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!