We had some left over lobster (not a bad thing to have as a leftover). We started with prosciutto and melon with lobster. It was great. We found a recipe for Carolina's Tenderloin of Pork in Cooking with Fire and Smoke. We wound up eating the pork the first night with my favorite eggplant / tomato gratin. It is called Baked Eggplant and Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs and Basil. It is from the Chez Panisse Cooking cookbook by Alice Waters and Paul Bertolli. This is a delicious dish, and it reheats well.
Matthew Poley, of Heirloom LA has a line of Lasagna Frozen Cupcakes in a single serving looking like a cupcake. The lasagna comes in several flavors. We picked up a few of them from him at Silverlake Wine. Matt often is a guest cook there.
We had the beet lasagna cupcake as a side with the eggplant. It was great. It is a treat to have a selection in the freezer just waiting for the right time to be eaten!
CAROLINA'S TENDERLOIN OF PORK
COOKING WITH FIRE AND SMOKE
BY PHILLIP STEPHEN SCHULZ
The best thing about tenderloin of pork is that it takes only half the time to smoker-cook as a larger, rolled roast. This version, with its mustardy basting sauce, is a specialty of the redoubtable Carolina restaurant in New York City.
2 pork tenderloins, about 3/4 pound each
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1. Pat the tenderloins dry with paper towels. Combine the pa¬prika, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Rub this mixture into the meat.
2. Preheat a water smoker. (Charcoal smokers will require a
full pan of briquets.)
3. Meanwhile, combine the mustard, vinegar, and butter in a
small saucepan. Heat to boiling; remove from heat.
4. Add presoaked wood chips or chunks to the heat source. Put
the water pan in place and add water to fill the pan. Brush the tenderloins with the mustard mixture and place on the highest food grid.
5. Cover and smoker-cook, keeping the temperature in the 180-degree range, basting twice more during cooking, until the juicesrun clear when pricked with a fork, 3 to 4 hours (internal tempera¬ture: 170 degrees). Serve hot or cold, thinly sliced.
Serves 4 to 6.
Baked Eggplants and Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs and Basil
Chez Panisse Cooking
For 8
At the restaurant, where large numbers of people are served at definite times, the success of any dinner, from the standpoint of the kitchen, depends upon how well prepared we are. Timing is critical, and accordingly, many dishes that would be impossible to assemble and cook to order are designed so that they can easily be finished and served. This logic and organization is valuable at home as well and can often help to simplify the work of the cook, particularly just before mealtime, when many tasks need to be attended to simultaneously. This eggplant dish may be prepared well in advance of being served.
I have never liked to cook eggplant in oil as it acts like a sponge and becomes heavy and indigestible. So before even assembling the ingredients for this dish, the eggplant is salted and peppered and baked in a little water. Precooking the eggplant also releases its brown, sometimes bitter juice and insures that the raw tomatoes, which will later be layered with the cooked eggplant, will finish cook¬ing at the same time. The bread crumbs are also precooked for proper texture. An important part of this recipe is the reduction that occurs in the final mo¬ments. As the vegetables cook they release their juices, which mingle with the vinaigrette, basil, and garlic. Serve this dish with grilled meats, lamb, in partic¬ular. It is also excellent with grilled chicken, salmon, sea bass, or cod.
3 globe eggplants (2 pounds)
Salt and pepper
3 large beefsteak tomatoes (2 pounds)
12 ounces sourdough bread, to yield 2 1/2 cups bread crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
For the vinaigrette:
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Preheat the oven to 4oo°F. Put a pot of water large enough to hold the tomatoes on to boil.
Peel the eggplants with a sharp knife. Slice the eggplant into 1/2-inch rounds, discarding the hard end piece near the stem. Lay the eggplant out on a cutting board and salt and pepper one side. Then turn them over and arrange them, slightly overlapping, in a non-corroding baking dish approximately 16 by 10 inches. Pour over enough water (about 1/8 inch) to come barely up the sides of the eggplant. Lightly salt and pepper the other side of the eggplant. Cover the dish and bake about 1hour, until the eggplant is soft but not mushy.
Core the tomatoes and drop them into the pot of boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove from the water. When cool, remove the skins and cut the tomatoes into 1/2-inch slices.
Cut the crust off of the bread, break the bread up into small chunks, and grind into coarse crumbs in a food processor. (If you have no processor, pull the bread apart and break it up by hand.)
Melt the butter, add to the bread crumbs, and mix well so that all pieces are coated. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet. Put into the oven with the eggplant and bake for about 15 minutes. Or until golden brown. Turn the bread crumbs over with a spatula every so often, so they will brown evenly.
Prepare the vinaigrette: Whisk the garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper together until the salt is well dissolved. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoon of the basil and whisk until blended.
When the eggplants are ready, remove from the oven^ transfer to a plate to cool, and discard any juices remaining in the pan.
Cut the eggplant and tomato slices in half, making half-moon shapes. Layer them, by alternating and overlapping them in the same pan used for baking the eggplant. Fit any extra pieces into the cracks. Stir the vinaigrette again and spoon it over the slices, distributing the basil and garlic evenly. Lightly salt and, pepper. At this point, the vegetables can be covered and held 3 hours being baked.
To finish: Scatter the Parmesan evenly over the top. Put the dish in the oven, reduce to 35o°F, and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and bake 15 minutes more. Let cool slightly, garnish with the re tablespoons basil, and serve.
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