Pork Tenderloin Judi

Tenderloin with Pears and Port

To me, cooking always seems to be a tussle between architect Mies van der Rohe's, "Less is more" and chef Pasquale Carpino's, "The more you put in, the more you find!" 

This was brought into focus at a recent luncheon with several friends. A beautiful Pear Salad was brought out for Judi. It featured a lovely pear standing upright in the center of greens. Later in the meal, Judi offered me a taste of the pear. (Now here I should confess that this pear was probably very good in the salad setting.) Unfortunately, when my brain processed the impressively tinted centerpiece pear, it expected a softly subtle flavor, perhaps hinting of a fine Port. Instead, the pear seemed to have been marinated in a harsh salad dressing with a myriad of confusing and overwhelming spices! I smiled and said something like, "Hmmm, very interesting, I can't seem to identify the flavoring." (Sorry, Judi. I always try to be polite.) My impolite interior voice was screaming, "WTF, how could anyone do this to a pear!" Because pears are among my very favorite fruits, I probably am just a touch overprotective! At that very moment, I decided to place a properly braised pear into an affable meal and name it for Judi, who deserved a better pear!

We are going to put a slightly pungent rub on a pork tenderloin and roast it with sautéed vegetables and a very little liquid in the pan, almost braising it. Meanwhile we are going to braise a pear in Port and very little else. Then, while the meat rests, we are going to combine the liquids and cook them down into a thin syrup and spoon over the pork, vegetables and pears. I have some homemade beef stock on hand, so I will use that as my liquid.

Douro Valley, Portugal

When I was younger, Port always conjured up visions of a Wino sitting in a gutter and drinking from a bottle in a paper bag. That was well before I really learned of Port. If you are unfamiliar with the pleasures of a fine Port, you are in for a grand discovery.  Port, or Porto, is a fortified, slightly sweetish wine, only from the Douro Valley in Portugal. Other wines, most sickeningly sweet and cloying, from all over the world, are sometimes called Port. Stay away from these. 

Vintage Porto is only made in certain years (when the stars and grapes align). For this meal I'm using a rather recent Vintage Porto. You could cellar this wine for a lot longer than I have left to live, so I'm drinking it now! It is very good and not overly expensive. A good Porto can be very expensive. Sip on this in the evening while watching 8½ and experience The Good Life.

Equipment:

You will need a large sauté pan for the vegetables, a medium, shallow roasting pan for the meat, and a small sauce pan, just wide enough to hold a pear.

Ingredients:

Raw Ingredients

For the Pork

1 Pork Tenderloin

2 large Mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 small Onion, diced

1 clove Garlic, minced

4 to 6 oz. Cauliflower broken into small florets

¼ cup Old Bay^™ *

splash of Port

½ cup of stock or water

2 Tbs. Butter

1 Tbs. Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

For the Pear

1 Bosc Pear, not too ripe

Everything Prepped

¼ cup stock or water

1 tsp Brown Sugar

½ cup quality Porto

¼ tsp Lemon Zest

1 small Cinnamon stick

pinch salt

* you can rub the tenderloin with anything you prefer. I am choosing not to use certain spices that I would normally, such as cinnamon, because in this meal, it is already in the Pear Sauce and so there would be an over-abundance of this flavor if it were on the Pork too. We want a contrast here.

Method:

1 Rub meat with Old Bay^™ seasoning. Preheat oven to 375^o.

2 Sauté Mushrooms in the Butter and Oil until they start to color, then add Cauliflower, Onions, Garlic, salt & pepper and sauté for a couple minutes more. 

Saute Vegetables

Add a splash of Porto and ½ cup Stock. Bring to a simmer and pour into shallow roasting pan. Place tenderloin on top. 

Ready for the Oven

Roast for about 20 minutes, then turn the Pork, also turn cauliflower and add a little more liquid if needed. Check again after 10 more minutes: you want a small amount of liquid to be always in the pan, but not too much. Total roasting time is about 40 minutes. Pork should be 160^o . Try not to overcook this cut.

3 Meanwhile, peel Pear and slice into quarters lengthwise, remove stem and core area. Bring stock to boil in small sauce pan dissolving Brown Sugar, then add Port, Cinnamon stick, Lemon Zest and pinch of salt and bring to the edge of a boil, add pear slices and reduce heat. 

Braising Pears

Simmer until Pear just yields to a fork. A Bosc Pear, depending on its ripeness,  will hold up to probably 15 minutes of braising. A Bartlett will tend to cook fast, so watch these carefully. You don't want pear mush. Turn Pears a few times to color all sides. When Pear is ready, remove and reserve. Discard Cinnamon Stick but keep cooking liquid simmering.

4 When Pork is finished, remove it and the Mushrooms and Cauliflower to a plate with the Pear, cover with foil and keep warm for about 5 minutes.

5 Strain remaining juices from roasting pan into the simmering Pear braising liquid and reduce this sauce over high heat until it is the consistency of a thin syrup, correct seasoning.

6 Slice the tenderloin into medallions, surround with Pears and Vegetables and spoon sauce over meat and Pears. Serve with a soft wine. I've chosen the 2007 Masi Ripasso Veronese, a good food-friendly wine: smooth and simple on the palate!

Served here with home-pureed Butternut Squash

Charlie Campanelle Update

Sam, Charlie (the meal) and Sean

No, that's not Charlie (the kid) but it is Charlie (the meal). To see if he still liked it, I thought I would try the meal out on Sean and his friend Sam (that's Sam on the left). I feed them every so often. It was still appealing to them, but I think 13-year-olds prefer their sauce smoother. Next time I'd use the hand blender before I added the beef!

Gemelli con Funghi e Lenticchie

One of the fondest memories of my wife, Sandy, was when she used to tell me that I was only allowed one pontificating complaint each day. So far, I think, I have avoided any in this blog. But not today! A person who says "I only drink merlot (insert any type of wine)", no matter what meal I have prepared, is one who does not understand that wine is a food. To that person, wine is a drink. I have no ill feelings toward the poor soul, just pity. For example: to order your wine at a restaurant before deciding on your food is as mysterious to me as putting ketchup on everything you eat. Something a child might do, but an adult?? Unless, of course, you choose your meal to accompany that fine wine you ordered from the list.

1999 Brunello di Montalcino

OK, I'm done whining Sandy, I promise. To highlight the "wine is food" thought, this month's recipe has been created to accompany a wine. While rummaging around in my wine cellar, I came across a 1999 Brunello. As it is now 2011, this wine should be ready for drinking. Brunello is made from 100% Sangiovese grape grown in the arid region around the ancient town of Montalcino, and is thereby known as Brunello di Montalcino. It has a DOCG designation. When everything aligns, a magnificent wine is produced. Outstanding recent vintages for this wine are 1999, 2001, 2005 (not outstanding but very good), and the year that may be best of all: 2006. The 2006 is just emerging, and hard to find at this writing, but well worth your interest. As it will have to age for a decade or more, my chances of actually tasting this fabulous vintage are slim, but please enjoy it for me!

Gemelli

Such a wine deserves a rich and savory meal for it to fully blossom on your palate. So I determined to put together something with earthy flavors. My two earthy favorites are lentils and mushrooms. Hence this dish began to assemble in my mind. Now, how to combine this sauce with pasta? We'll need a solid shape to mix with the mushrooms. At first I thought of gnocchi, but I wasn't sure the texture would complement the mushrooms. Then I remembered Gemelli: Perfect! It is solid enough to stand up to the sauce, thin enough to compliment the mushrooms. Gemelli (twins) seems to be two strands of pasta twisted together, double helix-like. In reality, it is extruded in one piece today. Gemelli also satisfies me on the secondary level by "twinning" with the wine! Alright, I realize that it is actually complementing the wine, but I don't know of any Yin-Yang pasta, so grant me a little poetic license.

To enhance the mushroom flavor, we should work with a variety of fresh mushrooms and also some dried porcini mushrooms. I was uncertain about adding meat. I chose to add a little Italian sausage, but I'm sure this can be omitted if you add some "heat" spices to the dish, without making it too hot, for then it would best accompany a cold beer!

Some Ingredients

Ingredients:

1/2 medium Onion, diced

1 small Orange Pepper (or 1/4 cup of a big one), diced

1 clove Garlic, minced

1/4 cup dried Porcini mushrooms

4 oz. mixed, flavorful Mushrooms (I used Oyster, Shiitake and Portabella), roughly chopped

2 links hot Italian Sausage

1/4 lb Lentils

2 Tbs. Tomato Paste

28 oz. can of crushed Tomatoes

1 tsp dried Parsley

1 tsp dried Basil

splash of Brandy

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste (I didn't need to add any)

1/4 lb Gemelli Pasta

1 bottle superb vintage Brunello di Montelcino

Equipment:

2 cup Bowl to soak Mushrooms

funnel fitted with a coffee filter

3 Quart Pan for cooking Lentils, then for cooking Pasta

Deep Pan (Fricassee is perfect) for browning Sausage, then for Sauce

Wine Decanter

Method:

Prep 1: Carefully decant the wine about four hours before you intend to eat. This wine will have lees in the bottom of the bottle, so be gentle. (If you taste a little now, you will see how it opens up as it airs.) Place decanter in a cool place. (I placed it back in my wine cellar, which is 50 degrees F at this time of year. Return the decanter to the dining room about 1/2 hour before you eat, and the wine will be at the perfect temperature.

Sausages and Lentils

Prep 2: Soak dried mushrooms in about 1 cup of warm water for one hour. Strain mushrooms, but retain liquid. Wash mushrooms to remove any grit. Then mince them. Pass the liquid through a coffee filter, and retain. (I keep a box of #2 filters around because they fit nicely into a funnel and have a million uses. It's better than cheese cloth for 90% of recipes.)

Prep 3: Brown Sausages in a little Olive Oil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Don't overcook them: they're going to cook for another hour in the sauce. Remove them and slice about 1/4 inches thick. Pour fat out of pan, but leave the darkened bits on the bottom.

1: Wash Lentils and add them to a pot of 3 or 4 cups boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, lower to simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Then strain almost all the water out and place Lentils in a bowl.

Porcini drained & minced

2: While the Lentils are cooking, sauté Onions and Orange Peppers in a little Olive Oil in the Sausage pan until they are translucent, then add the garlic and sauté for another minute or two, then add a splash of Brandy and, while the alcohol evaporates, scrape all that sausage goodness off the bottom of the pan. Then add the chopped, fresh Mushrooms and gently sauté for another 5 minutes.

Sauté Onions

Adding Mushrooms

3: Push vegetables to one side of pan, add a little olive oil, and then the Tomato Paste and mix with the oil, stir constantly for about 5 minutes until paste has caramelized. If possible, position pan so that flame is under Paste and not mushrooms.

Caramelize Paste: important step!

4:  Then mix the Paste with vegetables and add Tomatoes. Raise heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer the sauce. Stir in the dried spices, minced reconstituted Porcinis, Sausage slices and Lentils. Let this simmer for at least one hour. Watch it carefully. Stir in a little retained mushroom liquid from time to time to keep the sauce at perfect consistency. Near the end of the cooking time, adjust seasoning.

Final Sauce simmering

5: Boil water and add Gemelli. This pasta takes longer to cook, usually 15 minutes. About a minute before Gemelli is finished, strain it and add to sauce. Mix completely and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes in the sauce. This pasta will retain its shape and firmness.

6: Serve with Pecorino Romano Cheese generously grated over each plate and enjoy with your Brunello di Montelcino!  -Love, Dave

Loin Lamb Chops (Marinated)

Lamb, poor lamb. It is one of the most tender of meats but lots of people just don't like its flavor. In the summer, when I'm cooking for a crowd, Lamb Souvlaki is always a big hit. Some folks say, "I usually don't like lamb, but this is delicious!" Now why is that? Well, it's the marinade! The Greeks have been cooking lamb for millennia and they have perfected a beautiful marinade for lamb. In fact, I believe it is very lamb-centric. Beef Souvlaki is what you usually find at a restaurant, but I'm not sure the marinade works with beef. Chicken Souvlaki just makes me shudder. Sorry to those of you who replace everything with chicken ;)

Summertime Grilling Legs of Lamb for Souvlaki

Now let's consider the Lamb Loin Chops. They are those little T-bones, usually cut about an inch, or more, thick. They are succulent and tender and really can be grilled just as they are. Two chops makes a nice serving. Here I have combined the heavenly flavor of souvlaki marinade with these chops! You get a meal that can be thrown together very quickly, if you remember to marinate them overnight!

Ingredients:

This inexpensive Olive Oil works fine for marinade

4 thick loin lamb chops

Marinade:

1          lemon

1/4       cup      chopped green pepper

1/2       medium onion, chopped

1          clove    garlic, chopped

2          tsp        oregano

2          tsp        salt

1          tsp        pepper

1          cup      olive oil

Mix marinate ingredients together and pour over lamb chops in a container just large enough to hold them. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. 

Take out at least an hour before you're ready to cook them. Clean off marinade pieces.

They could be grilled, but this is not grilling season on the Niagara Frontier, so I will oven broil them. You should prepare your broil pan with some non-stick spray, although you probably won't need much, since the marinade oil coats the lamb so well.

Everybody's broiler is at a different height from the food, so my timing is for my broiler. Unless you put your rack real low, about 6 minutes per side should give you a perfectly even pink interior. You can check with an instant-read thermometer if you're worried.

My broiler height, the flash hid the flame! 

Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil, and let sit 5 minutes before serving.

Here I have served each chop on a slab of feta. The flavors work very well. In the picture I have cooked some brown rice with small carrot dice and then stirred in some fresh parsley and freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Also shown are a couple spears of pineapple soaked in Grand Marnier. (Wintertime fruit!)

Serve with a crisp white Greek wine!

CHARLIE CAMPANELLE

Charlie Campanelle was my grandson’s closest friend, back when they were about 8 or 9 years old. When I saw Campanelle (little bells) pasta in the store one day, and also had a leftover strip steak to reinvent, I decided to make a dish named after Charlie and have him over for dinner. My grandson Sean loved the meal, but we were never able to schedule a dinner to feed it to Charlie! He’s moved away now, so it will be forever a meal never tasted by its epitome! This is a very savory and delicious dish. The sauce is not quite Italian, not quite beef stew, and it is not quite obvious that it hides leftovers! Certainly you could use any leftover meat with this: even add peas or beans!


Campanelle Pasta (bell)



Charlie & Sean when they were imps





Ingredients:



½ lb Campanelle pasta

4 Tbs Olive Oil

4 oz Pancetta, diced

½ Onion, minced

1 stalk Celery, diced

1 small Carrot, diced

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 shot Brandy

½ cup Dry Red Wine (something you would serve with steak)

4 Ripe Plum Tomatoes, peeled & chopped*

2 tsp dry Basil

1 Tbs Sugar

Freshly grated Nutmeg

1 Qt Beef Stock (preferably your own)

1 grilled Strip Steak

1 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbs Flour

2 Tbs soft Butter

¼ cup fresh Parsley, chopped

¼ cup fresh Basil, snipped into small pieces

Freshly Grated Pecorino Romano

Salt & Pepper

Most of the Ingredients

Method:

1 Dice pancetta and all vegetables, but keep garlic separate. Remove fat or gristle from the steak and slice into quarter-inch thick pieces.

Slice and Dice!

Bring oil to moderate heat in a deep fry pan. Sauté pancetta, onions, carrots and celery for about five minutes, stirring regularly. Now add garlic and stir for a few minutes.

Saute the pancetta & veggies

2 Add Brandy and let alcohol boil off, or ignite and burn it off. Add tomatoes, sprinkle with some salt and cook vigorously until they have completely broken down. (* This is not tomato season on the Niagara Frontier, so I have substituted a 1 pound can of high quality chopped tomatoes.)

break down tomatoes

3 Now add the wine, stock and Worcestershire and a little more salt if the stock is unsalted. Bring to a boil and add the meat, dry basil, nutmeg, sugar and some pepper. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for two hours.

Sauce ready to simmer

4 Meanwhile, mix butter and flour thoroughly to form a paste. Also snip fresh parsley and fresh basil.

Fresh Herbs and Butter-Flour

5 Toward the end of the simmer, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the Campanelle, cooking as advised on package (probably 10-11 minutes) but do not overcook or the bell shape will be lost!

6 Just before the pasta is finished, whisk the butter-flour paste into the sauce to thicken. Then add the fresh herbs and correct seasoning.

7 Drain the pasta and either add it to the sauce, mixing thoroughly and plate it this way, or place pasta on a large platter and pour the sauce over it.

Charlie Campanelle (the meal)

8 Serve with the same wine (I chose a lovely Barbera d’Asti here) and grate Pecorino Romano cheese over the dish.

A REFLECTIVE MOMENT

Just a breather here before my next recipe. Yesterday we buried my Uncle Ted. He was 95 years old and had a complete, zestful life. (btw, attending the funeral was his older brother who is now 98!)
This sad day led me to reflect on some very happy times I had while growing up. Thinking back on those days, I can remember spending summers at his house with my cousins Bob & Dale who are 2 and 1 year older than me, respectively. I'm sure I didn't spend entire summers there but the memories are so strong that it certainly seems that way.
And then something hit me! I had two wonderful uncles who were great cooks! In the days when I grew up, the only cooking models were women. But I had two uncles who told me (albeit only through their example) that men could cook, should cook and could be good cooks! The fact that I was mentored in this way had never occurred to me before. Wow!


Uncle Ted



Uncle Ted, of course, loved grilling, making sausages and gardening fresh vegetables, to mention only a few of his "foodly" activities. His was such a powerful personality that he made me want to try something I had never even dreamed of eating before, especially when I was much younger.

Uncle Frank

My Uncle Frank was from Louisiana and had a very laid back personality. His wit was deep, sometimes requiring a long time for me to laugh out loud (the original lol), suddenly getting the point of some comment he made hours or days before. Every Sunday morning, after church, most of Uncle Frank's relatives would visit his house where there were two huge restaurant sized kettles of tomato sauce simmering away on his large stove. Uncle Frank's sauce was stupendous! Made only from his own tomatoes, canned from his large garden, and filled with everything from pork hocks to whole chickens! It was a flavor unlike anything I have ever eaten. I would eat two bowls of spaghetti at his house and then come home for my mother's, much more tame (although equally enjoyable), sauce. Noon at Uncle Frank's and then 3o'clock at our house. I'm surprised I was such a skinny kid!



Me, a few years ago



Below is a picture of Uncle Ted talking about food with my wife Sandy and me, back in 1985.

I just needed to get all that out of me before I could continue with recipes. I hope, in the months to come, I will be able to invent a recipe for each of these favorite uncles.

BRAISED GAME HEN PERNOD

Perhaps this appears to be a strange combination or a "no-no" for people who dislike the anise flavor of Pernod. Don't be put off by this. The Pernod ends up blending well with the other flavors and is so subtle you are left with a, "Mmmm... what is that ingredient?" reaction.

 You will need about 1 to 1½ cups of chicken broth. But the good news is that most fresh game hens come with giblets included. Sometimes the frozen ones don't, so you'll have to check. If you have no giblets then any chicken or vegetable broth will do, although commercial chicken broth is sometimes too "chickenee". If you have giblets, then make your own broth by adding about half a medium onion to 2 cups of water and the giblets. Let cook uncovered for 1 or 2 hours and it will reduce to 1 or 1½ cups.



Making Broth



Main Ingredients



Ingredients

1 Cornish Game Hen

1 Onion, diced

1 Celery stalk, diced

1 Carrot, diced

2 Carrots, halved

½ cup Rice

1-1½ cups Vegetable or Chicken Broth

¼ lb Pancetta, diced

¼ cup Pernod

1-1½ cups White Wine

1 Tbs Parsley, minced

cornstarch

salt & pepper

olive oil


Equipment

Dutch Oven just large enough to hold hen

small Fry Pan for Pancetta
2 or 3 Qt Sauce Pan for the gravy (Can be used to make broth, then rice, then gravy!)

Method

 Prepare vegetables. Diced veggies are for a bed in the Dutch Oven, so they can be chopped and added right away. Carrots halved will be added when the hen is, so set aside. Parsley can be minced and placed in a small bowl to await usage.

Bring 1 cup of the Broth to a boil. Add the Rice and stir with a fork. Then simmer with lid on constantly for 25 minutes*. Remove lid and fluff up rice with a fork. There still will be liquid in the pan. Turn off burner and let rice sit, covered, for 5 or more minutes until all liquid is absorbed. *While rice is cooking for the first 25 minutes, gently sauté the Pancetta in a small amount of olive oil. Stir often. When rice is finished, stir in the Pancetta, Salt and Pepper, and enough Parsley to make a colorful complement to the Pancetta. Add the rest of the Parsley to the veggie bed in the Dutch Oven.

Pancetta

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
While oven is preheating, rinse hen and pat dry. add the Pernod to the cavity and slosh around. Season cavity with Salt and Pepper. Use a little more salt than you think necessary.

 Stuff hen with rice mixture and tie up to seal. Retain the left over rice. Place hen on bed of vegetables and place carrot halves around it. Then pour in any unused Broth, White Wine and water, if necessary, to bring liquid just up to the bottom of the Hen. Place lid on Dutch Oven and bake at 350 for 1½ hours. After one hour, check on liquid level.

Ready for the Oven

Place left-over Rice mixture in a small ovenproof crock and place into the oven during to last 10 - 15 minutes to reheat.

When Hen is done, carefully remove it and Carrot halves to an ovenproof plate or pan and place back in oven. It will brown nicely while gravy is made. You might want to cover Carrots with a little foil, to keep them looking plump.
Strain braising liquid into sauce pan and correct seasonings. Make a gravy placing pan on medium heat and whisking, in a thin stream, a mixture of cornstarch dissolved in water. Bring to gentle boil whisking (and adding) until desired thickness is attained.
With a large knife or kitchen scissors, carefully cut the Hen in half by splitting the breastbone and backbone. Place the half Hen on Carrot halves, one Hen on each of two plates, add extra Rice around Hen and drizzle with a little of the gravy. Serve remaining gravy on the side.


Game Hen Pernod

Serve with a not-too-dry White Wine, Vouvray would be a good choice. Dave