110 replies to this topic

[norton]

Actually, check out Jeff Varasano's page (the above photo is from his site). He's the obsessive guy who tried to perfect the NY-Neapolitan pie at home, and, so far as I can tell, succeeded. A man after my heart.

Okay, now I'm hungry. Dang, those look gooood.

[Biloxi]

I ended up cooking my pork tenderloin differently this time. Usually I marinate it with a honey-based marinade, put on a dry rub, and roast in the oven. While that's pretty tasty, this time I wanted to try something different, especially since I was hungry and this method takes less time. I combined these two recipes (one had the marinade I wanted and the other had the preferred cooking method, but I've combined the two below): Food & Wine, NY Times.

Twice-Cooked Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Marinade

Ingredients:
6 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, plus 2 tablespoons of sauce from the can
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
One 3-inch strip of orange zest
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin

Method:
1. In a small saucepan, combine the chipotles and their sauce with the garlic, orange zest, orange juice, lime juice, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, oregano, cumin and pepper. Simmer over high heat until reduced by one-third, about 3 minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor and puree until smooth. Let cool before using.
2. Coat the pork with 1/4 cup of the marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Put a large skillet over medium-high heat; a minute later add 2 tablespoons butter and/or oil. When butter foam subsides or oil dimples, add meat (curve it into skillet if necessary). Brown it well on all sides, for a total of 4 to 6 minutes. Turn off heat, remove meat from pan, and let it sit until pan cools.
4. Cut meat into inch-thick slices. Once again turn heat to medium-high, add remaining butter and/or oil and, when it's hot, add pork slices to pan. Brown on each side, about 2 or 3 minutes each. Turn heat to low and remove meat to a warm platter.

I served 'em with brown rice, mixed up with a couple of Mexican-esque spices, and some black beans.




Delicious.

[velocity]

Mmmm!

[Biloxi]

Yeah, I liked it a lot. The marinade turned out really well, I recommend that recipe.

[Binko]

Last night's feast:



Ten hours later:



Hotlink, mixed greens (mustard & turnip), and pork sandwich (w/ mustard slaw):



Apple cobbler not pictured.

[Hans Christian Anderson]

mmm, them cooked greens in the background of the picture look great too.

[Ogawa]

That looks fantastic, Binko.

[tager]

Binko, What kind of rub is that? Looks amazing, btw.

[Binko]

Binko,

What kind of rub is that? Looks amazing, btw.

Thanks. I improvise my rubs. All my rubs start with generous amounts of salt and black pepper and usually Hungarian paprika, in roughly equal proportions (I actually don't know exactly how much salt I use -- I add it at the end to taste. I err on the side of slightly too salty for pulled pork, as that rub is going to get distributed with the internal meat).

After that, it depends what I feel like. I don't use sugar in any of my rubs. After doing this for awhile, I've decided that I like aromatic spices in my pork, so this rub contained fennel, cloves, and mace in addition to the salt, black pepper, and paprika. Lemon pepper (or some people even use lemonade) also works nicely. I quite often use celery seed, as well, but I was out (well, I bought some later for the coleslaw). Sometimes I like adding a lot of allspice instead of the fennel. I grind my spices in a mortar and pestle, and try to use whole spices as much as possible (it's required for the black pepper). Oh, and hot pepper of some sort, too, in the rub.

Other common rub ingredients include cumin, mustard seeds, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. I don't generally use all these ingredients, and my tastes these days run towards laying down a layer of heat with the hot pepper and black pepper and contrasting that with some aromatic spices. Really, when you get down to it, salt and black pepper is all you need.

For applying the rub, I coat the shoulder lightly with some cheap yellow mustard (Plotchmann's in this house). Sprinkle the rub on. I save some rub for barbecue sauce. My basic barbecue sauce recipe is ketchup thinned with cider vinegar, mix in some of the rub. Cook down a little and taste. I added a little bit of yellow mustard, brown sugar, and apple sauce this time for a little bit of contrast. I'm also a fan of the simple cider vinegar, hot pepper flakes, and salt finishing sauce they use in the Carolinas.

[Simakos]

i want to know more about this type of smoker... expensive? where is the cover?

[Binko]

i want to know more about this type of smoker... expensive? where is the cover?

That's a Weber Smokey Mountain. It's about $225 these days, I think. I bought mine at the Russo Ace Hardware on 5848 W. Montrose. The cover is not pictured. If you ever want to buy one and teach yourself how to use it, http://www.wiviott.com is the place to go. Follow all five cooks religiously and you will be well on your way to learning fire control and barbecue. You could do decent barbecue on some of the cheaper Brinkman water smokers, but they're shoddily built and they require a few refinements. For example, there's no vent on top of the unit on the Brinkmans. What the fuck is up with that? You need proper ventilation in your smoker, otherwise, you risk your barbecue tasting like soot. Believe me, I learned and almost gave up on smoking when I had a cheap Brinkman. I once made barbecue so smokey and creosote-laden that I was literally coughing from eating it. It felt like I smoked a pack of cigarettes. I'm confident now that, after learning on a WSM, I could pull off good barbecue on the Brinkman (hell, I made smoked pork on a shitty little $20 mini grill before--I'd start with drilling a few big holes in the cover of the Brinkman), but I'm convinced getting a WSM and following Gary's 5-Step barbecue program is the most stress-free and informative way of teaching yourself barbecue.

[PigSooie]

Anyone have any experience with one of these?

http://www.cajunmicr...m/inaction.html

[Binko]

Anyone have any experience with one of these?

http://www.cajunmicr...m/inaction.html

No, but I gotta wonder..the way they cook whole pig in that one -- I'm sure it tastes fine and is real moist, but basically you're just roasting your pig. There's no charcoal and wood involved except for a heat source outside the cooking vessel (in other words, it doesn't penetrate the meat)l. If I had a whole pig to cook, I'd rather have a live fire under it or off to the side, but with the smoke going over the pig. As they mention in the video, it's like cooking your pig in a dutch oven.

By the way, I see you're in Memphis. What's your favorite joint down in your area? We took a little trip in December through Memphis and Owensboro to check out the barbecue.

[PigSooie]

By the way, I see you're in Memphis. What's your favorite joint down in your area? We took a little trip in December through Memphis and Owensboro to check out the barbecue.

Cozy Corner, A&R, Payne's, and Top's (this one is a memphis chain, but I really like it). If you're ever down this way again, make the hour and a half drive down to De Valls Bluff, AR, and go to Craig's.

[Binko]

By the way, I see you're in Memphis. What's your favorite joint down in your area? We took a little trip in December through Memphis and Owensboro to check out the barbecue.

Cozy Corner, A&R, Payne's, and Top's (this one is a memphis chain, but I really like it). If you're ever down this way again, make the hour and a half drive down to De Valls Bluff, AR, and go to Craig's.

Heh. Cozy's was my favorite for ribs. I hear their chicken (game hen, is it) is great, too. We had spares at Payne's, but learned later that we should have gone for the pork sandwich. Payne's was a really neat place--like stepping into someone's kitchen. It was interesting to learn that at both Cozy's and Payne's (and Rendezvous, which I did enjoy as well, despite the very mixed reaction from locals), all are completely charcoal-fired. No wood other than the coals. That's part of why I've started doing direct cooking these days, as Cozy Corner as well as my favorite Chicago joints all do direct (although the Chicago ones use split logs, not charcoal. Interestingly, Cozy Corner uses an aquarium smoker, just like they do here in Chicago. I've never seen it outside this state before). Best sandwiches for me were from Morris Grocery (in Eads, TN) and from Germantown Commissary. We need to go back very soon. We ate at 14 barbecue places in 52 hours across five states (Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Indiana.)

[PigSooie]

By the way, I see you're in Memphis. What's your favorite joint down in your area? We took a little trip in December through Memphis and Owensboro to check out the barbecue.

Cozy Corner, A&R, Payne's, and Top's (this one is a memphis chain, but I really like it). If you're ever down this way again, make the hour and a half drive down to De Valls Bluff, AR, and go to Craig's.

Heh. Cozy's was my favorite for ribs. I hear their chicken (game hen, is it) is great, too. We had spares at Payne's, but learned later that we should have gone for the pork sandwich. Payne's was a really neat place--like stepping into someone's kitchen. It was interesting to learn that at both Cozy's and Payne's (and Rendezvous, which I did enjoy as well, despite the very mixed reaction from locals), all are completely charcoal-fired. No wood other than the coals. That's part of why I've started doing direct cooking these days, as Cozy Corner as well as my favorite Chicago joints all do direct (although the Chicago ones use split logs, not charcoal. Interestingly, Cozy Corner uses an aquarium smoker, just like they do here in Chicago. I've never seen it outside this state before). Best sandwiches for me were from Morris Grocery (in Eads, TN) and from Germantown Commissary. We need to go back very soon. We ate at 14 barbecue places in 52 hours across five states (Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Indiana.)

Wow that sounds like an awesome tour. Good call on the Commissary. I totally forgot how good that place is.

[Simakos]

i want to know more about this type of smoker... expensive? where is the cover?

That's a Weber Smokey Mountain. It's about $225 these days, I think. I bought mine at the Russo Ace Hardware on 5848 W. Montrose. The cover is not pictured. If you ever want to buy one and teach yourself how to use it, http://www.wiviott.com is the place to go. Follow all five cooks religiously and you will be well on your way to learning fire control and barbecue. You could do decent barbecue on some of the cheaper Brinkman water smokers, but they're shoddily built and they require a few refinements. For example, there's no vent on top of the unit on the Brinkmans. What the fuck is up with that? You need proper ventilation in your smoker, otherwise, you risk your barbecue tasting like soot. Believe me, I learned and almost gave up on smoking when I had a cheap Brinkman. I once made barbecue so smokey and creosote-laden that I was literally coughing from eating it. It felt like I smoked a pack of cigarettes. I'm confident now that, after learning on a WSM, I could pull off good barbecue on the Brinkman (hell, I made smoked pork on a shitty little $20 mini grill before--I'd start with drilling a few big holes in the cover of the Brinkman), but I'm convinced getting a WSM and following Gary's 5-Step barbecue program is the most stress-free and informative way of teaching yourself barbecue.

thanks, Binko... i think i might try and get one of these this summer.

NOW COOKING:

i made throw-whatever's-in-the-fridge-together-soup tonite and damn was it good.

turkey italian sausage, chipotles, chilopites pasta, mushrooms, roasted corn, carrots, onions, diced tomato, chix stock

[Hans Christian Anderson]

feel into a bit of a rut last week but i went shopping tonight and will be back full speed. tonight - spinach polenta w/ roasted tomato/balsamic topping tomorrow - pasta w/ pine nut and red pepper sauce and braised kale w/ honey-lemon dressing wednesday evening - portabella caps stuffed w/ breadcrumbs, cheese, spinach and kale. what a stupid hippie veggie i am. this thread makes me feel very inadequate.

[blaze]

My neighbor asked me if I wanted anything from costco, and I said "bring me a nice thick steak", so she brought me a 4 lp top round. I could tell by looking at it that this was not a pice of meat I could just fry in a pan. Anygone got a good recipe for this hunk of steer flesth?

[velocity]

Bummer. Braising would work, or maybe a lengthy marinade or brining would soften it up enough to grill.