ribs with Barbecue Sauce, it's a little more complex than that. He gives his ribs an Asian touch by cooking them with ginger, chile, and soy sauce and dressing them with barbecue sauce containing hoisin, five-spice powder, orange zest, and soy sauce.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 12, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Bourbon in a teriyaki sauce? Really? I would have passed this recipe up real quick had a.) it not come from Saveur, a magazine whose motto is "Savor a World of Authentic Cuisine," and b.) had I not really needed an excuse to buy more bourbon.
Good thing, too. Although this recipe was created as a covering for roast chicken, it was an absurdly easy coating for my thick-cut pork chops. Under the broiler, the teriyaki sauce caramelized on the chops, creating a luscious weeknight meal. Plus, I only needed a tablespoon of the bourbon for the sauce, meaning there were plenty of leftovers for other practical uses.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 18, 2007 at 1:00 PM
I have a tiny apartment and an equally tiny kitchen.
Scratch that. Depending on how you look at it, I either have a large kitchen with a couch, TV, and bookshelves in it—or a living room with a sink, refrigerator, and stove. Yes, my living room and kitchen are essentially one large room. Oh, New York, New York.
Anyway, with literally a foot of counter space to work with, cooking at home is sometimes a bit of a chore. That's why I went a little crazy the other day here at the Serious Eats office, cleaning up and organizing our underused kitchenette to free up a relatively ample work surface. My plan was to make my National Meatloaf Appreciation Day meatloaf in the toaster oven here. Crazy, I know, but it was either that or the microwave, and not even I am willing to go there.
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Posted by The Gurgling Cod, October 4, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Sunday Night Soups, where each week The Gurgling Cod shows up to offer a soup appropriate to the week’s Sunday Night Football game on NBC. Think of this Pork Stock recipe as the pregame show—it takes a while, so we're posting it today. The recipe for the week's soup will come on Saturday.
This Sunday, the Chicago Bears travel to Wisconsin to face the Green Bay Packers. After dreary NFC East scrimmages and lopsided Belichickian beatdowns, this Norris Division contest is a welcome change. Soupwise, the matchup could hardly be more appealing—the Hog Butchers to the World travel to America's Dairyland. Thus, this tilt demands a soup featuring both pork and cheese. Such a soup exists: French onion soup.
"Where's the pork," you say, echoing the late Clara Peller. "French Onion Soup is made with beef broth."
Mostly, yes, but not in Montreal. At the legendary Au Pied du Cochon, Martin Picard soon realized that the braising liquid that ensued from churning out the eponymous dish could be the basis of a hearty soup. The collagen that comes from the cartilage in the trotter gives the broth a silky body and richness that is impossible to duplicate without trotters.
You may not have to cope with the results of braising hundreds of pigs' feet every week, but pork stock is still a dramatic upgrade over the typical French onion soup. Typical French onion soup is a bistro cliché that often devolves to something queso fundido floating on dishwater. Using a rich pork stock instead results in a soup actually worth eating. This soup is not demanding, but it is time-consuming, which is why we're posting the stock recipe well ahead of game day.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 20, 2007 at 11:00 AM
There is no higher form of pork cooking than slow-smoked North Carolina pulled pork. The result of cooking a pork butt or whole shoulder at a very low temperature for a long time, pulled pork is so named because it's so tender at the end of the cooking process you can and should pull it apart with your hands. There are no reliable shortcuts in making this dish. Just grab a chair, a soft drink or a beer, and enjoy the time it takes to make one of the best-tasting things you can put in your mouth. The recipes below have been adapted from Elizabeth Karmel's book Taming the Flame, which has tons of useful information and tips about grilling as well as some terrific recipes.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 11, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Latin-American cooking often features ground pork. Perhaps the best-known dish using ground pork is pozole, a stew made with hominy, dried corn kernels. Here's a pozole-inspired pork and green chili recipe that is easy to make, filling, and filled with flavor.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 4, 2007 at 11:15 AM
Bobby Flay knows that pork takes well to a little sweetness, and this recipe for grilled pork chops with soy-honey glaze and grilled sweet onions illustrates that point perfectly . The saltiness of the soy sauce is balanced perfectly by the sweetness of the Vidalia onions and the honey. If you want to add a touch more heat to this dish, add another pinch of hot red pepper flakes.
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Posted by Ed Levine, August 13, 2007 at 10:20 AM
This Bruce Aidells recipe from his Complete Book of Pork is not really for chips, but rather patties of ground pork crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. They're like potato chips in that it's downright impossible to eat just one. These "chips" make a great appetizer served with lemon wedges. Or if you want to kick these chips up a notch, garnish each one with a caper and put each one in a lettuce cup. I like the capers packed in salt. Just remember to thoroughly rinse them.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, August 10, 2007 at 5:45 PM
It's a little late today, but I guess I wanted to wait a bit before parting with The Breakaway Cook
for the week. It's a little chilly, windy, and rainy today as I'm writing this so Clay-Pot Ginger Pork with Figs and Pickled Fennel looked like just the antidote. As the book's author, Eric Gower, notes, this recipe takes little in the way of assembly but it does need about two hours to cook—it's a good weekend dish for that reason.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 6, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Jacques Pepin, distinguished private chef, poet, HoJo consultant, and author of some of the thickest tomes of culinary education, also likes to eat on time. Although he’s recently been strutting his stuff on PBS hawking his 2004 cookbook Fast Food My Way, he’s been trying to cut corners for a long time. Or so I found out when I stumbled upon his The Short-Cut Book, which was released in 1990.
Luckily, I unearthed it from the Columbus, Ohio, public library, where it hadn’t been checked out since 1996. Anyway, true to claim, there are some great quick recipes in here. What caught my eye first was the recipe for broiled ham steaks, both because it was surprisingly easy looking and because I had some ready to go in the fridge. The ham steaks I had were probably way too thin. Pepin advocates half-inch steaks, and mine were more like an eighth inch, or just a tad thicker than deli slices. Anyway, this dish is more about the sauce, which is made with relatively common ingredients.
Preparing the ham steaks could not be much simpler. Slather on some of the sauce, place under the broiler, and cook until the sauce caramelizes. Even the sauce requires virtually no time. Just whisk everything together and go.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 19, 2007 at 8:31 AM
Pork tenderloin is an incredibly versatile and easy cut of meat to cook with. You can use it whole or, to really speed up the preparation process, cut into medallions. Tom Valenti, best-selling cookbook author and owner of Ouest restaurant in New York City, came up with this incredibly flavorful recipe for his book Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews, and One-Pot Meals
.
If you don't want to fire up the grill, cook the medallions in a sauté pan over medium-high heat for five to six minutes per side for medium-rare, seven to eight minutes for more well done.
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Posted by Ed Levine, July 6, 2007 at 10:59 AM
Sometimes we all need a dish we can cook and get on the table in 20 minutes, max. When I'm in that "20 minutes from start to finish" frame of mind I often cook slices of boneless pork loin. I either slice the pork loin myself or have my butcher do it. Either way, boneless pork loin cooks fast, takes sauce well, and is easy to make. Here's a recipe for it from Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby's The Thrill of the Grill: Techniques, Recipes, & Down-Home Barbecue
, certainly a contender for the greatest grilling book title ever. If you can't find fresh rosemary, use fresh oregano or thyme instead. Do not use dried rosemary, which has quite a different flavor from fresh.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 29, 2007 at 1:30 PM
Pork and citrus fruit with ratatouille, the final Cook the Book recipe from Pork & Sons, is a great crowd-pleaser, perfect for informal summer dinner parties. Pork and fruit of all kinds are a great combination, and the citrus fruit lends a lovely, clean-tasting acidity to the pork.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 28, 2007 at 1:00 PM
I've been blabbing a lot lately about how much I love pork tenderloin, so it shouldn't come as a complete surprise that I chose to post this Pork & Sons recipe for tenderloins in a fresh herb crust. The herb crust helps to keep the very lean tenderloin meat moist and juicy.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 27, 2007 at 1:00 PM
I made this recipe a few months ago, in early spring, when Pork & Sons first came out, and it was a huge hit at a dinner party. Because the recipe calls for frozen peas, it can be made any time of year. Nine cups of frozen peas may seem like a lot, but in fact the blizzard of peas makes for a lovely presentation.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 27, 2007 at 8:00 AM
Pork tenderloin is beloved by chefs all over North America with good reason. It's extremely lean, very tasty, and easy to cook with. You can grill or roast it whole or sauté sliced medallions to make a quick and satisfying dinner any time of year. Be careful not to overcook it, as pork tenderloin has so little internal fat it needs to retain all the moisture it can during cooking. Here's a recipe for Green Olive-stuffed Pork Tenderloin from my friend Bruce Aidells's brilliant treatise on pork, Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat. Bruce says he was inspired to create this dish by a stuffed duck recipe his chef-restaurateur wife Nancy Oakes (Boulevard in San Francisco) learned from cookbook author Patricia Wells. So in this case success has many mothers and one father.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 26, 2007 at 1:30 PM
This recipe for Pork Chops with Shallots is incredibly simple, takes twenty minutes to make, and is as full of flavor as a slow-cooked pork shoulder. It is French country cooking at its most soulful. Pork & Sons.
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Posted by Ed Levine, June 25, 2007 at 1:00 PM
What I love about this Roast Pork with Thyme and Parsley recipe is that you can serve it hot or cold. That makes it the perfect four-season pork dish. With hot summer days upon us, I would serve it cold with a simple green salad, a litte coleslaw, or some roasted asparagus. Pork & Sons.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, June 22, 2007 at 12:15 PM
The perfect setting requires a serious sandwich, and The Girl & The Fig, in downtown Sonoma, California, serves it up in the form of the Pork Tartine. Pronounced "tarteen," the word is essentially French for anything delicious, layered on a single slice of bread; or, just a fancy way of saying "open-faced sandwich." While many will argue that a proper sandwich requires two pieces of bread, I say why discriminate?
With only one day in wine country, my wife and I wanted to make it count foodwise, so we hit pay dirt when we unearthed Sondra Bernstein's restaurant nestled in the Sonoma Hotel. It's exactly the kind of place you want to eat lunch on a beautiful Northern California day—good food, fresh ingredients, and most important, an outdoor patio.
Great bread is the biggest endorsement for an open-faced sandwich. One giant thick slice of a good bread allows you to fully appreciate the chewiness that would be lost with two thinner slices of grilled bread—and two slices of thick bread is just too much.
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Posted by Alaina Browne, June 18, 2007 at 1:15 PM
Chef and cookbook author Bruce Aidells knows and loves pork as evidenced by his book, Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing, and Cooking the World's Favorite Meat. Here are a couple of his tips for preparing grilled pork chops, followed by his recipe for Grilled, Brined, Fresh Herb-Coated Pork Chops.
Grilling pork chops:
For best results, I grill with a covered kettle-type charcoal grill or a covered gas-fired grill. Covered grills allow for better heat regulation and flare-ups are damped when the cover is on.
How to put flavor and juiciness into grilled pork chops:
Grilled pork chops need a little help to make them flavorful and juicy. The simplest way to ensure juicy chops and boost flavor is with a "flavor brine," which is nothing more than a solution of water, salt, and a sweetener such as brown sugar or molasses and sometimes herbs and spices. By bathing chops for 4 hours or more in a brine solution, the meat soaks up liquid and muscle fibers swell and become firmer. The result is juicy pork even when slightly overcooked. More flavor can be added to brined chops by then coating them in a spice rub. Even unbrined pork chops are improved by rubbing with salt, pepper, and various spices.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, May 17, 2007 at 5:00 PM
We've done french fries, chicken salad, and braised carrots so far from Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen. Today, I thought we'd offer something a little more meaty. And since these thyme-glazed baby back ribs looked so good, I thought they'd do the trick.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 13, 2007 at 1:15 PM
The fifth and final featured recipe from On Top of Spaghetti takes a bit longer than the other dishes highlighted earlier this week. That's why I've saved it for Friday. That way, you have time to shop for and prepare it on a lazy Sunday, which might explain its title. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Pork and pasta is, for me, an unparalleled combination.
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