PORK TENDERLOIN WITH MUSHROOMS AND ONIONS

Tenderloin recipe from Natasha's Kitchen

4 servings

Tenderloin:

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 lb pork tenderloin, silverskin trimmed

1/2 t sea salt

1/2 t black pepper

3/4 t Italian seasoning

3/4 t garlic powder

3/4 t ground coriander

Methodology:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  

Heat the oil in a large a cast iron pan over medium-high heat.  

Grind all the spices together with the salt, and rub evenly over the tenderloin.  Once the oil is hot, brown the tenderloin well on all sides.

Transfer the pan to the oven and continue to cook until tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 150°F.  Remove from the oven, transfer the tenderloin to a plate, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  Slice and enjoy.

Mushrooms and Onions:

Ingredients:

2  8 oz containers of peeled pearl onions

10 sprigs fresh thyme

3 T olive oil, divided

2  8 oz containers of baby bella mushrooms, quartered and halved, very small mushrooms left whole

2 T butter, unsalted

2 T balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Methodology:

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  

Place onions and thyme on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 T oil, then toss to coat.  Roast for 10 minutes, tossing once.

Add mushrooms on top of onions and drizzle with remaining oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 10 minutes, toss and continue roasting and tossing until most of the mushroom liquid has evaporated, about 10-15 minutes more.

Add butter and drizzle with balsamic vinegar, roast 2 minutes, toss once more and serve. 

This is served to perfection with buttermilk mashed potatoes!

BUTTERMILK WAFFLES

Straight from the Martha Stewart site, because I'm scared it'll disappear one day

Makes 4 large Belgian waffles

Ingredients:

2 c AP flour

2 T sugar

2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 c buttermilk

1/4 c (4 T) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

butter or oil to grease waffle iron

Methodology:

1. Preheat oven to 275°F and place a wire rack over a baking sheet inside the oven.

2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

3. Whisk together wet ingredients, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

4. Heat individual waffle iron plates over medium heat for 2 minutes.  Butter both plates, add batter (spreading with a utensil if necessary), leaving 1/2" bare around edges of iron.  Close and cook for 1 1/2 minutes over medium heat, then flip and cook an additional minute.  Loosen waffle and slide onto the warming rack in the oven.  Continue with remaining batter.

BA'S BEST BOLOGNESE

From Bon Appetit's website, now behind a pay wall

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

3 T olive oil

1 lb ground beef, 20% fat

3 oz thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped

1/3 c tomato paste

1 c white wine

2 c chicken stock

1 c milk

pinch of nutmeg

1 bay leaf

1 t fish sauce

fresh pasta, with some pasta water reserved

parmigiano to serve

Methodology:

Pulse onion, carrot and celery in food processor until very finely chopped.

Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium flame.  Break beef into 1 1/2"-2" chunks and lightly brown, stirring but not breaking apart, 6-8 minutes.  Remove from pot and reserve.

Add pancetta to pot and cook until fat has rendered and meat is crisp, 5-8 minutes.  Add onion mixture and cook until vegetables are very soft.  Add tomato paste and cook until it begins to darken and vegetables are beginning to stick.  

Add beef and wine, and cook, pressing down and smashing beef, until the wine has evaporated, and the meat is very finely ground. 

Add stock, milk, nutmeg, bay leaf and fish sauce.  Reduce heat to very low, so only a few bubbles are visible, and cook until beef is very tender, 2 - 2 1/2 hours.  Taste, and add more fish sauce if called for.  

Cook pasta as directed on package, and mix pasta, sauce, and a bit of pasta water to emulsify.  Add parm and serve with a big green salad.

DOVER SOLE & SIMPLE BROWNED BUTTER SAUCE FOR WHITE FISH

For the fish:

From this Wulf's Fish recipe

Ingredients:

1 whole dover sole, cleaned and gutted, skin on

Methodology:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Place fish on a foil lined baking sheet.

Roast uncovered 10-15 minutes,  The fish will be cooked when you can easily remove the skin and the top fillets from the bone.

For the sauce:

From this Wulf's Fish online recipe

Ingredients:

2 T salted butter

2 T capers, chopped

2 T parsley, finely minced

Juice from 1/2 lemon, about 2 t

Methodology:

Gently melt and then brown the butter, turning off the heat as soon as the butter begins to go past pale gold and smell nutty.  Stir in the capers, parsley, and lemon juice.  

Serve table-side.

SPICY PORK NOODLE SAUCE

 from Bon Appetit, now behind a pay wall

6-8 servings

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

2 lb ground pork, divided

1 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 T sugar

2 T tomato paste

2 sprigs basil, plus more for serving

1/3 c sambal oelek

1/4 c soy sauce

1/4 c unseasoned rice vinegar

2 T unsalted butter

Kosher salt

Ramen or spaghetti noodles to serve

Methodology:

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat.  Add half of pork to pot, breaking apart into 6-8 large chunks with a wooden spoon.  Cook, undisturbed, until well browned underneath, about 5 miuntes.  Turn pieces and continue to cook, turning occasionally, until pork is browned on 2-3 sides, about 5 minutes longer.  

Add ginger, garlic, sugar and remaining pork to pot and cook, breaking up pork into small clumps, until meat is nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.  

Add tomato paste and 2 basil sprigs.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until paste darkens, about 2 minutes.

Add chili paste, soy sauce, vinegar and 2 c water.  Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 30-45 minutes.  Add butter and stir to combine.

Serve with ramen or spaghetti.  Top with torn basil.

MOIST CORNBREAD

Originally from the web archive for: http://www.chow.com/recipes/30498-easy-cornbread 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c finely ground cornmeal

1/2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t fine salt

1 1/2 c milk

2 large eggs

6 T butter, plus more to butter the pan

Methodology:

Heat oven to 425°F.  Butter an 8"x8" square baking pan.

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk milk and eggs in a medium bowl until the eggs are broken up.  

Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, top with the melted butter, and stir until just combined.  Scrape into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve.

POPOVERS

From the web archive for: https://web.archive.org/web/20220309052339/https://chowhound.com/recipes/muffin-pan-popovers-30114

Ingredients:

3 T unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs, room temp

1 c milk, room temp

1 t sugar

3/4 t fine salt

1 c AP flour

optional: additional butter, and cinnamon-sugar mixture for topping

Methodology:

Heat oven to 425°F.  Remove all racks but one in the lower third of the oven.  Place a baking sheet in to warm up.

Place 1/2 t butter in each of 12 muffin cups.  

Blend the remaining 1 T butter, eggs, milk, sugar and salt until smooth, about 30 seconds.  Add the flour and blend for another 30 seconds.  Set aside. 

Place the prepared muffin tin onto the preheated baking sheet in the oven and bake until the butter begins to sizzle, 2-3 minutes.  Remove both pans from oven, and fill the muffin cups halfway with batter, pouring from blender.

Return pans to oven and bake until the popovers are puffed and beginning to brown, about 20 minutes.  Don't open the oven.  Reduce the heat to 325°F and bake until the popovers are golden brown, about 15 minutes more.

Remove both pans from the oven, remove the popovers from the pan and enjoy immediately.

Optional: I like to butter the popovers and roll them in cinnamon sugar.

OKONOMIYAKI

 From: the web archive for: www.eatyourkimchi.com/how-to-make-okonomiyaki/

Ingredients:

7 heaping T okonomiyaki flour mix
1/2 head green cabbage, finely chopped 

4-6 stalks scallion, finely chopped

1 egg

3/4 c cold water

5-6 bacon strips, thin

Garnish:

mayonnaise

okonomiyaki/tonkatsu sauce (sub 3 T ketchup, 1 T worcestershire sauce, 1 t soy sauce)

bonito flakes

seaweed flakes

Methodology:

In a large bowl, whisk the egg with the water.  Add the flour and whisk until mixed, but not completely smooth. 

Add the cabbage and scallion, and mix until it's all thinly coated in batter. 

Par-cook the bacon in a large, flat frying pan over low heat 2-3 minutes per side.  It'll continue to cook once it's on the pancake.

Drain the excess bacon grease from the skillet, then rearrange the bacon in the pan and pour the batter over the bacon, in a circle.  Press down, so the bacon adheres to the batter.  Cover tightly, set to medium heat, and cook for 4 minutes.  Flip, then cook, covered, for another 3 minutes.  Check in the center of the pancake to make sure the batter is fully cooked.  If not, cook an additional 2 minutes, periodically checking for doneness. 

Cut into slices, garnish and serve immediately. 

Variation: use bacon lardons, pork belly, shrimp, scallops, cheese, etc.

BIGOS - POLISH HUNTER'S STEW

Adapted from the below recipes, to match the bigos I had when I lived in Chełm, Poland, in 2007.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/387982
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/polish_hunters_stew/ 

Ingredients:

1⁄2 lb meat for veal stew
1⁄2 lb pork shoulder (cubed)
1⁄2 lb meat for beef stew
Boczek (Polish pork belly, like salt pork or slab bacon), chopped into pieces
1ʼ, or 1-2 lb kielbasa, chopped into pieces
1 smoked ham hock
1-2 large onions, rough chopped
1 head cabbage, chopped
1 1⁄2 lb fresh mushrooms
25 oz fresh sauerkraut, or more

1 oz dried porcini or other wild mushrooms (soaked, reserving the strained soaking liquid) 

Stock cubes (not actual stock, too much liquid)

Bay leaf 

1 T caraway seeds

1 T juniper berries

1 T black peppercorns

1 C red wine

Handful pitted prunes

Methodology:

Pour hot water over the dried mushrooms and submerge them for 20-40 minutes, or until soft. Grind or crush the juniper berries and black peppercorns roughly; you donʼt want a powder. 

Cut the pork shoulder into large chunks, about 2 inches. Cut the sausages into similar-sized chunks. 

Drain the sauerkraut and set aside. 

Clean off any dirt from the fresh mushrooms and cut them into large pieces; leave small ones whole.

Heat the bacon fat or vegetable oil in a large lidded pot for a minute or two. Working in batches if necessary, brown the pork shoulder over medium-high heat. Do not crowd the pan. Set the browned meat aside.

Put the onion and fresh cabbage into the pot and sauté for a few minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage is soft. Sprinkle a little salt over them. The vegetables will give off plenty of water, and when they do, use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Once the pot is clean and the cabbage and onions soft, remove from the pot and set aside with the pork shoulder.

Add the fresh mushrooms and cook them without any additional oil, stirring often, until they release their water. Once they do, sprinkle a little salt on the mushrooms. When the water is nearly all gone, add back the pork shoulder, the cabbage-and-onion mixture, and then everything else except the prunes and red wine. Stir to combine.

You should not have enough liquid to submerge everything. Thatʼs good: bigos is a “dry” stew, and besides, the ingredients will give off more liquid as they cook. Bring everything to a simmer, cover the pot and cook gently for at least 1 1⁄2 hours. Add the cup of red wine.

Bigos is better the longer it cooks, but you can eat it once the ham hock falls apart. Check at 2 hours, and then every 30 minutes after that. When the hock is tender, fish it out and pull off the meat and fat from the bones Discard the bones and the fat, then chop the meat roughly and return to the pot. Add the prunes and cook until they are tender, at least 30 more minutes.

LEMON RICOTTA PANCAKES

 New York Times, behind the paywall

Ingredients:

3/4 c / 102g AP flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

3/4 t kosher salt

1/4 c / 50g sugar

1 lemon, zest only

3/4 c / 170g whole milk ricotta

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1/4 c / 61g buttermilk

2 T melted butter

Blueberries, optionally

Methodology:

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl.

Mix sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips in a large bowl.  Add the vanilla, and whisk to moisten.  Add in the ricotta, and whisk to blend.  Beat in the eggs, then the buttermilk and melted butter.  

Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Cook on a skillet over medium heat, with blueberries added in if desired.

PEANUT & PORK RICE NOODLES

Halved and adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

6 oz rice stick noodles, blanched for less time than the package instructs (instructions range from 4-8 minutes)

Sauce:

1/8 c smooth natural peanut butter

1/8 c soy sauce

1 T rice vinegar

1 1/2 t sugar

1 t crushed pepper flakes

1/2 c water

2 t cooking oil

1" piece of ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks, or 1 t grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 lb ground pork

1 bunch swiss chard, thinly sliced

To serve:

1 lime

1/2 c cilantro, thinly sliced

Crushed, roasted, salted peanuts

Huy Fong chili garlic sauce

Methodology:

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, until shimmering.  Add the ginger and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the pork, and cook, stirring, until no pink remains.  Add the noodles, and stir until well mixed.  Add the chard and sauce, and cook until sauce reduces, and noodles are fully cooked. 

Serve with lime wedges, cilantro and peanuts.