*authors note: As this post has recently been published on tastespotting, I just wanted to take a quick second to say "Hello" to the anyone visiting this site for the first time... Please feel free to poke around and leave a comment. I hope you like it... n*
Okay.
I'll admit that I'm getting a little Pork-sessed these days.
But it's just so good, I can't help it.
So when the opportunity to make a wounded fellow-(waiter)warrior a dinner arose, I didn't even think about going a new route, although I will admit that I went a slightly different route on the old Pork Highway than I usually go...
Curious?
Well buckle up your pork-skin seat belt and come along on a ride with us...
We're nice.
See?
We'll start with a little back story and then I'm just gonna get right into it...
To the wounded fellow-(waiter)warrior:
My friend Kenny broke his neck.
Yes.
He broke his neck...
I'll let him tell you the full story if you see him and want to know, but the short/Blog version is this:
New Years Eve he and a bunch of friends are getting into a cab when a drunk guy pulls him out of it. A wrestling match ensues which leaves Kenny on the ground with a smashed up bleeding face and the drunk guy passed out cold on the sidewalk...
Two days later (yes, two full days later) Kenny's neck still hurts so he goes to the doctor to have someone take a look at it. After pressing and probing it they try and send him on his way with a bottle of pills and a "good luck", but Kenny figures he's there, so he might as well get it x-rayed just to be sure...
Well, it turns out that he's had a broken neck the whole time...
And obviously our dear caring restaurant refuses to let him work on the floor with a neck brace.
So with no income, and a battle for Disability Pay (ongoing) on his hands with no clear date for which it will end, I figured he'd be sick enough of eating top ramen and bored enough from sitting at home for weeks on end to come over Casa Leftover Foodie for dinner and a big helping of leftovers...
Which means chops clearly weren't going to do the trick this time.
I needed bigger.
I needed to send this guy home with leftovers for a week.
I needed to send a message to the establishment that I was about so much more than Pork Chops and "look at my cute kids" posts.
This was a statement dinner...
This is my official pronouncement to the world that I've evolved.
I've grown.
My powers are strong, and have no plans other than to continue getting stronger and stronger each day...
I, my friends, am a Force.
And it's about time the world found out...
So with the backdrop set, I invite you to witness my arrival into Rarefied Air.
Welcome to the heights of heights...
Welcome to the Triple Pork Post!
That's right, (2 or 3)ladies and (couple of)gentleman. This is officially my third post in a row on pork!!!
In honor of such a rare feat, I decided the only logical thing I could do would be to make a triple pork dinner...
So I did.
Here it is...
I started with a riddle:
What's the only thing better than pork?
The answer, of course, is:
More pork.
So I went to my local butcher and asked him for the biggest cut of pork he had, and he sent me home with this...
A 5 lb. pork loin...
And a chorizo.
What could I possibly do with a 5 lb. pork loin and a chorizo?
Well, here...
Let me give you a clue...
That's right...
Are you getting the picture?
I hope so...
If not, here's one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen to clear it up...
Chorizo Stuffed Pork Loin...
It goes fast from here, so hold on tight...
Simple is the name of this dinner.
I had planned on wrapping the loin in caul fat and sage leaves, but apparently no one in Brooklyn has caul fat. So I figured I'd wrap it in bacon, or ham, or something, but then I figured it'd just be easier to keep it simple, so I made a little spice rub...
This one is similar to the last one I made, but this time I used mustard seeds, dried oregano, dried bay leaves, hot and sweet paprika, salt, and pepper. I spice-rubbed with the idea of roasting the loin over some chorizo and the fat that I took off of the loin when I cleaned it, along with some garlic, onions, and herbs, and I'd baste the loin with that the entire time it was roasting...
Let's get caught up to that point real quick...
Here's the loin all rubbed and ready...
and then I seared it...
until I got a nice crust all the way around it...
here's a closer look...
Then, as I mentioned before, I roasted it above some pork fat, chorizo and other junk that I used to baste the loin with while it cooked, with the idea that doing that, plus the idea that the chorizo in the middle would give up fat, and that between the two it would keep the loin nice and tender and flavorful and not let it get dried out...
Did it work?
Yes.
Yes it did...
(yes, that was chorizo fat oozing out the loin in the middle of that first picture... here's a close up...)
After roasting the pork loin, I made a quick sauce/gravy from the pan drippings.
MEANWHILE...
For the side dish I did something I've never really done before in this blog.
I followed a recipe...
I've mentioned before that one of my favorite chefs in the world is Jose Andres. So for xmas this year I bought myself his cookbook Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America. It's already one of my favorites. If you don't have it, I'd highly recommend it to anyone.
The recipe I used was for his Potatoes Rioja-style with chorizo, and thus, by adding a third pork element, completing my triple pork trifecta...
If you don't have his book you can google a similar recipe, there are many available, but I'll take you through the basic steps of making it, and trust me, you want to make this...
First you brown some garlic in a pan, and add onions until caramelized...
Add the chorizo until browns a little...
then add potatoes and cook until coated with the oil, or about 10 minutes...
add a teaspoon of pimenton and some salt and cover with water...
It's a beautiful color...
So basically from here you bring it to a boil...
Then lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through and the sauce is reduced by about half...
And this is what happens..
it's GOOOOOOOD...
So here's the whole thing...
First, here's a couple shots of how the pork turned out...
And here's just a bunch of pictures of the finished dish...
And finally...
ahhh...
And for Liz?
Well, she had a non-pork eating friend this time (I know, I know...), so I made them pumpkin ravioli (store bought) and made a brown butter with sage and roasted pecans with Parmesan and some sauteed spinach...
Here, cause it's a nice shot...
and because I can't decide which one I like better...
The result?
A table full of eating...
Which is all the compliment one can really ask for...
But before you get too jealous of me and my impressive accomplishments, here's the part that they don't show you in the movies...
This is what greeted me after the party...
And who helped me clean it up?
No one!!!
I mean, that's crazy...
Look at this one...
I mean, at some point you have ask yourself, is this really worth it?
Well, when the food and the company are as good as they were, the answer is absolutely... It's worth it every time...
Congratulations to me...
And get well soon Ken-dogg...
Oh, and if anyone finds a bag of money with $40,000 in it, it's mine... I dropped it where ever it was that you found it...
I need it back...
Thank you in advance...
Loves and loveses...
n*
