Bacon Fest 2009

So awhile ago, Amateur Gourmet posted a recipe for Crispy Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies and I wanted them.  But you know about me and baking.  So I told my friend Josh, a fellow gourmand and a passionate fan of all things pork-related, that if he made me the cookies I would make him a meal consisting of all bacon-themed dishes.  He made me the cookies - they were sooooo goood! - and thus was born Bacon Fest 2009.

Josh and Lori came over at 4 p.m., which was a little early for the actual appetizer I had planned so I started with a quick and easy hors d'oeuvre recommended by Tyler Florence in Food & Wine : bacon strips with mustard.  Bake bacon strips at 375° for about 20 minutes, until crispy.  Drain, then serve them with Dijon mustard for dipping (warm or at room temp).  I used a kicky Dijon honey mustard.

For the appetizer, I made Reblochon Tarts with Bacon and Fingerling Potatoes from Food & Wine.  I couldn't find Reblochon at my nearby cheese store so I substituted Taleggio; the recipe also says you can use Saint-André.  The recipe also calls for "cold all-butter puff pastry."  I don't know if the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry is all-butter, but I used it and it turned out great so I wouldn't worry about trying to find something fancier.  The tarts were good and Adam thought they shouldn't be changed, but Josh and I thought it tasted too much like breakfast - we wanted some acid, some bite.  In the future, I might try lemon zest...a sharp Cheddar...or even Gorgonzola.  The recipe recommended a Pinot Noir so we drank it with A to Z Pinot Noir from Oregon; it paired perfectly.

For the main dish, I made Pan-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Pancetta-Molasses Dressing accompanied by Roasted Bacon-Wrapped Lady Apples.  The pork recipe comes from Michael Chiarello's book, At Home with Michael Chiarello , but I did some adapting (Chiarello wants you to sauté the spinach - I didn't).  Since there's no link, here's a rough recipe: 

Dressing --

1 lb. pancetta, sliced 1/4 in. thick

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tbsp. thinly sliced garlic

1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh sage

1/4 c. light molasses (Chiarello calls for light, but I could only find dark.  Worked great so don't sweat finding the light stuff.)

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar (the vinegar really stands out so don't use really crappy stuff)

3 pork tenderloins, 1 to 1 1/4 lbs. each (I only used 2 for the 4 of us.  We ate it all but, good god, it nearly killed us)

1/4 c. Fennel Spice Rub

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz. baby spinach

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Make the dressing:  Cut the pancetta slices into julienne strips 3/4 inch long and 1/4 inch wide and thick (these are Chiarello's measurements, but I assure you that I didn't have a ruler out and you shouldn't either).

In a large skillet, cook the pancetta over med heat, stirring occasionally, until it is almost crisp, about 5 minutes.  Raise the heat to med-high.  Add the shallots and cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until it turns golden-brown, about 3 minutes.  Add the sage and cook for 10 seconds to release its fragrance (believe me, you'll smell it!).  Stir in the molasses and vinegar.  Cook until half the liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat.  I made the dressing about 3 hours ahead and just reheated it on the stove before serving.

Preheat the oven to 425° F.  Evenly coat the tenderloins with the fennel mixture.  In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat.  When the oil is hot but not smoking, sear the tenderloins on all sides, about 5 minutes total.  Move the skillet to the oven and cook the tenderloins until an instant-read thermometer registers 155°F for medium, 6-8 minutes (I don't have a thermometer.  I took it out after 6 minutes and it was med-rare, which is what I wanted.  Add another minute, if desired.)

Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the tenderloins to a cutting board to rest for 3-5 minutes.  Reheat dressing, if needed.  Slice the pork tenderloins across the grain on the diagonal.  Lay spinach on a platter and lay pork on top.  Spoon dressing over the top.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

For the apples, I went to Epicurious and entered in "apples" and "bacon".  And here is the resulting recipe .  I adjusted it: 1 slice of bacon and 1 apple per guest.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, turning over once, until edges are lightly browned but bacon is still flexible, 6-8 minutes total.  Transfer to paper towels to drain.  While bacon cooks, core apples, if desired (I did), from bottom, with pointed end of a vegetable peeler or a paring knife, leaving stems intact (this is dangerous work, people - watch those fingers!).  Wrap a slice of bacon around each apple, securing ends with a toothpick.  Brush a shallow baking dish with some bacon fat (YUM!), then add apples to dish and bake, uncovered, 10 minutes (this left our apples with some crunch still...add more time if you want a more cooked result).

Per Chiarello's recommendation, I bought a dolcetta to drink with this: Gianni Voerzio dolcetto d'alba 2003.  Again, it was a lovely pairing.  Here is the party on a platter:

For dessert, I couldn't bake, obviously.  That would defeat the reason for having Bacon Fest for Josh!  So I made "Bacon Candy":

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 lb. sliced bacon

Combine sugar and cinnamon.  Cut each bacon slice in half, crosswise and coat each slice with the brown sugar mixture.  Twist bacon slices and place in a 13" x 9" baking pan.  Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until bacon is crisp and sugar is bubbly.  Place cooked bacon on foil to cool.  Serve at room temperature.

I served it with vanilla ice cream dusted with freshly grated cinnamon:

One more wine note: awhile ago, I blogged about meeting Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page at Pour on the Upper West Side.  I also blogged about a wine - Corte Rugolin Valpolicella Classico - that was described as having "salty, fresh bacon on the nose."  Naturally, I saved it for this occasion.  I didn't get the bacon on the nose, frankly, but it was a bright and juicy wine, nevertheless.  I would absolutely plop down $21 for another bottle of this - worth the price.

With every ounce of food consumed, it was time to call it a night.  Bacon Fest was over for this year with promises to repeat the tradition annually...until Josh suggested doing it every 3 months.  Lord help us.

Eat, drink, and toast to the pig!

Nothing says "I love you" like beef.

Adam and I decided about five years ago that we didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day anymore.  We decided to be anti-Valentine's Day: we ate nachos, drank beer, watched action movies, and then slept in separate beds.  And the tradition continues, only we're slightly more gourmet about the whole affair: this year we made chili dogs.  Specifically, we made Chocolate Chili and put it on top of pasture-fed beef hot dogs.  It is one of the most satisfying, filling meat dishes you could ever eat, particularly in the throes of winter...and the perfect way to say "I love you but I don't feel pressured to buy you materialistic, probably useless things to demonstrate that love."  Sometimes hanging out in sweats and laughing at Armageddon is the best way to be in love.

Chocolate Chili  

(inspired by Michael Chiarello)

Serves 4-5.

1 1/2 lbs. beef chuck, cut into about 3/4 in. pieces

Freshly ground pepper

Kosher salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 tsp.

1/2 tsp. ground cumin, plus 1 tsp.

1 tbsp. chili powder, plus 1 tbsp.

Masa harina (Mexican corn flour)

1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil

2 heaping tbsp. rendered bacon fat (we keep a cup of it in our fridge)

2 red onions, peeled & minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced

1/8 c. tomato paste

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 -2 (12-oz) bottles beer (we prefer a smoked malt beer, such as Schlenkerla Rauchbier...but Guinness or Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout work too)

8 oz. canned diced tomatoes in juices (just eyeball it)

1/2 qt. chicken stock

2 (12-oz) cans black beans

1-2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into large chunks

Place chuck in a large bowl.  Season liberally with pepper & salt.  Season with 1/4 tsp. of the cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. of the cumin, and 1 tbsp. of the chili powder.  Mix this well and coat the meat with the masa harina.  The flour will thicken the sauce.

Preheat a Dutch oven on the stove over med-high heat.  Add the olive oil and then the coated meat, spreading it evenly so it covers the bottom of the Dutch oven in 1 layer.  Sprinkle any remaining flour and/or seasoning on top of the meat.  Leave it alone, without turning it, so the meat will brown or caramelize.  Add the bacon fat.  As it browns, turn each piece with tongs.  Once all sides are caramelized, remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a cookie sheet to cool, leaving juices in the Dutch oven to sauté vegetables.  Add the onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes over med heat until they start to caramelize and get soft.  Add the jalapeňo and allow to to cook for 2 more minutes until soft.  Add the tomato paste.  Add the remaining 1 tsp. of the cumin, 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon, the oregano, and 1 heaping tbsp. of the chili powder.  Add beer.  Stir to incorporate everything.  Add diced tomatoes, and stir.  Then add the reserved meat.  Add chicken stock.  Simmer for 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender.  Strain juice from the black beans, add the beans to the chili pot and bring up to simmer.  Then add chunks of bittersweet chocolate.  Stir until it melts.  Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.  It also freezes well for up to 3 months.

If you don't want to do this chili dog style, you can also use tortilla chips for dipping.  I've also grilled slices of ciabatta and used that to dip.  My personal feeling is that you should NOT use cheese with this recipe - why mess with perfection?

Eat, drink, and celebrate not celebrating.

Graceling...and other stuff

When I first read Graceling, back in February 2008, I went berzerk over it (try here, here, and here). Well, how foolish did I feel when I only just now discovered that Kristin Cashore has a blog?! Reading it has been a loverly way to spend a Friday at work when I really wish I was at home...

I gushed over the cover of Graceling in one of my posts - it really is striking. But I just saw the Australian cover on Kristin's blog and...um...it kind of kicks some ass. I mean, really. Check this out:

That is just too, too cool. I'm not saying I like it better, necessarily, but it's equally as awesome as the shiny American version. You get a real sense of Katsa's character and what the book might be about in the Oz version and, I have to be honest, the same can't be said for the "USian" one...even if it is prettier.

*****

In a totally unrelated thought process, I apologize for the lack of food posts lately. Most of my food blogging involves my computer at home (access to photos) and my mom-in-law is currently staying in our "computer room". But I certainly don't mind - my mother-in-law, hereby known as MC, is awesome and loves to eat and drink whatever we feel like cooking up (with the exception of cilantro, which she loooooves to hate more than anything on this earth). Nevertheless, with MC visiting, it makes blogging at home challenging, as I am spending lots of time playing board games with the fam and doing all kinds of fun things in the kitchen. So more to come on all our awesome food soon.

In the meantime, I hate to leave you empty-handed. So check out the following:

- Sausage and Smoked Mozzarella Rigatoni over at Elly Says Opa! Tell me that doesn't look incredible. Wow.

- The NY Times had a recent article on salted caramels. Read it and drool.

- While I don't necessarily agree with all their suggestions, the San Francisco Chronicle has a list of essential pantry items, and what better way to start the New Year than with a well-stocked pantry? (I was annoyed they only listed dessert ideas for dark chocolate...one of my favorite things to do with it, as suggested by Michael Chiarello, is to finely grate it over pumpkin ravioli with brown butter, sage, pine nuts and parmesan. Sound weird? Well, let me ask you this: have you tried it? No? Enough said.

Happy New Year, all! All the best in 2009!

Let's hear it for Epicurious! Woop! Woop!

So remember I bought pork shoulder from Flying Pigs Farms at Union Square a couple weeks ago? About a week ago, I used it for dinner - and, oh, what a dinner it was!

When I bought the pork shoulder, Flying Pigs Farms gave me a slip of paper with some pre-printed recipes but, when it came time to actually make something, I wasn't feeling either of the recipes. So I went to my trusty old friend, Epicurious. There were a couple options, but they all called for a bone-in shoulder, which I foolishly did not get because I can't seem to choose anything under pressure and the Flying Pigs Farms guy was standing there, waiting for my decision. Anyhoo, it was too late to do anything about the bone-in issue so I looked through the recipes as if I had a bone. So I landed on Michael Chiarello's recipe for Cocoa and Spice Slow-Roasted Pork with Onions. Mostly because I had made Chiarello's cocoa spice recipe before so I already had the ingredients and knew how simple it was. Here's how it went:


And 5 1/2 hours later, I had this...


It was super easy and nothing short of delectable. I halved the recipe since Michael's recipe is for 8 servings. And since it was just us, we still had twice as much as we needed. Don't worry about that, though - a piece of the pork with some of the onions, a little honey mustard, two pieces of bread and you have one of the best sandwiches ever. The onions were amazing - I've never cooked onions before to the level where they just turn into a sauce. They're sweet and rich and they melt on your tongue. I served the asparagus with just a tad bit of butter, salt, and pepper - you really don't need a rich side dish with this one. Steamed vegetables work just fine. Michael's recipe also calls for a Sangiovese but, unfortunately, I didn't plan that far ahead so I served it with a Rioja, which paired very well with the pork.

The recipe also called for a roasting pan with a rack but my Mario Batali Le Creuset knock-off worked just swell.

I made it for "just us", but next time my parents come for a cold-weather visit I'm definitely making this. What did I do while this was cooking? Blogged...emailed...watched "Dancing with the Stars"...read a book...drank wine. I mean, once I had the pork in the oven, all I had to do was steam asparagus! SO easy!

The sad news is that this will be the last slow-roasted pork of the season because there's not a snowball's chance in hell that I'll be able to have my oven on for 6 hours at a time now that the weather has reached over 50 degrees on a regular basis. My kitchen becomes a furnace in and of itself during the summer. Come next autumn and winter, though, this will my go-to recipe. Without the asparagus, of course.