Archive for the 'on the grill' Category
I’m taking another stab at freeing up some freezer space, this time to make room for the inevitable onslaught of rhubarb and preserves I see in my near future. I had managed to clear out many of the mystery yogurt containers, but they were quickly replaced with pork. Earlier this summer the nice folks at Maple Leaf sent over some pork for me to try – they’ve been working up in Leduc on a new line of Prime Pork, sourced in the prairies especially for Western Canada – and sent me a fridgeful during Stampede to cook and hand out at one of my kitchen theatre demos.
They sent more than I needed, and the surplus wound up in the freezer, so I pulled out some chops to throw on the grill. This is not something I normally do – cook pork chops on the grill. Because they are notorious for coming off the grill with the texture of a shoe. And not a light strappy sandal – a big ol’ work boot. You know what I’m talking about.
People are hard-wired to overcook pork, making it tough and dry. So the purpose of this new line of grain-fed pork is to ensure the meat stays moist even when it’s overcooked. Two years of testing proved it would do just that, so I thought I’d give it a go.
In the promotional materials was a recipe written by a friend in Ontario – a recipe for mojito pork chops. I’m a fan of the mojito. My mint is running rampant in the back yard, and I actually had a bottle of tequila out on the countertop that a friend brought back from Mexico (I must admit I’m always a tad disappointed when it’s not vanilla) – clearly it was a sign.
It took about five minutes to stir together the marinade – grated orange and lime zest and the juice of both, garlic, cumin, a splash of tequila if you’re so inclined and a handful of mint. I chopped up a salad – a technique my sister has taken to this summer – tossing in some cold rice, and dinner was on the table in under 20 minutes.
They were right – the chops were incredibly juicy, even though the grill was cranked up a little too high and I left them on a little too long. But what really blew me away was the kids’ reaction – they were over the moon over this meat. They rarely comment on dinner once it’s in front of them, but they asked what was in it. A 7 year old boy wondered aloud what I had done to make this particular pork chop so tasty. They all asked for more, and ate it all first, jamming bites in one after another as if it were a pile of M&Ms on their plate next to the salad. I took a look around for a hidden camera, but didn’t find one.
Mojito Pork Chops
from Maple Leaf
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
2 tsp. grated lime zest
3 Tbsp. orange juice
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
1 Tbsp. tequila (optional)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
6 Maple Leaf Prime Pork Boneless Centre Cut Chops
Stir together orange and lime zest and juice, oil, tequila (if using), mint, garlic and cumin. Set aside 1/4 cup marinade for basting. Add remaining marinade to pork chops and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to 4 hours.
Preheat grill to medium high heat. Grill chops, basting with reserved marinade and turning once, for 10 to 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160F. Allow meat to rest for 2 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
If you’re looking for Prime Pork, you can find it in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba at Sobeys West, Federated Co-op, Calgary Co-op and Overwaitea stores.
August 16 2010 | on the grill and pork | 14 Comments »
So hey, yes, I’m still here. It seems we have some catching up to do. The past week has been more of a blur than usual – I’m happy to announce though that the as-yet-still-unnamed bean book has been jettisoned off to the publisher. I’m pretty sure we got everything in there. We hit send just after 11 on Monday night, having been up since 4 am to take over traffic duties on the Eyeopener that morning, and having accidentally, prematurely and sleep-deprivedly sent an incomplete manuscript about six hours earlier. I’ll spare you the details of those six hours. I’m not sure I remember them anyway.
At some point my friend and neighbour brought over a bag of cheese buns from Glamorgan Bakery, just because. Bless her.
Yesterday morning on CBC we talked about South African street food, which is something I admittedly knew very little about – it turns out South Africa is quite known for their street vendors, so it’s a particular shame that they aren’t allowed to sell their wares within a 100 meter radius of the soccer stadiums. (World Cup official sponsors have exclusive rights – that’s the way it tends to work. Here in Calgary, locally-produced MacKays ice cream is finally making it onto the Stampede grounds (they’ll be in Weadickville) for the first time, having not been able to get on in the past because Breyers had an exclusive contract. Now if they could only get into Heritage Park…)
Food prepared and sold from carts and catering trucks is really becoming the new thing, especially in larger cities in the US – even out in BC – I may have to hit the road and do some research, don’t you think? LA in particular is a hotbed for food trucks, but recently the first bustaurant opened – a converted double decker bus – selling South African street food.
Sosatie (pronounced: ’soss-sartie’) is a kind of grilled meat on a stick – similar to satay – it fits right in with the Southern African love of barbecue (referred to as “braai”). I came across this recipe made with marinated chunks of pork tenderloin and chunks of lamb, alternating with bacon pieces and whole dried apricots. I swapped chicken thighs for the lamb, and streamlined the whole marination process. Everyone went mad for them. The marinade (which is then cooked down and brushed on as they cook on the grill) seems involved, but isn’t really.
Pork and Chicken Sosatie with Apricots & Onions
Africa’s version of barbecued meat on a stick goes by the Afrikaans name sosatie. It’s great made with pork and chicken thighs, pork and lamb, or just chicken, pork or lamb. Adapted from Bon Appétit.
1 pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 Tbsp (packed) dark brown sugar, divided
1 Tbsp plus 1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp coriander seeds (optional)
1 tsp salt
2 large onions, peeled
2 cups dried apricots
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/4 cup olive oil
5 bacon slices, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp apricot preserves or marmalade
canola oil, for cooking
Put the pork and lamb in a large bowl; mix 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon curry powder, the coriander and salt in a small bowl; sprinkle overtop and stir. Slice 1 onion and add to the bowl with apricots, red wine, vinegar, 1/2 cup whipping cream and oil; stir until well combined. Refrigerate for an hour, or up to 24 hours.
Cut the remaining onion in half crosswise, then cut each half into quarters. Separate quarters into individual onion layers; set aside. Place large fine-mesh strainer over large saucepan. Add meat mixture to strainer and allow marinade to drain into saucepan.
Alternate meat cubes, marinated dried apricots, onion pieces, and bacon pieces on metal or soaked bamboo skewers, beginning and ending with meat.
Boil the marinade in saucepan until reduced to generous 1 1/4 cups, about 6 minutes. Whisk in butter, apricot preserves, remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, and 2 tablespoons whipping cream. Continue boiling sauce until thickened to sauce consistency, about 2 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer 1/2 cup sauce to small bowl and reserve for basting kebabs during grilling. Leave remaining sauce in saucepan and set aside for serving.
Prepare barbecue to medium-high heat and brush the grill rack with oil. Grill kebabs 4 minutes, basting with reserved 1/2 cup sauce. Continue grilling kebabs until browned and cooked medium-rare, turning occasionally, 4-5 minutes longer. Meanwhile, place saucepan with remaining sauce on 1 side of grill to rewarm. Transfer kebabs to platter. Brush warm sauce over kebabs and serve.
June 23 2010 | on the grill | 20 Comments »
It turned out to be a mighty fine dinner tonight, if I do say so. And a bit of a miracle that it even came to be. At 5 I had no dinner plan in mind. Rummaging through the fridge unearthed a nice little organic chicken I picked up at Bite yesterday for $7 (!) that needed to be cooked, and decided for some reason to finally try chicken under a brick. Or – chicken under a skillet. (Who has bricks?)
Why is it that I decided to learn to butterfly a chicken and attempt a brand new recipe when everyone was hungry and it was closing in on the 6 o’clock news? I think partly because I feel a bit displaced from the kitchen these days – constantly writing about food, yes, testing stuff but not cooking a proper dinner as often as I’d like to lately. My sister is back in the hospital, the boys were filthy, and I was dropping balls all over the place. I found enough space on my counter for my laptop and looked up instructions on butterflying a chicken (you cut out the spine and open it like a book – easier than the term “butterflying” may suggest) and did it in a couple minutes. Plopped the spineless bird into a big bowl and poured orange juice over it, then added a dribble of olive oil, a couple sprigs of rosemary and a few cloves of garlic while running back and forth out front, where the boys were playing (W: “ow!” Me: “what happened?” W: “I probably shouldn’t tell you”).
It really wasn’t that difficult. I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before. You open the chicken like a book and toss it on the grill. Throw the spine in the freezer for stock.
There are a few good recipes to be found out there, but it’s really the cooking technique that’s worth sharing – beyond that you could really do to the chicken itself anything you might do before roasting it in the oven. Marinate it or not. Brush it with oil and sprinkle with salt. If you use barbecue sauce, add it toward the end of the cooking time, so that it doesn’t burn.
Preheat your grill to medium and toss it on, skin side down.
If you have bricks, wrap them in foil and set them on top. If you don’t happen to have bricks around your kitchen, set a cast iron skillet on top of the chicken – it works perfectly. Close the lid. (Do remember to use an oven mitt when you open the lid and take the pan off. Ow.)
Ours was a smallish bird – flip it after about 10 minutes. Put the skillet back on and close the lid again for 15-20 minutes.
As soon as it’s done, take it of and let it rest for a few minutes. This should give you enough time to tear some butter lettuce into a bowl with small tomatoes and thickly sliced ripe avocado, and shake some canola oil, balsamic vinegar, grainy mustard and maple syrup in a jar to drizzle overtop.
May 13 2010 | chicken & turkey and on the grill | 13 Comments »
Yes, hello. I’m still here. It’s funny how a mere 4 days’ absence can feel like a decade when I’m used to being umbilically connected to this place. I have missed you guys, but didn’t want to be the little raincloud that popped up over your head every time you stopped by for a visit.
(Also, I’ve been teaching in Red Deer the past two evenings, arriving home tonight and last at close to midnight. Yesterday, having been up since 5:30, I couldn’t bring myself to open my laptop.)
To bring you up to speed on the past few days, I’ll give you the Coles notes: I survived Saturday, in no small part due to Pierre. A chili cook-off at the Ramsay Christmas Fair on Sunday, more sad news from friends, and the arrival of other friends from BC, whose coming provided ample excuse to make beef bourguignon and open some wine.
Monday we baked dark fruitcake (the very best therapy, I’m telling you) and took the kids to see
A Christmas Carol (the movie) which – by the way? SCARY. Dark. Heavy. Very traditional Dickens (save for the occasional poke at religion, which I don’t recall in any versions I’ve seen) – spectacular effects, but all in all not as lightened/humoured by Jim Carrey or the Disney title as I expected. The kids aren’t particularly inclined to be scared of stuff, but we spent half the movie covering their 3D glasses with our hands. I may have nightmares. About the $45 popcorn tab and over $100 admission between the 8 of us, at least.
And today, after the dog park and W’s gymnastics and before I drove to Red Deer, I retrieved some sausages from the freezer, grilled them and topped them with spiced figs from last week. It was a tapas menu item I stumbled upon that struck me as particularly tasty, and it was.
Grilled Pork Sausages with Spiced Figs
adapted from Bon Appétit, September 2007
1 cup red wine vinegar
3/4-1 cup sugar
1 pkg. dried black Mission figs (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cinnamon stick or 1 sprig of rosemary
1 tsp. cornstarch (optional)
5 sweet Italian link pork sausages (about 1 pound)
In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, figs and cinnamon stick or rosemary and bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat for about half an hour, until the figs are plump and the liquid is syrupy. If you like, dissolve the cornstarch in about 2 tsp. water and add it to the mixture to thicken it a little; bring back to a boil for at least 2 minutes to allow it to thicken and get rid of any starchy texture.
Meanwhile, grill the sausages until almost cooked through; holding them with tongs, cut them in half lengthwise, then throw them back on the grill for a few minutes, cut-side down, until char-marked on the bottom.
Serve each sausage half topped with a few figs and some sauce. Serves 10.
One Year Ago: Crab, Spinach and Artichoke Omelets
November 26 2009 | appetizers and on the grill | 19 Comments »
So hey, it turns out I can cook Vietnamese. Who knew?
There are some things that I have a ton of interest in eating, but none whatsoever in making. Vietnamese food falls into this category. So does Chinese food, Korean food; anything I feel like I have no authority to create. I mean besides the basics. I attempted homemade ginger beef once and for all the effort that went into it I’d rather call up the place down the street and slap down a 10 spot for them to do it for me.
Besides, the mystique is taken away when you make something yourself. Do you ever get that sense that everything you make tastes like slightly different versions of the same thing? You know what went in there, and you’re intimately familiar with the process that made it taste the way it does. I’d rather focus my energies elsewhere and leave some things up to the pros.
But then recently I had the occasion to try, and I’m so glad I was shoved out of my comfort zone. Because that’s how you learn – when you expand your horizons beyond what you already know. (Whether voluntarily or by force.)
Satay aren’t really out of my comfort zone – they’d be more accurately classified as a staple around here. But the marinade is different from my usual. I kind of winged it; using about a pound of skinless chicken thighs and cutting them across into half strips, half chunks, and then mashing them more closely together than my usual slightly graceful (if anything about me could be described as such) “S” shape. I liked it this way.
Vietnamese Chicken or Pork Satay
1-2 lb. skinless chicken thighs or pork tenderloin, cut into strips or chunks
2 Tbsp. honey or sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. Sriracha or a pinch of dried red chili flakes
Put the chicken or pork in a bowl or ziplock bag; stir together the rest of the ingredients and pour overtop. Marinate for at least an hour, or preferably overnight.
Soak bamboo skewers in water for at least 10 minutes to prevent them from burning, and thread the meat onto them, squishing the pieces together. Grill or broil for a few minutes per side, just until cooked through.
Fried rice is one of those things I tend to go about on my own. Even when I find a recipe I’m one to ignore it, thinking I know what I’m doing, and right here is a perfect example of something I make that always comes out tasting the same, with the occasional fluctuation depending on how heavy-handed I am with the soy sauce, or whether or not I opted to add curry paste.
But this. It elicited as many oohs and aahs as I’ve received for anything that has come out of my kitchen. The first time I made it, the recipient (who shall remain anonymous to protect his reputation as a mostly generous person) didn’t even share. I think it was the seasoning – the rice vinegar and sugar and fish sauce – but wow. It’s like fried rice that really means it.
Remember – you need leftover cold rice to make a good fried rice – the time in the fridge gives the grains a chance to separate, so that they won’t clump together and get all sticky in the pan.
Vietnamese Fried Rice
This is a bit of a spinoff of one I found on Epicurious
Seasoning:
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
canola or mild olive oil, for cooking
5 cups cold long-grain rice
2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
big pinch dried red chili flakes
1 small bunch of green onions, chopped
1-2 large carrots, coarsely grated
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups bean sprouts (optional)
fresh cilantro and chopped salted peanuts, for garnish
In a small bowl stir together the sugar, fish sauce and vinegar.
In a large, heavy skillet, heat a slick of oil over medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook for a few minutes, until heated through. Push over to one side and pour in the eggs; stir-fry until the eggs are scrambled, allowing them to cook without mixing them into the rice completely (so that you end up with detectable bits of egg); add the chili flakes, then the green onions, carrots and garlic; cook for a few more minutes.
Pour over the fish sauce mixture, then add the bean sprouts and cook for a minute, tossing with tongs, just until heated through. Serve immediately, in shallow bowls topped with cilantro and peanuts. Serves 4.
One Year Ago: Meatloaf, (S)Mashed Potatoes and Peas
October 20 2009 | chicken & turkey and grains and on the grill and one dish and pork | 10 Comments »
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