APT BBQ

Living in a tiny NYC apartment comes with many challenges. Like having to jump over your couch to get to the kitchen. Or not having couch. Or a kitchen. Since I actually do have a small slice of a kitchen that is far too close to my bed, I find that I avoid cooking anything that generates (week long) lingering smells like bacon (ahhh...), or fish, or any meat cooked in a pan on the stove top. So it goes without say that because I also don't have an outdoor space to call my own, grilling is totally out of the question. 

Fortunately I have come to the conclusion that many recipes that suggest grilling as a cooking method, can be adapted for the kitchen-bound home cook. I was recently given an awesome cookbook called Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book which is very exciting because I am a huge fan of all things BBQ. I must admit that I was initially a little sad to think that I wouldn't be able to make any of the recipes at home. Au contraire mon frere!  There are a ton of things that I can make at home and simply pretend that I am outside enjoying the summer breeze with a glass of sweet tea. The pork roast recipe below is meant to be cooked over charcoal, but I made it in the oven with absolute success. Cooking with the combination of a dry rub and barbecue sauce immediately made it taste like I was having the real thing. I can't wait to try some more!

Roasted Pork Loin with Apple Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
Adapted for the oven

1 (2 - 3 pound) boneless pork top loin roast
1 teaspoon olive oil

Dry Rub
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons onion salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Place the pork on a work surface and brush all over with the oil. In a small bowl, stir together the dry rub ingredients. Apply the dry rub to the pork evenly, patting so that the rub adheres.

2. Transfer the pork loin to a  roasting pan or baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° F and continue cooking for an additional 45 - 50 minutes, or until the pork's internal temperature reaches 145 ° F. Baste with some of the sauce during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Let the pork rest under tented foil for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serves about 6.

Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup coarsely grated peeled apple
3 tablespoons bourbon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup cola
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes. Add the apple, bourbon, salt, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and cumin and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Remove form the heat and set aside.

2. In a large nonreactive saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the apple mixture and stir well. Simmer for 2 minutes and then remove form the heat. After cooling, transfer to an air tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 3 cups.

Chardonnay Poulet

I'm not a super big fan of a classic coq au vin, but I did find something intriguing about the coq au vin blanc recipe that ran recently in The New York Times as an accompaniment to an article on Oregon Chardonnays. (That's not a run-on sentence or anything.) The idea of making the recipe with white wine and oyster mushrooms just sounded lighter and more spring-like than the more classically heavy winter dish. Flo Fab left out the pork, but c'mon, how can I not include it, especially when cooking with my partner in crime, Chad?) You can read about some of our other cooking adventures here, here, here and here.) This was one of the tastier recipes that we have made in a long time. Aside from the pain in the neck step of blanching and peeling the pearl onions (maybe you can find them frozen?) it was a pretty straightforward, uncomplicated recipe with outstanding results. (Unlike my photos.) And like last week's Mad Men season premiere, it goes quite nicely with Zou Bisou Bisou.

Coq au Vin Blanc

1 tablespoon grape-seed or canola oil
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, in 10 pieces without backbone, dried
Salt and ground white pepper
8 ounces white pearl onions, blanched 3 minutes and peeled
8 ounces pork belly, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, sliced
9 ounces oyster mushrooms, trimmed, clumps separated (or mixed wild mushrooms)
1 cup Chardonnay
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter (unsalted or black truffle)
1 tablespoon minced tarragon

1. Heat the oil on medium-high in a 4-quart stove top casserole or sauté pan. Add the chicken, skin side down, as many pieces as fit comfortably. Cook until lightly browned, season with salt and pepper and turn to brown the other side. Remove to a platter when browned and repeat with the remaining chicken.

2. Add the pork belly to the casserole and cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Remove to a dish.

3. Add the pearl onions to the casserole and toss in the fat until lightly browned. Remove to a dish. Reduce the heat to low. Add the chopped onion, celery and garlic, cook until softened, about 5 minutes, and then stir in the mushrooms. When the mushrooms wilt, add the wine, increase the heat to medium, bring to a simmer and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Return the chicken to the casserole with any accumulated juices, baste, cover and cook for 30 minutes, basting a few more times.

4. Remove the chicken to a platter. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the sauce and mushrooms about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly. Lower the heat and add the pearl onions and butter. When the butter melts, check the seasonings, return the chicken to the casserole, baste and simmer for a few minutes. Serve from the casserole or transfer to a deep platter. Scatter the tarragon on top before serving. Makes 4 servings. Serve with crusty bread to dip in the sauce.

Winning!

It's Super Bowl Sunday and peeps are obsessed. Especially in New York. Who's going to win? Will Madonna's performance be memorable? Are there any commercials left that haven't already been promoted to death all week on TV? What should we eat?? I think its kind of funny that food magazines put a lot of effort into inventing extra special Super Bowl menus and that the morning TV programs are riddled with the latest decorating ideas for your Super Bowl party. Ummm...when it comes to sporting events shouldn't you just order some pizzas and call it a day? Why get themey and make it more difficult than it has to be? (Save that effort for Cinco de Mayo.) Either you're into football and want to watch the game, or it's just another excuse to hang with your friends and to eat some nachos.

Since it's just another day to me, I'm making yet another lentil concoction. (You might be more interested tomorrow after your hefty beer and mozzarella stick intake tonight.) And it's covered in bacon! I know. Delish. Since I eat a lot of lentils, I'm always looking for a new twist in my preparation. Bacon made my quinoa taste better, so I knew it had to add that special something to my lentils as well. And it does. Hope your teams wins.

Warm Lentil and Smoked Pork Belly Salad

Adapted from The New York Times

3/4 pound smoked pork belly, or good-quality slab bacon, cut 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick

1 large onion, halved

4 thyme branches

1 small carrot, peeled

1 cup small green French lentils, cleaned and rinsed

1 small bay leaf

Salt and pepper

1 pound fingerling potatoes

1 large shallot, finely diced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, smashed to a paste

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup fruity olive oil

2 teaspoons capers, rinsed and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons cornichons or other sour gherkins, roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped scallions, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish

1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish

1. Put the pork belly or bacon in a pot with one of the onion halves, 2 small thyme branches and the carrot. Cover with a quart of water and simmer gently until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep warm in liquid.

2. Meanwhile, put the lentils in a medium pot. Add the other 1/2 onion, 2 small thyme branches and the bay leaf. Add 4 cups water and a little salt. Simmer gently over medium heat until firm-tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain (discard the onion, thyme and bay leaf) and keep warm.

3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in their skins in well-salted water until done, about 15 minutes. Drain and keep warm.

4. Make the vinaigrette: Macerate the shallot in the red wine vinegar for 5 minutes in a small bowl. Add the garlic, Dijon mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil to make a thick sauce. Stir in the chopped capers and cornichons. Just before serving, stir in 1/4 cup scallions and 1/2 cup parsley.

5. To serve, dress the lentils with half the vinaigrette, then transfer to a platter or serving bowl. Slice the pork belly crosswise into 1/4-inch slices (save the broth for soup) and arrange over the lentils. Cut the potatoes lengthwise and arrange, cut-side up, around the platter. Spoon the remaining vinaigrette over the sliced meat and potatoes. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon each scallions and parsley. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Weekend Update

I suppose that most of you are counting down the minutes until you can leave the office today. (157!) Unless you left last night? Lucky! I had the opportunity to spend the weekend at the beach, but I've squandered it to be locked up in my apartment reading and memorizing everything there is to know about sparkling wine. It would be better if I was also sampling everything I needed to know about sparkling wine, but I'm not sure about the quality of my information retention if I did. Maybe I could give it a try...

Anyway...since I won't be doing anything exciting this holiday weekend, all I have are memories of the past weekend spent tromping through the woods with Carmeliza and friends. (The mosquitos are already out BT dubs!) Since we spent ample time hiking and working up an appetite, we hit up a local butcher for provisions so that we could hang out at the house to grill and chill.

We started by sampling four sparkling wines. (There were four of us and I had to study!) Luckily the rain held off, so we grilled up a ton o' meat products starting with some hunks of pork belly cooked up with fresh figs. Can't go wrong with some pig & fig! We followed up the pig with some cow and grilled up some super tasty rib eyes that were drizzled with the rendered pork fat from the cooked pork belly. Oh yes we did! What will you be grilling this weekend??

Souper Bowl Sunday

Today is officially the unofficial day for eating buffalo wings, 25-foot long subs, pizza, potato skins, nachos, and chili. All at once. I love how simply watching professional athletes somehow excuses force feeding ourselves 80,000 calories of cheesy goodness. Sign me up.

I posted a chili recipe recently that I thought was going to be the delicious porkiness that I had over Thanksgiving weekend, until I made it and realized I had it all wrong. Well, I have the actual recipe now (Thanks, Eva!) just in time for watching highlarious Super Bowl commercials and a special episode of Glee. Oh, and for watching all of those dudes running around in tight black, gold, green, and white pants. Whatever.

This chili doesn't pretend to be healthy. It's not made with turkey sausages or white beans. It's not chock full of vegetables. It's chock full of pork. That's it. Eat it and weep.



Sausage Chili
(Adapted from Laurent Tourondel's Corn and Sausage Chili)

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 pounds sweet or hot Italian pork sausages (about 12 links), casings removed
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Pinch cayenne
1 can (28-ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and cook the onion, pepper, and garlic over medium-low heat until they are soft but not browned, about 8 minutes.

2. In a large pot over medium heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and cook the sausage, stirring occasionally and breaking up with a wooden spoon, until it is cooked through and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Spoon off and discard any excess fat that accumulates. Stir in the cooked vegetables, chili powder, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, and cayenne. Cook for 1 minute.

3 . In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatoes with their juices (do not strain) until smooth. Add the pureed tomatoes and chicken stock to the pot. Add the Tabasco and season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until thickened. Remove the bay leaf and serve with warm corn bread, chopped jalapeno, shredded cheddar, and sour cream. Serves 6-ish.

Carbon Dating

After a week of the world's worst cold I made a date with two of my besties, Chad and Ken, (Holla!) to enjoy a food extravaganza. The foodie destinations we visited have already been reviewed 80 million times (I've never said that I was cutting edge) so I was hoping our late showing would make for a more mellow experience since I can't stand crowds or lines or...people.

We brunched at The Breslin where I had the most amazing lamb burger with a side of thrice baked chips. Hello...you had me at thrice. (Oh, THAT'S why my jeans don't fit! Interesting.) We had some issues with the front of house but excused their general inadequacy after we ate.

Then we made our way over to Eataly. Yes, the original food and wine market is in Italy, but the way the lines formed around the block you'd think that Mario invented the place. Since I don't do lines, I took one look and got ready to run the other way. Fortunately I was with friends who aren't quite as fazed by such things. (Tip: If there's a line when you go, wait at the 23rd street entrance where it will be shorter. The Broadway entrance is bananas. Also, it only takes about 5 minutes to get in.) The place is pretty cool, though I can't imagine having an enjoyable meal there because it's loud and frenetic, not exactly the way I like to enjoy a glass of wine. I did manage to find some relative bargains hidden among the more upscale items. I bought some ground espresso for 6 bucks and a really nice bottle of olive oil for about 12. Plus the array of dried pasta is dizzying. At least now I know where to find those more unusual shapes.

A big motivating factor for our visit to Eataly was to pick up some guanciale, which is basically an unsmoked Italian bacon made from the jowls of the pig rather than the belly. It's a little harder to find than pancetta, so when we scored it we knew that carbonara was in our immediate future. This basic pasta is essentially a bacon, egg, and cheese (and pepper!) mixed into pasta rather than served fried on a roll. It's SO GOOD. There is some discrepancy about whether the name, carbonara, refers to a meal served to Italian coal workers (coal miner's spaghetti), or that it was originally made over charcoal grills, or that the abundance of black pepper simply resembles charcoal. Whatevs. It's delish. More importantly, I am suddenly realizing that this post is coinciding with the long awaited rescue of the trapped Chilean coal miners. Can you imagine being trapped underground for 69 days??? I certainly can not. And I can't believe their ability to keep it together and not go all Lord of the Flies on each other. They better get compensated for all of the book/screenplay/movie deals that most likely have been in the works for the past 52 days. That's it. Spaghetti alla Carbonara absolutely means Coal Miner's Spaghetti!



Spaghetti alla Carbonara

1 pound dry spaghetti
Salt
1/2 pound guanciale (or pancetta or good bacon)
1 cup Pecorino Romano, grated, plus more for serving
5 large egg yolks
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti, according to package directions until tender yet al dente.

2. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, cook the guanciale until it is crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the cooked spaghetti and add to the bowl, along with the guanciale, reserved fat, grated cheese, and a very generous amount of black pepper and toss until fully incorporated. Add the reserved pasta water as needed to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. Season with more freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste, and grate additional cheese over the top. Serve immediately. Serves 4 generously.

Bo Ssämified

Pork butt with sauces and bibb lettuce waiting to be bo ssämified.

Now that it's so freaking hot that I can barely stand to look at my stove let alone turn it on, I can happily rely on fellow cooking partner-in-crime, Chad, to offer his place (with central air!) to cook and hang out in or to host dinner parties. I think this past weekend was our tour de force.

We've been going to Momofuku Ssäm Bar for holiday and birthday dinners with the sole purpose of ordering the bo ssäm, a do-it-yourself pork wrap sandwich thang that you make from a whole slow roasted pork butt (AKA the pork shoulder/Boston butt/Boston roast/pork butt roast/pork shoulder Boston butt/Boston-style shoulder/Boston shoulder/Boston-style butt/fresh pork butt...) bibb lettuce, and an array of garnishes. It's AH-MAZING.


Going.

Going.

Gone.

Ginger Scallion Sauce.

Well, now that there is a Momofuku cookbook you can do it yourself. So we did! (Or if you are lazy, you can order your own Bo Ssäm to go.) It was more of a time suck that anything else. Fortunately the pork butt spends most of it's time unattended. It hangs out overnight in a rub of salt and sugar, then 6 hours in a 300˚F oven, then a quick blast of 500˚F to crisp the skin. (I don't own the cookbook so you'll have to buy your own for the actual recipes.) We also made the accompanying sauces (but bought the kimchi from Koreatown and left out the oysters). Oh wait, I just remembered that you can find a version of the brussels sprouts recipe at Food & Wine!


Brussels sprouts in their natural state.

Brussels sprouts Momofukified.

This is hands down my new favorite holiday meal, whatever the holiday. We were just hanging out with awesome friends from Savannah and NYC, but I would happily stuff myself if someone served it to me for Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving. Or next Tuesday night. Anyone?

It's Alive!

I apologize for my recent blogging lameness, but I'm finally off the couch! Yippee! I can actually breathe. Oh, and before I forget, now that I've actually been walking outside in the rain...golf umbrellas should be outlawed in NYC!!! How is it OK to walk down a sidewalk with a gigantic (potential) guillotine?!? It's so rude. We should all have to wear rain hats alla Paddington Bear. This chick looks pretty chic, no?

Whatever. It will never happen so I'll just have to accept being stabbed by people lacking in self awareness. And since I've been living off of soup and tea for the last week, I'll need some protein in order to refrain from grabbing those umbrellas and beating the owners over the head with them. (Golf umbrellas belong ON THE GOLF COURSE!) Fortunately my freezer is teaming with forgotten items like the two thick cut pork chops I found hidden beneath a whole bundt cake.



Saltimbocca (which when translated literally means "jumps in the mouth") is traditionally made with veal. But these days, because veal is so un-PC, it will often be made with chicken or pork. Typically the main protein would be wrapped in the prosciutto (and occasionally cheese) and topped with the sage, but I found a recipe for a stuffed version while combing through my files that would be great with these thick chops. What's better than pork wrapped (or stuffed) with pork? And if it's still raining later, maybe I'll throw the leftover pork rib bones at the giant umbrella toting morons.



Pork Chops Saltimbocca with Sauteed Spinach
(Adapted from Gourmet)

2 (1-inch-thick) center-cut rib pork chops
2 sage leaves, chopped
2 thin slices Fontina
2 thin slices prosciutto (1 ounce)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 (10-ounce) bag fresh spinach
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Cut a deep, wide pocket in each pork chop. Sprinkle half of sage into each pocket and then stuff with the cheese and prosciutto. Season the chops all over with 1/4 teaspoon of each salt and pepper.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook the chops until the undersides are golden, about 2 minutes, then turn the chops over and transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast until cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. While the chops cook, heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. Transfer the spinach and the chops to a platter.

4. Add the butter and lemon juice to the hot skillet that held the chops, stirring and scraping up the brown bits, then pour the sauce over the pork. Serve immediately. Serves 2.