KK Millet

Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

So, I was watching the “The Next Food Network Star” marathon a couple of weekends ago, and… stop. Yes, I watch all sorts of stupid reality TV shows, even ones as insipid as this. I wish I could use my obsession with food and cooking as an excuse, but I really can’t. The ‘chefs’ on this show are terrible! They overcook eggs, and over-salt their food. They burn the pine nuts and undercook their pork. I am no professional chef, but I swear I could do better than these goons.

Which brings me to this dinner. On one episode, a 19 year-old crybaby just out of culinary school made his ‘signature’ roast pork tenderloin, which was a super-simple preparation that looked pretty good. Pork + more pork = goodness. However, the challenge required the ‘chefs’ to put together a beauty shot for the camera, which would showcase their presentation skills. The pork he put up was dark red — raw as all get-out. Now, I am no proponent of cooking your pork until it is white and feels like sawdust in your mouth, but you just can’t serve it raw — sorry to tell you, boy.

However, the idea stuck with me. Pork + pork. Yessss…. it could work…. (insert rubbing of the hands and shifty eyeball look). So I went to the store, grabbed some pork and more pork, and cooked it up. Mine was really, really good. Therefore, I dub myself “The Next Food Network Star.” I already have a show title: “From My Table to Yours” and an angle – I make the same dishes as other chefs, just better. Enh… maybe I’d rather spend my time on the couch and criticizing from a distance, without the hot lights, time limits, and high-definition cameras zooming in on my pores.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
(serves 4)

One pork tenderloin
1/4 lb. thinly sliced prosciutto
olive oil
1/2 c. white wine or vermouth
1/2 c. chicken stock
2 tsp. chopped fresh sage (or to taste)
2 tsp. butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Dry the surface of the pork tenderloin with paper towels. If your butcher has not already done so, take your slices of prosciutto and lay them on a long piece of plastic wrap or wax paper, overlapping the slices along the long edge. Space the slices of prosciutto so that when they are all laid out, they form a rectangle that is the same length as the pork tenderloin. Place the pork tenderloin at one end, perpendicular to the direction of the prosciutto slices, like so:

Use the plastic wrap to press the slices of prosciutto into the tenderloin, and to tightly wrap the pork up fully, like so:

pork-wrapped If you have the time, refrigerate the pork like this, in the plastic wrap, with the ends of proscuitto underneath the weight of the pork, for 30 minutes or more.

Heat the oil in a large oven-proof skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Place the pork in the hot pan, preferably placing the side where the ends of the prosciutto slices meet down first. Let cook on this side approximately 5-7 minutes or until a nutty brown color. Turn to cook the other side for another 5-7 minutes.

Pork in the pan

With the first cooked side facing down again, place the whole pan with the pork in the oven again. Roast until the internal temperature of the pork is 140 degrees, approximately 25 minutes. Let the pork rest on a cutting board, under foil, for 10 minutes before slicing. This will allow the pork to finish cooking, and the juices to redistribute.

Meanwhile, take the pan with the pork drippings to the stove and place over medium heat. Add the wine and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits. Let the wine reduce to a syrupy consistency, then add the chicken stock. Stir and reduce for approximately 3 minutes. Add the chopped sage and the butter, stirring until melted. Salt and pepper to taste. Slice the pork and serve with the pan sauce.

pork-plated

Easy Sticky Buns

I am a bad Barefoot Blogger – bad! I neglected my duties for the past two installments, partly because it was the holidays and partly because the selected recipes didn’t totally appeal to me. However, when Melissa chose these “Easy Sticky Buns”, I was motivated and reenergized! For one thing, my mom recently purchased the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook and I have been itching to steal it for a week now. The recipes are very straightforward and simple, but with Ina’s classic flavor profiles and subtle elegance. Second, I am always looking for new, fun additions to my Sunday Breakfast repertoire.

These came out wonderfully – gooey and rich in the center, and crunchy and caramelized on the outside. I left out the raisins, because RJ doesn’t like them, but I think you could really mix and match with the filling – some dried currants, chopped walnuts, or maple sugar could all add to this recipe. I wonder, too, if a (somewhat) savory version might be possible – with cooked bacon and sage in the center, and some maple sugar and mustard on the top…

Easy Sticky Buns, from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
(Makes 12)

Creamed butter and sugar 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed [I used dark brown sugar, hence the almost black syrup on the top of my buns!]
1/2 c. pecans, chopped in very large pieces (optional)
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Butter and Pecans

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

Cut buns Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Easy Sticky Buns

Orzo to Make You Say “YES!”

Cheesy Orzo

When RJ proposed to me in June of 2007, I was blown away. Not completely surprised, but quite overcome with the enormity of the step we were taking. He brought me out to the southern most point of the beach in the town where we met. The sun was just beginning to set and the ocean was in our ears when he asked me to be his wife. I just happen to have a painting of the moment (my wedding present to him) if you’d like a visual:

painting

After I said yes and started crying, etc. etc. we went out to dinner. The idea was to enjoy a few moments together before we started calling all of our friends and family. But I was so excited and nervous that it was very difficult for me to concentrate on food. I could barely hold my champagne flute steady! I had ordered the Chicken Statler, and though the chicken was good, I merely picked at it. The orzo on the side, however, was a different story. Despite my shaky mental state, I devoured it! On the menu it was called “Asiago Mac and Cheese” and with those clues, I resolved to recreate the dish in my own kitchen. And every time I do, I am taken back to that wonderful night – and to the memory of the proposal too!

Asiago Mac and Cheese (or Cheesy Orzo Risotto)
Serves 3-4

Toasting orzo 3 c. home-made chicken stock (you can, of course, use the box or can from the grocery, but for the best version of this dish, you have to use the rich, home-made stuff)
2 Tbs. butter
1 large or 2 small shallots, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced (optional)
2 c. dried orzo pasta
3/4 c. grated asiago cheese (you can substitute parmesan, or a mixture of the two, for a slightly different flavor)

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a separate medium to large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the shallots and garlic, stirring to coat. Cook 3-5 minutes, allowing the shallots to become translucent and fragrant. If they begin to brown, turn down the heat.

Add the pasta and stir to coat with the butter. Allow pasta to toast for about one minute. Pour in the simmering chicken broth, and stir to combine. Over medium high heat, boil the orzo in the chicken broth according to the orzo package’s cooking instructions (usually around 10 minutes). If, after that time, the orzo is tender but the stock has not completely absorbed into the pasta, drain what is left of the liquid from the pot (it doesn’t have to be completely dry, though. I usually just tip the pot and drain the excess – holding the pasta back with a slotted spoon – rather than using a colander). Stir in the grated cheese, 1/4 cup at a time, until you have reached a taste and consistency that works for you.

Fun Veggie Alert – Sauteed Escarole

Escarole

As many of you know, when I cook vegetables, I am cooking for one. RJ doesn’t eat vegetables or fruit – green, orange, red or otherwise. When you press him for a “Why?”, he will give you one of these responses: a) “one time when I was little I had dinner at a friend’s house and his mom forced me to eat the salad, and then I went to the emergency room.” b) “vegetables taste funny and they have weird crunchy textures that make me gag.” c) “why are you on my case – you don’t even like them, you just eat them because you have to. I’m more liberated.”

The problem is not that I don’t like vegetables, it is that I am the only one eating them. That means, for me, that spending time to elaborately prepare or flavor my side dish for one is pretty much wasted effort, when I could be concentrating on the entree and starch that we both will be eating. Also, they are usually an afterthought – so I will throw some peapods or spinach in a saute pan at the last minute and just add salt. Plus, if only one person in the household eats vegetables, a bag of baby carrots doesn’t disappear until after about four days of eating them, night after night. A head of lettuce usually goes bad even before I’ve tired of the Caesar dressing. The solution is often to resort to frozen vegetables that last longer, so I can alternate between “Chinese Stir-fry medley” and peas with mushrooms. That’s where RJ gets the whole “you hate vegetables too” justification. I just don’t put my efforts there.

Recently, however, I received my new issue of Fine Cooking magazine. This is my favorite magazine, as I’ve said before. One of the first recipes was a scrumptious-looking sauteed escarole. I had most of the ingredients on hand (save the escarole, of course, which I purchased at the grocery store), and thought that I would give it a go. It should also be noted that Fine Cooking is having a contest this month, challenging its readers to “Cook the Issue” – meaning, cook all of the recipes in the Feb./Mar. issue and post about them on their website. I’m in! I’ll be posting more lengthy descriptions here at From My Table and shorter ones here, with my fellow F.C. fans.

Back to the ‘scarole, as Tony Soprano would say. I cooked it up, I photographed it, and I ate it. All of it. This was a recipe for four people – granted, I used 1 1/2 lbs. of escarole instead of 2 lbs., but honestly! So now this is my new solution to avoid having tons of rotting veggies in my fridge AND enjoy eating my daily greens – make really good, sophisticated vegetable dishes with care and they will be gone in seconds! The texture of the escarole was the true marvel of the dish – not as slimy as spinach can sometimes be, but not as tough as kale, and with a pleasant bite to the stalky bits. I would actually recommend making this without the raisins and capers – I think simplicity here (without devolving back into my steam everything in two seconds habits) would really make the escarole shine. So now, everyone – go out and eat your vegetables!

Sauteed Escarole, from Fine Cooking magazine, Feb/March 2009 issue.
(Serves 4…or 1…)

escarole-add-ins Kosher salt
2 lbs. escarole, trimmed, rinsed, and cut into roughly 2-inch pieces
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
2 Tbs. pine nuts
2 Tbs. raisins (optional)
1 Tbs. capers, rinsed (optional)
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

escarole-blanched Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil over high heat. Add the escarole and cook until the stem pieces start to soften, about 2 minutes (the water needn’t return to a boil). Drain, run under cold water to cool, and drain again. This can be done up to an hour ahead of serving time.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic browns lightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the garlic with tongs and discard. Add the pine nuts, raisins, capers, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the pine nuts are golden and the raisins puff, about 1 minute.

Sauteed Escarole Add the escarole, increase the heat to medium high, and cook, tossing often, until heated through and tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and season to taste with salt.