Pork with Green Apple Curry

This is a really easy dish made with little effort. I took bone-in pork chops about 3/4" thick and removed the rib section. I seared the chops and the rib pieces. Added some onion, green apple and few pieces of red pepper. Deglazed with about a cup of white wine. Braise for about an hour and a half until the meat is tender. Add the chops back in and cook through, another 5-10 minutes. Degrease and stir in about 2 Tbs of curry paste and bring to a boil.

curry paste:
1 medium onion diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs oil
3-4 Tbs curry powder

Sweat the onions 10 minutes and add garlic for another 10 or until garlic is cooked thoroughly. Add the curry powder and cook until it starts to smell nutty and fragrant. Puree in a blender, adding water as necessary. If you want to make a curry oil or vinaigrette it would be best to toast the spices in the oil and puree all of it together before straining.

Extracting Essences

(picture coming soon)

Living in Hyde Park, I suddenly have way too much of two things I never had in the city; time and space. I recently moved into an apartment following my dutiful return to CIA. Since then I've also been able to do something else I never could in the city; cook. The school's resources provided an easter weekend feast, which proved therapeautic, even in the midst of a chaotic move. Despite the havoc the move has wrought on my bank account I could still swing for the $2 a pound strawberries the local market had on special. It seemed like a good deal even though the price reflects the quality.

I tried making jam using a different technique. I cleaned and quartered the strawberries and crammed them into a pyrex bowl, covered with a tight fitting waterproof lid. I then put the bowl into a pot of cold water - about half submerged - and brought it up to a boil for about 40 minutes. I wasn't really sure what affect this would have. I guess I assumed it would cook the berries slowly and I would open the container to find a rich viscous preserve. This is not what happened. When I opened the container the strawberries were gray and lifeless floating in a pool of rich syrupy liquid. This process had somehow pulverized the berries causing them to give up everything except their cell structure. The liquid tasted amazing and was very clean and free of solids. It was like a pure extract of strawberry. If you were to freeze and thaw the berries it would have a similar result to a lesser extent. I don't really know what to do with it, but it's exciting. I reduced some down and poured it over pancakes. If I had an ice cream maker it might make for a good sorbet.

I remember reading about this in an excerpt of On Food and Cooking. Mcgee has a passage from the medieval chef Taillevant. He describes using this method to extract juices from meats to make jelly for invalids. It's exciting to think about the potential. Is it possible this technique would have the same results with anything, animal or vegetable? I'm going to play with it more.

Now here's a recipe for Pickled Ramps cause spring has sprung and these are delicious.

1# ramps
1 cup good apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 1/2T sugar
1T salt

Clean the ramps. Trim and discard the leaves and root ends. Wash thoroughly in water and dry. Bring the water and vinegar to a boil. Add the salt and sugar and stir to dissolve. Taste the pickling mixture to make sure it's delicious. Put the ramps in a jar or whatever container will be used to store them. Pour the hot pickling liquid over and cover. Let the ramps steep 10-15 minutes and refrigerate. Let sit for at least 24 hours. Great for sandwiches and salads.

Easter Weekend Dinner

Clams David
steamed in a bouillabaisse broth with bread

Cold Asparagus Salad
Mustard Dressing, Poached Egg, Pecorino Toscano

Fresh Pasta with Wild Mushrooms

Grouper Two Ways:
lightly cured with a blood orange reduction and sauteed with a chervil sauce

Top Round of Lamb Roasted with Herbs and Garlic
warm fava bean salad with mint vinaigrette

Strawberry Pie with Chantilly