I like bacon! I love pork! Run little piggy I've got a fork!

Today's blog is a tribute to the Pig.  I love pork. Love it, love it, love it.  If the world came to an end and all the chickens, cows, ducks, deer, fish, etc. were vaporized, I'd be okay with that, just spare the pigs.  I could eat pork all day, every day....I'm telling you I love pork.  It's versatile, healthy and modestly inexpensive compared to beef and fish.  I recently made a pork tenderloin from a recipe I came across and tweaked it, as usual, to suit my tastes.  I believe it being respectful of an animal if I'm cooking it.  I love meat but I don't relish the thought of an animal dying, so when I cook with an animal product, I believe in treating that animal with appreciation and respect.  That means I don't waste one usable ounce of that animal.  Pork tenderloin is a great cut to use because after everyone has had their fill of it as a roast, it can be chunked up to make at least 3 other meals from the same roast - that makes it really affordable and convenient.  I like to serve the tenderloin with Sweet Potato Grits and Ponzu Sauteed Haricot Vert Beans.  It's good stuff.

Today's recipe is for Jalapeno Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin.  This makes a great holiday meal or just a family dinner.  I buy a nice, big tenderloin (8+ pounds) and trim it myself by cutting away most of the fat and removing as much of the silver skin as I can.  Silver skin is the silvery-looking, fibrous covering on the meat.  It's actually muscle fascia that connects with the tendons and ligaments to keep muscle in place in the animal and when it's in an uncooked state, it's not a big deal, but as it's cooked, it contracts up and becomes like rubber bands.  Not good when it's tenderness you're going for. 

So here we go......Jalapeno Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

We're going to do this in 4 steps.
First step:  Make a brine for the pork.  For an 8 lb tenderloin to 3 qts water, add 1/3 c salt, 1/2 c sugar.  Bring to boil to dissolve sugar and salt, remove from heat.  I sometimes add a few handfuls of ice to cool it or if you're not in a hurry, just let it cool to room temp. 
Second step:  Trim the tenderloin as explained above.  Now butterfly the pork.  This can be done 2 ways: Cut it in half lengthwise and pound flat or cut in a spiral manner, lengthwise as well, to open the entire roast, then pound enough to make it uniform in thickness.  (I prefer the latter because it's less work and the results are nicer, but if your knife skills aren't the best, do it the first way.) Place the pork in a lidded container just long enough and deep enough to allow for the brine to cover it.  Pour the brine over the pork and cover tightly, refrigerate for 24-48 hours.  Procure some twine now because you'll need to truss the roast before cooking, here's a video on how to truss:  http://youtu.be/uLg0NiiFMj4 .
Third step:  Making stuffing:  You can make your own or you can use a mix like Stove Top or Pepperidge Farms - it doesn't matter (I use Stove Top).
              1 pkg stuffing mix or homemade stuffing, prepared per instructions
              1/2 onion, minced
              1 stalk celery, minced
              1 clove garlic, minced
              2 medium to large jalapenos, minced
              1/2 c red bell pepper, minced
              1/2 t black pepper
              2 T bacon fat, optional
              1 t cumin powder
              Bacon for wrapping the roast
Prepare stuffing per package directions, mix in all ingredients to prepared mix, set aside. Have some kitchen twine handy now, cut two 3 ft pieces and set aside.   Remove pork from brine and discard liquid. Rinse pork well in fresh water until all brine is gone.  Pat dry with towel.  Open roast flat and spread with stuffing to 1/2 " from edges.  Starting on one end of the roast, roll it up lengthwise, warp the bacon slices crosswise on the roast and rest the rolled roast on the cut side so it doesn't unroll while you're working with it and start trussing the roast.  Preheat the oven to 425.  Heat a skillet with 2 T oil and brown the roast on all sides till golden.  Place in roasting pan or other oven safe dish along with all the pan drippings and bake at 425 for 10 mins.  Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 10-15 min per pound or when meat thermometer reads 145 degrees in center.    Baste occasionally with drippings while in oven.  When roast is done, allow to rest for 15 minutes before removing string or cutting.  While resting meat, make pan gravy by pouring drippings back into skillet and heating, add 1 T cornstarch or flour to drippings and stir over med-high heat till thickened, adding water or chicken broth to thin if needed.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

Leftover Pork Tenderloin ideas:

Pork Hash and Potatoes with Eggs
Pork Carnitas
Chili
BBQ Sliders
Stew

Enjoy!

      

Restaurant Review: Fearing's

It has been a LONG time since I posted a new blog.  I just haven't been inspired, and to write with enthusiasm I have to feel a spark.  It's been a hot, dry summer and I think my writing well has been dry too.

I'm going to take the blog in a slightly different direction in the next few entries and do some restaurant reviews.  I find food and customer service sorely lacking in the last few years so I'm thinking, why not blog about it?  I do the occasional Yelp and TripAdvisor review, but I want to be a little wordier and do it my way, so here goes.  Dallas is a magnificent city for serious foodies and I've been trying to get out and go dine in some of the hot spots in the city and then blog about them.  I have been to quite a few over the last several months, but I was never inspired/impressed enough to write about them until now.

 I was uber- inspired last night when we went to dinner at Fearing's, Chef Dean Fearing's namesake restaurant in Dallas at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on McKinney Avenue.  My dining partner was Mel.  I love going to wine tastings and dinners with her because she has a brilliant palate.  [When I say it's brilliant, I am not saying that flippantly. I mean it, she can pick out the most buried spice and tell you what it is.  Her palate and knowledge in wine pairings would rival the best sommaliers around the world, so she's the best partner to eat gorgeous food and drink wonderful wines with.  Makes me oh-so covetous]  But, back to dinner.  We had reservations at 7:15 pm and when we arrived at 7 pm, we were greeted very warmly and  taken back to our table.  The hallway leading to the dining room is pretty interesting.  The sides of the hallway are line in loose, billowy drapes.  It gives the restaurant an ethereal and seductive feel, not what I was expecting from Chef Fearing, but it definitely set the mood for the evening in a most wonderful way.  We were seated in a rustic yet sophisticated dining room near the open kitchen so we could watch the staff and feel the energy.  Our server, Caesar, took our order for drinks (Mel had a Cosmo, I had a margarita) and served them promptly.  They weren't anything special, just your typical versions, the Cosmo was nice and the margarita was good, if a little heavy on the sweet & sour, but not bad.  We didn't see a tasting menu listed so we asked and Caesar was excited to say Yes! they did indeed have one and it had wine pairings as well.  (Our server was also our personal sommalier and he made some stunning choices, Bravo Caesar!!)
 Done...so that's what we had.  The tasting menu consisted of Chef's choice of:
2 Starters each
2 First Courses each
1 Main Course each
1 Dessert each
Each different plate had it's own wine pairing (sometimes more than one) so that was 7 different glasses of wine throughout the dinner. 

The first starter was Tuna Two Ways: Tuna Tempura and Tuna Sashimi.  The Tempura version was well-seasoned with a light and crispy batter while the inside of the Tempura was completely uncooked, served on a bed of pickled vegetables and some mint pesto along side.  The mint was a surprise and it worked perfectly, not at all expected.  The Sashimi, while not my favorite way to enjoy a protein, was light, firm and fresh and tasted very nice.  Not too much seasoning that it masked the fish, but enough to make me want to eat it.   The Tuna was served with 2 wines:  Frank Family Chardonnay and Far Nienta Chardonnay.  Both were nice, crisp whites that paired nicely with the fish.

The second starter was touted by Caesar to be one of their most popular dishes:  Barbeque Shrimp Tacos.  Now, I was expecting a run-of-the-mill taco here.  That is not at all what was presented to us and it was so delicious I forgot to take a picture before I gobbled it up.  A small tortilla (much like what a street taco comes in) stuffed with succulent, perfectly cooked fat little shrimp and folded like a little burrito on a cumin cream sauce and topped with a sauce that I can only say was wonderful.  I'm not certain of what it consisted of because no one was telling, but it tasted like corn and tamales and cumin and just pure goodness.  It was so so so good.  Soft and creamy and juicy and corn-y.  Just a perfect balance of savory and sweet and spicy and sweet, just so good.  This was served with a Friuli Pinot Grigio that was the pure essence of flowers.  It was flowery like a riesling, but was dry and very refreshing.  Perfect with the spices in the Shrimp Taco.

The 1st Main Course (and my hands-down favorite) was:  Apricot Barbecue Glazed Lockhart Texas Quail with baby wedge salad and Cider Braised Pork Belly.  People, I cannot express to you in words how sexual this dish was.  Eat it only with someone you love or want to love because it's a potent dish, quite the aphrodisiac.  The tiny little quail on was on this mild cream sauce and the quail had been lightly breaded and fried and topped with a sauce that was like liquid bacon. So wildly amazing.  There were so many flavors there, bacon, quail, cumin, corn, chilesMeomi Pinot Noir.  It was full-bodied and quite peppery and stood up well to the big flavors of the quail and pork.

Second Main Course was my least favorite of the menu:  Nantucket Lightship Sea Scallops with Shredded Short ribs.  I admit, I'm not huge on scallops and it's simply because I don't care for the texture.  It's too mushy for me as a rule, but this scallop had a really nice, firm texture that I was not put off by at all.  I was enjoying the taste until I got a bite or two with sand.  Yes, I know they will have sand, but that was enough to ruin the dish for me.  I really turned me off, so I left most of it on the plate. Just a tiny hiccup in an otherwise wonderful plate.  The shredded Short rib was quite nice and a good offset to the rich scallop.  Paired with Ramey Chardonnay from Russian River Valley, California.  I thought the wine was nice, but a bit nondescript.

Our next course was a red meat, Maple-Black Peppercorn Soaked Buffalo Tenderloin on Jalapeno Grits with Sauteed Greens and a Butternut Squash Taquito, or as Caesar called it, the Piece De Resistance!  I have never had buffalo and wouldn't have ordered it on my own, but it was the chef's selection for us.  It was delicious.  Very tender and juicy with a perfect sear on the outside and a near medium rare on the inside.  It was very rare in the center and just a little too rare for me, but I ate the edges and loved it.  The grits were nice, not spicy, but had a creamy, cheesy grit texture and strong stone-ground grit flavor.  Very nice accompaniment to the buffalo.  There was a little mustard sauce to the side and sauteed greens on top.  Also on the side was a Butternut Squash Taquito.  This was my least favorite element on the plate, the corn tortilla was really good and crunchy but the filling was not great for me.  It was just what you'd think with squash, mushy, soft and sweet.  Again, it was a texture thing.  I didn't like the filling at all texture-wise, but the flavor was good.  Just an okay side to the buffalo.  This was paired with Trefethen Cabernet - man was that a nice Cab.  That was a stand up and say hello to you Cab.  Very smoky and meaty flavors as well as some slight fruit-forward notes at the finish.  I'd drink that wine again.

Our dessert course was:  Caramelized Apple Short-Stack.  This was a tasty dessert.  Pecan Pie Ice Cream on lightly sweetened whipped cream, topped with caramelized apple slices and a shortbread cookie.  A deconstructed Apple Pie a la Mode, if you will.  The ice cream was yummy with flavors so subtle that it made you pay attention like someone whispering during the sermon.  The apple slices were razor thin and perfectly delicious.  Like little glace apple jewels.  So intensely caramel-flavored that they almost weren't apples at all, but pieces of melting caramel candy. Ummmm.  Just dreamy.  The shortbread "crust" was nutty and delicate yet had the perfect bite texture.  Topped with ground nuts and oats, I could eat a whole plate of those shortbread cookies.  This was paired with Tekkai Bavarian Ice Wine.  Alone, the wine was cloyingly sweet, but when paired with a bite of the dessert, it was magic.  Smooth and sweet with a lingering flavor. 

Rating 1-10:
Atmosphere 10
Service: 10
Price: $$$$
Snootiness: 0
Food: 9
Ambiance: 8
Reservations needed:  Yes

So... that's my Fearing's review.  This is one of my top 3 favorite restaurants now.  I'll be reviewing a restaurant about once a month from now on so be looking for it!  Go to Fearing's and enjoy a perfect evening with a loved one and be sure and have Caesar for your server and let him choose your wines!!

 Good eating Ya'll!