Pork Chops with Negra Modelo Glaze and Pecan Rice

I know I have said that I am a "chef" but I just realized that none of my cooking has made it to this page.  Since I cook most days at the restaurant, most of my "cooking" at the house happens in the wee hours of the morning and involves heating up various microwave options or food I take from the restaurant. But I do love cooking for my friends, family and of course myself. But I also love eating at lots of different restaurants with not having to worry about planning a meal for once. On my recent day off I decided to raid my fridge, which doesn't have much, and make myself some lunch.

I did find a nice hunk of pork loin which I do like having in my fridge because I always like to cut my own loin chops opposed to buying the pre-cut ones in the store. The loin is usually cheaper by the pound, and will last longer in the fridge if it is whole. I also like to be able to control the thickness of my chops. After cutting my chops it was time to figure out how I wanted to cook these bad boys.

After scrimping together a few things I decided to go with what I would consider to be my usual suspects: butter, onion, garlic, Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and beer, usually a darker beer because they give richer flavors. While I like crazy, new flavor combinations, when I am at home simple is key. Butter makes everything better, and onion and garlic are staples in starting most of my dishes.

After a liberal seasoning of salt & pepper on both sides of the chops, I got the skillet as hot as I could. Adding a tablespoon, allowing it to brown a little, the pork chops then join the party to get a nice hard sear on each side. Once the chops get a nice brown crust, they are removed from the pan and allowed to rest while the rest of the flavors are built in the pan.

The minced onions and smashed garlic are next into the brown butter bath. They saute until the softened. One of my favorite smells in a kitchen is that initial hint of sweetness when garlic hits a hot pan. It gets the mouth watering and ready to eat. Once soft, about half the bottle of Negra Modelo is added and begins to reduce with the vegetables.

As the beer reduces, I also add two of my favorite condiments in cooking. Honey is something I almost always use when I want to add sweetness to anything. Crystal is the hot sauce I grew up in my house. My father put this stuff on everything (popcorn is perfect), and I naturally grew a fondness of it through the years. Now for you folks not from Louisiana that may read this, you may be wondering why not Tabasco. This stuff is better. So now this sauce has a nice mix of of spicy, sweet, and a little bitter from the reduced beer.YUM!!

While the sauce is finishing, I found a box of nice aromatic rice. Konriko is a local rice mill, actually the oldest working one in America, that is based out of New Iberia, LA. There line of products are all quite good and are used often in my kitchen. But the one secret ingredient that I like to put in my rice is Zatarain's liquid crab boil. One capful, when you boil almost anything, give the food a nice little hint of heat and flavor.

Right before the sauce is ready to serve, the pork chops are added back to the pan to finish cooking and soak up all the flavors that have been built in the sauce. After being basted for a few minutes in the sauce, the chops are going to be cooked perfectly and ready to serve.

The final product came out quite nice. The chops were moist and cooked to a nice medium. The rice still had a nice texture. The flavors were rich and had just the right amount of heat that I love. A quick 25 minute lunch, I guess Rachel Ray would be proud. Peace and Chicken grease.

Rama - Thai Cuisine

Now living in Baton Rouge, one usually thinks about all the fresh seafood and cajun cuisine. All of these foods are great, and there are plenty of those restaurants to be found in this area. But one of my favorite things to find is the small authentic food joints in my home town. Now Baton Rouge may not have the huge ethnic populations like a New York or San Francisco, but there are some hidden gems around town. One that I have found is Rama. A tiny little Thai restaurant with no more than thirty seats. This place felt like home as soon as I walked in.

The menu is loaded with a plethora of delicious sounding thai dishes, some I had never heard of and some traditional ones that you will find at any good Thai place. For the first courses, we got a nice mix of flavors. Jay and I started with some shrimp chips and fried wontons. The chips were light and had a nice savory shrimp flavor, and the peanut sauce, they served to dip it in, was wonderful. The fried wontons weren't much to write home about but I guess I can write a little. They were crisp. The filling had a nice flavor, but there wasn't much of it in the wonton to catch it all. The soup on the other hand was perfect. As soon as my eyes locked onto "Pork Crackling soup", I knew I had to try that. (I mean fried pork sin in a soup? C'mon) As the soup arrived I could smell the sweet aroma of pork and see the fried treats that lie before me. The rich pork flavor that was built into the soup was outstanding. The crispy crackling, tender pieces of pork, and green onion made for a harmony of flavor and texture. YUM.

 For entree I decided to go with one of Thailand's national dishes, Pad Thai. Now anytime I go to "authentic" restaurants I am a firm believer that you must be able to do the staples right first. If an italian restaurant doesn't have a good spaghetti and meatball, the likelihood that the rest of the menu is worth trying is slim. Now from the soup I figured this was probably going to be some good pad thai, and I wasn't disappointed. The mound of noodles was placed in front of me, and the scent of peanuts tickled the nostrils. I could see the the all shrimp, pork, and chicken that loaded the dish. The noodles were stir fried nicely. The sauce was clean with a nice mix of sweetness and slightly spicy finish. And with the crunchy bean sprouts and fresh cilantro the dish really came together.

  

As I have said before, you have to finish a good meal with something sweet. So when the nice waitress offered dessert I was all ears. Not much for options here but the uniqueness of the choice had me intrigued. You can get fried bananas or apples topped with ice cream, pretty simple right. However they make their own ice creams at Rama, vanilla, coconut, and DURIAN. Yeah I said it, DURIAN. Now I am a fan of all ice cream, but durian had me excited and scared all at the same time. This is the one fruit I have seen Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods) cringe at the sheer smell of it. But I will always try anything once especially when it comes to ice cream. The plates were placed in front of us and the slightly greenish yellow ice cream looked me straight in the face. I grabbed a small spoonful and took a sniff, a little odd but nothing outrageous. Now for the taste it was quite delicious. The initial flavor is a straight sweetness, but then the durian creeps up. I am sure the sweetness masks the intensity of the bitter, often considered off putting flavor of this fruit, but I actually enjoyed the contrast in the ice cream.

Rama was such an enjoyable dining experience. The food was great but the service was just as good. The lady, one of only two that work there, was delightful and charming. She was more than happy to talk to us and answer all our questions about the food, especially that interesting ice cream. This place has been around 30 years, and the only thing I was sad about upon leaving was that I hadn't found it sooner. Don't worry it won't be my last.

New York Part 2 - Craftbar

Having to walk through some scaffolding, only to come upon this small door as being the only sign of where Craftbar was located, I was only hoping I had found the right place. But as soon as I walked in and saw the beautiful restaurant I knew I was in for something special. A very sleek design with dark browns and  simple paper menus this was my kinda place. The toughest part about the menu was trying to choose. Every dish on the menu looked amazing, and thanks to my friend Matt, my family and I got to taste most of them. The first wave was an array of appetizers with each one providing an unique flavor.  The first one I tasted was a braised Berkshire pork shoulder served with a tomato molasses and ramp marmalade. The pork was very tender and punched me in the mouth with its flavor. It was served with some bibb lettuce to make wraps and that little crunch from the lettuce was a nice contrast to the silkiness of the pork. Other appetizers included Pecorino fondue with acacia honey and hazelnuts, hierloom tomato salad with sweet basil seed (WOW and I am not usually a fan of raw tomatoes), and probably my favorite, field mushroom bruschetta with fontina. This appetizer was probably the simplest of all of the them, but the freshness of the dish was what made it perfect. The bread was crusty on the outside and soft in the center, just like any good bread, and the mushrooms were clean and sauteed just enough to bring out their flavor but leave them with some texture. The cheese added a perfect amount of saltiness to round out the dish.

Wave number two came shortly after, and the entrees didn't disappoint. My parents spilt a baby beet salad with smoked bacon and pickled egg, and a pressed organic chicken sandwich. Both of these were delicious. But the stars of the entrees were the veal ricotta meatballs, brother's dish, and roasted organic chicken with lovage, jerusalem artichokes, and leeks, my dish. The meatballs were almost the size of a softball and cooked perfectly. Served over some homemade pasta and with a simple marinara, the meatballs were juicy and luscious. The roasted chicken was a wonderful expression of letting the ingredients speak for themselves. The breast was roasted separately and served sliced over the dish. Moist and succulent the breast just got you excited for what was underneath. The broth was a nice chicken jus, probably from the roasting, and all the vegetables and dark meat of the chicken were nice compliments.

Now for the big finish! Dessert is probably the only way to really finish a meal. I am a firm believer that all meals, especially good ones, should finish with something sweet. Matt again surprised us with an array from the dessert menu. First was a tray of assorted cookies and confections which included a nut brittle, mini ice cream sandwiches, and a poppy seed cookie with lemon curd. Second was a creme fraiche panna cotta with market fresh berries and black pepper biscotti. While both were great, my favorite was the ricotta fritters with blueberry compote and buttermilk sorbet. The light, fluffy fritters were crispy on the outside and not too sweet. The sorbet wasn't very sweet either but the compote provided the right amount of sugar to complete the dish.

 

After the great meal, I got to take a tour of the kitchen. A very small, two story kitchen, like most in New York, sits with the main service kitchen on the same floor as the dining room, and the prep and pantry areas are in the basement.  I was pretty amazed that something this size could produce the meal we were just served. But like any good chefs, we can make masterpieces out of almost anything. Craftbar was a lovely meal and I thank Matt, the service staff, and the other chefs in the kitchen that made it possible.