12.14.2007

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.
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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.
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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.
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the chopped raddichio went in with a stir, then the basil. a few pours of chicken broth followed, about 1/2 cup.
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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.
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this braise then went over the pork chops acting as a rich, complex "sauce" for the chops.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

12.04.2007

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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the 13 lb turkey pre-roast. this was brined for several hours using a combination of alton brown and wolfgang puck's recipes.
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i roasted it in a 500* oven for 30 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 350* for another 2 hours or so.
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the chef presenting his masterpiece.
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and the turkey plated.
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amazing how the turkey disappears after you've carved it.
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dessert brought the very dense and hearty bustrengo, a polenta and apple cake that also had figs and raisins mixed into it.
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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.
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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!