Small Thoughts for Small Minds

Because everything is better with bacon, right?

[All pictures are hot-linked to the corresponding page on Flickr. If you get a Flickr account and ask me to add you to my "Friends & Family" list, you can see the large/original versions. I had to restrict access to the larger versions due to what I suspect was an unhealthy interest in some of the pictures of Dyson. Sigh…]

The last stuffed pork loin roast was too dry. So, how to fix that? I decided to take a three-pronged approach this time:

1. Less cooking
2. More fat on the inside
3. More fat on the outside

As usual, I removed the thick layer of fat from the outside of the loin (and the "silver" as well). This time I reserved some of the fat, chopped it up and spread it out throughout the inside of the now-flat meat:

Hopefully that will make up (somewhat) for how lean the meat is…

For the stuffing, I decided to go with a bit of a cherry theme. Why? Because I saw the dried cherries on the pantry shelf. Good enough reason?

I chopped up a handful of dried cherries and put them in some red wine (a cheap Australian Shiraz/Cabernet blend) to rehydrate. (Of course, after I took the cherries out of the wine, I drank what was left. A bit odd due to the slight garlic flavor. I had initially tried to use my mini food processor to chop the cherries, but they were too sticky and I ended up doing it by hand. But they had picked up some extra bits from the food processor since I had just used it for the garlic…)

For the rest of the stuffing, I used bread crumbs, a bunch of chopped garlic, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and (for good measure) a coating of garlic powder and paprika.

Next I rolled it up per usual. The difference this time is that I wanted to wrap it with bacon to provide some additional fat (yes, I know, I went to all the effort to remove the fat that came with it naturally…) and flavor…

Because the diameter of the rolled loin exceeded the length of the bacon slices, I stretched each piece and overlapped them slightly to make a meat sheet.

For a bit of extra flavor (and because I have so much of it), I grabbed a handful of sage and pineapple sage (along with a pineapple sage flower - oh well…), chopped it up and spread it out over the bacon.

I then plopped the rolled-up loin on the bacon and used the side of my Santoku knife to lift the bacon sheet and drape it over the roast.

Since the bacon strips ran in the same direction as the twine I used to hold the stuffing in, I needed something to provide support in the orthogonal direction. So I figured I would use several sprigs of thyme. Why not?

My roast pan is too short, but I managed to cram it in. I couldn’t use the rack though, because the rack has handles…

This time I decided to pay attention to advice on the net and not cook it until the interior temperature was 170 F (like my meat thermometer recommends for pork). Most people now recommend taking it out of the oven at 140 or 145 and letting it continue to rise to 150. (Trichinosis is supposedly killed at 137 F (although I doubt there is a magical single temperature….).)

But I couldn’t quite bring myself to take it out at 145 F and left it in until it reached 160 F.

Here is the cooked version, without the twine and the thyme…

And here it is, sliced and ready to eat!

I really liked the flavor, although I could’ve used about twice the cherries.

This was more moist than the last one, but still not where I want it.

Next pork loin I’m definitely gonna take it out of the oven a bit sooner. (I struggle with the deeply ingrained "pink pork is poison" concept…)

A couple of weeks ago, as I was pulling out some spices for whatever I was cooking for dinner, I noticed a little bag of crystallized ginger. It was left over from a desert that I had made quite some time ago. (Chopped up some toasted almonds and the crystallized ginger and mixed it with some vanilla ice cream, which was served with some pears that were poached with spices in my sweet mead (with a reduction of the mead over top).)

It got me thinking, "What should I do with this stuff?"

I spent a few minutes on the innerweb looking for interesting recipes. I found a couple that seemed like they might be tasty. The first one that I made was chicken crusted with crystallized ginger and pistachios. The second, which I made on Tuesday, was chicken with peaches and crystallized ginger. Very simple, but (despite the simplicity) surprisingly good. (After the chicken was cooked, I took out the chicken, lemons & peaches and reduced the liquid some, adding a bit of corn starch to thicken it…)

To accompany it, I made rice cooked with garlic powder and the remainder of the crystallized ginger. The peach sauce was very good over the rice…

Oh yeah, with some veggies as well. Gotta have the veggies…

I’ve been silent a long time. Why? My previous photo hosting site closed down (for new activity at least - luckily all the old pictures are still there…)

I haven’t found one that works well with this blog (the size that I want, etc.)

I don’t think I will find one that was as easy for what I want (good size for the blog posts with a link directly to the largest size).

Since I’ve stopped posting, I’ve been going nuts on my Flickr account.

So I’ll try to use that account for this blog. I’ll start off with a stuffed pork roast that I made on Saturday…

(Note: if you click on the picture, it will take you to the Flickr page for that picture. From there you can select a different size should you wish to do so.)

I stuffed the pork loin with apple, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and chèvre (goat) cheese.

After stuffing the meat (and not in an inappropriate way AT ALL!), I rubbed in some salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and paprika. Then I seared the outside in some olive oil.

I don’t have a roast rack, so I improvised with the rack from the toaster oven and some knives:

Getting ready to go into the oven:

The final results weren’t up to my expectations. (I make stuffed pork loin fairly often - it can be found for $1.99 per pound at Kroger every other week or so. When you cook for nine people you have to look for deals…) The taste was very nice, but the outside was a bit too crisp (a bit hard) and the inside was not as moist as I normally achieve. The stuffing flavors worked well, so it was just a matter of execution…

If you look at this, let me know how the pictures and links work for you (at least compared to the previous image hosting site).

…that don’t justify individual entries…

Even an old dog (Barley will turn eight on Monday) needs a bit of comfort now and again..

Dyson and I went down to Martinsville to see the Virginia Museum of Natural History to feed his current insatiable demand for dinosaurs. Not much of a museum, but he was pumped.

Apparently, as part of the grand opening (reopening?) of the museum, Martinsville played on the dinosaur theme and had local artists and volunteers paint fiberglass dinosaurs which were placed all around town. There are still a few around town, including this one just outside the museum. (Seems to be a spreading meme in urban America - I’ve seen pigs, dolphins, cows…) Anyway, Dyson was enthused:

A few brewing pictures from my February 2nd batch - my only brew session since early September 2007 (and I split that batch with Dave).

After pumping the bitter wort into the fermenter, there were a few hops left over in the kettle. This goes up to about the three gallon mark. Yes, I like hoppy beers…

One problem with putting eleven gallons in a 12.5 gallon fermenter, especially using a relatively powerful pump, is that the bitter wort foams quite a bit. (This is before I aerated with oxygen.) Makes it a bit difficult to put the lid on…

Even with the lid clamped on (in three places), the pressure of the fermentation forced some of the foam out through the seal. Despite the one inch ID (inner diameter) of the blow-off hose…

After two plus weeks of dry-hopping and a few days chilled to 40 degrees F (to generate any chill haze and then applying the gelatin to clarify), I’m ready to keg this batch tomorrow. Can’t wait to have some homebrew again!

When we were up at Wintergreen for our annual ski weekend (with Anne, Dave & Julia (plus Julia’s friend), Donna, and Matt & his daughter Maddie), I volunteered to make dinner on Saturday night. (Since I wasn’t skiing, it gave me something to do other than sit around and drink beer and snack…)

I started off with a creamy potato/leek soup with smoked salmon. (Slightly amusing story - I was surfing the web for a recipe. Usual procedure - looking at each recipe and doing a quick evaluation on whether or not I would like it. As I was clicking on the results, I realized that one of them (on the first page of results even) was from this very blog! I forgot that I had included the recipe when I posted about making it… So, of course, I made MY version of it…)

For the entrée, I made one of our favorites, seared pork tenderloin with a cocoa spice rub. (Make it TONIGHT - it is soooo easy and soooo good…)

I also sautéed some asparagus (in olive oil, with plenty of garlic, naturally). After I was done sautéing the asparagus, I put it in a backing dish and grated some Parmesan over it. I washed the skillet and dried it off with some paper towels. With my left hand, I set the pan down on the counter and with my right, I used the damp paper towel to wipe off the glass surface over the stove’s eye (still very hot). By trying to do two things at once (while talking to Anne as well), I failed to do either very well. I only managed to get the pan less than half on the edge of the counter. As it, inevitably, fell, I put my (bare) foot out to break the fall. At the same time, I tried to keep my balance by leaning on the stove, burning my hand on the eye. The handle of the pan, of course, pointed straight down and hit the top of my foot.

My foot immediately bruised, swelling up to a half-golf-ball-sized welt.

Over the next week or two, the loose blood from the bruise gradually followed the influence of gravity. At one point, it pooled on the tops of my three middle toes:

I visited Wilmington, North Carolina, a couple of weeks ago. One of our field service engineers, Paul, was up from Charleston for a couple of days to do some "clean up" work on the new cranes. For the heck of it, he decided to stay in Carolina Beach instead of Wilmington (it was only a 15 minute drive to the port). I couldn’t complain - my friends, Esther and Kelly, live in Carolina Beach. Plus, the Fat Pelican bar was just across the street from the hotel. (Kelly used to own the place years ago. Back then, it was a wine & beer store, not a bar. He bought a used 40′ reefer (refrigerated shipping container), refurbished it and used it as a walk-in cooler. It is still in use in the bar. Want a non-draft beer? Walk in and pick one out from the generous selection and, upon exiting the reefer, show it to the bartender to add to your tab.)

Paul headed back to Charleston on Wednesday afternoon, but I stayed to have dinner with Esther and Kelly (their house was less than a mile walk from the hotel). We sampled all of Kelly’s homebrews and Kelly made a fantastic shrimp scampi. We then walked to the Fat Pelican for some after-dinner drinks. Good times were had by all…

February really isn’t the best time to visit the beach in North Carolina. But the view from my hotel room wasn’t so bad. Actually walking on the beach, with the temperatures just above freezing and a strong wind, didn’t seem terribly attractive…

One of the things that Jerry, Karen & Haley brought with them was Haley’s trampoline. A few days ago, Dyson was tumbling head over heels, and the contact with the nylon surface seemed to electrify him…

That’s all for now. Gotta do some laundry and take a shower - Dyson and I are going to the Science Museum of Western Virginia (Roanoke) after he and Keira finish their riding lessons. (Kel & Keira, along with Donna, are going to a movie…)

Exciting stuff!

When I was in Hamburg, Germany, for a few days last fall, we took the customer out to eat at fancy places each night. One of the nights I had a fantastic potato soup with a big chunk of smoked salmon in it. Since then, I’ve meant to try something similar.

Well last night proved an opportune time.

As I mentioned previously, a couple of Kel’s uncles and their wives (Clair & Barbara, Tom & Joan) stopped by yesterday to visit Kel’s mom at the rehab center (pictures from that when I get around to it). Kel invited them over for dinner. I worked from home yesterday so when they got here I could tell them how to get to the nursing home. I went with them and stopped at Kroger to buy SOMETHING to make for supper. (I decided to go with a stuffed beef tenderloin as the main course, by the way…)

For whatever reason, I decided to try the potato soup. Here’s what I did (ballpark measurements):

Creamy Potato & Leek Soup with Smoked Salmon

Serves 8 (as an appetizer)

• 6 cloves garlic, minced (or maybe more…)
• 2 small leeks, sliced thin (some reserved for garnish)
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thin
• olive oil
• 2 large potatoes (about 1.5 pounds total), diced
• 1 handful parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 6 ounces smoked salmon
• 2 ounces crumbled feta cheese (for garnish)
• Salt & pepper to taste (of course)

Sauté the garlic, leeks & celery over medium-high heat until soft. Add the potatoes to lightly brown them. Add the parsley and chicken stock and cook until the potatoes are cooked through. (Smaller dices = faster cooking time but slower prep time. I can dice fairly fast, so…)

After the potatoes are cooked, allow to cool somewhat. Add the cream and use a hand mixer to purée the soup. This can easily be made in advance and reheated just before serving.

In each bowl, place a chunk of smoked salmon (about 3/4 ounce). Pour the soup over the salmon and then sprinkle feta cheese and the reserved (thinly sliced) leeks over the center of the soup.

I don’t know that it tasted anything like the soup that inspired it, but everyone seemed to really like it. I (personally) thought it was fabulous! (I’m a salt hound, but I don’t cook with much salt, because of Kel’s dad & his heart problems. I thought salt improved the flavor profile, but not everyone added any…)

It seems like a lot of garlic, and the kitchen really smells of garlic while cooking, but the flavor of garlic is only a relatively small component of the overall profile.

If you make this, please report back!

Tonight I made a stuffed pork tenderloin* (worked out quite nicely…)

As I was "carving" the meat at the table, I was having a bit of trouble. The knife wasn’t terribly sharp, and as I was trying to saw through the crispy bit across the top, the stuffing kept coming out. I was getting irritated. As I’m cutting and whining, Dyson pipes up with, "I wouldn’t have done it that way."

I let him help me make dinner last week, and now he’s an expert?

* I sautéed onion, garlic and mushrooms (and coarsely cracked black pepper). When those veggies were about ready, I added fresh parsley and oregano for a few more minutes on the heat. I butterfly-cut the tenderloin and then pounded it a bit flatter. I spread the onion mix evenly over the sheet of meat, and then put a layer of bread crumbs on top. I rolled it up and pinned it together with toothpicks. I seared the outside in the sauté pan and then baked it until done. Pretty nice…

I’ve made this a couple times now.

Split the Roma tomatoes in half and scoop out the insides. Spread about 1/4 tsp fresh, chopped garlic in each half. Lay a basil leaf in each half. Put a piece of mozzarella fresco in each half. Drizzle with a quality (tasty) extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with some fresh cracked pepper and some salt. Cut each half in half again (quarters).

Freakin’ amazing….