Michele and I are heading up to Bodega Bay today for Christmas with the family, but before we do, we wanted to wish all of you who celebrate, a very Merry Christmas!
I hope you'll also be surrounded by loved ones, and of course, lots of great food. The holiday table is the perfect reminder of what an amazing effect home cooking can have on the people around you.
We'll be taking a little break from the blog until Monday (I may actually try to go a whole day without looking at email, but we'll see about that one). Have fun, play nice, travel safe, and as always, enjoy!!
This roasted pork recipe is the first meat dish I remember learning in culinary school. It was demonstrated by a German chef at the Hotel Saranac, and when I asked why it was called "Diablo," he said because that means "devil." Um, thanks.
Eventually I learned that "Diablo," referred to the old-school culinary terminology for something spicy being, "deviled." Back then entrée's had names. Dishes like Beef Wellington, Clams Casino, Steak Diane, Lobster Thermidor, and this Pork Diablo, would be proudly displayed across menus in bold font, followed by the chef's brief description.
Nowadays, naming a dish just isn't as fashionable, so all we get is the description, and a lot of it. Maybe we're compensating for no longer giving the recipe an official title, but these descriptions tend to go on forever, and give way more detail than necessary, including what farm the Brussels sprouts came from, and at what angle the pork will be sliced.
One of these days I fully expect to see, "rosemary sprig was picked left-handed, by a guy named Pete." I hope I don't sound too curmudgeonly, but I kind of prefer the way we used to do it. There was a bit more formality to it, and just the right amount of mystery. Today's menu descriptions don't leave anything to the imagination. [Insert burlesque analogy here].
Regardless of how you choose to communicate it on your menu, this is a great pork recipe. Mustard is a classic with pork, but when you add the extra zing of horseradish and cayenne, and then smooth it out with a little cream and butter, well, it's devilishly delicious.
As I mentioned in the video, the great thing about pork tenderloin is it's one of those versatile cuts of meat that's fancy enough for a New Year's Eve dinner party, but also works equally well as a simple and quick weeknight meal.
By the way, if you've watched our older pork tenderloin videos, you'll notice I used to cook the meat to a higher internal temperature. Since all the old cookbooks say to cook pork to 185 degrees F., I felt like a real renegade only cooking it to 165. Now, I'm a believer that somewhere closer to 145 is perfect.
And by "perfect," I mean juicy, flavorful, and able to be cut with a fork, and you'll see in the final climactic scene. I hope you give this Pork "Diablo" recipe a try soon. Enjoy!
While I’ve never been a huge fan of drinking Guinness, I’ve always been a great admirer of how wonderfully it can elevate a simple beef stew. The subtle bitterness from the hops, and toastiness from the malt, gives the gravy a depth of flavor that I really love.
Besides, you only need one can for this St. Patrick's Day-inspired stew, and since they’re sold in 4-can packs…well, you can do the math. This would normally be the point in post where I’d make my annual Irish drinking joke, but I’m not doing one this year.
Not only is it inappropriate, but it’s culturally insensitive, and I’d like to think I’ve matured past the point of going for such cheap laughs. Besides, my Irish joke writer, Paddy O'Sullivan, was on a binge this week, so I never got one from him anyway. Oh well, like I said, probably for the best.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a gorgeous and incredibly delicious Irish stew recipe for your St. Patrick's Day menu, this one comes highly recommended. I served mine with some green onion mashed potatoes, and while I usually encourage you to serve things like this on whatever you want, not this time. You must serve this with some form of potato. And that is no joke. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 large servings:
4 strips bacon, sliced into small pieces
2 1/2 lb. beef chuck, cut in 2-inch pieces (tossed with black pepper and at least 1 tsp salt)
2 onions, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.0-oz) Guinness beer, or other dark beer
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 carrots, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 ribs celery, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 cups chicken stock, or as needed
1 tsp sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 cups mashed potatoes, optional (not really)
- Simmer stew on very low heat, covered, for about 2 hours, or until fork tender
- Uncover, raise heat to med-high, and reduce, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens to your liking
I get lots of requests for Beef Wellington, especially around the holidays. In case you don't know, Beef Wellington is a whole tenderloin of beef, covered in foie gras pate, coated with a rich mushroom paste, wrapped in buttery puff pastry and baked to a golden brown. Sound good doesn't it? That's the problem.
The idea of Beef Wellington is amazing, and the aforementioned list of ingredients is spectacular together, but I've always considered the actual dish more of a risky showpiece than anything else.
I can sear a filet mignon steak, top it with mushrooms and foie gras, serve it on or near some perfectly baked puff pastry, et viola! That way I can control each component of the dish. When you take the same ingredients and try to perfectly cook them wrapped in puff pastry, you're adding significantly to the degree of difficulty.
Having said that, I'll admit it really does make an impressive special occasion dinner centerpiece. So, maybe I'll throw logic to the wind and try and film one soon. It won't be before New Years Eve, so to hold you over, here is the irrepressible Gordon Ramsey doing his Christmas version. Enjoy!
Yesterday's Pork Diablo recipe reminded me of this Stuffed and Rolled Pork Tenderloin recipe I posted over three years ago. This is one of my favorite recipes on the entire blog, and when I saw it only had 14 comments I realized that many of you might not have seen it yet.
It's funny to see and hear how the videos have evolved. This is some very early work, and was shot with a tiny web cam. There's no music, the sound sucks, and the video rambles on for over 8 blurry minutes. That said, there is a certain charm to it, and I got a kick out of watching it today.
Like I said, the recipe is a favorite, and one of my go-to special occasion choices. It looks very cool, is relatively easy to pull off, and scaled up would work nicely for a large table. To view the recipe, click here to go to the original post. Enjoy!
Please Note: Updated internal temperature for this is 155 degrees F. (I like to go higher than 145 because of the stuffing). The video says internal temperature of 165, but I've since gotten my head right.
For me, this time between Christmas and New Years is the laziest week of the year. Many are off work, and those that aren't are probably doing a half-assed job anyway. Generally people are tired, distracted, and really not into any heavy thinking. This is exactly how I feel.
Anyway, to help make up for this just-phoned-it-in post, I will say that I have so many exciting things planned for the new year, including a video on how to do your own sous vide steaks at home (my first test pictured here), using absolutely no special equipment. Spoiler alert: it was awesome. Stay tuned!
