Wonton Soup – When was the last time you got to “swallow clouds?”

Half the fun of doing this blog is the research I do about the various dishes, so I can give you all a little bit of extra info in the posts. Even after so many years of cooking and eating, I’m still amazed at the new things I learn. Of course, most of it comes from wikipedia, so it may be complete BS, but what the hell, most of it sounds like it could be right. Today’s clip is a wonderfully easy wonton soup. So, I thought I better find out what exactly a “wonton” is and where the term came from. I found two translations, and boy, are they different!

The term "wonton" is mostly commonly translated as meaning "irregularly shaped pasta." But, the second translation I found is apparently from a popular Cantonese homonym that literally means "swallowing clouds." So, if given the choice between eating "irregularly shaped pasta," or "swallowing clouds," I’m going with the clouds every time!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Glazed Peaches – A Perfect Pairing in 2 Parts

Ahh, the perfectly ripe peach. My momentary guilt for not just eating it raw was quickly forgotten as soon as I tasted this amazing sweet and savory summer combo. By the way, this was filmed last summer before I even thought about wearing a Chef coat while shooting (thanks mom). So, that’s me in the lime green Polo shirt cooking this truly delicious recipe. This was one of the first recipes I ever filmed for the web (insert standard lower video quality disclaimer here), and it’s still one of my favorites. This was actually posted here back in May, when I converted a bunch of older clips over to this blog, but since peaches weren't in season yet, I doubt too many people payed much attention.

Everything on this plate works so well together, and it’s also a very easy recipe with just a few ingredients. While I used a fresh, ripe peach, jarred or canned halves will work in a pinch. This juicy fruit is first caramelized with aged balsamic vinegar and then used in a salad sitting next to sliced, roasted pork tenderloin. As you’ll hear in the recipe I refer to another meat trimming demo (how to trim a butcher steak), as I remove the “silver-skin” from the tenderloins. Don’t bother looking around the site for that, as it no longer exists, although I plan re-shooting that one soon. I also prepare a very simple pan sauce to finish this amazing dish. This recipe demo is broken into 2 parts because of its length. In Part 1, we make our glazed balsamic peaches, and prep our pork tenderloin. We also “bruise” some rosemary …hey, that fragrant rosemary had it coming! In Part 2, we finish the pork, make our pan sauce, and “plate up” with our glazed peaches and salad. If you’ve only used peaches for summertime desserts, give this a try. You will think about our fuzzy friends in a whole new way. Enjoy!

Part 1:


Part 2:


Ingredients:
whole pork tenderloin (not loin)
3-4 rosemary sprigs
Black pepper and salt to taste
2 fresh peaches
2 tbl butter
2 tbl aged balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic
olive oil
mixed greens
slice of toast to garnish

Note: If you are using fresh peaches make sure you get the "freestone" variety, not the "clingstone.” For more info on the difference, click this link to wikipedia.

Black Pepper Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Black Cherry Reduction

This succulent dish has all the things I love in a recipe; an easy piece of meat to work with, a super simple sauce that tastes like something that took hours, and the classic flavor combination of hot/tangy with sweet/fruity.

Our meat choice, the pork tenderloin, is one of the most user-friendly cuts ever. It requires about 3 minutes of trimming and you’re ready to rock. The sauce is made in the pan after the meat is cooked and the sweet and tangy fruit sauce pairs perfectly with the spicy black pepper crust on the pork. Since most of these tenderloins are pretty standard size at about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds each, 20 minutes at 375F after a good sear in the pan is going to give you a perfect medium almost every time.

By the way, you can use any vinegar and fruit preserve in this recipe and it will be great, although there is something about cherry and black pepper that’s magical. Enjoy!

1 pork tenderloin (not loin)
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup black cherry preserves
salt to taste
lots of cracked black pepper
2 tbl butter

Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops – Somewhat, but not quite Blackened

The first culinary fade I can personally remember, was the “blackened” craze of the early eighties. Led by Paul Prudhomme, one of the country’s first “celebrity” Chefs, it seemed like everyone was coating every thing in Cajun spices and cooking it in white-hot cast iron pans until black. Now, this was a really delicious method IF done correctly, at very high heat, in a professional kitchen (which has powerful exhaust fans to remove the cloud of smoke that’s invariably produced).

The problem was that everyone was trying to do blackened fish, pork, chicken, and steak at home and the results varied greatly. The smart home cooks did this outside on the BBQ and made out OK. Many however tried to simulate this “looks great on TV” dish in the kitchen and the sounds of smoke alarms rang out across the land. If fact, I have a conspiracy theory that Chef Prudhomme was “on the take” from the Smoke Alarm companies. Of course, I can’t prove any of this.

This Chili-Rubbed Pork Chop video recipe is a kinder, gentler version of the “blackened” cooking technique. We start on high heat, but cook the chops on medium, and then finish the cooking by wrapping the chops in foil. This produces a very moist chop, as the meat has time to “rest” as it finishes cooking. Also, when you unwrap the boneless chops, there will be several tablespoons of the most wonderful natural juice (or Jus for our French friends). Almost any spice mix will work with this technique so take this method and make it your own. It was a great combination with the Sweet Corn, Shiitake Mushroom and Arugula Sauté recipe we already posted. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 boneless center-cut pork chops (about 7oz each, about 1 1/2 inch thick)
1 1/2 tbl vegetable oil
salt to taste
Spice Rub:
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp all spice
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ancho chili powder
cayenne to taste (optional)

Lentil Soup with Braised Ham Hock

This was a viewer request from a while ago for an easy lentil soup recipe. The key ingredient for my version is the smoked, and amazingly delicious, “ham hock.” For those of you not familiar with this piece of pork, here’s what Wikipedia, had to say (It’s Friday and I was feeling too lazy to actually explain what a hock was myself).

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “A ham "hock" is the end of a smoked ham where the foot was attached to the hog's leg. It is the portion of the leg that is neither part of the ham proper nor the foot or ankle, but rather the extreme shank end of the leg bone and the associated skin, fat, tendons, and muscle. This piece is generally comprised of too much skin and gristle to be palatable on its own, so it is largely used to be cooked with greens and other vegetables in order to give them additional flavor (generally that of pork fat and smoke), although the meat from particularly meaty hocks may be removed and served.”

If you’re new to soup making, this is a great one to start with since it’s almost impossible to screw up! It’s also very affordable. A little bit of lentils and ham hock goes a long way, and you can feed a very large group for just a few dollars.

Ingredients:

2 cups dry lentils
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 quart chicken stock
1 quart beef broth
salt to taste
fresh parsley