Monday, April 25, 2011
Hiatus...
Ok, it's not really a hiatus, but I have been super busy with the end of school approaching, a mid-term for my M.A. class, traveling to see in-laws, and everything else that's going on. I promise, more posts will be forthcoming soon, just know that I have a new obsession--homemade bread. All of you will get to benefit from my miss-steps in the kitchen (like tonight's bread tower). Once I've gotten the hang of this, I assure you, recipes and photos will return.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Kitchen Confidential: Perspectives From the Other Side
Last night, with a hot bath and a nice glass of wine, I finished reading Anthony Bourdain's industry-rocking memoir Kitchen Confidential. I have pretty much the best husband ever, because he gave me this book along with these gems for my birthday last week. Since I love food and snarky television hosts, I pretty much heart every aspect of Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations. So I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading the book and realized that the same irreverent and self-depreciating tone that propels his show are captured perfectly in the book. As I began reading, I felt as if a tiny Anthony Bourdain were nestled deep within my brain telling me stories from his past indiscretions. I'm giving you fair warning now: if you have a weak stomach, if you're easily offended by strong language, if mention of heavy drug use and abuse is going to be off-putting, this is so NOT the book for you. But, if you're a true and passionate lover of food--all food--and you have a deep and abiding respect for the real people who bring that food to you, who prepare it, and love it, and dedicate their entire lives to fixing it just right for you, then this book is a must read.
Essentially, Bourdain just tells his story. He is upfront about the fact that he is far from a model student, chef, or human being. He tells you how he first fell in love with food, and how he fell into the restaurant business. But, while he tells all the nitty gritty, sometimes terrifying tidbits about the most mysterious room of a restaurant (for diners anyway)--the kitchen--the reader quickly realizes that this is a man motivated by a deep, pure love of food. A man who is passionate about what he does, why he does it, and the people he does it with. He is, as they say in his business, a chef's chef. That said, his communication is so upfront and honest, it's easy for those of us who are not in the industry to willingly follow him in this journey through 30 years of cuisine.
I think my favorite part though was his final chapter. This book was written in 1999, before his TV show, before the cult of personality that has grown to dominate American foodom. In his final chapter I got to experience Tokyo with him for the first time. Any regular viewer of his TV show sees him as a well-traveled, highly experienced globe trotter, but the last chapter tells a different story. It shows a confident, secure chef being pushed into going to Tokyo to help fashion the Japanese branch of the New York restaurant Les Halles. It shows his confidence quickly shattered by the thought of traveling half-way around the globe and stepping into a French man's kitchen to teach him French cuisine. But my favorite thing is that it shows him fall in love with Japanese and Asian culture for the first time. It was like reading your grandparent's love letters from when they began dating or watching a home video of Slash being given his first guitar--entertaining, enthralling, and so enviable.
It is the kind of book that must be read with an open mind, a hot bath, and a great glass of wine.
Essentially, Bourdain just tells his story. He is upfront about the fact that he is far from a model student, chef, or human being. He tells you how he first fell in love with food, and how he fell into the restaurant business. But, while he tells all the nitty gritty, sometimes terrifying tidbits about the most mysterious room of a restaurant (for diners anyway)--the kitchen--the reader quickly realizes that this is a man motivated by a deep, pure love of food. A man who is passionate about what he does, why he does it, and the people he does it with. He is, as they say in his business, a chef's chef. That said, his communication is so upfront and honest, it's easy for those of us who are not in the industry to willingly follow him in this journey through 30 years of cuisine.
I think my favorite part though was his final chapter. This book was written in 1999, before his TV show, before the cult of personality that has grown to dominate American foodom. In his final chapter I got to experience Tokyo with him for the first time. Any regular viewer of his TV show sees him as a well-traveled, highly experienced globe trotter, but the last chapter tells a different story. It shows a confident, secure chef being pushed into going to Tokyo to help fashion the Japanese branch of the New York restaurant Les Halles. It shows his confidence quickly shattered by the thought of traveling half-way around the globe and stepping into a French man's kitchen to teach him French cuisine. But my favorite thing is that it shows him fall in love with Japanese and Asian culture for the first time. It was like reading your grandparent's love letters from when they began dating or watching a home video of Slash being given his first guitar--entertaining, enthralling, and so enviable.
It is the kind of book that must be read with an open mind, a hot bath, and a great glass of wine.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Crock-Pot Dinners: Pork Tenderloin
Recently Clint and I attended a wedding back in Longview, TX. The wedding was beautiful--held outside in a vineyard--,and I really enjoyed seeing and hanging out with some old friends. I wish I could have spent more time with everyone. While noshing away at the reception, a few friends from high school and I began talking about the joys of crock-pot cooking. Working as a teacher, being able to toss a few things into the crock-pot in the morning and come home to a "home cooked" meal is awesome. What's even more awesome is the fact that Clint is usually the one tossing the things in the crock-pot, so crock-pot days (or weeks, as we've deemed this one) essentially mean I have very little cooking to do when I get home. Since we just got back from Spring Break, I'm definitely ok with a few diminished household duties.
As we were planning this week's menu--yes, we're that couple. If you're not in the habit, I highly recommend it, both from a diet and financial standpoint--, both of us agreed that a week of crock-potting would be a welcome change. We both love cooking, but especially right now (when both of us are so busy with school/work), it's nice to not have to spend an hour in the kitchen every night. Tonight's dinner was our first attempt to do pork in a crock pot. I was a little hesitant just because I wasn't sure how a tenderloin would stand up to 4 hours of heat (especially since tenderloin is a fairly quick-cooking cut). I can now say with 100% positivity that the pork tenderloin we ate for dinner tonight ranks in the top 3 pork tenderloins I've ever eaten. I can't actually remember numbers 1 and 2, but my dad is a beast in the kitchen and on the grill, so I'm assuming that his get the top 2 spots. In fact, as Clint and I sat down to dinner, I remarked that the whole meal reminded me of summer. A mix of squash, zucchini, and red onion cooked en papillote (sort of) in a skillet accompanied the tenderloin and its jus. It was perfect. A great way to herald the coming summer (38 days left of school!)
Originally I found this recipe online, but because I'm a tinkerer by nature, we had to make adjustments. I've also included the "recipe" (if you can even call it that) for the veggies. They're about as easy as you can get, and they look/taste great.
Pork Tenderloin (easily serves 4, or with ample leftovers)
Ingredients
1 (2-3 lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat
1 envelop dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 C water
1 1/2 C red wine (we used the left overs from the Norton we picked up at Enoch's Stomp)
3 Tbsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp rosemary
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Supplies
Crock-pot
Crock-pot liners (if you're a frequent crock-potter and you're not using liners, shame on you! It means no clean up.)
Heavy-bottomed saute pan
Process
1. After the tenderloin has been trimmed to remove all excess fat, pat dry the meat and season on all sides with salt and pepper.
2. On medium high heat, sear off all edges of the tenderloin. You're not cooking the thing, so don't spend too long on this. You just want a little color and to seal in the juices.*
3. Place the crock-pot liner in the crock-pot and put the tenderloin in the pot.
4. Add the dry ingredients covering the top of the loin.
5. Add the wet ingredients and garlic to the pot. Try to get as much of the garlic to stay on the loin as possible.
6. Cover and cook on low for 4-4.5 hours.
7. Remove the loin and let rest for about 10 minutes on a large cutting board. It will be very juicy, so expect a little juice to run over the side of the board. If you want to avoid this, make a ring around the loin using rolled up paper towels about 3-4 inches away on all sides.
8. Slice the loin in 3/4 inch slices and plate with the au jus on top (or in a cup on the side for dipping)
9* If you are trying to dress this up, after pulling the loin, put the au jus in the saute pan over medium high to high heat reducing it slightly. Then, use about 1 Tbsp corn starch tempered with hot water (add the water to the starch, not other way around) to thicken the sauce stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until desired consistency. You don't have to do this, but it will thicken the sauce a bit so that it is a little more noticeable on the plate.
*You don't necessarily have to sear the loin to ensure a juicy cut, but the searing also adds a little color and prevents the finished product from taking on the gray-ish color that pork can acquire during cooking.
Easy Summer Vegetables (Comfortably serves 2)
Ingredients
1 yellow squash, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 zucchini squash, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 small to medium sized purple onion (I know they're technically called red onions, but come on, they're clearly purple) cut into about 8 large chunks
Olive oil
2-3 Tbsps Texas Seasoning Salt (recipe available on blog) or Tony's seasoning
Supplies
2 medium sized pieces of non-stick aluminum foil
Saute pan
Medium mixing bowl
Process
1. Heat saute pan on medium high heat.
2. In a medium mixing bowl combine squashes and onion with enough olive oil to lightly coat (1-2 Tbsp) and seasoning salt, mixing with hands or wooden spoon to ensure even coating.
3. Dump mix onto 1 sheet of aluminum foil, collecting veggies toward center.
4. Place other sheet of foil on top and seal edges with at least two folds on each side, tight enough so any liquid will not escape. (This is a poor man's en papillote--usually used for fish/poultry, I think it works great on veggies)
5. While you can toss the whole bundle on the grill if so inclined, we usually just pop the whole thing into the saute pan and cook for about 4 minutes before flipping (carefully) and cooking an additional 3 minutes.
6. Carefully, remove the bundle, unwrap, and serve.
As far as actual in-the-kitchen cooking time, this whole meal took about 15 minutes to come together. We also had some rosemary bread to soak up the au jus. We're bread people, so every meal usually has some sort on the plate, but because of this sauce, you'll want/need something if for no other reason, then to become a vehicle for sauce-to-mouth transmission.
As we were planning this week's menu--yes, we're that couple. If you're not in the habit, I highly recommend it, both from a diet and financial standpoint--, both of us agreed that a week of crock-potting would be a welcome change. We both love cooking, but especially right now (when both of us are so busy with school/work), it's nice to not have to spend an hour in the kitchen every night. Tonight's dinner was our first attempt to do pork in a crock pot. I was a little hesitant just because I wasn't sure how a tenderloin would stand up to 4 hours of heat (especially since tenderloin is a fairly quick-cooking cut). I can now say with 100% positivity that the pork tenderloin we ate for dinner tonight ranks in the top 3 pork tenderloins I've ever eaten. I can't actually remember numbers 1 and 2, but my dad is a beast in the kitchen and on the grill, so I'm assuming that his get the top 2 spots. In fact, as Clint and I sat down to dinner, I remarked that the whole meal reminded me of summer. A mix of squash, zucchini, and red onion cooked en papillote (sort of) in a skillet accompanied the tenderloin and its jus. It was perfect. A great way to herald the coming summer (38 days left of school!)
Originally I found this recipe online, but because I'm a tinkerer by nature, we had to make adjustments. I've also included the "recipe" (if you can even call it that) for the veggies. They're about as easy as you can get, and they look/taste great.
Pork Tenderloin (easily serves 4, or with ample leftovers)
Ingredients
1 (2-3 lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat
1 envelop dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 C water
1 1/2 C red wine (we used the left overs from the Norton we picked up at Enoch's Stomp)
3 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp rosemary
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Supplies
Crock-pot
Crock-pot liners (if you're a frequent crock-potter and you're not using liners, shame on you! It means no clean up.)
Heavy-bottomed saute pan
Process
1. After the tenderloin has been trimmed to remove all excess fat, pat dry the meat and season on all sides with salt and pepper.
2. On medium high heat, sear off all edges of the tenderloin. You're not cooking the thing, so don't spend too long on this. You just want a little color and to seal in the juices.*
3. Place the crock-pot liner in the crock-pot and put the tenderloin in the pot.
4. Add the dry ingredients covering the top of the loin.
5. Add the wet ingredients and garlic to the pot. Try to get as much of the garlic to stay on the loin as possible.
6. Cover and cook on low for 4-4.5 hours.
7. Remove the loin and let rest for about 10 minutes on a large cutting board. It will be very juicy, so expect a little juice to run over the side of the board. If you want to avoid this, make a ring around the loin using rolled up paper towels about 3-4 inches away on all sides.
8. Slice the loin in 3/4 inch slices and plate with the au jus on top (or in a cup on the side for dipping)
9* If you are trying to dress this up, after pulling the loin, put the au jus in the saute pan over medium high to high heat reducing it slightly. Then, use about 1 Tbsp corn starch tempered with hot water (add the water to the starch, not other way around) to thicken the sauce stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until desired consistency. You don't have to do this, but it will thicken the sauce a bit so that it is a little more noticeable on the plate.
*You don't necessarily have to sear the loin to ensure a juicy cut, but the searing also adds a little color and prevents the finished product from taking on the gray-ish color that pork can acquire during cooking.
Easy Summer Vegetables (Comfortably serves 2)
Ingredients
1 yellow squash, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 zucchini squash, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1 small to medium sized purple onion (I know they're technically called red onions, but come on, they're clearly purple) cut into about 8 large chunks
Olive oil
2-3 Tbsps Texas Seasoning Salt (recipe available on blog) or Tony's seasoning
Supplies
2 medium sized pieces of non-stick aluminum foil
Saute pan
Medium mixing bowl
Process
1. Heat saute pan on medium high heat.
2. In a medium mixing bowl combine squashes and onion with enough olive oil to lightly coat (1-2 Tbsp) and seasoning salt, mixing with hands or wooden spoon to ensure even coating.
3. Dump mix onto 1 sheet of aluminum foil, collecting veggies toward center.
4. Place other sheet of foil on top and seal edges with at least two folds on each side, tight enough so any liquid will not escape. (This is a poor man's en papillote--usually used for fish/poultry, I think it works great on veggies)
5. While you can toss the whole bundle on the grill if so inclined, we usually just pop the whole thing into the saute pan and cook for about 4 minutes before flipping (carefully) and cooking an additional 3 minutes.
6. Carefully, remove the bundle, unwrap, and serve.
As far as actual in-the-kitchen cooking time, this whole meal took about 15 minutes to come together. We also had some rosemary bread to soak up the au jus. We're bread people, so every meal usually has some sort on the plate, but because of this sauce, you'll want/need something if for no other reason, then to become a vehicle for sauce-to-mouth transmission.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)