Real spaghetti carbonara

In Virginia, you can find pork jowl bacon in the stores, and this is a great use for it. This has been one of my favorite dishes for years, because I usually have most of the ingredients on hand (although sometimes I cheat and use cooked bacon crumbles, which I keep in the freezer after opening).

If anyone can point me to a source for pork jowl in Sacramento, I'd be most appreciative.

Squash with panache

Plop. Plop. Plop-plop-plop-plop-plop-plop-plop. It's raining acorns outside. Last year, the oak trees gave up so few that there were notes on Freecycle.com begging for anyone who had a bucket of acorns in their garage to please share for their squirrels. The oaks have more than made up for their previous year's stinginess.

It's also the time of year when acorn squash plop, plop, plop down in the stores as well. They look very cheerful with their pointy tips, deep green and orange coloring and scalloped exterior. I think that's why many people just half them, cook them face down on a cookie sheet, then serve them drizzled with maple syrup. Pretty easy, and a half of squash is a hearty portion for one person, a healthy alternative to a baked potato drizzled with butter and stuffed with sour cream, cheese and bacon bits.

Yet, I never much liked them. I pondered whether it was the texture, which can be a bit more stringy than butternut squash or pumpkin, or was it the maple syrup? Thinking it might be the latter, plus the blandness of the vegetable once the coating was eaten, I decided to try to peel the squash and roast it.

Peeling turned out to be the most time-consuming part, because of its scalloped shell. But once that was done, the rest couldn't be easier.

Lori K's pork tenderloin with roasted acorn squash
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 acorn squash, seeds removed, peeled and diced into 1" chunks
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pork tenderloin
Spice rub
2 quarters of cabbage
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter, optional

Instructions
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
In a dutch oven or enameled iron casserole, toss the squash with chili powder, garlic salt, cumin and oil until well coated. Cook for 15 minutes.
Coat all sides of the tenderloin with your favorite spice rub (I used Mas Guapo; it's spicy and a little sweet).
Remove the pan from the oven and lay the tenderloin on top. Cook for 20-25 minutes until the squash is very tender and the pork is 160 degrees in the center. Take out of the oven and wait 5 minutes for the juices to reabsorb into the meat.
While the meat is resting, put the cabbage in a microwave safe dish, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook for 4 minutes on high, or until tender but still bright green. Add a pat of butter while hot, if desired.
Remove meat to a cutting board and slice thinly. Divide onto 2 plates and pour any juices over the meat. Fill out plate with half the squash, and a cabbage wedge. Serve.

Note: There are usually two tenderloins in a pack; if you get a pack that's about 2 pounds, one will be just about the right amount for two people. You can cook both of them and have meat for sandwiches for the next few days.

Jambalaya, bayou, mio-my-o

(whoever posted this did not include the lyrics. You can find them HERE.)

I hope everyone had a relaxing Presidents Day. I ate a little leftover jambalaya (made with smoked turkey sausage and Virginia ham, which required ditching the salt and using more cayenne pepper) for lunch and if you're new to this blog, you probably haven't gone back far enough to try my "use whatever you have handy" jambalaya. Since today's Fat Tuesday, the day where you are supposed to use up everything you're not suppose to eat or drink during Lent (fat, rich meats, alcohol), I thought I'd post it again.

Unfortunately, Episcopal tradition has Shrove Tuesday pancakes, so that's what I'll be eating tonight. If you're in Charlottesville, join us for them at St. Paul's Memorial Church on the Corner at 6 tonight. They're not Cajun, but they are very good, and a parishioner usually provides real maple syrup from Vermont for the meal.

Lori K's generic jambalaya

Serves 6

2 large California bay leaves (or 4 small ones)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon gumbo filé (ground sassafras leaves, optional)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup of diced smoked sausage (andouille, kielbasa or turkey) or smokey ham

1 cup raw chicken, duck, pork or seafood

1 onion (about a cup)

1 cup finely diced celery

1 cup diced bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups uncooked rice (long grain or converted)

4 cups chicken, duck, turkey, seafood or vegetable stock

Thoroughly combine the spices (all the ingredients before the oil) in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet over high heat and add the meats (if using seafood, add it near the end of the cooking time). Cook for 5 minutes, then add the vegetables and the spice mix. Cook until everything is browned, about 10 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan well, and add the rice. Cook another 5 minutes, then add the broth. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir well, remove the bay leaves, and serve.

A nonfat, no-salt kick for fish and other white meat

Our grill went on the fritz last month, so we've been pan-frying more than usual. But to get the taste of the grill without grilling, I had to get a little creative. Since chipotle is already made with smoked, ripe jalapeños, I hit upon mixing a tablespoon of chipotle sauce with the juice of a half lime and brushing fish, chicken or pork with it before pan-frying. Coat the cast-iron skillet with olive oil and heat it to medium high on our outdoor burner before adding the meat. The Pacific rockfish fillets took about 5 minutes total; the boneless pork chops pounded to about a 1/4-inch thickness took just a little longer, about 8 minutes.

Meat and fish cooked this way is also delicious in soft tacos; before you put the meat on, turn the oven on to 350 degrees. On a cookie sheet, place 4-6 corn tortillas in a single layer, then sprinkle them with cheese (if you are watching your fat content, use veggie shreds or part-skim mozzerella). Put in the oven until the cheese just starts to melt. Cover with meat, jalapeños, lettuce, diced tomatoes and/or guacamole and serve.

Simple stirfry

One of the dishes Mark Bittman mentioned in his article on sustainable food was the stir-fry. Here's one I did tonight that was very good. A good exhaust fan in your kitchen is recommended.

Lori K's Hunan pork stir-fry
Serves 2

Ingredients
3 ounces roasted pork, diced
1 tablespoon oil
2 carrots, shredded
1 quarter wedge of cabbage, shredded
Hot garlic chili bean paste, to taste
Soy sauce, to taste

Instructions
Heat the skillet until very hot. Add oil and pork immediately. Stir until pork pieces are crispy, then remove. Add vegetables and stir until they are done. Add chili paste and soy sauce to taste, then stir in the pork. Serve over hot rice.

Pee Wee's Pit BBQ's last squeal

Hatton Ferry, c. 1910. The last poled ferry
in the United States, it's still in operation.

The recession has been tough on restaurants, especially the small ones. Scottsville, which doesn't have much of a draw outside of the historic Hatton Ferry and canoeing on the James River, had a pretty good barbecue joint, Pee Wee's Pit BBQ, but if you haven't been there in the last five years, you better get down there before the end of the month, because it's closing. They have tasty pulled pork sandwiches, fried chicken and fried pulled-pork-and-cabbage-balls they call pork puppies and serve with a sweet-savory sauce. The one thing they don't have is a pit; the pork's done in a slow cooker. It's open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Bourbon and soy and peppers, oh my!

I found some very inexpensive pork butt steaks at the store the other day, but wasn't sure what to do with them. Being pork butt, I knew the best cooking method for that cut was long and slow, but these were thin. So, marinade. But the bottle of vin ordinaire was nowhere to be found.

However, the little brown jug was at hand, so in went a cup of Virginia bourbon, along with 1/2 cup of soy sauce and a teaspoon of habanero hot sauce. I let them marinade for four hours, then seared them on the grill briefly before popping them into a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes.

Mmm, mmm, mmm. The bite of the bourbon was intensified by the saltiness of the soy and the habanero added spice and just a hint of heat. The meat was tender and moist.

Since it's a fatty cut of meat, be sure to pat off the excess with paper towels before serving. Grilled corn on the cob and a salad with fresh peaches made an excellent grouping.

Summer time, and the dinners are easy

As summer wears on, salads are a good option for dinner. I had a nice salmon salad at The Nook on the C'ville downtown mall last Sunday night, with a deck-of-cards-size piece of fish, nice fresh lettuce (tossed with just a bit too much dressing) and shredded parmesan cheese. It seemed more appropriate for the weather than the meatloaf, but let me tell you, if you're hungry, that meatloaf plate at The Nook can fill you up in no time.

But foodies can't live by salads alone. That's why grills were invented. You just need to make sure it's not something that takes a lot of time or attention (have mercy on the griller in the heat). If you're doing chicken, make it boneless breasts or thighs, flattened. Oil that portobello mushroom cap good to keep it from drying out, and season it on the gill side, with a mist of oil to keep it from sticking right before you flip it (otherwise, that's the side that can really soak up the oil and add a meatlike proportion of calories to your meal). Or go for sausage; I like to boil ones that have fresh pork or chicken in them first, just a little, to make sure that the center cooks through. It also serves to firm them up if you want to split them for extra grilling taste.

And split zucchinis were made for the grill. Season the cut side with pepper and garlic salt, spray with oil and grill face down first. Flip over after 5-6 minutes and cook until they are the doneness that you like as you finish up the rest of the dinner.

Gone viral

In the "well, duh" category comes this warning by Jorgen Schlundt, director of the World Health Organization's Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases:
"Sick animals should not enter the food chain. If you are following existing guidelines it (the virus) will not get into the human food chain," he said in an e-mail to Reuters reporter Tan Ee Lyn today.
It is possible for flu viruses such as the new H1N1 strain to survive the freezing process and be present in thawed meat, as well as in blood, Schlundt said. But the virus that has been sending folks to the hospital has been passed from human to human by airborne transmission, not from pig to human by foodborne transmission.

A tender, flavorful pork roast

I've been using Forever Roasted Pork from the Tra Vigne Cookbook for a week now: First as a main dish, then as sandwiches, tacos and quesadillas, and a main dish encore warmed then mixed with rice and tomatoes cooked together. So good, and too good not to share. So here's the original recipe.

Forever Roasted Pork
Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello

Prep time: 1 hour 20 min (not including the time to bring pork to room temp)
Cook time: 8 hours (or so)
Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients
4 pounds pork leg or shoulder
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
Gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
About 1/4 cup Fennel Spice, recipe follows

Directions
Bring pork to room temperature by removing it from refrigerator 1 to 2 hours before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the onions, cover pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until light brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sage and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions cease throwing off water, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool on plate.
Peel back the pork skin, and spread a good amount of the fennel spice and add the onions directly on the fat layer. Fold the skin back over the onions and tie closed with kitchen string. Season well all over with the remaining fennel spice.
Arrange the meat on a rack in a casserole pan lined with foil, drizzle with more olive oil and cook until the meat is very tender, about 8 hours. It is ready when it pulls away easily if picked at with a pair of tongs. It is often easiest to cook the meat overnight, or put it in the oven in the morning and let it cook all day. It does not need to be attended.

Variations: This dish can be simplified or made more elaborate depending on your taste. You can omit the onions and simply season the meat with the fennel spice. You can roast aromatic vegetables until caramelized and add them to the bottom of the roasting pan. Or you can add another layer of flavor to the onions: mince fresh rosemary and fruits such as oranges, kumquats, Meyer lemons, apples, pears, or quince, and cook with the onions, or make a paste of garlic and fresh or dried chiles and add to the onions.

Lori K's note: You don't need to tie up the meat, either. It just won't cut as nicely when it's hot. It's usually done enough after six hours, but I've left it in for as long as 10 hours and it has come out fine, just a little crustier. When you use this in tacos or other Mexican dishes, do not season with other spices, just add jalapenos or salsa to taste. 

Fennel Spice Rub:
1 cup fennel seeds
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons white peppercorns
3 tablespoons kosher salt

Put the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a heavy pan over medium heat. Watch carefully, tossing frequently so the seeds toast evenly. When light brown and fragrant, pour the seeds onto a plate to cool. They must be cool before grinding, or they will gum up the blades. Pour the seeds into a blender or spice grinder and add the salt. Blend to a fine powder, shaking the blender occasionally to redistribute the seeds. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.

Yield: about 1 1/4 cups

This little piggy went to the hospital ...

There may be one piece of information that's gotten a bit lost in all the news about the swine flu outbreak that is believed to have originated in Mexico:  There is absolutely no evidence that it can be transmitted by eating meat, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director general of the World Health Organization.

And in other news, a Grist magazine article connects the Mexican pork operation blamed for the outbreak with giant U.S. pork producer Smithfield. I'm not convinced that big agribusiness is evil, but I can't remember the last time a family farm started a pandemic.

Fruit pigs out

Pork and fruit are a natural pairing, and I've enjoyed many such pairings: ham and pineapple, pork roast with prunes, pork loin stuffed with apricots and my grandmother's favorite, pork chops and applesauce. But until I was looking for a way to use up some grapes that had gotten shoved to the back of the fruit bin, I had never thought of using fresh grapes with pork. I simmered them whole, since the recipe didn't specify that anything needed to be done with them, but for company, I think I would halve the grapes. The original recipe is from a book called "Fruit" (I was actually looking for a dessert that would use the grapes), but I cut out the step of serving the tenderloin on toasted brioche.

Pork tenderloin with grapes

Serves 4

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup chicken stock

2 cups grapes, cut in half

Cut the tenderloin in 1/2-inch slices and season with salt and pepper. Lightly flatten each medallion with a mallet. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium high heat and cook the medallions for 3 minutes each side. Turn the heat to medium, remove the medallions to a heat-proof platter and  keep warm.

Deglaze the skillet with the wine and stock, then add the grapes and cook until they soften, 3-5 minutes. Pour the fruit and sauce over the meat and serve.

Smithfield ham, where art thou?

The Associated Press reported today that Smithfield Foods plans to cut 1,800 jobs and close six factories as part of a restructuring.
Smithfield Foods Inc., based in Smithfield, Va., announced the closures and layoffs as part of a plan to consolidate and streamline its pork business. The company plans to save $125 million a year by 2011.
Plants slated for closure include: Smithfield Packing Co. plants in Smithfield, Va.; Plant City, Fla.; and Elon, N.C.; as well as a John Morrell plant in Great Bend, Kan.; a Farmland Foods plant in New Riegel, Ohio; and an Armour-Eckrich Meats factory in Hastings, Neb.

The report that this was excerpted from leaves out a few key facts, from what I've been able to determine.

First: There will still be a plant open in Smithfield; the operations from the Smithfield South plant will be transferred to the Smithfield North plant, according to the press release from the company today, and more than half the employees will be offered transfers there.

Second: The world-famous "Smithfield Ham" isn't one of the products produced in Smithfield. This may come as a shock to many people. In fact, according to the Virginia legislative site:

§ 3.1-867. (Repealed effective October 1, 2008) Smithfield hams defined.

Genuine Smithfield hams are hereby defined to be hams processed, treated, smoked, aged, cured by the long-cure, dry salt method of cure and aged for a minimum period of six months; such six-month period to commence when the green pork cut is first introduced to dry salt, all such salting, processing, treating, smoking, curing and aging to be done within the corporate limits of the town of Smithfield, Virginia.
(Code 1950, § 3-667; 1966, c. 702; 1968, c. 140.)

Needless to say, the company didn't issue a press release on the repeal. But I could not find any stories on the Web about the repeal, either. Chalk that up to the shrinking media presence -- newspapers may be trying to do more with less, but when it comes to being the watchdog of the goverment, less is simply less.

According to the Smithfield Foods site, dry curing of hams now is done in Elon, NC.
But today's press release was rather terse: "The Smithfield Packing Company plant in Elon, North Carolina, will close late in the summer and country ham production there will cease. About 160 employees will be affected."

So where does that leave the world-famous ham? There are three other companies in Smithfield that cure hams. I put in a call to the Smithfield Foods corporate communications office in New York City, but have not heard back from them.

The town of Smithfield must be reeling. From its Web site:
Nurtured by trade and commerce, Smithfield soon became a town of industry with four plants devoted to the art of curing the world famous "Smithfield Ham". Once a commercial center for shipping, Smithfield has evolved to host one of the area's largest meat-processing industries as well as the home to one of Hampton Roads' largest employers - Smithfield Foods, Inc. - a Fortune 500 company with its corporate headquarters in Smithfield. Smithfield was just recently named "one of the 50 best small southern towns".

Quick weeknight pork

When the kids are hungry and you need to get dinner on the table fast, you don't need to pull out that bag of chicken nuggets from the freezer. In about the same time, you can have tender little pork medallions, seasoned both to please kids and you.

For the medallions, slice a pork tenderloin (for best results, it should be very cold, even partially frozen) into 1/4-inch rounds. If you have trouble visualizing what a quarter-inch is, you can call up a file to print out a ruler by clicking here. Lay the rounds out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with your favorite seasonings, as spicy as you like for yourself, salt only for the kids, who will probably like to dunk them in ketchup or barbecue sauce.

Get everything else you are having for dinner ready (salad, rice or potatoes, vegetable or two, condiments). About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, simply heat a skillet on medium high heat, brush with olive oil, put in the medallions (if you're in a real hurry, just season one side and put that side down; the seasoning will seep through, although putting it on both sides makes it more intense). Cook until brown on one side, about 3 minutes, then flip over and turn off the heat after about a minute. Warm your plates in a 170-degree oven, set the table, serve up your side dishes, and the pork will be ready to plate. Enjoy!