Next chapters of my food blog
Pork, one of America’s favorite animals. It’s no wonder with the cost of beef rising even higher by the day. It’s called “The other white meat”, which, if you listen to all the talk about salmonella or other food borne illness from improper care (same as poultry) then you can see why. Proper care while preparing is always important. With “Porcina!”, I will concentrate primarily on pork chops, pork tenderloin, and ribs.
Pork chops are usually served dry, cooked within an inch of its taste. It doesn’t need to be this way. Recently I have become a HUGE fan of brining my pork chops for two or three days before cooking. My pork chop brine is kosher salt, garlic, capers, onions, fennel, and sage. Boil these ingredients in EIGHT times the amount of water as your salt (2 cups water = 1/4 cup salt) for about two to five minutes. Remove from heat and add ice. Add about 2 cups (also known as a pint, or a pound if you are measuring by weight of ice). After the mix has cooled add your pork and refrigerate for a day or two, or three. Now the time of waiting is over. Throw it on the grill, frying pan, or bake in the oven. Place a probe thermometer in the pork as directions dictate, then cook until medium rare. Let it carry over heat and you will have a nice, juicy, tender pork chop. A pork chop that you will savor every minute of and you will be sad about being done. Something else to increase your enjoyment is to stuff the pork chop after the brine.
Stuffing in meat is a tricky thing because you will want to make sure to not only compliment the meat, but you will also want something you enjoy. Some people just like cheese, others like cloves of garlic. Try some asparagus, garlic, fennel bulb, carrots, capers, and/or parmesan cheese chopped fine and mixed. To stuff the pork chop slice into the middle of the cut (cut of pork, not the cut of the cut) from the side and rotate the blade back and forth. Remove the blade, flip it over and cut the same way from the same hole, but cutting the other way. This will make a pocket. I prefer thick cut pork chops for this reason. The thicker the cut the more stuffing I can fit into it.
Pork tenderloin is a highly underrated cut of the pig. See, the tenderloin comes from the areas under the spine near the ribs. This cut of meat does not have too much muscular build up over the pigs’ life so it doesn’t get tough. Instead of a simple rub, I prefer a good long marinade with this bit o’ the hog. I have recently started using bourbon in my marinade, but it isn’t necessary. If you decide to use liquor for your cooking then buy the cheap stuff. No use in spending your money on Maker’s Mark if you will be cooking it off. Add some brown sugar, some apricot preserve, some honey, maybe a bit of cumin and chili powder, and rub it all over the meat. If some falls off, then it’s no problem. Add your standards such as black pepper and salt. Now let’s turn the rub into a marinade. Place the meat into an airproof mobile container (such as glad ware) and add the liquids. I use red wine vinegar, the bourbon, soy sauce, yellow mustard, a splash or two of lemon juice, and some vegetable oil. Feel free to use canola, safflower, sun flower seed, or any other type of oil. Marinade the mixture for at least one hour before cooking. Cook indirect medium heat until internal temperature is at 150. Take it off and let it rest for 10 minutes before consuming.
Ribs are tasty. We all know this to be true. But how can we make sure that the ribs are good no matter what? Proper preparation. A good marinade or a nice dry rub are key for the preparation. As for the dry rub there are some basic rules you will want to follow. Keep it simple, keep it contained, and keep it fresh. Here are some tips to show you how.
Although a complex flavor may be enjoyable to some, there are those known as “super tasters” that have more taste buds than the average person. Too much variety in the rub will over rule the flavor of the meat itself. By keeping your rubs simple you will be boosting the natural flavors of the pork and enhancing the complexity of it. Start with salt and pepper, these are your boosters. Then augment the flavor with what you are in the mood for. Brown sugar, cumin, coriander, chili powder, crushed red peppers, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, star anise, fennel, and garlic, mustard seed, etc. are all good ideas. Two to three of these in your rub are more than enough. Now you just need to find what is best for you. I like garlic, cumin and chili powder myself. After you blend this together you can save your left over rub in a container for up to three months. I use the old containers from my spices and herbs just for this, after I wash them of course.
Your spices and dried herbs are only good for a few months, maybe up to six months tops. When you start grinding them down into rubs for food it accelerates the time factor before the herbs and spices become bland. That is where “keep it contained” comes in. Sunlight and air flow are the enemy to the oils that make you love these flavors so much. Make sure your containers are properly sealed. This will slow that acceleration down some, but not much. As I said earlier I use the old containers for my rubs, but some people have been known to use old film canisters, or even specialty containers. I don’t see why you would buy them containers though, after all, you can find them with some of the goods you buy to begin with.
“Keep it fresh” is also involved with this. Just like with anything you get, fresher is better, but then there is also the question of “how fresh is dried?” Well, that’s a tough one. Figure that there has been about a month between packaging and getting the spice to the store. So you only have five months of use left. Why not dry your own? Well, if you have a dehydrator then yeah, why doncha? I don’t have a dehydrator though, so I do buy the dried spices. I use them within the five months anyway.
Marinades are something else entirely. Marinades use the acidity to break down the connective tissues in the meat to help them be tenderer. Pork is made for rubs in my opinion, but your ribs and tenderloin are the exception. My rib marinade, after I put the ribs on the grill, I boil down the marinade, add some sugar, and use it as a sauce. Try lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt, fennel seed, and catsup. Make sure to have enough so your ribs are covered while they marinate for no less than two hours. I prefer 18 hours to 24 hours.
The cooking time is going to be the same for both the rub and marinade. Make sure your grill is nice and hot. Turn off the middle burners and keep the outer burners on high. Place the ribs on the grill, then forget about them for about a half hour. Now is the time to go boil down your marinade unless you went the rub route. After a half hour, flip, and glaze your ribs (again, unless you went the rub route). Glaze every fifteen minutes, flip every thirty. When your thermometer is up to the 150 range you can remove them from the grill and let rest for at least ten minutes before slicing and eating.
Fry ‘em, grill ‘em, bake ‘em, or just cook ‘em any which way. The chicken has many useful parts, not just the meat. You can buy chickens whole and make a good stock, a broth, a stew, a soup, grill part of it, fry part of it, and still have more chicken left. It does become something of a problem deboning the chicken if you aren’t skilled about it. If that’s you, then buy legs, thighs, wings, and breasts separately at the store. Light meat and dark meat complement each other, and should be eaten together, not be discriminated against. The spices used are dependent on what you are cooking. Let’s take this wonderful journey together. Also, skin is no good in a soup, but everywhere else, it adds flavor.
Chicken stock is made from the juicy bits of the chicken. Take the skin, any bits of fat, the internal organs… everything but the actual head, feet, and feathers; throw it in a pot of water, add some salt, celery, onion, and carrots, a bit of black pepper…. Boil for 30 minutes then drop to a simmer and walk away. Come back and check on it in about an hour to an hour and a half. It will still be mostly clear, but taste it. This is a great base for many soups.
Chicken brother is made from the hard bits of chicken. If you are deboning your own chicken, set them aside with any bits of tendon that you may find. Remember that pot of water? Yeah, it’s the same thing - salt, pepper, celery, onion, carrot. Start with six quarts of water and the ingredients, then cook it down to between three and four quarts. Remember, you can always add more salt, but it’s damn hard to desalt something.
I like to mix it all together. Everything but the actual meat from the chicken (and the feathers, feet and head of course) goes into my pot. I slow simmer for about three hours. I add the necessary onion, carrot, celery, and then I add some garlic, sage, tarragon, maybe some herbs de provance. It depends on my mood. That is what I use as my base for tortilla soup, chicken noodle soup, fish stew, caldo, and many more.
Baking chicken is simple. Make sure it is defrosted entirely before you start cooking. You can use a dry rub here if you would like. Salt, pepper, tarragon and a pinch of granulated garlic works wonderful. Preheat your oven to 325, wait 10 minutes after it reaches temperature, then toss in the oven. About 20 to 30 minutes and it will be done (depends on altitude). I suggest getting a thermometer and following the temperature directions for medium rare chicken. By the time you let it rest for five to ten minutes it will be medium (due to carry over), and it will be juicy.
Frying chicken is an experience all of its own. Many things need to come together for perfect friend chicken. Honestly, I make a great fried chicken, but not a perfect one. Usually the crust is a bit wet and soggy. It used to be that it was over cooked. Every time I correct one thing it seems like something else changes. Here’s where I stand now. Soak the chicken in buttermilk, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper over night. Preheat the oven to 300. On the stove top heat your biggest cast iron frying pan filled with vegetable, canola, or safflower oil. You will want a thermometer that can handle this constant heat. While this is warming up to about 350, dry the chicken with a paper towel (a simple pat dry will work), then place it into a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, cayenne, granulated garlic, onion powder, and maybe some ground sage. Toss the chicken in the oil, two, maybe three pieces at a time, and turn the heat up to counter act the cooling done to the oil by placing the chicken into it. This is why a good thermometer is necessary. Accuracy and consistency matter when frying. Cook on each side for about five minutes or until nice and golden brown. Watch the heat level. You will need to turn the burner down a bit after about thirty seconds. Once both sides are done, place the chicken onto a cooling rack with a cookie sheet or baking pan under it. Once your but of chicken is all done on the stove top, place it in the oven that should now be heated. Cook for about twenty minutes. This will help make the chicken crust dry, it will also help make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through. Very little is as unappetizing as biting into undercooked chicken.
Grilling chicken is a good way to get rid of some of the grease that can happen from the fat in the skin. First get your marinade ready. ½ cup of vegetable oil, ½ cup red wine vinegar, ½ cup lemon juice, ½ cup soy sauce, black pepper, a pinch of crushed red pepper, some granulated garlic and onion powder, ground sage, and some parsley flakes. Let it soak in for at least two hours. Throw it on direct heat for about five minutes, flip it, and cook for about three minutes. Now check with a thermometer before removing from heat. Let it rest for five to ten minutes and dig in. That marinade guideline is good for about 12 drumsticks, 8 thighs, 8 wings, or 6-8 breasts.
Let’s go back to some of those soups I mentioned earlier. Caldo is a traditional hang over cure for me. It also is great for if you’re sick. Take either the broth or the combo mixture I mentioned earlier, a couple of chicken breasts, some carrots, celery, onions, one clove of crushed garlic, an ear of corn cut into thirds, a large can of hominy, place it into a pot, simmer for two hours. Taste and season as needed - usually some chille powder, salt, pepper, more garlic, etc. Remove from heat, add some cilantro, and enjoy.
For tortilla soup, see caldo. Remove the corn. Dice a fresh jalapeno, tomato, grate some cheese (jack or manchego), take some corn tortillas and slice into strips(or just use non salted tortilla chips), and cilantro. Keep these separate to add as your preference. I build my bowl like this: Tortilla strips, jalapenos, cilantro, then soup, tomatoes, then cheese.
Chicken noodle soup… it’s a standard for anyone. Boneless chicken breast (cubed), the broth, buckwheat noodles, celery, onion, garlic, and carrots, add to the pot and simmer for an hour, salt and pepper as needed.
That’s it for now. I’ll have to think of what to do next. If you want to hear about anything in particular let me know.