Smoked Ham and Butternut Squash Spaghetti – Short on Daylight, Long on Flavor

I never film at night, since I don’t like the look of the video when I use artificial lights. Sure, I could actually learn how to use a real lighting kit, but it’s easier for my simple brain to just film during the day.

However, once in a great while, I’ll starting making something, like this smoked ham and butternut squash spaghetti, that looks like it’s going to be so good that I don’t care about lighting quality, and film it anyway.

Other than this less-than-subtle warning about the lighting quality, there’s not a lot to say about this simple and very delicious winter pasta. It will work with literally any type of ham or smoked sausage; and as I mention in the video, bacon would also shine.

Despite the rich and decadent mascarpone, the sauce is actually pretty light when you consider much of the sauce is really just chicken broth and squash. By the way, I didn’t add it, but I think a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end would have been a great idea. I hope you give this hearty pasta a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

14 oz package dry spaghetti

2 tbsp olive oil

4 oz thinly slice smoked ham

3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

red chili flakes to taste

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth, or as needed

3 cups diced butternut squash

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup mascarpone cheese

1-2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Know Your Cheese

As most of your know, I LOVE cheese, and two of the most commonly used varieties in my kitchen are fresh mozzarella, and mascarpone. In addition to this recipe, I’ve used mascarpone in several recent videos, and received numerous inquires as to which brand I used.

My usual go-to brand is Galbani, so I was thrilled when Michele and I were recently invited to an event hosted by Lactalis Foodservice. Along with Galbani, Lactalis owns many of markets’ top cheese brands, such as President, Sorrento, and Precious, just to name a few.

This Chef’s Table event was held at Farina, San Francisco, and not only did we enjoy a very nice meal, but we got to talk directly to the people making the cheese. One reason I love shopping at Farmers Markets is that you get to meet the people producing the food you’re about to cook, but it’s not often you get the same experience for a product you buy at the supermarket.

Here are a few highlights from the evening.

Pardon the poor quality photo, but I just had to show this Foccacia di Recco, featuring Galbani’s Bel Paese. It’s sort of like a stuffed pizza, which uses a very basic, unleavened bread dough that’s rolled, spun, and stretched very thin, before being stuffed with the creamy cheese. It’s baked in a very hot oven, where it puffs up, and gets crispy on the outside, while the inside stays soft and cheesy. It was awesome, and something I must figure out how to make!

Chef at Farina spinning the dough for the Foccacia di Recco. By the way, the videographer seen here is my friend Vincent McConeghy, a fellow western New Yorker, and author of the novel, Gastro Detective.

This was my favorite course of the night. A golden and red beet timbale with Istara Petit Basque and shaved black truffles. What glorious combination of flavors!

I want to thank Lactalis Foodservice for hosting such a fun evening, and the chefs at Farina for taking such good care of us! For those of you that requested more info about the mascarpone cheese, you can check out the official website here. Grazie!

Slow Cooker Braised Pork Shoulder Roast with Apple Butter Sauce – Reducing the Need for Roux

Man, I’ve been making a lot of rouxs lately (which you’ll be seeing in all their buttery glory in a series of upcoming holiday videos), but for this apple cider braised pork roast, I wanted to keep things a little lighter and decided to use a classic reduction.

We’ve done dozens of similar style sauces, but most of those were traditional pan sauces, where the skillet is deglazed with some kind of flavorful liquid, which is reduced down, and finally finished with butter.

This is basically the same technique; except here we’re reducing the braising liquid from the slow cooker while our pork rests. By the way, I keep saying “cider” because it sounds and looks better in print, but I actually used apple juice. Both work very well, but a just-pressed, unfiltered cider would be my official recommendation.

One thing to remember about these types of reduction sauces is that a little goes a long way. You’re taking an already flavorful liquid and reducing down to maybe 25% of its original volume. This is also the reason you shouldn’t season it until the end. After the cold butter is whisked into the sauce, and your herb of choice has been added, give it a taste and adjust for salt then.

Since we’re using a relatively small amount of braising liquid for this big a hunk of meat, I decided to use the slow cooker. You can certainly do this on the stovetop, over very low heat, or in a slow (275 degrees F.) oven, but neither is quite as convenient. Regardless of your cooking method, I hope you give this delicious pork shoulder a try soon. Enjoy!
 

Ingredients:
4-5 pound pork shoulder roast (boneless or bone-in work fine)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp vegetable oil

a couple shallots or yellow onion, sliced

1 rib celery, chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 1/2 cups apple cider or juice

4 peeled garlic cloves

1 bay leaf

cayenne to taste

1 rounded teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons cold butter cut into small cubes

1 tbsp fresh herb – parsley, sage, thyme, etc.

Bacon Ranch Chicken Skewers – Perfect for Tailgating and/or Vampire Staking

These bacon ranch chicken skewers were intended to star at your next football tailgate cookout, but since these are made with sharp, wooden sticks, they could be used to inflict the true death to smaller, slow-moving vampires at your Halloween party as well.

Regardless of your party’s theme, these tasty chicken skewers are easy, interesting, and incredibly adaptable. As I sometimes do when showing a new technique, I’ve kept this recipe ultra-simple, and only used ranch dressing and hot pepper as my marinade.

I was hoping that as you watched, your mind would be racing with ideas on how to make this already delicious meat-on-a-stick even more amazing. This is the kind of thing you could do a different version for every game of the season, and still not run out of ideas!

The part I hope you follow exactly is how to weave the bacon over the chicken. Using this method, you really get two kind of bacon. The exposed bacon gets beautifully caramelized and crisp, while the meat next to the chicken stays soft and fatty, more like a thin slice of pork belly.

Speaking of thin slices, don’t use extra-thick slab bacon for this. It will not cook before the chicken is overdone. I actually like to use the thinner, extra-lean bacon, as it has just the right about of fat to flavor and moisturize, without starting a raging fire on the grill. Anyway, next time you’re planning a game day tailgate buffet, I hope you give these a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 12 Bacon Ranch Chicken Skewers:

12 bamboo skewers

4 large (8-10 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup ranch dressing

1 tsp hot chili paste or any spicy condiment

12 strips bacon

24 pieces of red onion

salt and pepper to taste

extra ranch dressing to dip

Country Gravy – Deliciously Dingy and Definitely Diner

This sausage country gravy recipe comes from a time before cooks tried to think of ways to trim a few calories, but rather, thought of ways to sneak more calories into a dish. This was a meal that was meant to fill you up and keep you satisfied for a long time.

In addition to the astronomically high calorie count, another advantage of a milk gravy that’s been thickened with a roux made from the rendered fat of meat scraps, is it’s very cheap. So, when you combine “cheap,” with “filling,” and “delicious,” you have all the makings of a diner classic, which this certainly is.

In a diner, this gravy (also known as sausage gravy or cream gravy) would be made with leftover cooked sausage links and other breakfast meat scrapes like crumbled bacon, or ham ends. Since we’re making ours from scratch, we have the advantage of all that freshly rendered fat to make the light roux.

This method is more authentic and flavorful, but admittedly does nothing to improve the recipe’s dingy color and questionable appearance. Let’s face it, some great recipes are just plain ugly and that’s the way it is. I used a low fat milk, which makes for the dingiest color, but whole milk or cream, if you want this extra rich, do look marginally better.

As I mention in the video, if you’ve eaten this before, and know how shockingly good it can be, the look of the dish never crosses your mind. If this were a blind date, the recipe would be described as being “really fun with an amazing personality.”

As far as serving suggestions go, you can’t miss with fresh baked buttermilk biscuits (even though I used store bought, we have a great recipe, which you can see here), but this is also out-of-this-world on things like country-fried steak, and fried chicken. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter

8 oz breakfast sausage

4 strips bacon

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/3 cup packed all-purpose flour

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

2 1/2 cups milk, more or less as needed

Good Morning Sausage! Pork, Fennel, and Orange Breakfast Sausage Patties

I know I say this a lot, but I can’t believe I haven’t done this recipe yet! There are few things as easy and amazing as homemade breakfast sausage, and this is my favorite formula.

The key here is to get some properly ground fresh pork from a real live butcher. The ground pork in the meat case at the supermarket is not going to be coarse enough, not to mention the fact that the meat they used was probably chosen based on it’s inability to be sold in any other form.

Tell the butcher you want a couple pounds of freshly ground pork shoulder, and be sure to use the term “sausage grind.” This means a very coarse grind, and an adequate fat content. Anything less than 30-40% fat is just not going to make a great sausage patty.

Above and beyond the meat, almost anything goes when making sausage patties. I think the fennel, nutmeg, and orange zest (an idea I borrowed from my uncle, and sausage master, Bill) really gives this a breakfast-y flavor, but if you’re not into those ingredients, use what you like.

Lastly, the overnight refrigeration really makes a big difference. All those big flavors need time to meld together, and besides, by making this in the evening for the next morning’s meal, you’ve pretty much assured yourself of some quality sausage-related dreams. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork

1 tsp kosher salt (1/2 to 3/4 tsp of table salt), or to taste

1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs blend (mine has thyme, rosemary, sage, and oregano)

2-3 tsps fennel seeds, lightly crushed

2 tsp freshly grated orange zest

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

pinch of fresh nutmeg

Gumbo a Go Go – Duck, Andouille Sausage, Smoked Pork Hock, Gulf Shrimp and Langoustine Gumbo

It’s not easy to pry gumbo-making secrets from a cook in New Orleans, but you should have better luck if you slip them some truth serum, in the form of several well-made sazeracs. 

This particular gumbo, featuring duck, andouille sausage, smoked pork hock, gulf shrimp, and langoustine, was inspired by my recent trip to New Orleans, where I sampled a half-dozen varieties.

One rye whiskey-induced tip was to cook the famous Cajun roux in some duck fat instead of the more common and mundane vegetable oil. The roux is the soul of the gumbo and one of the challenges of this recipe is giving the fat and flour enough time to turn into that deep brick red-brown color.

My little trick here is to add a couple extra spoons of flour after the roux is browned. The dark roux gives the gumbo its signature flavor, but it doesn’t have much thickening power. I just cooked it a couple minutes, and then stirred in the stock.

Another tweak is using pickled okra instead of fresh or frozen. This particular perversion was born out of necessity rather than some brilliant thought on my part. Of course, if this technique catches on, that story will change. The pickled okra gave the gumbo a great flavor and added a little bit of acidity, which is always welcome in something this substantial.

This can be made with hundreds of different combinations of smoked meats, game, poultry, and seafood; and in my opinion, the more the merrier. As usual, I’d love to hear about any variations you may come up with. As you’ll see, the procedure is pretty straightforward, although you’re talking about a full day’s project. This is a dish that takes time, but I still hope you give it a try. Enjoy!

2 duck legs

1 tbsp vegetable oil, more as needed

1 cup flour, plus 2 tbsp for second addition
6 cups chicken broth

1 pound andouille sausage

1 large onion, chopped

4 green onions chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup diced peppers (any combination of sweet and hot)

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 smoked pork hock
2 cups water, or as needed
1 cup sliced okra, fresh, frozen or pickled
1 pound gulf shrimp
1 pound crawfish tail meat or langoustine
rice to garnish

What’s Cooking? Allrecipes.tv That’s What!

Even though it will be business as usual here on the blog and Foodwishes’ YouTube channel, one advantage of the new partnership with Allrecipes will be working with my friend, Michael Ketchum, the host and brains behind Allrecipes.tv.

A few years ago, I thought it would be a cool idea to travel around the country for a few months, filming favorite recipes in some of our viewers’ homes. I didn’t have any travel funds for such a trip, so when my sponsorship pitch to Amtrak was politely declined, the idea was shelved. Well, that concept is basically what Michael’s “What’s Cooking?” is all about. 

In each webisode, an Allrecipes' home cook shares the tips, tricks, and stories behind their favorite dishes. Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to Michael and Allrecipes.tv, and hope you’ll head over to take a look at their collection of video recipes. Here, Michael joins Kerri in Hutto, Texas, to capture her making a batch of tender pork spare ribs. You can subscribe to the Allrecipes' YouTube channel here.

By the way, I’ll have a brand new video recipe up tomorrow for shrimp and ham gravy (see photo below). Enjoy!

"What's Cooking? How to Make Pork Spare Ribs

Click here to get the full story and written recipe!

Tomorrow on Food Wishes: Shrimp and Ham Gravy!

Molasses-Brined Pork Chops – More Similar to "The Sopranos" Than You Think

I was so happy with how my Carolina barbecue sauce experiment went, I almost forgot I'd filmed the molasses brined pork chop I slathered all that sauce on. So, I figured I better get cracking and post this before grilling season turns into hockey season.

Brining pork chops is like upgrading to premium cable, once you do it, you can’t go back to basic. You hear people say HBO wins all those awards because they have the big advantage of using the profanity and casual nudity that the network competition can't.

When it comes to brining, the F-bombs and low-cut blouses are the flavor and extra moisture that the sweet, salty solution brings. When compared to your standard grilled pork chops, these brined beauties will surely get better reviews.

Other than having to wait a few hours for all that sexy, semipermeable membrane-on-membrane action to take place, this recipe is incredibly easy. Dissolve salt and molasses in water, toss in the chops, and wait. And what do you get from such little effort? A pork chop that's seasoned from the inside out, with a firm, but very moist texture.

I brined mine for about 6 hours, but according many osmotic experts, as little as one hour per pound of pork chop is adequate. For me, that would have been about 45 minutes, but since I learned this trick from a chef that used to leave these overnight, I can’t bring myself to brine them any less.

Whether you cover these with a Carolina barbecue sauce, or some other shiny glaze, I hope you decide to upgrade to premium pork chops soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 thick double-cut loin pork chops

For the brine:

1/2 cup kosher salt (only use 1/4 cup is using fine table salt)

1/2 cup molasses

4-5 whole cloves

1 cup boiling water to dissolve salt

7 cups cold water

North South East West Carolina-Style Barbecue Sauce

The only thing I know for sure about Carolina-style barbecue sauce is that there isn't one. The base is usually always vinegar and pepper, but then depending on which part of the state(s) you're dealing with, there are countless additions and variations.

This one features fresh apple to add a little extra something, but otherwise it's a fairly straightforward, totally in-your-face with tang and heat barbecue sauce recipe. It was fantastic on a molasses-brined pork chop that you'll see in an upcoming video.

One note for those of you that pay particularly close attention to these videos; you may wonder why I mash the cooked apples in the saucepan, when I'm going to put the sauce in the blender anyway. Extreme sauce ugliness, that's why.

I was originally going to leave the sauce unblended, with the hopes the apple would basically disintegrate into the sauce, but when I stirred in the mustard the sauce suddenly looked like the opposite of something you'd want to eat.

Happily a quick trip to the blender made everything okay again, and I was blessed with a superb summer grilling sauce. It's beautiful for basting, or as a can't-miss condiment. It was really nice on these chops, but I think it shines brightest with pulled pork. I hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 apple, peeled, cubed

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

Roasted Asparagus with Fried Prosciutto and Poached Egg – Never Say Never Cook Prosciutto

As many of you know, I often post these video recipes on YouTube well before I get around to writing the post, and this roasted asparagus with prosciutto and poached egg is no exception.

One advantage of this modus operandi is that the initial comments I get will often help shape the blog post's theme. This time the controversy revolved around the wisdom of cooking prosciutto. I knew this was going to come up, and even joked about it in the video (parental warning: I used the word, "ass").

Even though I acknowledged the fact that cooking prosciutto is very much frowned upon, and that this was done using scraps from the shank end of the ham, I still was viciously attacked.

First of all, there are exceptions to this no-cook rule, even in Italy. Saltimbocca is a classic dish that features veal cooked with prosciutto and sage, and I've seen more than one Italian chef use cooked prosciutto in things like frittatas and salads.

The opponents of cooking prosciutto point to these main issues: Prosciutto gets intensely salty when cooked, it smells less than appetizing, and it's basically a waste of good pork to eat it any other way than thinly sliced in its natural state.

I basically agree with all of that. Frying prosciutto isn’t a great smelling food, but the taste doesn't match this "wet pork" aroma, and is actually quite mild and pleasant to my palette. Besides, where are these people when broccoli is being cooked? That doesn't smell like freshly cut flowers either.

Yes, cooking prosciutto does make it salty, which is why I didn't use any salt in the dish. Anchovies are unbearably salty too, unless used properly. Finally, I LOVE traditional sliced prosciutto, and agree that's the best way to enjoy, but that doesn't make this wrong. I think fresh raw oysters are the best, but once in a while I want Oyster Rockefeller.

If you are skeptical, I encourage you to give this a try. I think you may be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy!

Note: I've already done a how to poach eggs video, but it's really old and crappy, and as I mention in the clip, I'll be redoing it soon, so stay tuned!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 oz minced prosciutto (yes, you can use ham, bacon, or pancetta)

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

lemon, juice and zest

poached eggs

Fast Cars and Slow Food – Highlights of the 2011 Kingsford University

Last weekend, Michele and I were invited to participate in the 2011 Kingsford University, a NASCAR-themed barbecue and grilling event, held in everyone's favorite adult cartoon of a city, Las Vegas, Nevada. What follows is a photo recap of the trip's highlights. I don't do multipart event posts, so this is a little long, but I promise it will be a quick read. Enjoy!

The first night featured a welcome dinner at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak. The festivities began with a cocktail hour where we got to meet and greet our fellow attendees. While saddened more former classmates from the fabulous Healdsburg event in 2009 weren't there, we were thrilled a few were, including good pals (and a couple of my favorite food bloggers), Brooke from Food Woolf (right) and Tamar from Starving Off the Land. While the steak tartare appetizer was a special treat, it couldn't compare to catching up with these two!

I'm a huge fan of Top Chef, which means I'm a huge Tom Colicchio fan, but I'd never had the opportunity to dine at one of his restaurants. It was worth the wait. We enjoyed a great steak dinner. The meat was American Kobe from Snake River Farms, and it was some of the finest beef I've ever had.

All the food at Craftsteak is served family-style, and besides an array of fantastic side dishes, like a perfectly dressed shaved fennel salad and pomme puree (I estimate 40% of this was butter), there were heavy copper pans filled with a trio of Waygu beef. We enjoyed tenderloin filet, flatiron steak, and the crowd favorite, and incredibly juicy and flavorful skirt steak.

Normally a pan of wild salmon this lovely and delicious would have been the talk of the table, but such was the staggering quality of the beef that it was barely noticed, and only picked at out of respect for the cooks who has so expertly prepared it.

A beautiful assortment of desserts followed, but due to all the bourbon and red meat I'd absorbed, I decided to pass on everything except a small piece of monkey bread that just happened to stick to my fork. Sooner rather than later there will be a monkey bread video posted on this blog. It was a great dinner and made for a fine start to the weekend.

The next morning we bused out to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for what would turn out to be a full day of grilling, chilling, drinking, eating, and a surprisingly significant amount of learning. I don't pretend to attend these types of food and wine events for any other reason than the food and the wine, and while there are usually all manner of lectures and demos interspersed between bites and sips, it's often things I've seen and/or done before.

This was different. For me this Kingsford University was truly a place of learning. Our "classroom" was a white tent staked out in front of rows of shiny, black kettle grills, next to a barbecue rig so mechanically advanced and tricked-out that it rivaled the thousands of customized RV's which surrounded us. We're talking state of the art grill/smoker with Bose speakers and an HD television.

Our lead instructor and master of ceremonies was legendary pitmaster, Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ. As far as I'm concerned, Lilly is "the man" when it comes to barbecue chefs in America. A natural born teacher, who's perfected the art of smoky, slow-cooked meat. While his food is rooted in classic, time-tested techniques, he's still able to somehow work in some interesting twists.

Chris demonstrated how he does his award winning barbecued beef brisket. Unlike the forgiving pork shoulder, which even a lucky novice make halfway decent as long as they stay relatively sober, a beef brisket will expose a fraud faster than a pair of cheap cowboy boots.

First, the brisket is given a wet rub with beef base, before the dry rub is applied. I had never seen this before, and not only does it help create an amazing crust or "bark," but the pan juices benefit mightily as well.

After the wet and dry rub, into the smoker it goes, which is kept at between 225-240 degrees. After about 4 hours, or when the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 170 degrees, it's removed, wrapped tightly with aluminum foil, and returned to the smoker. There it stays until it reaches an internal temp of 190 degrees.

After resting for a minimum of 30 minutes, someone with a sharp knife (and cold beer) slices it against the grain into thick slabs. It's served as is, or with the intensely beefy drippings drizzled over the top. Here, however, those juices were actually saved to go over the potatoes. It was as good as it looked.

The next demo was by Chef Alan Turner, from Snake River Farms. He gave a very entertaining class on some of the alternative cuts of beef. One of the most interesting part of his presentation was on something called a Manhattan Filet.

As the size of American cattle has increased in proportion to the waistlines of it's intended market, the classic New York strip steak has simply become too big. The ideal thickness of a steak is about 1 1/2-inches. This allows time for that desirable charred crust to form before the inside gets past a perfect pink. The problem is that to cut these modern strip loins into steaks that thickness, they are just too big for a normal diner to eat.

Chef Alan showed us a brilliant solution to this too-much-of-a-good-thing issue. He splits the strip loin lengthwise to form what looks like two large tenderloins. These pieces are then cut into beautifully thick medallions and sold as "Manhattan Filets." I love everything about this new steak shape breakthrough.

The other thing I loved about Chef Alan's demo is that every time he finished talking about a cut, he tossed it on the grill and we got to eat it. Well played, Sir. By the way, kudos to the fine people at Snake River Farms, who by all accounts run one of the most responsible and sustainable cattle and hog operations in the land.

Next we got to see Chef Stephen from the National Pork Board butcher half a hog. He was very knowledgeable, but in all fairness he did have a pork meat chart "cheat sheet" tattooed on his arm. I've seen this done before, but Stephan focused on many unusual cuts of pork not commonly seen in the super markets. One trend you will hopefully be seeing soon is a big increase in the variety of choices in that particular part of the meat case.

Things like pork brisket, which we got to sample after a quick sear on the grill, and various steaks cut from the shoulder and sirloin. They don’t call it "the other white meat" anymore, but maybe they should call it "the other lean meat." As the chef pointed out, many of the leaner cuts of pork, like the tenderloin, have the same fat as a chicken breast.

I will pass on one great brining tip he shared with us. He recommends brining the leaner cuts of pork using the following formula: 1 cup each of salt and sugar dissolved in a gallon of water (plus whatever spices and flavorings you like). Then brine the pork for 30 minutes per inch thickness of the cut you are using. For example, a 2-inch think double-cut pork chop would soak for 1 hour before heading to the grill. I believe I will be testing this method for accuracy many times this summer.

Our Kingsford University weekend ended with a day at the races for the Kobalt Tools 400. This portion of the program had nothing to do with food or grilling, so I don't have much to report other than to say, if you like watching cars drive around in a circle for a few hours, and/or have a fetish for corporate branding, then this is as close to heaven as you'll ever get. While I'm no motor head, I do enjoy a quality mullet as much as the next blogger, and it was fascinating getting a glimpse into this great American subculture.

A huge thanks to Kingsford Charcoal for hosting us so generously on this trip. Thanks to Chris Lilly, Snake River Farms, the National Pork Board, and everyone else involved for such a delicious and educational weekend!

Cocoa Cherry Pork Tenderloin – Based on a True Story

My favorite candy growing up was the chocolate covered cherry. I didn't have them often, but when I did, it was always a special treat. The way that thin, crisp chocolate would break away to reveal the florescent red maraschino cherry suspended in the clear syrup was intoxicating.

I almost never eat them anymore; only on the rare occasion my mother, Pauline, or mother-in-law, Peggy, happen to have some out, usually around the holidays. One such occasion came on my recent trip back to Clifton Springs, NY, and as I enjoyed the sweet treat a strange thought popped into my brain. What about a savory dish that celebrated the same basic flavors?

I remembered seeing Alton Brown use cocoa in a rub for chicken, and since I had a pork tenderloin sitting in the fridge, just a shelf away from a jar of black cherry preserves, I figured, why not?

I really loved how this came out, and while it's obviously an unsweetened version of chocolate being used, the plate definitely had some of the same culinary DNA as my beloved candied cherries. Anyway, that's the odd-but-true story of how this recipe ended up here, and as usual, I hope you give it a try and tell me what you think. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1-2 pork tenderloins

salt as needed

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the rub:

2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle

For the sauce:

1/3 cup cherry preserves

1/3 cup white vinegar

big pinch of oregano

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin Medallions – Half the Fat, All the Inauthenticity

Whenever you see those headlines like, "Worst Take-Out Food Choices Ever," on the various websites, you can be sure that sweet and sour pork will be near the top of the list. 

That's because it's usually made from fatty pieces of pork shoulder, cut into cubes, dipped in a thick batter, deep-fried, and finally coated with a super-sugary, thick, starchy sauce.

I'm no shrinking violet around high-calorie food, but classic Chinese-American take-out sweet and sour pork is basically deep-fried, sugar-coated, fatty pork chunks. And yes, once in a while, it's pretty damn awesome (like twice a decade).

For a more reasonable way to enjoy the same basic flavors, I think this pork tenderloin version is a nice alternative. As I say in the video, pork tenderloin is lean, very easy to cook (as long as you can get past those ridiculous fears about slightly pink pork), and the sauce takes about two minutes to prep.

By the way, this is not simply fake Chinese food; it's actually fake, fake Chinese food. The aforementioned death nuggets we call sweet and sour pork are not even remotely close to any kind of authentic sweet and sour preparation in real Chinese cuisine. Or at least that’s what I heard Anthony Bourdain say one time. Now that's research.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this plate of florescent food, and if you're a fan of the Chinese take-out version, I believe you will too. Also, I would suggest tossing in some green onions (the white parts) along with the garlic, and save the green tops to garnish with as I did with the chives. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin Ingredients:

For the sauce:

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

reserved pineapple juice from can

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped green onions, white parts, optional

2 teaspoons Asian hot chili sauce (sambal or sriracha), or to taste

1/4 cup water or chicken broth to thin sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce, or to taste

For the pork medallions:

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed, cut, flattened into four medallions

salt and fresh ground black pepper as needed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon butter

1 can (8-oz) pineapple chunks, drained, juice reserved

4 cups cooked white rice

2 tablespoon chopped green onion tops or chives to garnish

You Want Your Baby Back Ribs? Sure, Just Stop Singing that Song!

Why am I'm doing a baby back ribs video in the dead of winter. I love how they taste. Sorry I don't have a more interesting answer for you, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let the earth's periodical tilting away from the sun prevent me from enjoying these tasty pieces of pork.

I'll be the first to admit this is not the best technique for doing ribs. You just can't replace slowly roasting the meat over smoky coals, but, that said, this baked in the oven version is way beyond respectable.

I've always found baby back ribs a very user-friendly product. Unless you severely over or undercooked them, they're pretty hard to mess up. I know I'm going to get all kinds of tips and tricks for the ultimate rib – the plastic wrap, the steaming, the braising, the marinating – but quite frankly, I've never seen the need.

Maybe this summer I'll try some of the more interesting ideas, but for this early January, this will do just fine. Speaking of ideas, yes, those are chicharrones on the plate of ribs. You're welcome.

This works with literally any dry rub and barbecue sauce combo. I've posted a basic, all-purpose rub recipe below, in case you're interested. For the sauce, I've of course used Michele's SFQ, but any premium quality barbecue sauce will work.

Anyway, if you're in the mood for a little virtual trip into summer, I hope you give this technique a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 full rack of baby back ribs
1 cup barbecue sauce

Dry Rub Recipe (makes a lot extra)
1/4 cup salt
1/4 white sugar
1/4 raw sugar (turbino) or brown sugar
1/2 cup ancho chili powder
2 tbsps freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper