Sunday (Fun Day) Lunch

Question:  What's the best way to be social, have leftovers for lunch for the week, and try a variety of Ad Hoc recipes?

Answer:  Have friends over for lunch on Sunday afternoon!

And we did just that.  On the menu, per Thomas Keller, was Braised Pork Belly, Fig-Stuffed Roast Pork Loin, and Polenta.  We also threw in our favorite Orange-Red Onion salad with balsamic vinegar/olive oil dressing & Roasted Asparagus.

We started Saturday night by making TK's Fig-Balsamic jam, which provided the base for the pork stuffing.  Drew coarsely chopped 2 pounds of figs and into a sauce pan they went.

The figs were then joined by 1.5 cups of sugar and a 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar.  We brought the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  The end goal is a chunky consistency, and while Thomas recommends a candy thermometer to help determine proper temperature and doneness, we went Ad Hoc and stopped reducing the mixture once we got a nice, "jammy" consistency.

The end product came out nice and refined, the chucks cooked down and an end product that was smooth, deep purple, and dotted with fig seeds.

As the jam was cooking Saturday, we took half of the double batch of pork brine we made and put half in a stock pot into which our pork loin went for an 11 hour soak.

If you look close you'll notice that the pork is tied with butcher twine.  Under further examination, we realized that what Drew thought was one solid piece of pork was really two pieces tied together.  A minor set back, so rather than cut a hole through the solid pork loin like TK calls for, Drew cut a channel into each lobe of pork and then filled it with a mixture of the fig jam and toasted ciabatta bread cubes before re-tying the pork loin(s) with butcher twine.

After coming to room temperature, the pork got seared in a saute pan with olive oil on each side before heading into a 350 degree oven for one hour (aka the time it took the meat to get to 140 degrees).

While the pork rested, it was time for the Polenta to come to life.  In a sauce pan we brought 6 cups of chicken broth, salt & pepper, and and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a boil.  Little by little we added in 2.75 cups of polenta (aka corn grits) in the sauce pan, stirring constantly.

After the polenta soaked up the broth, we stirred in 3/4 of a stick of butter in cut in little pieces and 1 cup of cream, a little at a time, to the polenta over low, low heat.  After the dairy products (actually half the amount TK calls for) were melted and absorbed, the polenta was hot and creamy.

While we don't have pictures of the asparagus or the salad, we do have a picture of the pretty table set by Liz.

Below is the end result of our Sunday Lunch!  Moving clockwise, pictured is the polenta, Orange-Red Onion salad, pork loin, asparagus, and Michelle's kale salad with pumpkin seeds, raisins, and dressed with an OJ-seasame oil dressing.

And, if you wondering, the leftovers made for a nice Sunday Supper as well!  Have a great week everyone!

"Get In My Belly" Belly

No, Fat Bastard from the movie "Austin Powers" did not make an appearance in our kitchen this weekend, but some tasty pork belly did!

Pork Belly is currently a trendy food, served in restaurants from all walks of life-food trucks, hip taco bars, and 3 star restaurants.  In and of it's self, it's a beautiful and versatile food due to its cheap price ($1.99/lb), it's ease to work with, and the variety of things you can do to it (braise it, confit it, cure it for bacon).

We started our pork belly per Thomas Keller's recipe for Braised Pork Belly by first making a pork brine consisting of a 1/4 cup of honey, 12 bay leaves, 1/2 a bunch of thyme and parsley each, 1/2 cup of smashed garlic cloves (skin intact), 2 T. of whole black peppercorns, 1 cup of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, and 8 cups of water.  We combined all the ingredients in a big pot, brought the liquid to a boil for one minute, stirred until all the ingredients were combined, and took it off the heat to cool.

After the brine cooled, facilitated in part by a trip to our freezer, we placed our pork belly in a large pan and submerged it in broth to brine for 10 hours-the recommended brining time by TK (due to oversleeping, our's brined for 11 hours, but we did not get an overly salty product-a potential factor of brining more than 10 hours).

After removing our belly from the brine, it got a quick rinse before heading into our cast iron skillet, fat side down.  Over medium-high heat we rendered some of the fat out of the meat for 15 minutes.  We then took out the belly, poured off the fat in the pan, returned the belly to the skillet, and covered it half-way up the belly with beef stock.  The recipe calls to cover the pork belly with parchment paper cut with a hole in the middle (instructions listed in the book).  After a couple of tries, Drew was able to come up with a successful product.

The pork belly now covered, went into a 325 degree oven for 2.5 hours and when it came out, the outside was crispy and brown, but the inside was fork tender.

A last minute thought on buying pork belly-when you buy it, ask the butcher to remove the skin, if not already done.  We lost a lot of meat & time removing the skin on our own, and I'm sure in the hands of a true butcher, your experience will be even better!

Value Vino

So the Sacre Bleu may have been a bust, but Central Market made up for it with a sale on one of our favorite wines, Cycles Gladiators Cabernet Sauvignon, at $7.38/bottle, down from the typical price of $9.99-$10.99.

The brand's logo is an actual bicycle advertisement painted during France's "Golden Age of Bicycling" in 1895 by G. Massias, and used to encompasses the whole label, but in a turn of recent events, the label has received a make-over.  The wine is full-bodied and is smooth in finish with hints of raspberry and mocha.  For us, it's our standard "go-to" red wine.

Greektown in H-Town

It's Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.  Do you know where your children are?  If you're children are Drew & Elizabeth, the answer is the kitchen of their apartment whipping up recipes from Ad Hoc.  

While Liz was at book club Thursday night, I picked up an Australian boneless leg of lamb from Costco with the intention of making the Roasted Spring Leg of Lamb recipe.  While I'm selective of what I'll buy from a big box store, the meat at Costco is actually good quality, and $3/pound cheaper than Central Market.   For our devout readers, the lamb was actually certified Halal.  

Halal is a set of Islamic laws governing multiple facets of life, including food.  In short, the Halal certification of food is very similar to that of the Jewish Kosher certification.  For meat, that means the animal was slaughtered with a long, sharp knife with one swoop across the throat severing the major arteries and removing the head.  

Before starting the lamb, per a side caption recommendation from Thomas Keller, we worked on making a Tomato-Basil marmalade, also listed in Ad Hoc.  Our Wusthof knife made quick work of chopping a enough onion and leeks to create a 1/2 cup of each.  The original recipe calls for a 1/2 cup of fennel, but neither Liz or I care for the black liquorice taste it associated with fennel.  

We tossed the onion & leek along with two thinly sliced garlic cloves with olive oil.  The mix then went into our Le Creuset pan and into the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes; despite stirring every 15 minutes, some of the veggies got charred, but they were easily picked out.  A 1/2 cup of light brown sugar and a cup of red wine vinegar were added to the pot and back to the oven it went for 20 minutes.

6 tomatoes from the farmers market down the street were chopped into a 1/2 inch dice and stirred into the pan & cooked in the oven for an hour and a half, with a stir every 30 minutes.  After the tomato mixture was done cooking, we spooned it into a small glass bowl with a slotted spoon, layering in basil leaves and pressing the mix.  This was covered and left to cool to room temperature.

We started the 4 pound lamb leg by removing much of the fat before seasoning with salt & pepper and making 10 incisions into various areas of the leg & stuffing with whole garlic cloves.   

The lamb then rested an hour before cooking as it warmed to room temperature.  In TK's version, he calls for rosemary sprigs to be inserted into the lamb leg, but with this being the Ad Hoc blog, that didn't happen (I also forgot rosemary at the store).  The lamb then headed into a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.

While the lamb roasted, Liz worked on another Thomas Keller recipe-Smashed Roasted Marble Potatoes.  Using red potatoes we picked up at the farmers market, Liz tossed them with fresh thyme, salt & pepper, and olive oil.  

After the potatoes were well coated, they went into our cast iron skillet in which 2 tablespoons of butter was melted.  After the lamb was done cooking and resting for an hour, the potatoes went into the oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  After the potatoes were soft and cooked, Liz removed the potatoes, lightly smashed them with a meat mallet,  heated oil and butter in the the cast iron skillet, and fried them until the skins were crispy.

Liz also roasted 1/2 a bunch of asparagus, seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and olive oil in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

As the aspargus roasted, Drew carved the lamb, careful to pick out the garlic cloves.

The dinner proved to be a great success!  While we weren't sitting in Greektown drinking Roditi's wine, we had a fantastic Greek meal of our own!

  

Sacre (Makes Me) Bleu

Obviously not every dish or product one creates or buys will be a hit, and rather than let it slide without little fanfare, I'm of the mindset to tell one, tell all.

Lately, Central Market has been advertising the heck out of the wine Sacre Bleu (read:  the culprit).

Not Wanted
No Reward
If You See This Wine, Do NOT Buy It!

When Googling Sacre Bleu to find a picture, I came across a Wikipedia article for "Sacrebleu."  According to 'Merica's most legitimate source of information, Sacrebleu is an old French profanity meant as a cry of surprise or anger.  

Great name for this Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon as after realizing that the wine lacked any body, legs, or general taste, I felt the urge to use a profanity to verbalize my displeasure at buying a crappy wine.  The company boasts the wine has smooth notes of dark fruits, but we both failed to get any of that; rather, the wine tasted closer to a glass of grape juice than wine.

Central Market, if you're reading this, NO!  No, No, No!  Consider this post a Notice to Cease & Desist. You're standards and quality are impeccable, don't stoop to making money hawking crappy wine with good profit margins.

Faces in the Freezer

Tonight Liz headed to Beavers to meet 3 girls from work who comprise her book club for a meeting, leaving me with the night alone.  I thought about being social and watching football with friends, but after a long four days, a night off with my "other friends" sounded nice.  Hey Drew, who are your "other friends" you ask?

Well, no offense real friends, but my "other friends" include Costco & Central Market.  I'll admit it, I love "goin' to the sto."

So while I recognize that the Big Box Store is not a real person, I did actually pick up 2 friends at the store tonight....

"Drew, the guy on that bottle resembles a good looking Swede like yourself?"  Coincidence?  I think not.

Enter Captain Sig Hansen, boat captain of the Berring Sea crab boat "Northwestern" and star of the Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch."



The men in the Keiser family are notoriously addicted to reality shows featuring lobster fishing, alligator hunting, and driving semis over frozen lakes.  So imagine my surprise when pursing the beer case I noticed that Rouge Brewing Company named a beer after my favorite crab fisherman.

The beer, named the Northwestern Ale, was medium brown in color with a rich, nutty flavor.  The beer was very similar in "flavor profiles" to a Fat Tire amber ale, and every bit as good.  So "Faces in the Freezer?"  Despite what The Flying Saucer, my favorite bar in Houston, says, I like my beer served in a frosty glass, and so, while I unpacked my groceries and cleaned, my beer bottle chilled in the freezer.

But Drew, "Faces in the Freezer" is plural, but you only mentioned your beer!  Well dear reader, never fear.  Trentino Gelato, a local Houston company, partnered up with a half dozen of Houston's top chefs to create gelato's inspired by the chefs.

Pictured above is Monica Pope, Chef/Owner of the restaurants Tafia & Beavers.  Monica is an alum of the 1st (and greatest) season of Top Chef Masters (in which Chicago chef Rick Bayless-our Hometown Hero-won 1st Place).  Every so often, Liz & I hit up Tafia's Friday 3 course lunch special which features creative takes on local ingredients.   Monica's gelato flavor is "Mascarpone with Berries."  Haven't opened it yet, but have high expectations!  Expect a full report out soon!

Poached Chicken & Mashed Potatoes

I believe that part of "cooking ad hoc" lends itself to substitute not just spices and liquids, but also cooking methods.  My original intent for the balsamic glazed salmon was to poach it using a recipe from Ad Hoc, but not planning ahead, we had no vegetables to create the veggie-water stock called Court Bouillon in which the salmon poaches; so when I was brain storming what to do with 2 chicken breasts we thawed last night, I immediately thought of poaching, a technique where food is gently cooked in liquid over low heat!

Tonight's dish is loosely interpreted from a recipe from Sandra Lee, the star of the Food Network show Semi-Homemade With Sandra Lee and girlfriend of NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (if Cuomo's scowl in the picture below is any indication, Drew & Andrew share a distaste for substituting real food with processed food in recipes).

Tonight's supper starts with bringing 3 cups of chicken stock to a simmer in a deep walled pan.  Once the broth began to simmer, we added 1/4 cup of diced onions, 1 clove of minced garlic, chili powder, oregano,  cumin, and kosher salt & pepper (Sandra calls for a packet of McCormick Spanish spices-not sure we hit the "Spanish Spices" mark, but the combo worked oddly enough.")

After stirring the spices into the stock, we added our 2 thawed chicken breasts that had come to room temperature and received a light dusting of kosher salt & cracked pepper.

Our only deep walled frying pan is our Lodge Cast Iron skillet, the workhorse of our kitchen pans, and since we didn't have a lid, we tented a piece of foil over the top as the chicken cooked over medium-low heat for 25 minutes.



As we got cooking, we realized that tonight's dinner was turning into a perfect opportunity to use up what little food was left over from the weekend in our fridge and pantry.  While the chicken poached, we boiled what remaining small, yellow potatoes we had in preparation for mashed potatoes.



Sandra's recipe calls for a 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers (much more fun/cost effective/better tasting to roast your own) to be pureed with a with the leftover chicken stock after cooking the chicken to create a sauce.  We didn't have any red peppers, but we did have a bag of leftover roasted Hatch chillies Drew & Avi picked up at Central Market over the weekend.

The Hatch chili is a medium sized, skinny,dark green pepper that is grown in the fertile soil of Hatch, NM.

Peeling the Chillies

For some reason, the people of Texas are obsessed with Hatch Chillies to the point that Chuy's, our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Whole Foods (both in Austin & Houston), and Central Market go out of their way to prominently feature them while they are in season.  Central Market takes the cake though, as they find a way to incorporate the Hatch chili into their breads, rotisserie chickens, goat cheeses, lunch meats, and employee uniforms.  I bought the chillies, freshly roasted minutes before placing them in my cart with no idea how I was going to use them, but had the idea of adding some to a batch of hummus I made for a friend's house warming party last Saturday night.

So after the chicken had finished cooking, we wrapped the chicken in the foil used to tent the skillet and then we pureed the hatch chillies before adding in a 1/3 cup of chicken stock and pureeing until the mixture was as smooth as it was going to get.  Liz mashed the potatoes with butter and heavy whipping cream (used in place of milk as we on the "using things up" kick) and seasoned perfectly with kosher salt & pepper while also whipping up a fantastic salad of fresh lettuce, onion, & cherry tomatoes with her  oh-so-good balsamic vinegar/extra virgin olive oil dressing!

This sauce, for as easy and basic as it was, registered a 7/10 on the gravy/pan sauce/au jus rating scale!

Well, 2 work days down, and 3 more to go!  Liz has the first meeting of the book club she joined Thursday, so I'm thinking Thursday sounds like a great night for watching football and experimenting with pork belly; stay tuned!

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon

In the Keiser House we don't discriminate against protein (although Drew believes pork to be the supreme meat), so for tonight's dinner we went to the sea (read:  fish farm pond) with Salmon.  Before we left for work this morning we thawed out two salmon fillets, and over lunch, I found a recipe for Balsamic-Glazed Salmon by Giada de Laurentiis, best known for her petulance of pronouncing Italian words in a terrible Italian accent, her love of low cut shirts, and her Food Network cooking show.

Keeping with the Ad Hoc theme, you know I had to throw in a few revisions....

We started by lining a Pyrex pan with parchment paper and laying our salmon fillets skin side down.  These were topped with a small amount of cracked pepper and kosher salt & left to rest while the oven pre-heated to 400 degrees.

At the half-way point of cooking the fish (after the salmon had been in the oven for 7 minutes), we combined 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of honey (Giada calls for maple syrup, but the only syrup we had was fake maple syrup made with Splenda), 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and a clove of minced garlic.

Yes, that's a farm house pig spoon rest!

Over medium high heat we whisked pretty frequently for 5 minutes while the salmon finished cooking; when the oven timer beeped, we were rewarded with a reduced sauce.

The dinner came out well, but since the fillets were on the larger side (the smaller fillet is pictured) the salmon could have used a couple of more minutes in the oven.  Salmon tells you that it's done when white fat begins to materialize around the bottom of the fillets and the inside is a nice, flaky pink.  Also, be careful not to get too close to the sauce as it cooks down-Liz found out the hard way that the balsamic "stings the nostrils" as it cooks down.

If you're keeping score, I'd give the sauce a 6/10 on my gravy/pan sauce/au jus quality rating scale.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts with Tarragon

TK has us start by combining a teaspoon each of paprika (in the Keiser house, we prefer the Hungarian Mild Paprika that comes in the red tin) and Madras curry powder (we used regular curry power) in a bowl and coating both sides of the 6 chicken breasts the recipe calls for; the chicken breasts then chill out in the refrigerator for 2 hours.  Toward the end of the 2 hours, pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees if you intend to cook the chicken breasts in batches so the meat stays warm while other batches cook.

After the 2 hours expires, it’s time to get pull out the meat mallet and pound the chicken breasts to a 1/4 inch thickness between 2 pieces of parchment paper.  When flattening chicken, start in the middle of the breast and with some finesse (read: not brute strength) pound lightly working center to edge.

Thomas has us use a large frying pan, in which we are to heat enough canola oil to create a light film on the bottom.  While the oil heats, dust the chicken with kosher salt (Keller recommends Diamond Crystal over Mortons).  Taking care not to crowd the pan, cook the chicken breasts over medium-high heat on each side until golden brown, approx. 1-1 ½ minutes per side. 

When the chicken is done cooking, wipe out the pan and return it to the stove over medium heat.  Melt 1 tablespoon butter and sauté one chopped shallot (we used a 1/8 cup of yellow onion).  A ¼ cup of dry white wine is then added to the pan and the stove turned up to medium-high heat (not having any wine, we diluted an 1/8 cup of lemon juice with an 1/8 cup of water).  Cook until the wine (or lemon-water) is reduced by half, approx. 1 minute, before adding 1 cup of chicken stock.  Bring the stock to a boil and cook until reduced and slightly thickened, approx. 2 minutes.  1 tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon (we used dried oregano), 2 tablespoons of butter, and any juice from the meat is then added to the pan and cooked until the butter is melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, plate the chicken, cover in the pan sauce, and enjoy!

I consider myself a gravy/pan sauce/au jus aficionado (so legit in fact I got a gravy separator during Christmas 2010), and on my gravy/pan sauce/au jus quality rating scale, the sauce hit a respectable 7/10 (Calibration:  Miracle Whip = 1/10 Lawry’s Prime Rib Beef Gravy = 10/10).  After a busy weekend complete with a house guest, a birthday dinner, a house warming party, and an Astros game in the company box, this was an incredibly easy and satisfying meal to come home and make!