Thursday, April 08, 2010

Last Night's Menu

I've been in a cooking slump, particularly the first grilling attempts of the year, so I'm trying to get back in the groove. Last night's dinner went quite well.

Made the Pork Tenderloin with Burnt Brown Sugar, Orange (I used lemon) Confit, and Thyme from Seven Fires. My ersatz chapa was a big stainless steel griddle sitting on top of my Weber grill. Unlike my previous attempts at Mallmann's burnt/carmelized technique, I actually got the thing hot enough this time and was really happy with the results. Mine looked pretty much like this person's. I put it in a 350 degree oven for about five minutes between the grill and resting to make the color a little more acceptable for the rest of the family. It's tasty and dramatic when you get it right. Also, once you've got the right weather, some fresh herbs and the lemon confit handy, you can practice through several different variations in a week: chicken w/rosemary & lemon Thurs., lamb with oregano & lemon Fri.

I also made the Butter-Braised Radishes, Kohlrabi, and Brussels Sprouts from Ad Hoc. Like all the vegetable sides I've tried from that book, the results are worth the moderate fussiness. Braised radishes are surprisingly mild.

1 comment:

doyle said...

We need more of this. A lot more of this.