It's Barbecue Season

A style food that I love, that I simply don't make enough, barbecue.  Today I made a smoked pork loin, the loin was about 5 and a half pounds and was on the grill for about 4 hours, which unfortunately was too long, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Here's the stuff.  We've got the pork loin up front and then all the spices that went into the rub.  Cumin, Juniper Berries, Star Anise, Fennel, Chili Powder, Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Cloves, Ground Ginger, Cinnamon, Salt, Brown Sugar, Coriander, Dried Oregano

The completed rub and then the pork loin, seasoned liberally with the rub.  At this point the pork loin went onto a grill over indirect heat for four hours.  I smoked with hickory chips.

The completed pork.

The dish was served with an apricot sauce.  In the bowl is dried apricots and a serrano pepper, lime and orange, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar and pepper.  All the ingredients ended up in a food processor until combined.

The completed sauce.

The final plating.

Bubba Gump Shrimp

Last night was a seafood night, shrimp to be exact and to be even more specific Pepernoata Shrimp from Cuisine Magazine.

The first pic is the mise for the shrimp portion of the meal.  We've got sugar, a chicken broth and lemon juice mixture, roasted red peppers, shrimp, onions, and a mixture of salt, red pepper flakes and lemon zest.

The second picture is the stuff for the almond, orange couscous.  We've got orange, salt, chicken broth, butter, almonds and couscous.

The first step for the couscous was to toast the almonds.

The shrimp were seasoned with salt and white pepper and then dusted with flour.  They then went into a hot pan with olive oil for a quick pan fry.

After the shrimp were cooked the onions went into the pan.

Then the rest of the ingredients along with the cooked shrimp were added to the pan to warm up.

The final plating with a bit of basil garnish and the couscous is underneath.

Really delicious and only takes about 45 minutes to make start to finish.

Pork with Cherry Sauce

So dinner last night was a fantastically simple yet awesome dish of pan seared pork tenderloin with a cherry and port sauce.  You guys must try this dish.

Onions, port wine, dried cherries, orange marmalade, pork tenderloin, salt, pepper and olive oil.  That's all you'll need for the entire dish.

The pork tenderloin gets seasoned with the salt and pepper and then seared in olive oil .

After the pork is seared off, it goes to finish in a 400 degree oven, and then you start on the pan sauce by sauteing the onions.

The port and cherries then go into the pan and reduce for a few minutes.  After thickening slightly, the orange marmalade is whisked in and then the sauce is finished with a couple tablespoons of butter.

The finished pork and then the final plating.

Catching up

Yeah, I've been slacking a bit but it's been a busy week.  So we're going two meals for the price of one here. 

Wednesday night I had french onion style Salisbury steak and tonight I had pork pot stickers.

 The first picture is the stuff for the Salisbury Steak.  We've got ground beef with parsley, green onions, salt and pepper, onions, beef broth and red wine, garlic and tomato paste, sugar, flour, thyme and salt.  The second picture is the stuff for the cheese toasts, french bread and swiss cheese.

Here we have the actual Salisbury Steaks.  The first pic is the patties ready to go into the pan, second pic is the patties halfway through cooking and then finally the completed patties.

After cooking the meat the onions and sugar went into the pan and got cooked until the onions were slightly carmelized and then the garlic and tomato paste were added.

Once the onions were done the flour, beef broth and wine went into the pan for a few minutes before the patties were added back to the mixture.  At this time the pan was covered and simmered for about 10 minutes.

The bread got topped with the swiss cheese and put in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Tonight was pretty simple, the top picture is everything needed for the pot sticker filling, ground pork, green onions, red peppers, salt, pepper, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, egg, mustard, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. In the second pick the wonton skins were stuffed with the filling.  Then the pot stickers were placed in a pan with a bit of olive oil until browned then steamed with a bit of water.  The final pick is the final plating.  The mixture in the middle is Hoisin sauce, rice vinegar and sugar.

Hide the kids, I ate Donald

Duck that is.  I ate him and brutally overcooked him, and for that I'm sorry.

I first fell in love with duck when I got a sample of it at what I believe was the first restaurant located at the old Ned Kelly's in Bloomington.  I say what I believe was the first because that space has been close to 1/2 dozen different restaurants since Ned Kelly's closed.  Either way, I had a couple bites of it that night, and it.was.awesome.

This is the stuff for the marinade that the duck breasts sat it over night.  Sesame oil, fennel seed, ground ginger, ancho chile powder, white pepper, cinnamon, grapeseed oil, brown sugar, red wine vinegar and chipotle chiles.

Here is the stuff for the relish that was served with the duck.  Onions, jalapeno, rice vinegar, cilantro and pineapple.

The completed relish.

Seasoned duck ready to go into the pan.

Halfway through the cooking.  You can see the beautiful carmelization.  This is the result of a dry, very hot pan, the sugar in the marinade and the super fatty duck skin.

The finished plating.  The duck is about 3 degrees of doneness over cooked.  What happened is after searing for about 3 minutes per side I thought it was still raw in the middle so I put in in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes.  This was the result.  In retrospect I should have served it straight out of searing it, I would have gotten a perfectly cooked rare duck breast.   It was delicious but I can't believe that I screwed up something so basic.

Look Ma, Vegetables!

If you've been reading for a while you know that I don't eat much in the way of vegetables.  But I did last night.  I made a chicken caesar salad.

 Step one, polenta croutons, which is a fun riff on the traditional bread croutons.  Here we have water, cream, yellow corn meal and parmesan cheese.  The water was brought to a boil and then the cornmeal went in for a few minutes.  Then the cream and cheese were added in and the mixture was chilled in the fridge for a couple hours.

All the stuff for the salad and dressing.  Prosciutto, garlic, a mixture of mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, Parmesan cheese, romaine lettuce, and mixed greens.

The prosciutto was fried off in a bit of oil.

The croutons get the same treatment.

 The completed chicken.

The completed croutons.

The completed dressing, the garlic and mayo mixture were combined and then olive oil was whisked in.

The completed plate.  One of the better ones I've come up with, if I do say so myself.