Pomegranate-Glazed Roast Pork

I know that January is a time for resolutions, most of them generally involving promises of living healthier and indulging less in meat, alcohol and the like, but I have been wanting to blog about this recipe for some time. This recipe for one of the most delicious roasts I have ever eaten would have been perfect for December, but for most of the month, I was deep in a snow and ice driven funk after our romantic, white Christmas in Portland weather went on for two weeks and hindered my travel plans.




I have a predilection for anything tart and this recipe is no different. It is slathered in a simple mixture of pomegranate molasses, dry mustard, and maple syrup, which results in the most amazing balance of the savory with the sweet. I notice that I use that expression quite a bit, and I must say that this combination is the driving force behind most of the foods that I love. Over time, I have even noticed (get ready for it) a waning love for anything overly sweet, which includes most of my former favorite desserts (from cookies and cakes to my nightly ice cream). Now, don’t get me wrong, I still have a fondness for those desserts, but now often when eating something sweet I am searching for balance. You may not have pomegranate molasses in your pantry, but after trying this you will probably want to add it to everything from fish and chicken to vegetables and dips—it is beautifully tart and acidic, and again, not too sweet. I was able to find my bottle at my local Whole Foods, but they should also have it at Middle Eastern markets.

I first made this roast for my father’s surprise birthday party last year. My mom, the genius that she is, surprised him with a trip to Savannah, Georgia, where his entire family was waiting for him in the most beautiful gothic townhouse. Deciding to go with a new recipe was a risk but it certainly paid off. It was perfect with a creamy potato gratin, and if you do decide to serve it with the gratin, be sure to dip the potatoes in the pomegranate pork jus. The roast could not be simpler and once you try it, I predict you will want to make it for someone special. It might even inspire you to throw a surprise party of your own.




Pomegranate-Glazed Roast Pork

Adapted from Food and Wine
Ingredients
1/2 cup pomegranate molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
One 5 1/2-pound pork rib roast, at room temperature
2 tablespoons canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
1. Mix the molasses, maple syrup, garlic, dry mustard and rosemary to make a glaze. Rub the pork with the oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in a 500° oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375° and roast for 20 minutes. Brush the roast with the glaze and cook for 25 minutes or until the center reaches 155°; brush with glaze again 10 minutes before it's done. Let the roast stand for 15 minutes, then carve and serve with the pan juices mixed with the remaining glaze.

Eggs and Snow

It is snowing in Portland. Snowing, It’s-a-White-Christmas, giant, powdery white snowflakes kind of snow. The kind of snow that conjures the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack and dreams of skating in Rockefeller Center and drinking hot cocoa afterwards at Serendipity.

After I have imbibed all of the hot chocolate I can possibly handle, it is precisely this kind of day that makes me crave comfort food! One of my favorite comfort dishes is one that Court introduced me to when we were first dating. In fact, I think he pulled it out to make sure I would be powerless to resist him. It is a simple Cantonese dish that transports him right back to his childhood, and for me, provides great satisfaction when I don’t want to make much of an effort for dinner.

Steamed eggs might not sound like the incredibly luxurious dish that it actually is. It is a very simple dish—with only 4-5 ingredients and a short cooking time, but the result is a silken custard of savory eggs topped with scallions and oyster sauce. I am incredibly attached to oyster sauce—it is the perfect balance of savory and sweet. I should warn you that it might take a couple of attempts to find the perfect bowl to cook it in. We like rounded bottom ceramic dishes the best, and use our double boiler as our steamer. It is hard to nail down a cooking time, as it varies so much from dish to dish, so for the first time please stand close by and check every two minutes with a fork. You will know it is set when it is the texture of silken tofu in the middle. Once you have the cooking time down, it might just become one of your go to comfort foods as well.

Let it snow!




Cantonese Style Chinese Steamed Eggs

Serves 2
Ingredients
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup broth (I use chicken)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2-3 drops of toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon canola oil to coat the bowl
• 2-3 scallions, finely minced
First, bring water in double boiler or wok to a rolling boil and be sure to coat the bowl with canola oil.
Whisk the egg with salt, sesame oil and broth in the ceramic bowl.
Place bowl into a steamer or double boiler and cover with lid. (You can make your own steamer by simply adding some water into a wok and raise the bowl above the water by using a small wire rack. If you do this, don’t close the wok lid fully... leave a small gap)
Gently steam for 8-15 min (time varies greatly depending on dish). You should open the lid and check if the egg is cooked by placing a fork in the center to see if it has set. Remember that it should be the texture of silken tofu.
Remove from steamer, drizzle with oyster sauce and sprinkle scallions on top just before serving. Serve with steamed white rice.

Jill's Stuffed Cornish Game Hens

I am thankFULL.

I must admit that after moving away from all our family and friends earlier this year, Thanksgiving was not something I was looking forward to. This may be a common feeling for many of those who have to journey long distances to have stress-inducing conversations with extended family, but for me, Thanksgiving has always been an uproarious family event with a ridiculous amount of amazing food and hilarious conversations with people I love. My relatives plan out the menus months ahead of time and the day itself is spent imbibing copious amounts of champagne while roasting birds and vegetables to culminate in a collectively prepared feast.

Over the years, I have spent Thanksgivings apart from my family, but always in the company of friends who have felt like family themselves. This year my Thanksgiving woes were put to rest by my dear friend Emma, who also loves food, plots out feasts months ahead of time, and even better yet, loves to drink champagne while filling pies, stuffing birds and roasting squash.

We had a delightful dinner for six—starting out with one of my favorite salads: grapefruit, avocado and butter lettuce is the ultimate palate cleanser (to help wash away the many rich cheeses we had been devouring in the hours leading up to the meal).



The star of the main event was my mother’s amazing Cornish game hens dusted with nutmeg and stuffed with herb cheese. I have come to enjoy preparing turkey (I baste all day in butter and wine), but when we found out there would be just six of us, Cornish game hens seemed so much more special. We served it with caramelized butternut squash, roasted brussels sprouts with pancetta, apple sausage stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce and my mom’s mashed potatoes.



As much as I loved the entree, Emma’s beautiful apple galette may have been my favorite of the night—she even made a homemade Calvados applesauce! Suffice to say, a wonderful time was had by all!


Jill’s Stuffed Cornish Game Hens:

These are ridiculously easy, and a real show stopper. I generally serve with a loaf of crusty bread, roasted carrots (with butter and thyme) and a nice bottle of red wine.

Ingredients

• 4 (1-2 pound) Cornish game hens
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt and white pepper
• Freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 container of herb Boursin or Alouette cheese

Directions

*The night ahead: scoop out six 1-2 Tbsp of Boursin or Alouette cheese and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Place the herb packets in the freezer overnight. You can get away with freezing them the morning of if you forget!
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and position the oven rack in the center of the oven.

Rinse hens inside and out with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Tuck wing tips under the hens, then place them, breast side up, in a large roasting pan, alternating directions of hens so that they fit well in the pan. Rub the hens with 1/2 tablespoon each of the butter. Season the hens inside and out with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Unwrap the cheese and place inside the cavity of each bird. Tie each hen’s legs with kitchen twine. Roast hens for 20-25 minutes, then move them slightly in the pan to prevent them from sticking on the bottom. Continue to roast the hens until they are golden brown and the juices run clear, about 20-30 minutes longer. The hens are done when you can pull the leg away from the body without any resistance.

Remove the pan from the oven and transfer hens to a serving platter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil while you prepare the sauce.

Pour off any excess fat in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan on the stovetop over high heat. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and stock, scraping the bottom of the roasting pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon gravy over the birds and serve with crusty bread!

Of Eggplants and Parmesan

Since we are heading full throttle towards the beginning of a new year, I have started working on a couple of early resolutions. For one, after much hemming and hawing, I have decided to get over my need to have perfect photos to go with every entry, and just focus on writing more. I am not a photographer and do not foresee an expertise in this realm any time soon.

As you might be able to tell from my new running head, I was also craving a new look for the site. This gorgeous ode to cheese was taken at what is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite restaurants, Gramercy Tavern in New York City. It is a photo of their renowned cheese station, and though I took this picture several months ago, I am still amazed that I was able to capture this image. Gramercy Tavern is a New York institution, the place where Tom Colicchio got his start, and a place that never fails to delight me with consistently excellent food and an ambiance that is at once intimate and rollicking. This photo reminds me how absolutely beautiful a table of nothing but cheese in all its artful simplicity can be.

Cheeeeeesse. I would not want to imagine my world without it. When I recently discovered that I had a sensitivity to wheat, my first thought was, “Thank God its not dairy.” I was of course fazed by the news, but truth be told, I feel so much better after cutting wheat out of my diet that it’s hard to get too worked up about it. And many of my favorite recipes don’t have anything to do with wheat. After a few crestfallen moments realizing that I would have to eat less pasta (I refuse to give it up entirely!), I began to account for all the wheat free foods I could come up with. The first recipe that came to mind was Jamie Oliver’s Eggplant Parmesan. Before trying Oliver’s recipe, I was not at all a fan of this Italian-American classic. Somehow, being battered and fried and smothered in tomato sauce is something I think best left to the mozzarella sticks of my youth.


This recipe is light, even airy, and is delightful with a salad and crusty bread (if you are so inclined). If I want a couple extra portions leftover, I add in lasagna noodles* to make it more substantial. I also tend to add a bit of fresh mozzarella to the top, but it is lovely with or without it...

*For gluten-free readers: I recently discovered the joy of Tinkyada’s brown rice pasta. Try theirs if you want to opt for the lasagna option.

Eggplant Parmesan

Adapted from “Jamie’s Italy” by Jamie Oliver (Hyperion, 2006)
3 medium-large eggplants, cut crosswise into ½-inch slices
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 28-ounce can no-salt plum tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, or as needed
1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs, optional.
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves, optional.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with oil, and place in a single layer on two or more baking sheets. Bake until undersides are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes, then turn and bake until other sides are lightly browned. Set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and add onion. Sauté until soft: about 10 minutes. Add garlic and dried oregano and sauté another 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and their juices, breaking up whole tomatoes with your hands. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Add vinegar, basil and salt and pepper to taste. Into a 9-by-9-inch, 10-by-5-inch or 10-by-6-inch baking pan, spoon a small amount of tomato sauce, then add a thin scattering of parmigiano, then a single layer of eggplant. Repeat until all ingredients are used, ending with a little sauce and a sprinkling of parmigiano. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and oregano, if using, with just enough olive oil to moisten. Sprinkle on top. If desired, recipe can be made to this point and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.

4. Bake until eggplant mixture is bubbly and center is hot, 30 to 45 minutes depending on size of pan and thickness of layers. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Recipe can also be reheated.

Yield: 4 main dish servings.
Time: About an hour 45 minutes- 1 hour

The Season of Short Ribs

I feel as though I have spent the last year trying to disavow my love of meat. I think it is fair to say that I’m quite conflicted. Some months have been more successful than others – July and August were a breeze. Particularly if I discount the dinner my brother and I spent at the delicious meat-intensive restaurant Beast in 105 degree weather—consuming 5 courses as we did our best not to melt.


Summer was blissfully spent with corn, tomatoes, arugula, and peaches, but being the anticipatory eater that I am, I was already plotting my braised meat dishes for fall. Fortunately, I have a like-minded friend who not only loves to plot meals months ahead of time with me, but also insists on wearing a nubby sweater while eating braised meat and drinking red wine for the total autumn experience. And so it came to pass this October, that we wore nubby sweaters on a perfect crisp fall day, and made what might just be one of the most delicious of all fall dishes— mushroom braised short ribs

I have frequently made this dish in the dead of winter— most often for Christmas dinner. One of the reasons I love this dish so much on Christmas is that, after a modest amount of chopping and seasoning, you can leave the meat to its own devices for a good four hours. In my family, this means that our championship Trivial Pursuit game can continue without interruption. I love to serve this with egg noodles and a crisp salad beforehand. I won’t lie to you, it is a rich meal, and one that might inspire you to take a nap, but it is just so goooood.


* Note: Unless I’m preparing for 6-8 people, I often half the recipe.

MUSHROOM BRAISED SHORT RIBS

* This is adapted from “Tom Valenti’s Soups, Stews and One-Pot
Meals” by Tom Valenti and Andrew Friedman.

Total time: 4 1/2 hours after overnight seasoning
Yield: 6 servings
6 pounds short ribs (about 6 pieces)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Garlic powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium Spanish onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
8 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
2 cups dry white wine
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
9 cups store-bought, reduced-sodium beef broth
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup dried morel or porcini mushrooms, rinsed under running water to
remove grit

1. Day before cooking, season ribs with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Heat olive oil in roasting pan over medium-high heat until hot but
not smoking. Add ribs and brown on all sides, about 1 minute per side.
Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. Add onion, celery,
carrot and garlic to pan. Cook, stirring often, until lightly browned,
about 8 minutes. Add wine, vinegar, broth, thyme and bay leaf. Stir in
mushrooms. Bring to a boil over high heat.
5. Return ribs to pan, cover with foil and braise in oven for 1 hour.
Remove foil and cook 3 more hours, or until meat is very tender and
falling off bone.
6. To serve, remove ribs from braising liquid and divide among 6 warm,
shallow bowls. (Leave bones for dramatic presentation.) Strain braising
liquid, reserving morels and discarding other solids. Skim off and discard fat from liquid and pass as a sauce at the table.

Learning Chinese

When we finally decided to venture across the country to Portland, I had some misgivings about leaving the food of New York. This is not to say that I didn’t think I would be getting a great deal of amazing food in return, but I was deeply attached to many of the ethnic cuisines that are readily available in NYC - namely Korean, Indian, Middle Eastern, and perhaps most importantly, Chinese.

Court grew up in the New York Chinese restaurant community, and we had spent many a day together going to the different NYC Chinatowns to eat amazing roast chicken, pork, duck, and I can’t even get started on the wonder that is Xiao Long Bao (a.k.a soup dumplings). Up to this point, I had been fairly disenchanted with American Chinese food, mostly stemming from the Chinese food I’d eaten in my youth. This all changed with the forays south of Canal to New Green Bo, Joe’s Shanghai, and of course, Big Wong.

So, in light of our impending departure I gave Court a Chinese cook book for Christmas in the hopes that we would both use it to recreate some of the dishes we loved—though I have to say that I am alone in my love of thousand year old/soy sauce eggs! After much perusing, I settled on Kylie Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking both for the simplicity of the recipes and the beautiful images. We have tried a few recipes so far (with mixed results) but both very much enjoyed her “Steamed Shrimp with Ginger and Scallions” so I thought I would share.



First off, I love having frozen shrimp around because it pretty much assures me that I can make a great dinner with just the shrimp and whatever else I have on hand at the time. The steaming worked beautifully, and as always the only real caveat with shrimp is to take care not to overcook!

My complaints here were mostly with the sauce—it quite simply lacked the brightness and balance of flavors that signifies much of Chinese cooking. I have altered the recipe according to my tastes, which are heavier on the garlic, ginger and acid, but I think it is still a very clean, balanced, subtle dish. We served it with steamed rice and devoured the entire thing in one sitting! I also love to slice some Kirby cucumbers and dress them with sesame oil, lots of rice wine vinegar, a generous pinch of sugar and some Sriracha hot sauce. The acid of the crunchy pickles complements the steamed shrimp beautifully!

Steamed Prawns with Ginger and Scallions

Adapted from Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong

1 lb large uncooked shrimp
1/3 cup shao hsing wine or dry sherry
2 ½ tablespoons julienned ginger
2/3 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Sprinkle the ginger, wine and scallions evenly on top of the shrimp in a ceramic bowl or plate.

Carefully transfer the dish with the shrimp to a rack in a skillet (or steamer) and cover tightly, then steam over moderately high heat until they are just cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes.

Combine soy, garlic*, sugar, sesame oil and vinegar in a bowl and drizzle over the steamed shrimp. In a small skillet, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil over moderately high heat, then pour it over the shrimp before serving.

*If you are not as fond of raw garlic as I am, you may want to add it to the shrimp at the same time as the scallions and ginger.

For the Love of Pickles

I am probably one of the many perplexed people who cannot quite fathom the logic or origins of their particular food cravings, but I was especially bewildered that on a very cold and rainy summer day I could think of nothing but pickles. I had been hunting for the perfect recipe—envisioning thick pink pickled red onion slices, or delicate farm grown carrots tightly packed in a jar with suspended chilies and garlic cloves. I marvel at the one tracked determination I have in these moments, as I am often thinking about 10 different things at once. Why on such a cool day would I be obsessed with pickles and their brine, and not a warm mushroom soup or a bowl full of little necked clams in wine and brothy butter? Or even my lunch that day-- a delightful makeshift corn and black bean salad with cilantro and red bell pepper? No, I was determined. Bound and determined to make pickles.


Sadly, it had been a couple of years since I ventured into the pickle-making arena, so I was thrilled to return. I remembered it as a painless process and sure enough, it was just a matter of pouring the boiling concoction of water, vinegar, and spices over the chosen pickling victim. A few months ago, we were eating at David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar and I came across some of the more innovative pickles I have ever had—the pickle bowl was full of seasonal spring bounty: asparagus, green onion, cantaloupe, fresh water chestnuts, cauliflower, golden beets, lychee, and of course, traditional cabbage kimchi. The pickling brine was a bit sweet and salty and Chang has been kind enough to give us his sweet and sour recipe, which I will most certainly try sometime in the near future. Fortunately, I also discovered a recipe for pickled red onions that looks terrific from one of my favorite food bloggers, Orangette (a.k.a Molly Wizenberg). The recipe was adapted from the Zuni Café cookbook, and while I did want to attempt the original recipe, at that moment I wanted my pickles quickly, meaning I did not want to cool my onions after brining three times(!). Fortunately, she recommended a variation that I tried with great success which does not require a time-consuming cooling process. Instead, you boil the brine and stir in the onions after removing them from the heat. It was ridiculously easy. I made them for the first time for my friend’s birthday (risky, I know…) and they turned out to be one of the easiest and best things I made all summer. They were amazing with the Indian food I made the next night, incredible in a quesadilla I made the next day (ok, I did save some for myself) and I even convinced my mom to make them for a recent trip home. I had them with baguette and paté and also with a thick slice of cheddar. I am utterly convinced that they would be great on everything- what an amazing discovery!



Adapted from Orangette’s Quick Pickled Red Onions

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2-3 black peppercorns
2 medium red onions

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat.
Heat the brine while you peel and trim the onions, and cut them in full circles (half moons are fine too). Try to keep your slices as uniform as possible and no thicker than ¼ an inch thick.

When the brine boils, add the onion slices all at once, and stir to combine. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 25-30 minutes.
Once the onions have cooled, pour them and their brine into jars with tight-fitting lids, and store in the refrigerator. Unlike other types, these quick pickles are ready to be eaten as soon as they are cold.

These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Gambas al Ajillo

If you have ever been to a Spanish tapas bar, then you surely have tried the famed Gambas al Ajillo. I first encountered this dish many years ago when I was staying in Barcelona. I was young and so enchanted with my first carafe of sangria. I felt impassioned and full of wonder at everything that lay before me, both literally and figuratively. One of those blessed things that lay directly in front of me was my first plate of Gambas al Ajillo. I promptly decided that this would be a dish I would eat the rest of my life. It is simple, but so very powerful. It brings to mind those incredible monosyllabic responses cowboys use to convey everything that needs to be said with just one word.

I first found a recipe for garlic shrimp a year after my Spanish sojourn in the San Francisco Chronicle. I have adapted it slightly, but it has proven to be one of my favorite recipes over the years. It is the kind of recipe that anyone could make, and I literally mean anyone. It is just having the confidence that you could not possibly screw this one up- unless you decide to overcook the shrimp, but why would you? One of the wonderful things about this recipe is the sheer speed with this can be prepared—which is why it is a standby company dish. I have had good luck with frozen shrimp, but the most successful incarnations of this dish are with fresh shrimp. I often buy my shrimp for $2.99 (!) a pound in NYC’s Chinatown. This dish is wonderful with a simple arugula and cucumber salad and most importantly, a loaf of crusty bread to absorb the incredible pan juices. Make sure to have the freshest garlic possible, as it is one of the only ingredients, and you may want to invest in a good sherry for this one—you will use it in your repeat performances of this recipe, I promise!



Adapted from The San Francisco Chronicle

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 pound small shrimp, shelled
2 tablespoons amontillado (medium-dry) sherry
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
2-3 tablespoons minced fresh flat leaf Italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1 baguette, slightly toasted

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 servings as a starter/ 2 as main course

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil with the garlic and red pepper flakes for one minute or until garlic begins to sizzle. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat for two-three minutes until the shrimp turns pink. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with a warm baguette.

Note: You may want to double all of the ingredients (except for the shrimp) if you want extra sauce for the bread.