Winter Meal

We went to a Schreiner's Meat Market in Montrose. It is a German market that sells an unbelievable selection of homemade sausages and smoked meats. We purchased a smoked ham-hock and decided to make soup. The weather has been cold, damp and rainy and it definitely was perfect for a hot soup.

We made Heirloom Bean and Escarole Soup from the cookbook Ad Hoc by Thomas Keller. I don’t know why but I always forget that escarole is like a lettuce. It is a delicious soup.  Perfect dish for a cold night. You can get the recipe from our blog of: Dec. 8, 2009. Click the date to get the recipe.

As long as we were porking out, we decided to make Loin Of Pork  "A L'Apicius" from It’s About Time by Michael Schlow. I really liked the dish. The pork was glazed with the sweet and tangy sauce. It is unusual for a pork dish to be cooked with curry powder and it added a 3^rd dimension to the flavors.

Loin Of Pork  "A L'Apicius"

It’s About Time

by Michael Schlow

1         cup honey

4          ounces (1/2 cup) red wine vinegar

1         teaspoon curry powder

¼         teaspoon cayenne pepper

2         ounces (4 tablespoons)canola oil

1         center loin of pork, trimmed of any excess fat (about 3 pounds, 6 inches in diameter)

Salt and pepper

4          ounces (1/2 cup) water

3 to 4 ounces (6 to 8 tablespoons) Chicken Stock water can be substituted)

2         tablespoons butter

Does this sound like a fancy dish, or what?

Relax — it just sounds fancy. I make this all of the time at my house and even at guest-chef events, because people really seem to enjoy the balanced seasoning of sweet, spicy, tart, and aromatic.

Since you already have an audience sitting around the dinner table, and you are discussing everything from politics to history, I thought I would give you the history part of the conversation. Your family will really be im­pressed; in fact, they will suggest you audition for Jeopardy someday soon.

Apicius was a Roman chef and bon vivant whose first cookbook only contained sauces. (I wonder how he ever got that idea past his agent!) He liked to experiment with his cooking and created dishes using nightingales' tongues and camels' heels, among other oddities. These dishes were apparently meant to startle the complacent citizenry, but other interesting things came out of it: The historian Pliny credits Apicius with the idea of force-feeding geese to enlarge their livers, some of our very first foie gras!

Apicius eventually went broke and committed suicide to save his pride, but now you can enjoy his roast pork loin and do your part to help his legacy live on. You can serve this with just about anything — roasted pota­toes, rice of any kind, or just vegetables.

Makes 6 dinner-sized portions

Heat the oven to 300°F.

·      Mix the honey, vinegar, curry powder, and cayenne pepper in a bowl and I set aside.

·      Place a large, ovenproof pan on the stove over medium heat and add the canola oil.

·      Season the pork liberally with salt and pepper and place in the pan.

·      Cook pork gently, just 30 seconds per side, to obtain a light change in color. Do not sear.

·      Pour the honey mixture over the pork

·      Pour the water into the bottom of the pan, taking care not to pour in on the pork

·      Place the pan in the oven and roast for 1 hour, turning the pork and basting it with the pan juices every 3 to 5 minutes

·      Turn the oven off

·      Remove the pork from the pan, place on a baking sheet, and return it to the oven to stay warm, about 10 minutes, while you prepare the sauce

·      Transfer the pan juices to a medium-sized sauce pot.

·     Add the chicken stock or water to the sauce pot and reduce over medium heat until about Vi cup remains.

·     Swirl in the butter, stirring until melted, and remove from heat.

·     Remove the pork from the oven and carve into thick slices. Arrange on a platter, drizzle the sauce over the top,and serve.