Foodjianese |
Food is not my life but it makes me feel alive. I was born in Fujian, in southeast China, and somehow got dragged onto a plane to New York at the turn of my teenage years. (Thanks mom!) I inhaled 3 plates of roast pork and cabbage on rice after sneaking my way out of summer tutoring school (I'm Asian) during lunchtime to gorge on Indian Mee Goreng and Indian pancakes when I was in junior high, so there is no doubt that I LOVE to eat. Cooking, on the other hand, is a recent obsession. I generally do not rely on recipes except for baking because I feel constrained by the scientific preciseness of most recipes. I like to improvise. The lingering taste of a sweet and spicy lamb tagine from a recent restaurant meal prompts me to turn on my stove. The smell of sweet cardamom and rose water gracefully peeking their way out of an Indian bakery seduces me to invite them to my kitchen. Ok, enough about me, let's cook, eat, and share, which is what food is all about. |
-
Text
Pork the juice, please.
Grilled Pork Chops, Berry Confit, Baked Pistachio-crusted Potato Balls
Many of my cooking inspirations come from- leftovers. A jug of tart cherry juice with only 1 cup remaining has been sitting lonesomely in my fridge for quite some time. I finally decided to give it some love with my other love- p.o.r.k.
I rubbed the pork chops with ginger powder and dried thyme (would have used fresh ones if i had some), sprinkled salt, and marinated them in a mixture of unsweetened tart cherry juice with a dash of soy sauce overnight.
I did not have fresh berries so the long forgotten frozen berry mix tucked away in my cluttered-freezer was a godsend. I lightly sauteed thinly-sliced onions over medium heat until soft, added one clove of garlic, the pork marinade, red wine (Merlot), ginger powder (ran out of fresh ginger), and sugar, and let it simmer for 10 minutes, then added the berry mix and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
I grilled the pork chops (patted dry with paper towel) in a well-greased cast iron pan over high heat right after adding the berry for the confit. I brushed a pat of butter on the pork chops after they are grilled. The butter enhances the flavor and adds an extra bling to the pork chops.
I was taught by my FCI chef teacher to let grilled and roasted meat rest for 5 minutes before digging in because the meat is still cooking, doing its thing. 5 minutes was up and I bit right in- I forgot to grill the sides!!! I was hoping to bite into a crispy and toasty yet juicy thin layer of fat on the side but all i got was flab. This was more traumatizing than eating zheng bao (steamed bun) overloaded with under-cooked lard cubes. Ok, maybe not but, I will never forget to grill ALL sides of meat from now on, hopefully.
For the side, mashed potatoes was my original plan but I wanted to do something fun so I decided to make baked potato croquettes because frying would be a pain to clean up. I really like the combination of pistachio and cherry and wanted to experiment with using a nut-crust for potato balls. I put a mixture of mashed boiled idaho potatoes, sauteed white onions, milk, cayenne peppers and paprika in a blender. The mix turned out gluey, which would make shaping it impossible. Good thing I had an extra boiled potato, in which I added to the blender potato mix along with salt and crispy bacon bits.
Now comes the fun part, shaping it into little balls… I used a spoon to scoop and shape the potato mixture into (semi)balls, then rolled them in a mix of ground pistachios, panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs), and salt, spread them out on a greased baking sheet, popped it in the oven on high broil, turned them after 3 minutes to broil for another 2 minutes.
My eyes were salivating over the potato balls but my palate was left unsatiated. I was disappointed by the blandness. They have to be at least somewhat tasty, damn it. I added berry confit and crumbled feta cheese to the the remaining potato mix and spiced up the pistachio bread crumb mix with dried basil and black pepper. The tartness of the berry confit complimented the saltiness and smokiness of the bacon bits, and the black pepper added a nice kick to the taste buds. These potato balls are like mini-german potato salads but crispy and creamy at the same time. The revision was a good start but I would like to use a different type of cheese in the mixture next time, one that melts better.
INGREDIENTS
GRILLED PORK CHOPS
Pork Chops
Unsweetened Tart Cherry Juice
Regular Soy Sauce
Ginger Powder
Dried or Fresh Thyme
BERRY CONFIT
Frozen or Fresh Berries
Onions (Thinly Sliced)
Garlic Clove (1)
Merlot (or another Sweet Red Wine)
Ginger Powder or Fresh Ginger
Butter
Salt
PISTACHIO-CRUSTED POTATO BALLS
Pistachios (ground)
Panko or Bread Crumbs
Dried Basil
Black Pepper
Russet Potatoes (Boiled and Mashed)
Onions (Diced and Sauteed)
Bacon Bits
Berry Confit
Crumbled Feta
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
