pork chops with braised raddichio and basil

i decided to have a quiet friday nite at home this evening to help detox myself from a very busy yet satisfying and productive week at work. so how do i reward myself? by cooking up a good home meal. now some of you may find cooking a chore. especially if it involves anything more than two presses of a button on a microwave. listen to why i find cooking a pleasure.

when i cook, i usually don't follow a cookbook or recipe, unless it's a brand new technique i'm learning (like baking sweets or preparing fish - which i'm still not good at). this gives me freedom, creative freedom, to do whatever i want in the kitchen, relying on my learnt skills to guide me through the evening. i find chopping herbs and veggies oddly satisfying, methodical, and peaceful. i like how cooking allows me to use my senses in a completely different way then at work, combining smell, taste, sight and touch in every chop of the knife, flip of the pan, sizzle of the sauce. cooking in the kitchen is fun and exciting to me. perhaps it's because i feel confident and in charge in this domain, and even if i screw up, i can usually find a way to fix it. or i just dump it in the trash and start over.

this evening, i scoured my fridge and found a package of frozen pork chops, a bunch of basil starting to brown, half a head of raddichio from thanksgiving (a little soft but still good), and a package of butter lettuce mix. wanting to use up good ingredients before they went bad, i recalled an interesting "sauce" i tasted at perbacco months ago with chef paul. paul had ordered a roasted duck breast dish which had braised raddichio along with cippolline onions and roasted grapes served on the side. the braised raddichio had been wonderfully bitter and savory at the same time. i thought, that should taste great with pan-fried, smoky pork chops.

i knew how to braise cabbage, but in order to get that sweet, savory taste i knew i needed wine to deglaze the pan after frying the pork chops. alas, no cheap wine in the house, until i spotted the bottle of tawny port leftover from the turkey giblet port gravy i made 4 weeks ago. never really cooked with port before besides the gravy, but i figured it's the same basic technique. adventure! and so here we go...

i peeled away the outer, soft leaves of the raddichio head and thickly shredded the rest. several leaves of basil were washed and roughly chopped, and 2 cloves of garlic where sliced.

the pork chops, seasoned well with with salt and coarse grind black pepper (fine grind is for wussies), were pan-fried with olive oil and some of the garlic for about 4 min each side to medium. careful not to overcook or it'll get tough. some pink is a-ok.

the pork chops came out to rest on a plate, the rest of the garlic went in, and oh, about 1/2 a cup of port was poured into the pan, off the flame. after a billow of white, greasy smoke, i scraped the tasty browned bits off the bottom of the pan with my wooden spoon and allowed it to reduce almost all the way to burn off the alcohol and concentrate the sweet port notes.

the chopped raddichio went in with a stir, then the basil. a few pours of chicken broth followed, about 1/2 cup.

i let the raddichio braise in the liquid for a few minutes to mellow the bitter notes and blend the flavors. once it was nicely soft and brown, i tasted for salt and more pepper. it needed a slight sweet, acidic kick, so i added a splash of balsamic vinegar at the very end. perfect.

this braise then went over the pork chops acting as a rich, complex "sauce" for the chops.

a quick salad was made with a handful of the butter lettuce mix, drizzles of balsamic and olive oil, salt, pepper, and a couple small wedges of stilton to garnish.

can you say "awesome!?" it's my new word, thanks to becca. the sweet and slightly bitter raddichio paired wonderfully with the smoky chops, which were well-seasoned and still moist.

i made sure each bite i took had some of the raddichio braise on top of it. the only way to savor all the flavors in this rich yet surprisingly easy dish.

i impressed myself with this one. flavors were spot on and i was able to adapt a technique for a different ingredient. see? cooking is fun and very rewarding.

3rd annual sf thanksgiving

having a theme really helps with planning your meal, from which recipes you choose to what wines you drink. and most people are attracted to themes. it helps pull things together. my 1st annual sf thanksgiving was all over the place; i had traditional mashed potatoes competing with sweet potatoes with goat cheese and cilantro. learning from that experience, last year i stuck to a southern theme which produced an soulful menu including cranberry-chestnut-sausage cornbread stuffing, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and hours-long stewed ham hocks and collard greens.

for my 3rd annual thanksgiving dinner in sf, i decided to give my menu a slight italian slant to it. while the turkey was my usual brined, honey-roasted affair, i tweaked the stuffing recipe to use sweet italian sausage and italian country bread, and traded fluffy mashed potatoes for rustic, smashed red potatoes with olive oil instead of milk and butter.

i felt most of this turned out pretty good. there were 12 of us total enjoying the feast and i received rave reviews for the turkey, stuffing, and red onion marmalade. yay! oh and 10 bottles of wine and champagne really helped. here was the menu for the evening:

hors d'ouevres
plate of port salami, parmesan wedge and baguette
roasted figs with proscuitto, stilton and pomegranate glaze
grilled shrimp with garlic, lemon and italian parsley

prosecco champagne toast
radicchio and arugula with roasted red onions, crispy pancetta and fresh parmesan

honey-roasted turkey served with port giblet gravy and Zuni red onion marmalade
cranberry-chestnut country bread stuffing with sweet italian chicken sausage
smashed red potatoes with garlic and thyme-infused olive oil
caramelized brussel sprouts and pearl onions with garlic and nutmeg

dessert
bustrengo (polenta and apple cake) with creme fraiche
nadeau late harvest zinfandel

some select pictures from the evening...

a quick and tasty starter. i marinated butterflied, shell-on shrimp in olive oil, garlic, chile flakes, italian parsley and lemon, then quickly grilled them in a grill pan for a couple of minutes.

the salad was a blend of raddichio and arugula leaves tossed in balsamic and olive oil, topped with roasted red onions, crispy pancetta, and a lot of fresh parmesan cheese.

the stuffing (my own recipe developed over the years) starts with browning a couple pounds of sweet italian sausage and sauteeing onions, celery and carrots, delgazing with white wine and creating a stew with chestnuts, cranberries, stock and herbs. the stew is then mixed with stale bread cubes and finished in the oven.

about 6 or 7 pounds of whole red potatoes went into a pot of cold salted water until they "fell off a fork." this was then mashed with olive oil infused with smashed garlic and thyme leaves. to make a chunky, rustic potatoes side dish.

the table setting for 12 included floor length white linens with an golden orange overlay, square plates with silverware from abbey rentals, 2 self-arranged floral centerpieces, an array of glassware and tealights, and chianti flasks for that slight italian feel.

shot of the potatoes and leslie getting a helping of the zuni red onion marmalade, a 3-hour concoction of red onions, honey, merlot, and herbs. way, way better than cranberry sauce.

the 13 lb turkey pre-roast. this was brined for several hours using a combination of alton brown and wolfgang puck's recipes.

i roasted it in a 500* oven for 30 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 350* for another 2 hours or so.

the chef presenting his masterpiece.

and the turkey plated.

amazing how the turkey disappears after you've carved it.

dessert brought the very dense and hearty bustrengo, a polenta and apple cake that also had figs and raisins mixed into it.

served with a dollop of creme fraiche and sips of the 2004 nadeau late harvest zinfandel from paso robles, it topped off a very hearty meal.

thank you to all the friends who made it to the dinner. it was a fun and delicious little trip over to italy. happy thanksgiving!

beijing day 1 & 2 lunch

before i start blogging about my wonderful food adventures in china, just wanted to note that all the non-food-related posts (like sight seeing, night life, etc.) will be posted to my other blog, http://dimensionverve.blogspot.com/ whereas you'll find all the food-related stuff here. be sure to click on the hyperlinks here and there to get the full story. a lot happened on my 10-day trip to the motherland, so, happy reading...

beijing day 1 was mainly travel. the airplane food on ana airlines was pretty damn good. probably the best airplane food i've ever had. there was a little salmon sashimi with a vinegary salad, cold soba noodles with wasabi and dipping sauce, as well as a small piece of steamed salmon with japanese root vegetables. oh, and the 2 kirin beers and a chardonnay helped keep me relaxed while enjoying my upgraded seat on a very long flight.

so yes, food in china can be had for very little money and for very lots of yummy. after a relaxed morning at the lama temple, yonghegong, on day 2, a starved shimi and i went searching for lunch. we were strolling aimlessly down a side street full of tiny stores hawking incense and paper money for offerings at the temple...

when we stumbled upon a small doorway in front of which was a large metal cylinder with tall stacks of bamboo steamer baskets quietly spewing white steam...

that could mean only one thing: xiao long bao! with minimal hesitation (this was a hole in the wall joint and we still had 9 days to stomach after all; we had to avoid traveler's diarreah at all costs)...

we hopped up the stairs into a tiny room about 8' x 8'. there a lady in a red jacket stood furiously making little dumplings for the 8 or so locals having lunch.

so imagine, if you will, 2 chinese-americans, stepping foot into this obviously locals joint, not knowing how to speak mandarin nor able to read the menu. we had several stares. kinda funny. but we knew what the food was and we knew how to point and say basic things like liang ge (2 of them), pi jiu (beer), xie xie (thank you). as such shimi and i were rewarded with 2 baskets of dumplings, one xiao long bao, one gao ji (gyozas), and a couple of yanjing beers, a local light and refreshing chinese beer.

to eat the dumplings we dipped them into small dishes of soy sauce and chinese black vinegar with a little bit of grated pickled radish as a garnish. i don't know how to explain to you HOW GOOD these dumplings were.

a perfect ratio of meat to starchy wrapper, well-seasoned ground pork and spices, all piping hot and fresh from the steamer.

wow.

as we enjoyed the home-cooked food, we watched the lady roll out little balls of dough, likely a mixture of only rice flour and water, and flatten the edges with her rolling pin...

then place a small amount of pork filling in the center and gather up the edges around the filling to make a small dumpling which would go into the steamer, seam-side down.

she worked quickly and efficiently, taking orders from the steady stream of customers coming in, while barking soup noodle orders to the cook inside a kitchen in the back 3' x 6' (i kid you not).

we realized after watching what others were ordering, that the soup noodles were also popular. but looking at the menu hanging above us did nothing to help us figure out what to order.

but shimi knew a few basic chinese characters from learning congi in japanese (she's fluent), and i could recognize and spit out a few mandarin phrases, so we teamed up to order a bowl of noodles. no easy task, i'll tell you that much, a lot of guessing and elimination, but we finally got the lady to get us a bowl of pork and snow cabbage noodle soup.

o. m. g. what a reward. i mean, the dumplings were still the best, but after all that hard work, success never tasted sweeter. handmade noodles, made fresh next door that morning. clear and clean tasting pork broth. salty, stir-fried pork. salty and tart preserved snow cabbage. and a sprinkling of fresh scallions on top. let me say it again. oh...

my...

gawd.

but the best part? how much we paid at the end. all of our food came out to 25 kuai. divide that by 7 and you get about 3.5. that means lunch cost a total of US $3.50, or $1.75 a person. hm, let's see, 3 baskets of dumplings, a big bowl of noodles, 2 beers...
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9 days later shimi and i were still giggling over the amazing meal that cost us $1.75 a person. yummy. little money. if you're ever in china, be adventurous. the results are immensely satisfying, and tasty.

beijing trip preview

ni hao from shanghai! i finally have internet access here at our hotel in the modern city of shanghai, a metropolitan port on the south eastern coast of china. my travelmates and i have spent the last 5 days in beijing seeing the sights like the great wall and the forbidden city, smelling the smells of the streets and the pollution, and of course, tasting the delicious food everywhere. it's been quite an experience and a culture shock to see so many chinese people in one place. and they can instantly tell i'm a foreigner, as evidenced by my poor chinese language skills.

but that hasn't stopped us from trying all the fantastic food available in beijing from different regional varieties in china. in our 5 days there we've had beijing, hakka, manchu, shanghai, and loads of street vendor cuisine. it's amazing what variety there is and people here LOVE food. it's not a necessity, it's a hobby. at literally all hours of the day you'll see people on the street munching on some snack, whether it be dumplings fresh from steamer baskets or skewers of meat and innards that have been braised in szechwan broth from the street vendor around the corner. it's a food lover's paradise i tell ya.

i don't have much time to blog while i'm here, but i'll be posting up a full report once i get back (and after i've gotten in a few more $14 full body 90-min massages at the upscale spa near my friend's apt). in the meantime, here's a few pictures to tide you over.

xiao long bao and dumplings from a hole-in-the-wall near lama temple.

"shrimp drowned in wine" literally. live baby shrimp in a bowl are covered with a cold wine sauce, "drowning" the shrimp until they become inactive. you then eat the shrimp, shell and all.

becca and i on a couple of the thousands of steps we climbed on the great wall. this was an awesome experience.

the famous snack street, wan fu jing, where the entire street is lined with vendors enticing you with their skewers and snacks grilled and fried to order.

bug skewers of crickets, scorpians, and some larvae looking thing. yes, this is a real picture. no, i did not try any. although becca dared me to try the fried larvae for 5 kuai (which equals about 70 cents, uh no).

fried soft shell crab on a stick!!!

a cook in the nan xiang steamed bun restaurant making xiao long bao, or steamed soup dumplings.


more to come... jia jin.

grilled swordfish and brown butter mango sauce with whole wheat fettuccine and green beans

i had a lot of leftover pureed mango from the mango-tamarind bbq sauce i made for the baby back ribs at last weekend's bbq. determined not to let it go to waste, i decided to experiment with a mango-based sauce for the swordfish steak i was preparing tonite.

i did a quick search on chow for how other people create mango sauce and found this post. it calls for browned butter, mangos, coconut milk and lime. i didn't have coconut milk so i subbed with what i had available, non-fat milk (bleh, i know).

i first defrosted the swordfish steak, patted dry with a paper towel, and seasoned both sides with salt and pepper, which then went into a hot non-stick grill pan with a little olive oil.

and prepared a package of tj's whole wheat fettuccine according to directions to al dente.

a handful of blue lake green beans were trimmed and washed.

and they went into the grill pan after the swordfish had grilled for about 3-4 min each side. a little olive oil, salt and pepper were tossed with beans until they were softened and browned.

i then quickly made the sauce by melting 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it started to turn golden brown. you need to watch this carefully so the butter does not burn. a scorched taste will infiltrate the sauce if so. i then added about 1/3 cup of the mango puree (which was already sweetened) and then about a 1/4 cup of milk. a pinch of salt was added and then the juice of half a lime to balance out the sauce. i tasted the sauce several times, adjusting the quantities of each ingredient until it tasted damn good.

the plate was created by layering a bed of fettuccine, a handful of arugula, a splash of olive oil, the swordfish, a few green beans, and then drizzled the mango sauce over and around the whole dish.

the sauce was amazing by itself. nutty and buttery, sweet mango flavor but cut with the acidic lime and salt. i added some black pepper to kick it up a little. nicely balanced and it went great with noodles.

it tasted good with the fish, but the sweetness brought out the fishier flavor of swordfish, something that usually happens when you pair seafood and sweets together. (hence you rarely see such a combination.) i think the coconut milk would've toned down the sweetness a bit and the richness of it would blend better with the fish. guess i'll have to try that next time. otherwise, this was mm, mm good. and so easy to make.