Figgy Balsamic Porty Pork

Tonights menu was:

Crusty French Bread

Greek Salad

Butternut Ravioli with burnt butter and sage sauce

Figgy Balsamic Porty Pork  

Canolis for dessert

The part of this menu that I am going to focus on in this post is the pork.  Pork makes everything better, or so I am told.  If you do not eat pork this could most definitely be done with beef or lamb.  I think it may be too heavy for chicken.

Figgy Balsamic Porty Pork

Ingredients

4-6 10-12 oz pork loin chops 

1 t salt

1 t chipotle

6 dehydrated smyrna figs(light colored)

1/2 c balsamic vinegar (I used a black walnut balsamic)

1/2 c port wine

2 T grape seed oil

Directions

1)  mix salt and chipotle and lightly rub onto all sides of pork chops

2)  put oil in a large oven safe fry pan on high

3)  preheat oven to 325

4)  when pan is hot sear pork on each side for about 1 minute

5)  when you are done searing pork put pan in oven until done

6) quarter figs and put in sauce pan with port and balsamic and simmer to about 1/2 c, stirring occasionally

7)  when pork is done pull from oven and rest

8)  finish sauce with drippings from pan

9)  after pork has rested pour sauce over to serve

This dish is sweet and rich with a slight tang and a touch of heat that balances out well.  The texture from the figs is the icing on the cake.  

Anthoinette

CHEESE take II

I was recently reminded that I did not do an update on my cheese adventures.

The next day I had to find out what I did wrong with my first batch of mozzerella.  I searched the web and found another recipe that was similar to the one I had used.  Unfortunately it called for 2 gallons of milk, where as I only had 1 gallon of raw milk left.  I ended up using half raw and half low temperature pasteurized milk.

The first difference I saw in the recipe were the directions on how to use the Mesophillic direct set.  The first recipe assumed I knew what I was doing.  Which I clearly did not.  The new recipe advised to gently sprinkle the Mesophillic on top of the milk and let sit for 2 minutes until you stir it in.  Following this new set of instructions I got the firm, solid block of curd I was looking for.  Everything else was the same.  This time I made it much further in the process.  I did not get the pulling quite right, in that I used too much water.  Next time I will know better.

I noticed a few major differences in the batches.  The raw milk batch was very sweet and produced a large amount of ricotta from the whey.  Whereas the batch with the pasteurized milk had an almost sour flavor to it and produced only half as much ricotta as the raw milk.

I have recently found what I believe to be cream-line milk at Trader Joe's and will try that for my next batch.  The reality is that were I live I can only get raw milk at a farmers market on Sunday and at $15 a  gallon it is cheaper to buy the cheese.  I can get cream-line milk at Trader Joe's any day of the week for half the cost.  If it makes a good cheese I will be a happy cheese making girl.

I will try to keep you better posted on the "cheese files".

Anthoinette

Balsamic Vinegar

Tonight I was made all to aware of my greatest fear...

I had this image of a perfect dessert.   Vanilla ice cream, strawberries, pirouettes, gingersnaps, a block of chocolate topped with balsamic.  It was wonderful, until I got to the sharp taste of the inferior balsamic.  I could have screamed!

Very high quality balsamic is renowned for being expensive, but not at  the La Crosse Olive Oil Company.  The bottles average $18 for a 350ml bottle.  They come in 24 different flavors and are rich and sweet with a slight twang.  They also carry a number of sea salts, spices, olive oils and infused oils.  I love everything I purchased there.  The quality is excellent and the prices are very good.  If you live in  the area I suggest stopping in and trying their products.  If you do not live in the area check out their website as I am quite certain they will not disappoint.

Anthoinette

a delightful finish for steaks

Have you ever had a steak hot off the grill and thought to yourself that it was missing something?

I recently learned what that something was....

Recently Auroras husband, Prince Charming, for perpetuity known as Charming, was let loose with the grill.  When he was done a beautiful spoonful of savory butter suddenly appeared on top of the steaks.  I was so wowed by this that I forced him into my kitchen in servitude to recreate this masterpiece and teach me how to recreate it myself.

Steak Butter

Ingredients
1/4 c butter
2 T garlic
2 T fresh basil
1/2 t salt

Directions
1) roughly chop garlic and basil

2) put garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle and pulverize until a lumpy paste forms

3) add basil and bruise it

4) add butter and mix thoroughly

5) serve at room temperature, a large teaspoon per steak is plenty

NOTES:
This can be used anywhere you use butter

You can use any fresh herb for this

Adjust the garlic to your liking

I hope you try this and enjoy it as much as I did.

Anthoinette

Farro Porky Goodness a.k.a. Tesses Farro Casserole

A dear friend of mine is diabetic and so some of us girls are getting together to cook healthy meals for him that he will enjoy.  Today Tess shared one of her recipes with us. It is awesome.  I will start by saying that I think Farro is a super grain.  It is low in carbs and sugar and high in fiber and protein.  Comparing Farro with long grain brown rice, black rice, whole wheat pasta and barley, which are all acceptable grains for diabetics, Farro wins first prize.  Cooked it is light and fluffy.

Tesses Farro Casserole

Ingredients 

1 1/2 c farro

2 c brussel sprouts

2 c cauliflower

2 c broccoli

1/2 c oil cured black olives

1/4 lb bacon ends or lardons

1 lb hot italian sausage

2 T balsalmic vinegar

1/3 c olive oil

1/4 c ricota salata

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1)  cook farrow according to directions on package 

2) quarter brussel sprouts and cut broccoli and cauliflower into bit size pieces

3) lightly coat brussel sprouts and and cauliflower in 2 T olive oil and spread on baking sheet

4) cut bacon ends into 1/4"x1/4"x1" pieces(lardons), add to cauliflower and brussel sprouts and bake at 425, stirring occasionally until vegetables start to get very brown

5) brown sausage, make certain it crumbles into small, bite size pieces

6) put broccoli on a sheet pan and bake until it starts to get very brown

7) remove seeds from and quarter olives

8) drain farro and combine with brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, olives, lardons, sausage, balsalmic, and olive oil 

9) season with salt and pepper to taste and mix

10) crumble ricota salata on top and serve

NOTES:
Pearled Farro will cook faster than regular Farro

This dish is great served hot or at room temperature and will keep for a few days

Cheese take I

Yesterday my new friend, Aurora, and I tried making mozzerella and ricotta.  Here is how it went...

For starters I wanted to make the ricotta out of the whey from the mozzerella, which calls for a different recipe than I previously used.  I am going to call it a tie Cheese 1: Cheese Makers 1.

The mozzerella has a lot of steps to it.  Take 1 gal of raw whole milk, heat to 90, add thermophilic culture, let sit 45 min, add rennet, stir 5 min and let sit 1 hour, cut curds, reheat to 90 for 30 min, take 30 minutes to heat to 105, drain the whey, keep in a double boiler at 105 for 2-3 hours until the pH reaches 5.0-5.3, cut the mass into 1/2" cubes, drain off excess whey, put into 4 c water at 170......

You get the picture.  When I checked the whey before cutting it, it was the texture of a natural sea sponge, not the smooth gelatinous mass I am used to.      The next issue was that the pH remained neutral at 7.0. I did not go any further.  The cheese tastes great. It just will not have the characteristic stringy texture of mozzerella.  I have another gallon of milk that I will retry this experiment later this week.  Cheese 1:

The ricotta, though troublesome was much more successful.  The ricotta directions were to heat the whey from the mozzerella to 200, stir in 5 t vinegar and start scooping out the curds as they form.  We followed these directions and got little arrhythmic curds that looked more like flour floating in the whey.  We waited about 15 minutes and it did not get better.  We added the vinegar again.  It got a little better, but was still weak.  Aurora noticed the temperature had slipped a few degrees and gave it a little heat.  We found if we kept it between 200 & 205 that we got big beautiful creamy curds of ricotta.  I think we were getting curds for at least half an hour.  The Ricotta is *creamy* and B-E-A-utiful.  Cheese Makers 1.

When I make the mozzerella again there are three areas that I think may have been the problem.  The first is that there were some temperature control issues in the beginning.  The second is when I made cheeses in the past when you stir in the rennet you want to be as quick as possible.  I will do some research and see if taking 5 minutes to stir in the rennet is unusual or normal for mozzerella.  The third thing I may try is covering the mozzerella when I am holding it at 105 for 2-3 hours.  In the meantime I have research to do.

I look forward to updating the cheese diary later this week, hopefully with a successful mozzerella.


Until then have fun

Anthoinette





Reference:  Making artisan cheeses by Tim Smith

Happy New Year 2013

We have survived another year.  The Mayan calendar must need reinterpretation, again.  and off into 2013.  In celebration of the 3rd year in a decade I have my lists and look forward to yours.


The three foods I use the most:   butter,  raw sugar,  kosher salt

The three kitchen appliances I use the most:  my Kitchen-aid, micro planes, citrus juicer

The three foods I want to try this year:  truffles, offall, cheese making


I doubt my first two lists surprise anyone.  My third list probably gets a second look by many.  Truffles have this reputation in the high end cooking communities.  I have never tried them.  I have shunned trying the oils or vinegars before trying the actual truffle.  This year I want to try a truffle and see what all the hype is about.

Off-Fall...  Some people know that I have wanted to try cooking with off-fall for a while.  I have some specific pieces beef tongue, tripe, and maybe heart or lungs.  Doing medieval feast I developed a curiosity.  The I heard about Chris Constantino who has a successful offal restaurant in San Francisco.  I plan on using his blog "offal good" as a guide.

Cheese Making should surprise no one.  I have played with rennet but none of the cultures.  I recently found a source of raw milk which is really essential for cheese making, cream line at a minimum, pasteurized is not even worth trying from my experience.  I want to make blue cheeses, aged cheeses, mozzerella.  I want to play and have fun!

I would love to get a few things from my faithful readers:
1)  your own lists
2)  your greatest kitchen challenges or a recipe that you are having issues with
3)  what would you like to see on my blog in this coming year

email this to raging.mrs@gmail.com

Until next time, I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2013.

Anthoinette