NY Girl Eats World

Your Monthly Fortune: Rosemary-Honey Pork Chops Stuffed with Corn Bread

We all know we eat with our eyes first. What makes this dish immediately appealing is the crosshatch grill marks that cover the surface of the double thick pork chops. The secret to the grill marks is a well-seasoned, hot-as-hell cast iron grill pan. This is one of my favorite pieces of cookware; it's well worth the investment.

Marinated with rosemary and honey, these pork chops are incredibly earthy and flavorful. Faithful readers will know that I like bold flavors (the amount of garlic in my Bolognese, for instance, may have alarmed some of you). This recipe uses generous amounts of rosemary. If you are not a devout fan of the herb, then feel free to lighten the amount. The pork chops shouldn’t suffer for it.

The recipe also calls for freshly baked cornbread because I prefer to know and regulate what goes into the stuffing. I also bake it longer than I would if I was eating the cornbread alone. I want to squeeze out most of the moisture so the bread will absorb as much of the pork juices as it can.

Finally, to accompany this cozy meal: Roasted, pillowy sweet potato “fries” that compliment the honey in the pork marinade. You can prep the potatoes while the pork chops are marinating and roast them while the pork cooks in the oven. When you pull the pork out to rest, switch your oven to broil to get the edges of the fries a little crispy and caramelized.

ROSEMARY-HONEY PORK CHOPS STUFFED WITH CORN BREAD

For the pork
4 double thick, bone-in pork chops
3 scallions, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/3 cup oil
7 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 oz honey
salt and pepper to taste

For the cornbread
2 cups cornmeal
2/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 hot pepper, minced (such as jalapeno)
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

First, we'll make the marinade for the pork. Preferably you should let the pork marinate for four hours in the refrigerator, but at least let the chops chill out for one.

Break out the blender and toss in the scallions, shallots, garlic and the leaves from 5 rosemary sprigs. Start the motor running and add the oil through the hole in the blender lid. Add the honey in the same manner. Once the marinade is blended – it should be a lovely pastel green; let’s call it sea foam green – pour it into a Ziploc bag and add the chops with the remaining 2 rosemary sprigs, left whole. Before you tuck the bag away in the fridge be sure to give the chops a good massage through the plastic. Aside from getting the marinade into the meat, it's the least you can do for the poor guys you plan to sizzle.

While the chops marinate, let’s turn to the cornbread. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl – adding the salt to activate the baking powder – and then add your liquids until combined. When you have a thick canary-colored dough, pour it from the bowl into a baking dish. Cook it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden.

When the cornbread is finished, let it cool. When it’s cool enough to handle, crumble it up with your fingers.

All that’s left is to stuff the pork and cook it. So it’s a good time to turn to the fries.

ROASTED SWEET POTATO FRIES

4 sweet potatoes, washed
2 Tbsp sugar
1 pinch cinnamon
freshly ground black pepper, generous amounts
salt to taste
2 Tbsp oil

Turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Cut each potato in half. Take each half and cut it lengthwise into strips of approximately equal thickness.

Cover a baking sheet with foil and pile the potato strips on top. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and salt. Get in there with your hands and mix it all up, making sure each fry gets its share of the seasoning. Then spread them into a single layer across the pan and go crazy with the pepper. The sweet-spicy play of the sugar with the pepper is what makes these fries so tasty. So don't skimp on the pepper.

Now pop the baking sheet into the oven and roast the fries for about 40 minutes on the top rack and then turn it to broil for a final 20 minutes.

STUFFING THE PORK AND COOKING UP THE PRETTIES

OK, time to fire up that cast iron grill pan. Get it smoking-hot on the stove top.

Meanwhile, grab the pork from the fridge and set each chop on your cutting board. Discard the marinade (although, if you fish out the whole rosemary sprigs you can use them for a lovely final presentation.) Using a sharp knife, carefully cut horizontal pockets into each chop. Stuff each pocket with a hearty handful of cornbread (about 3 Tbsp each). Season the stuffed chops with salt and pepper.

Now, sear the chops on the grill pan, rotating them a quarter turn to create that lovely crosshatch pattern. Don't turn them too soon, though. You want those lovely branded lines to be as dark as you can get them.

Once the chops have been seared on both sides, put them on a baking sheet and into the oven to finish cooking (the oven can remain on 350 degrees). The pork is finished when the needle on a thermometer floats anywhere between 145 degrees and 155 degrees (over that, it will be too well done). Make sure you stab the thermometer into the meat and not the stuffing!

When the pork is done, let it rest a few minutes to redistribute the juices before serving.

The best presentation for this meal is serving it altogether on a family-style platter, garnishing with the salvaged rosemary sprigs. After all, this isn't a dainty meal; it's made to leave your family/friends/guests sunk back in their chairs, hands on bellies, lips curled into grins that say they haven't been this contented since mama last cooked for them.

Buen provecho.

-- Chef J. Fortune

Your Monthly Fortune: Napoleon Caprese

You have died and gone to heaven. Here we eat buttery pastry with our salad.

When I was dreaming up a salad/appetizer in which to use a creamy mass of freshly-made mozzarella I recently purchased from an Italian market, suddenly the vision of a delicate tower came to me. It had gorgeous layers of color and contrasting textures. It was constructed from slices of fresh mozzarella, red beefsteak tomatoes, and … what was that? What was that golden, flaky square balanced on top? (Insert angels’ chorus.) It was a layer of pastry formed from several buttered sheets of crispy phyllo dough.

Everyone knows – and most everyone adores – Caprese salad. This is a tricolor salad that supposedly originated on the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. It is traditionally made with slices of mozzarella and tomato combined with fragrant basil leaves and drizzled simply with olive oil.

A Napoleon is a stacked dessert made with layers of crisp, tissue-thin pastry and luscious cream. The top layer is often glazed with icing or dusted with powdered sugar. (Incidentally, this dessert is a favorite of both mine and Nicole’s. You know, just throwing that out there. Eh-hem.)

I have come up with an appetizer I call a Napoleon Caprese because it marries the perfect taste combination of the Caprese salad with the eye-catching construction and satisfying crisp of a Napoleon. If you are skeptical about the pastry, I assure you there’s nothing sweet about the phyllo dough squares and the butter we will use to glue each phyllo sheet together will only bring out the rich butteriness of the mozzarella. Another cool part: Instead of plunking whole basil leaves in between the layers, we are going to glaze the pastry in basil oil.

This is a dish that hits a homerun in presentation, deceiving all your family and friends that you slaved all day for them. (Yeah, right. For them?) On the contrary, this recipe is so short and simple, I have lots of room this week to illustrate each step with pictures. So let’s begin with the ingredients.

NAPOLEON CAPRESE

Serves 4.

• 6 Tbsp olive oil, separated
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted (plus a little extra butter for greasing the baking sheet)
• 6 sheets of purchased phyllo dough
• 2-3 beefsteak tomatoes
• 8 one-inch slices of fresh mozzarella
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• flour for dusting baking sheet

If you want to purchase garlic-infused oil you can go ahead and skip this first step. Otherwise, place 3 Tbsp of olive oil with the garlic in a small saucepan and keep over medium-low heat (turn it lower if it starts to sizzle). We’re just trying to get the flavor of the garlic into the oil, so you can let that hang out for a while. Go onto the other steps and check back in a little while. If you can taste the garlic in the oil by dabbing your finger carefully into it, the infusion is done.

Take the oil off the heat and disgard the garlic.

Next, liberally butter and flour a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place one sheet of phyllo dough onto the pan and brush with melted butter. Place another sheet directly on top of the first and brush with butter. Repeat until you have six layers. Using a sharply pointed knife, cut the dough into eight squares. Bake in the oven until each square is slightly puffed and golden (less than 10 minutes). When they have finished baking, set aside to cool.

Meanwhile we’ll grill the tomato. Cut the tomatoes into thick one-inch slices and brush them with the garlic-infused oil. Heat a cast iron grill pan until it’s screaming hot. If you don’t own a grill pan, use a saute pan, you just won’t get the beautiful carmel lines on the tomato. Cook the tomato slices on one side only. We’re just trying to get a little carmelization on them and soften them up a bit. When you have achieved this, set them aside in the refrigerator to cool.

It’s time to make our basil oil that we will use to glaze the pastry squares. In a blender, combine 3 handfuls of fresh basil leaves, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 2 pinches of salt and one of pepper. When this is well blended, brush the oil onto the puffed sides of the pastry squares.

Seriously, that’s it. Now all that’s left is assembly. The first layer will be tomato. Place a slice down on the serving plate and add a slice of mozzarella on top. Next add a square of basil-brushed pastry. Repeat all three layers and garnish the plate with a whole basil leaf and a drizzle of remaining basil oil.

Buon appetito!  -- J. Fortune

Your Monthly Fortune: Lemon Curd with Chantilly Cream

This dessert is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for the faint of arm, either. The lemon curd has an assertive flavor and it must be whisked constantly as it cooks. What you get, though, is a light creamy dessert (light in texture, of course, not in fat) that is as delightfully bright in color as it is in taste.

The curd is more lemony than a lemon drop and therefore the Chantilly cream is the perfect topping. The cool sweet cream mitigates the tartness of the lemon and kind of aerates the curd, making it a little lighter on the tongue. After a rich entrée like the pasta rollatini smothered in meat sauce we made last week, this dessert is as welcome as a sunny, 70-degree day in the middle of February.

Lemon Curd

• 9 lemons
• 1 ½ cups butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• equipment: non-reactive pot (stainless steel) and electric mixer

So why must we be concerned about the pot? We don’t have to be…unless you want to serve green curd. Mmmm, doesn’t that sound appetizing? The problem is more scientific than culinary: cooked eggs produce hydrogen sulfides, which apparently don't play nice with aluminum. After that, it gets really complicated -- it takes years of study in a dark room with a microscope analyzing how the sulfides and the protocarbons repel the quarks and the widgets...

Just don't do it.

The other prerequisite is that the butter be at room temperature. If it’s too cold, the curd may turn out lumpy. Mmmm, green lumpy curd. Sounds like a dessert the Grinch would love.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Then add each egg one-by-one while continuing to beat the mixture. Make sure each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next. Add the egg yolks in the same fashion. Now add the juice of 9 lemons in ½ cup intervals until it too is well incorporated. OK, you’re done with the mixer until we make the cream. Lick the beaters – because you know you can’t resist – and toss them into the sink.

Pour the curd into our color-friendly pot and place over medium-high heat. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and prove that all those personal training sessions at the gym were worth the time, pain and money. Whisk the curd continuously so the eggs don’t turn into scrambled eggs and the bottom doesn’t burn. You’re going to be whisking for a while. It might even be a good idea to have a substitute whisker. Get your husband, wife or a buddy to stand by and tag them in when your forearm needs a rest.

You can stop whisking when the curd is thick enough that it clings to a spatula. When it is, take the curd off the heat, let it cool and keep it in the fridge. Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the curd – right against the surface of it – to prevent a skin from forming.

Grand Marnier Chantilly Cream

• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (approximate)

"Chantilly lace, what a pretty face, and a pony tail a' hangin' down. That wiggle in the walk, and a giggle in the talk, makes the world go round…"

Sorry. That’s Nicole singing. She can’t shake the song out of her head.

Chantilly cream sounds fancy but it’s simply sweetened whipped cream. This one is spiked with a little Grand Marnier for a little something extra in the background. You can use any kind of orange liqueur you like – I recently used Santa Teresa Rhum Orange Liqueur because I had it on hand. The flavor should only be a suggestion in the cream, not an announcement.

Clean off the beaters and get the mixer back out. We’re going to beat the first three ingredients until soft peaks form, about two minutes. Continue beating and add the powdered sugar, about one minute. Then add the liqueur until it is incorporated. Now refrigerate the cream.

Grand Marnier Sauce

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
• 2 teaspoons zest

This sauce is not necessary to the dessert and if you’re pressed for time you can omit it. But it’s a beautiful touch. It looks a little like thin caramel and adds yet another dimension of sweetened citrus to the dish.

Put all three ingredients in a small saute pan over medium high heat. Swirl the mixture around until the sugar dissolves and the alcohol evaporates. If you know how to flambé, now’s the time to do it. (Make sure your guests are gathered round the kitchen so they don’t miss your rock star moment.) If you don’t know how to flambé, leave a comment for me below and I’ll write a post on the technique.

The sauce is ready when it thickens a bit and the alcoholic bite is gone. If you’ve made zest curls (see photo) instead of grating the zest, reserve these for garnish.

ASSEMBLY

I like to serve the curd in martini glasses but you can use any dish. Clear glass is best so you can see the layers of color. Place the curd in the dish first, then crown it with the Chantilly cream. Spoon a bit of sauce over the top and sprinkle with the zest. Enjoy.

-- Chef J. Fortune

                                    

Your Monthly Fortune: Pasta Rollatini

Hey gang, how’d we do last week? Can I hire you to be my professional pear poachers? I hope you had fun with it.

This week we take on the entrée. Wait. Let’s not call it an "entrée." This is the kind of dish your Italian grandmother would make, if you had an Italian grandmother (if I had an Italian grandmother). And you know she wouldn’t have called it an "entrée." Instead, I’m going to take a cue from my friend, Phil, who joined Nicole and me in the kitchen when we made this together. (He wasn’t there to cook, of course, but to "taste test.") When he smelled the garlic hit the pan of olive oil, with the aroma of onions and sweet sausage cooking through in the background, he inhaled audibly and declared: "It smells like love." So maybe that’s what we should call it: Love.

Please don’t be intimidated by the length of the recipe or the ingredient list. This recipe isn’t complicated and it’s very forgiving. It’s one of those cheesy, gooey dishes that’s not supposed to look pretty – only delicious. And it will. One tip before we begin: Since I’ve broken the recipe down into three cooking segments, be sure to go through the whole recipe when making your grocery list because you will find repeat ingredients.

Serves 4 (with leftovers).

Bolognese Sauce

(note: this is not a classic Bolognese but a tasty riff on the original meat and vegetable ragu)

• ½ lb sweet Italian sausage
• ½ lb ground veal
• ½ lb ground beef
• 2 onions, small dice
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, separated
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 – 28 oz. cans whole, peeled tomatoes
• 3 fresh basil leaves
• pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

First, put on a Claudio Baglioni CD and pour yourself a glass of red wine. Next, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat and saute the onions. After a minute or two, add the meat, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon as it begins to brown. When the mixture is cooked through, take it off the heat and strain it. The top part of a double broiler works well for this, or you can use a colander with small holes. We’re doing this to strain off the unneeded fat.

When most of the liquid is drained, put the mixture back in the pot you were cooking it in and turn it back on medium high heat. As the meat comes back to temperature, open the tomato cans. Drain the juice from one of the three cans and pour the remaining contents into a bowl. Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get your hands in there (clean hands, of course). Massage the tomatoes – come on, you know you love it – to crush the tomatoes. When you’re done playing, and the tomatoes are well crushed, add them to the pot with the meat. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. At this point, take a teaspoon and taste a bit of the sauce. Sometimes canned tomatoes can be bitter because they were canned before they were really ripe. If they taste a little off, add a pinch or two of sugar. Now let the whole thing sit, simmering, for about three hours to let the water evaporate out of it, which will thicken the sauce.

While you let the sauce simmer, it’s time to let you in on the SECRET of this sauce. First thing you do is pull down the shades, lock all the doors and turn off all the lights. Huddle close now. Closer. Ready? The secret is adding the garlic – a lot of garlic – to the sauce near the end of the cook time, along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil that we will infuse. To do that, pour the oil into a small saute pan over the lowest heat. Then take the minced garlic and with the side of your knife carefully apply pressure and mash it a little on the cutting board to unlock the flavorful juices inside. Then add it to the olive oil and let that sit while the sauce cooks.

When the sauce has cooked for three hours and it looks rich and thick, it’s time to season. Add salt and pepper to taste along with the fresh basil, chopped. Then – drum roll please – add the secret ingredient, the garlic and garlic-infused olive oil. All of it goes into the sauce and stir it around. You think Red Bull gives you wings – the smell of the sauce, now, will send you into flight, up to the heavens, singing praise with the angels for something so aromatically divine. Now, let this continue simmering while we proceed to the rollatini.

• 16 oz. lasagna noodles

Get a large pot of salted water boiling and add the noodles. Cook until al dente and drain. Spray with cold water to stop them from cooking. Set the noodles aside.

Rollatini Filling

• 2 lbs. ricotta
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
• ½ cup grated parmigiano reggiano
• 2 eggs
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 fresh basil leaves
• pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil for greasing baking dish

This is the easy part, and if you have kids who like to cook, this is where they can lend a hand. Mix all the above ingredients together in one large bowl and set aside in the refrigerator until we are ready to assemble the rollatini.

Béchamel Sauce

• 5 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 12 oz. milk
• 2 tablespoons grated parmigiano reggiano
• 3 pinches salt
• a pinch nutmeg

The béchamel (or balsamella, in Italian) will serve as a rich base for our rollatini. Think of it as the creamy moisturizer you put on after you shower, before you dress and, if you’re a woman, put on your makeup. It will also keep the pasta from sticking to the baking dish.

You start by making a roux, which is a thickening agent. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the flour, whisking to cook and incorporate it. Then add the milk – keep whisking – and the cheese. When the sauce is smooth take it off the heat and whisk in the salt and nutmeg (best if freshly grated from a whole seed.) After everything is well incorporated, coat the bottom of a large baking dish with a layer of béchamel. Now it’s time to bring this dish all together and eat!

ASSEMBLY

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take each lasagna noodle, one by one, and lay a mound of filling at one end (about two heaping tablespoons’ worth.) Roll the noodle over it jelly-roll style and lay in the baking dish. (It’s OK to create a second layer of rollatini in the baking dish if it’s not large enough to accommodate one layer.) When all the noodles are rolled, drizzle any remaining béchamel over the top. Then cover the dish lightly with foil and put in the oven just to heat the rollatini through. We’re not trying to crisp up the noodles. We want the rollatini to remain soft and pillow-like.

To serve, plate the rollatini and pour a generous heaping of Bolgonese sauce over the top. Garnish with a chiffonade of basil or a sprig of the same.

-- Chef J. Fortune

Your Monthly Fortune: Poached Pear Salad

To kick off my column, I thought I’d break down a satisfying three-course winter meal, dedicating one post to each course, so that you can practice each at your own pace and feel completely confident before choreographing them into one delicious dinner.

Our complete menu will begin with a poached bosc pear salad with an orange-red wine vinaigrette; then we will tuck into a hearty, Italian-inspired cheese rollatini smothered in bolognese sauce; and we will finish with a light and cheery lemon curd with chantilly cream. Hey, was that your stomach growling or mine?

Let’s begin with the poached pear salad. For four servings we will need:

• 2 Bosc pears
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
• 1/2 cup pignoli nuts
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 endive head
• 2 cups arugula

Bosc pears are the elongated, russet-colored pears that are available in markets through the winter. They are ideal for this dish because their firm flesh stands up nicely to the poaching method.

Now, if you have never poached before, don’t worry. You’ll be amazed how easy it is. Think of it as preparing a soothing hot tub for the pears -- they'll relax for a few hours in orange-scented water while sipping a little red wine.

Let's draw the bath: Pour the water, orange juice and wine into a medium saucepan. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, then lower heat to bring the liquid to a simmer. Meanwhile peel the skin from the pears – that’s right, they’re going skinny-dipping – but leave the fruit whole and stems still intact (for presentation sake). When the liquid is simmering, add the sugar and mix until you feel it has dissolved. The bath should be ready now – appearing a rich pink grapefruit color – and you can add the pears. Keep it barely at a simmer over medium low heat for about an hour and a half. Don’t worry about the pears. They’ll enjoy the privacy.

Meanwhile, put the pignoli into a dry saute pan and toast them over a medium flame, moving them around often so they don’t scorch and they brown evenly. When the nuts are a lovely golden color and smell divine – you’ll know it – remove them from the heat.

After about an hour and a half, remove the pears from the saucepan, reserving the liquid. Allow the pears to rest and cool in an open container or dish with a little of the poaching liquid to keep them moist. The pears should still be firm to the touch – remember, we’re serving them in a salad, not a dessert.

While the pears cool, make the vinaigrette. Get out the blender you haven’t used in seven years and make sure the pitcher is clean. Pour in a cup and a half of the poaching liquid along with the white wine vinegar. (Note: Be careful when blending hot liquids. The steam can blow the top off the blender, splatter the liquid, scald the skin, mass hysteria...) With the blender on, add the olive oil in a steady stream through the hole in the lid until all ingredients incorporate and the vinaigrette thickens a bit. Season the vinaigrette to taste.

Hey, guess what? We made it! Now all that’s left is assembly. Cut the pears into quarters, lengthwise. Create a bed of arugula and endive leaves on each salad plate. Sprinkle the leaves with gorgonzola (that’s Italian blue cheese, which is a milder variety, so don’t be afraid) and toasted pignoli. Then arrange two pear wedges so that they’re kind of leaning on each other, stems facing upwards. Spoon the vinaigrette over the salad and serve.

If you run into any problems, let me know by posting a comment below. Otherwise, I'll meet you back here next week. Buon appetito!

-- Chef J. Fortune