Back on the old horse! Err, pig!

Please accept my humble yet vehement apologies for being so lax with this blog lately...I've been <cliche>very busy</cliche>. So enough with the schlepping, I have many entries to get caught up on. The first one will be about pork belly...the Grand Czar of all fatty meats.

Pork belly is, in essence, the belly of a pig :P ... Think bacon, except kept in it's whole slab form, and not cured or smoked in any way. Bacon (slab or sliced), on one hand, is treated with a salt and sugar cure, and smoke is imparted one way or another (naturally or artificially). The cure is called TCM (tinted curing mixture)...it contains nitrates that artificially tint the meat pink. That's right! Cooked pork or ham is not naturally pink! It's supposed to be white, when left unadulterated by cures and the like. Pork Belly: It's what's for DINNER!

So pork belly is literally raw pig belly fat. Sounds good right? It is! The pork belly I procure for the restaurant is of the Berkshire variety (special black furred pigs raised in the standard of the Royal family, or so the story goes). It is very firm and creamy to the touch. Let's cook it!!! Shall we just season it up and chuck it on the grill? Sure, especially if you want to set off the fire suppression system! Here's how the pork belly is prepared, as illustrated in the above picture...

I began by lightly scoring the pork belly in a criss-cross fashion. Then, I rubbed in a salt, pepper and thyme mixture, then added a little homemade crystallized garlic. I made sure that I seasoned all surfaces, then laid it into a shallow hotel pan, and partially submerged it in melted duck fat (the other Grand Czar of fats...more on that later). I added a few toasted black peppercorns, a few feuilles de laurier (Bay leaves) and a couple cloves of garlic. I wrapped this pan with aluminum foil, and placed it into a 275F convection oven for 2.5 hours. I let it rest, still covered, for another hour. Then I uncovered it, and let it come to room temperature. Let me tell you, the investment of patience is well worth it. Cutting off a piece of this confit (slow cook in large amounts of fat), and savouring it, allowing it to melt, was absolute heaven. The meat that is intermingled with the layers of precious fat is super tender, and requires next to no chewing, thanks to the lovingly slow cook method that embodies 'confit'. This, for me, is the absolute nirvana of porkdom. Pork belly (Berkshire or otherwise) is available from your local butcher by special order.

Simple Soul Warmer

I had some nice sweet potatoes laying around my pantry today, so I thought I would put them to use. I put together a quick soup utilizing simple ingredients that most people have in their refrigerators and cupboards. The result was a velvety smooth and subtly sweet soup that is sure to please. Check out the recipe and give it a shot. I have downsized it from the batch I made (10L), to yield a 3-4L batch, good for 6-8 servings. Make note of the 'do ahead' step if you wish to do it.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, sliced 1/4"
• 1 large Yukon Gold potato, peeled and diced
• 3 small sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/4tsp dried), tied tightly with butcher twine (for ease of retrieval), tied to pot handle
• 1 small white cooking onion, diced
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 20 roasted garlic cloves ** (do ahead)
• 5 strips of bacon, cut crosswise into lardons
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3L chicken stock or vegetable stock or water
• Kosher salt, pepper and vegetable oil for sauteeing

** place 20 peeled garlic cloves in the center of a foil square, shiny side up. Season with kosher salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of olive oil. Fold packet closed, bake in 350F oven for 30-35 minutes.

Method:

• In a Dutch Oven over medium heat, gently saute the onion, bacon and raw minced garlic until bacon begins to crisp slightly and onions are translucent.
• Add sweet potatoes and Yukons to the pot, stir in to incorporate. Add thyme sprigs. Saute for a few more minutes longer.
• Add stock and roasted garlic, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove thyme and discard
• Use immersion blender to puree soup to a velvet consistency
• Finish soup with heavy cream and readjust seasoning as needed.

Serve with fresh toasted baguette crustinis with melted cambozola (brush baguette slices with garlic oil from garlic roasting method), and a dollop of chive yogurt (simply diced chive and plain yogurt).

Enjoy! If you have any ideas of things you'd like to see on this blog, let me know. Any epicuriosities/culinary questions are more than welcome!

Any comments? I encourage you to feel free to leave them below!

Cheers
-D

Oven Dried Tomatoes: Worth The Investment

First of all, happy belated New Year. It's been awhile, due partly to the fact that I'm lazy, and partly to the fact that I've been busy. Better late than never. So I blow the 2011 cobwebs off my blog, and dive headlong into awesomeness: home made ovendried tomatoes! Better tasting than you can buy in any store. Period. So extremely versatile. Last forever. Custom tailored flavour. Love it.

I start with a nice ripe selection of roma tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes lengthwise in half, then each half into quarters. Place these wedges into a large bowl. Add enough kosher salt to the tomatoes to begin the evisceration (sounds gross, akin to what a spider does to a trapped insect in it's web) process. I would suggest 1/2 cup of kosher salt to 12-16 whole tomatoes. Make sure the salt is evenly distributed, so as to result in an even cure. Transfer tomatoes to a collander over a sink. Allow to drain for 4 hours at least, moving the tomatoes around gently every hour or so, to move as much water as possible. Let gravity do its job.

To backtrack a little, allow me to explain: This salting process accomplishes 3 things: 1) Evisceration (dessicates, draws water from, dehydrates, etc.), which concentrates the natural flavour of the tomato, removing the natural dilution inherent from added water, and 2) Flavours. The water that is drawn from the tomatoes will be replaced with a curing agent, namely, salt. Finally, 3) Cures. Salt is a natural cure (preservation). It dries out things, so it virtually eliminates harmful bacterial invasion, namely the heterotrophic bacteria that decimates moist unliving things.

Once the tomatoes have drained to your satisfaction, lay them out on a raised rack over a cookie sheet (may need 2 or 3 depending on how many tomatoes you want to cure), as pictured above. Make sure they are evenly spaced. Things done evenly result in more even results... if that makes any sense.

If you have a convection oven, then great! Set it at it's lowest setting, maybe about 180F, and on high fan setting. Place the trays in the oven, and leave the door cracked slightly, to allow the steam from the drying process to escape. This step may take hours...it takes exactly 2.5 hours at 200F + High Fan in a commercial convection oven to thoroughly dry these tomatoes. For a normal conventional oven, I would estimate 140F, oven door cracked open, and the same time length. They can be left in a powered down oven overnight if they need more drying. The result should be a tomato that resembles jerky.

Uses: There are plenty, but only limited to your imagination. They are great when slightly reconstituted (hot water added to make them more pliable) as a snack, in a pasta dish. They are terrific in salads. A real showstopper. Friends will be amazed, and appreciate the time and effort it took to dry your own tomatoes. You can cure them with garlic (just a few bruised cloves that you throw in with the salting/draining process) or basil or any other flavouring you like. Oh, and they keep indefinitely. Another big plus!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post below, or contact me directly.

Cheers!

-D

March of the Lobsters!

Oh Bison!

Pictured above is a feature I ran this past weekend: bison ribeye steak, with blueberry studded woodland mushroom ragout, roasted heirloom carrots, pommery mustard whipped Yukon Gold mashed potato.

Bison is one of those meats where you have to be careful how you prepare and cook it. Bison ribeye, for instance, has little intramuscular fat (read: very lean). It does, however, have a large fat deposit alongside the eye of rib, perhaps more so than beef ribeye. That being said, I would not recommend it to be cooked any further than medium-rare. Any further, and it will become expensive boot leather, due to the leanness. I find the raw preparation of bison ribeye needs to be trussed in order for it to retain it's shape, after it has been cut into portions. For example, once a steak has been cut from the loin, a length of butcher twine should be applied around the circumference of the ribeye steak, and gently tied, so that it may withstand the rigours of charbroiling, pan frying, or what have you. I have always found game type meats to be a little flabby for some reason, be it lamb, elk, muskox, or venison. So I tie them all up, to give them a little help. The benefits of this are reaped in the finished product, where presentation counts the most.

A fast cook method is what one looks for when grilling game steaks or chops. Bison lends itself to super-searing in a blazing hot skillet with a little browned butter. 2 minutes a side in the pan, let it rest for a few mintes, then... wunderbar! Charbroiling is also effective, and a little easier to control. Just be careful of flare-ups when that large fatty eye begins to melt!

Game meat dishes often benefit from a sauce, relish or condiment that is well balanced and built up with acids and reductions (gastriques)...tomatoes, full bodied red wine, aged vinegars, fruits (like blueberry, cherry, lingonberry, currants) accompanied with minced shallots. They play well off of the earthy and rich quality and texture of the game. A nice ladle of a homemade (of course) glace de veau (see blog entry on glace de veau) and a little pommery mustard is a nice way to bring that sauce together.

Cheers!
-D

Blue Cheese...or, Fromage Bleu, or...What Is That Stink?!?!

One of my absolute favourite things in the whole world is blue cheese. How something so potentially revolting and smelly could be a delicacy, one could only wonder. In the words of the legendary Jerry "The King" Lawler..."...it smells like someone's eating Gorgonzola in the septic tank of a slaughterhouse in here!" Definitely an acquired taste, and for advanced lovers of cheeses only, I reckon.  

Pictured above is the aforementioned Gorgonzola, one of the undisputed Kings of Blue Cheese (being one of the most well known). Gorgonzola is from Italy. The other famous Blues are Maytag (domestic, USA), Stilton (Britain), Roquefort (Caves of Roquefort, France) and Danish Blue (Denmark). These cheeses are very unlike one another...each has it's own signature appeal. Maytag and Danish Blue have strong citrus notes, are more firm and crumbly, and are excellent for serving as a garnish on a salad, or in a vinaigrette. Creamier Blues, like Stilton and Gorgonzola, are excellent melting cheeses, or for eating straight up. These cheeses are very pungent, but milder and more refined in flavour than the domestic varieties. This is reflected in the price per kilogram, as fine imported Gorgonzola runs more than $22/kg.

Pictured above is, quite probably, my favourite blue cheese. It is also the most revolting cheese I have ever seen (and smelled). If you look closely, you will see how slimy it appears. There ain't nothing in this world like the controlled spoilage of milk, let me tell you. This cheese is called St. Agur, from France. I bought the above sample (4 oz.) at the Hamilton Farmer's Market, for about $36/kg, or a buck an ounce, give or take. It is a wonderfully smooth and nutty tasting Blue, and it goes really well with slices of apple and spread on fresh baguette (also procured from said Farmer's Market). As off-putting as it's appearance and aroma may be to the uninitiated, it is one of the smoothest and mildest Blues I've experienced. If you are fortunate enough to find some in an artisan cheese shop, do your self a favour and pick up a few ounces. If you like blue cheese, this is one for the ages.

 
Another great Blue Cheese is the above illustrated hybrid, the German Cambozola. It features the appearance of a nice wedge of camembert cheese, with it's soft, bloomy and edible rind, and pale, creamy and lightly veined interior. It is classified (or I classify it, rather) as a hybrid cheese because it's origin seems to be made from two separate cheeses. First, as the name 'Cambozola' suggests, the body is made up of a round of double cream Camembert cheese. It is then pricked with needles across the top, needles which have been 'infected' with the penicillium glaucum (gorgonzola) bacteria. It is then left to age in cool cellars for about 4 months or so. This is an impressive cheese to bust out at a wine and cheese party.

A Case of National Pride, OR: Why I'm A Proud Canadian

And now for a break from our regularly scheduled program ...

Take a moment if you will and have a close look at the above picture. I'm not trying to draw notice to the wicker Kleenex box, or the baby wipes, or the fact that the Oilers lost to the Wild in a shootout last night. The Movember charity stat blew me away. The proud Canadian broadcasters from TSN, many of whom grew some beastly mo's, made it a point to illustrate the landslide stats of money collected for prostate cancer research.

We are a country of over 34 million people, and somehow we, as a country, managed to raise more than a buck a person for prostate cancer research. We absolutely decimated the United States, a country that boasts over 10 times our population. I was so floored I had to take a picture. I love this country. Pride is not even enough to cover it. To raise money by growing mustaches in November...astounding.

Speechless.

O Canada.

-chef D