Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

The Harvesters, Pieter Bruegel the Elder

I’ve been trying to find something new to do with pork, and this recipe from ‘Caprial’s Bistro Style Cuisine’ looked just right for Fall:

Pork Tenderloin with Apple Chutney (serves 4)

For the Apple Chutney:

2 tsps. Olive Oil

1 Red Onion, julienned

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

½ C. Apple Cider

1 T. Brown Sugar

2 T. Sherry Vinegar

3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and sliced

2 tsps. Chopped Fresh Thyme

1 tsp. Chopped Fresh Marjoram

1 tsp. Crushed Green Peppercorns

Salt

1 Pork Tenderloin, about 2 lbs.

2 tsps. Dried Thyme

Salt

Cracked Black Pepper

1 T. Olive Oil

½ Red Apple (garnish)

1 T. Fresh Thyme Leaves (garnish)

To Prepare the chutney, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat until very hot. Add the onion and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the cider and brown sugar and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar and sliced apples, and cook over high heat until the apples are tender. Add the thyme, marjoram and peppercorns and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Keep warm while the tenderloin is cooking (if longer than 20 minutes, gently rewarm before serving).

To prepare the tenderloin, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the fat from the tenderloin. Rub the meat with the thyme and salt and pepper. Put the olive oil in a large, ovenproof saute pan and heat on high until smoking. Add the pork to the pan and sear on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Place the pork in the oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes (for medium doneness) or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees (use an instant-read thermometer to test). Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for about 2 minutes before slicing.

Using a sharp carving knife, slice the pork ¼ inch thick on the diagonal. Fan out about 5 slices on each individual plate. Place a generous spoonful of the chutney over the tenderloin. Cut the apple half into thin slices. Garnish the plates with the apple slices and fresh herbs. Serve hot.

https://www.amazon.com/Caprials-Bistro-Style-Cuisine-Caprial-Pence/dp/0898159466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505255711&sr=8-1&keywords=caprial%27s+bistro+style+cuisine

The winning recipes from the Michigan Upper Peninsula State Fair were recently posted on FR, and I liked this sweet potato casserole, which looks like a nice change from my usual marshmallow-topped one:

Sweet Potato Casserole - entered by Linda Romps

4 cups sweet potatoes (5 – 6 medium)

1 stick butter

1 can evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

2 eggs well beaten

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Boil potatoes till tender. Cool, peel and mash. Beat in butter. Add remaining ingredients and beat well. Bake in 9 X 13 pan ungreased, 15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Topping:

3/4 stick butter

1 cup crushed corn flakes

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Mix well and spread on top of potatoes. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

http://content.dailypress.net/life/features/2017/08/winning-recipes-at-the-u-p-state-fair/

-JT

[MomwithHope]

My Dad who passed in 1995 made the best cherry wine. Our house in south Chicago had a pie type cherry tree in the backyard which was quite large. He did not bake and neither did my Mom. They also were born in the 20’s and never let anything go to waste. So he made cherry wine and bottled it in glass coke bottles, even keeping the 6 pack. It had amazing color, bouquet, and flavor. It was not a dry wine and it did not bother my stomach like every other wine I taste. I wish I had asked him for his recipe. I can still taste it.

[MomwithHope]

I did kombucha for years, now we are back to kefir. I always strained the kombucha so no floaties. Also dropped a dozen or so dried blueberries in the drinkable jar after it was brewed and went in the fridge.

[pugmama]

This is a great site. I am a big Suzannne Goin fan . This dish is somewhat labor intensive. It has to marinate a day, then cooked. I put in in the fridge for a day after that and reheat.

https://www.cookstr.com/recipes/braised-chicken-with-saffron-onions-italian-couscous-and-dates

[pugmama]

I love Melissa’ recipes as well. She has a new cookbook coming out in October

Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot® Hardcover – October 17, 2017
by Melissa Clark (Author)

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks for the tip. I think my husband was interested in Mangalitsa at one time, but the Berkshire seems more reasonable ;-)

This is an interesting article, and the Benton’s bacon at the bottom is a good deal:

https://www.epicurious.com/archive/blogs/editor/2014/02/pork-for-the-one-percent-the-best-pork-and-ham-in-the-world.html

It seems to me that when they left meat alone, it was more satisfying and you ate less of it. I don’t know how they figured they would improve health by creating dry, tasteless meats.

[pugmama]

I am sick and tired of so called celebrity chefs sounding off on their President Trump hatred:

http://www.tmz.com/2017/09/08/anthony-bourdain-no-reservations-north-korea/

To me, Bourdain has always sounded somewhat deranged. So won’t be watching his travel show anymore.

Michael Symon said that then candidate Trump would not be served in his Cleveland restaurants.He got quick a bit of blow back on Twitter, then said it was only a joke. The list goes on and on.
If a chef opens his or her mouth and brings politics into the mix or into the recipe, I will not buy their cookbooks, eat at their restaurants etc.
Same goes for actors and singers. Won’t buy their music or see their movies.
Rant over.

[Jamestown1630]

I think I watched him once on TV; he seemed pretty full of himself.

[miss marmelstein]

I have one of her books but generally just use the Times food section every Wednesday. This week has some nice Rosh Hashanah recipes - one of brisket that’s kind of standard but still nice to read about it. Brisket has gotten so expensive and yet it shrinks to nothing.

[miss marmelstein]

Chefs make actors look intelligent. I watch Chopped regularly and am amused by the general stupidity of the contestants.

[miss marmelstein]

Proof that home brew is mighty strong!

But how cool you did it!

[Jamestown1630]

I was given a kit for Christmas. It’s a very exacting process, and I tried doing it all perfectly; but I think I went wrong somewhere ;-)

I’ll try again someday.

[pugmama]

You now have to pay the NY Times to search their recipe data base. I am refusing to do that. I am getting their daily e-mails re what to cook this week or this weekend, so save the ones I want.

[miss marmelstein]

You get the Sam Sifton emails? Those are good too. We take a hard copy of it on weekends so are able to access the site. Plus, I generally pick it up on Wednesday. Now the Food section has gone political! So boring.

I always recommend The Guardian’s food and wine section. It is a disgusting rag but the recipes are free (you have to convert) and it’s very interesting and knowledgeable. (The food section, I mean.)

[pugmama]

I like the Guardian as well as they great recipes and food articles minus their other rubbish articles. I do get Sam Sifton’s emails. I used to like the Washington Post’s/WSJ food section until they got so blatantly political. You can still get some of their recipes on Twitter. I used to love a Jewish chef/and her cookbooks. She was from the CA Bay area,then moved to the UK. She began to write the most disgraceful comments re Trump on Twitter, so have unfollowed her there as well as FB.

[pugmama]

Looks like some nice fall recipes here:

http://www.saveur.com/what-to-cook-in-september?con=TrueAnthem&dom=fb&src=SOC&utm_campaign&utm_content=59ba123504d3014753fd6d5f&utm_medium&utm_source

[leaning conservative]

My father used to make dandelion & peach wine.

[Liz]

An upscale restaurant's signature dessert. Salivate over the pic, if you must.

SNICKERS TORTE

Crust of Virginia peanuts and chocolate. Milk chocolate bavarian cream center.
Salted caramel & chocolate ganache toppings. Finished w/ conf dusting and crushed peanuts.

[leaning conservative]

I just caught up on reading the posts. I just bought a package of Benton’s bacon on Saturday. The butcher shop is right next to the Farmer’s market & I splurged on a package. It is very thick cut & the most amazing bacon I have ever eaten. Truly worth the splurge! I also bought a container of their homemade pimiento cheese w/ Benton’s bacon. It’s good, but I guess I prefer the cheese only version. I also got dry aged sirloin steaks a few weeks ago from the same place. I have never had dry aged steak & it was delicious. The flavor is so rich, almost gamy.

Tonight we are having their “smash burgers!”

[Yaelle]

I regret I didn’t sign on for
Pastry. At the time it was the hours! I didn’t like
Waking up at 3 am and missing fun evenings. Dumb!

[Jamestown1630]

My husband has tried brining; it hasn’t made much difference so far.

I think the key for the ‘new pork’ may be cooking it low and slow.

The best pork chops we’ve ever had, happened because we’d started to cook them; and halfway through, we realized that we had an errand to run that we’d forgot. So, we turned off the oven, went away for about an hour and a half, and came back and turned the oven back on.

I’ve never known if we just had great cuts of pork that night, or if it had something to do with the cooking.