I
love to cook, especially when it’s cold outside and cook some of my best
recipes in the month of January when I have nothing but food on the brain.
The
recipes below were from a New Year’s dinner. The main dishes are from the
January issue of Bon Appetit.
Although
the pork is not quite as good or as easy as the Perfect Steak (or chop) recipe
I cooked last April, the flavor of the meat basted in the seasoned butter was
well worth the extra steps it takes to achieve the outcome.
Butter
basting is addictive and once again I used my cast iron grill pan with great
success.
I’m
not sure at this point if I care for brined pork chops. I would much rather buy
Berkshire Pork and skip a step.
Bon
Appetit!
Pan Roasted Brined Pork
Chop
½ cup kosher
salt
½ cup sugar
1teaspoon juniper
berries
½ teaspoon
whole black peppercorns
1 head of garlic,
halved crosswise, plus 2 unpeeled cloves for basting
2 large sprigs thyme
2-inch-thick bone-in pork chop (I prefer
Berkshire)
2 tablespoons grape
seed or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted
butter
Flaky or coarse sea salt
Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium
saucepan. Add kosher salt, sugar, juniper berries, peppercorns, halved head of
garlic, and 1 thyme sprig; stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Transfer to a
medium bowl and add 5 cups ice cubes. Stir until brine is cool. Add pork chop;
cover and chill for at least 8 and up to 12 hours.
Preheat oven to 450°. Set a wire rack inside
a rimmed baking sheet. Remove chop from brine; pat dry. Heat oil over
medium-high heat in a large cast-iron or other oven-proof skillet. Cook chop
until beginning to brown, 3-4 minutes. Turn and cook until second side is
beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Keep turning chop every 2 minutes until
both sides are deep golden brown, 10-12 minutes total.
Transfer skillet to oven and roast chop, turning
every 2 minutes to prevent it from browning too quickly, until an instant-read
thermometer inserted horizontally into center of meat registers 135°, about 14
minutes. (Chop will continue to cook during basting and resting.)
Carefully drain fat from skillet and place
over medium heat. Add butter, 2 unpeeled garlic cloves, and remaining thyme
sprig; cook until butter is foamy. Carefully tip skillet and, using a large
spoon, baste chop repeatedly with butter until butter is brown and smells
nutty, 2-3 minutes.
Transfer pork chop to prepared rack and let
rest, turning often to ensure juices are evenly distributed, for 15 minutes.
Cut pork from bones, slice, and sprinkle with sea salt.
Pan-Roasted
Chicken Paillard
It was
the Wondra Flour that made this recipe so good and produced a light coating
that was wonderfully crisp.
I think
that you can actually reduce the amount of butter you use and still get the
same results.
28-ounce skin-on
bone-in chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wondra flour or all-purpose flour (for
dusting)
3tablespoonsunsalted
butter
1lemon, halved
Preheat oven to 400°. Using a thin, flexible knife, cut
chicken breasts away from bones, leaving skin intact. Place chicken between 2
sheets of plastic wrap; using a mallet or heavy skillet, pound chicken until
1/2-inch thick (which will help it cook evenly and stay juicy). Season chicken
with salt and pepper. Dust with flour; shake off excess.
Melt butter in a small saucepan. Spoon off milk solids
(the white foam that separates from the butter) to make clarified butter. (It
has a high smoke point and won't burn over high heat.)
Pour clarified butter into a large ovenproof skillet set
over medium-high heat. When butter begins to shimmer, place chicken in skillet
skin side down. Cook, occasionally pressing on chicken with a spatula so skin
maintains even contact with skillet, until skin is brown, 5-6 minutes.
Transfer skillet to oven; roast until chicken is just
cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Remove skillet from oven; turn chicken breast
over. Let stand in skillet for 1 minute. Transfer chicken to a plate and let
rest for 5 minutes.
Serve with lemon halves alongside.
Holiday Salad
Oops – forgot to take a photo of the
best part. This delicious salad is great with the cashews and the homemade
dressing.
2 bags spinach
2 apples diced
4 oz cashews
6 oz shredded mozzarella
Dressing:
1 cup canola oil
1/3 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp onion salt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
Use a Tupperware with a top to make the dressing like a water bottle - it’s really oily and you have to keep shaking and stirring.
Parma
8200: BUTTERSCOTCH PANNA COTTA
8 ounces Brach's butterscotch
candies, unwrapped, plus extra for garnish if desired
1 quart heavy cream, divided
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For garnish: almond brittle, butterscotch sauce and/or mascarpone
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For garnish: almond brittle, butterscotch sauce and/or mascarpone
In the bowl of a food processor,
pulverize the candies until they break down into dust.
In a large,
heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 2 cups of the cream over medium low-to-medium
heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the pot. Add the candy and
cook until it melts, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, in a separate
saucepan, bring the remaining 2 cups heavy cream to a simmer.
When the candy has
completely melted, reduce the heat to low and sprinkle the gelatin over the
flavored cream. Stir until the gelatin dissolves.
Slowly add the simmering
cream to the candy mixture, whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer, then remove
from heat. Let cool slightly.
Pour the mixture into
individual serving dishes, cool, cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 4
hours.
Garnish each serving with blueberries and almond
brittle, as benjy's does, or berries, whipped cream and a sprinkle of crushed
candies.
Limoncello
2 lb organic lemons
750 ml bottle 100 proof vodka (or
everclear)
Zest the lemons, mix with vodka and
put in a tightly sealed bottle. Place container in a cool, dark, dry place for
5 days. Shake the jar at least twice a day. Strain the zest from the liquid
through a fine sieve several times and discard the zest.
Mix 4 c water with 1-1/4 c sugar over low heat stirring
occasionally until sugar is dissolved and syrup is clear. Cool syrup to room
temperature and mix with strained lemon vodka. Store in tightly sealed bottles
in the refrigerator. Chill and enjoy
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