Herbed Pork with Dried Fruit

This dish was born out of a stuffed tenderloin recipe that I came across last year, and I like it for several reasons. First, I generally have most of the ingredients on hand. Dried fruits are always in my cupboard, and I like to keep at least one or two fresh herbs in the fridge at all times. If I don't have boneless pork chops in the freezer, they are easily attainable. Second, with only a few ingredients, this is easily a weeknight meal. Better yet, it is a weeknight meal that uses mainly "whole" ingredients. Third, the petite little rolls allow for a beautiful presentation and just the right portion for those of us who are trying to think of our meat as more of a luxury than a staple. Try it the next time you are craving something a little bit sweet for dinner, or when you have last minute guests to impress!

Herbed Pork with Dried Fruit

4 boneless top loin pork chops
10 dates, pitted and chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, sage, and tarragon all work well
2 T olive oil
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dates, raisins, and cranberries in a small bowl and set aside. Place the pork chops between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound until 1/2 inch or less in thickness (You can use a meat mallet to do this or, in the absence of one, the bottom of a heavy pan). Spoon the fruit mixture onto the middle of each chop, arranging it across the width of the chop, and including enough that the ends of the chop just touch when rolled. Roll up the pork and tie off in two places with cooking twine. Mix the herbs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil together in the small bowl, then cover the outside of each pork roll completely with the mixture. Salt each roll with kosher salt.
Heat the rest of the olive oil in an oven-proof skillet on medium high. Place the rolls in the pan and brown, turning frequently to cover all sides. Once the meat is browned, place the skillet in the oven to cook the meat until done (The best way to check for doneness is with a meat thermometer, but make sure you keep it in the meat, not the filling!). A small roll will need only 12-15 minutes to cook through, while a larger roll may need up to 3o minutes.

Profile: Peppercorns

There are certain ingredients in my kitchen that I just couldn't live without. Most are deceptively simple, yet amazing in their ability to enhance, or even transform, a dish. These are my "go-to" ingredients on nights when I need to improvise a meal using only what I have on hand. Peppercorns, and particularly black peppercorns, are one such ingredient. It is easy to take pepper for granted because it's everywhere - tucked into the cupboard, rounding out the ingredient list in myriad recipes, even sitting on the kitchen table! In addition, its flavor often seems to get hidden among all of the other elements of a dish. However, I've found that using it alone (or almost alone) to season fresh ingredients adds that little bit of extra interest that can make a really simple dish work.

It may seem surprising that dried black peppercorns, white peppercorns, and green peppercorns all come from the same plant, Piper nigrum. What's more, they are all really the fruit of that plant, let ripen to different stages and processed in different ways. For both black and green peppercorns, the berries are picked while still unripe. Then, the black is allowed to dry with the skin still intact - it is this skin that shrivels and turns black, giving the black peppercorn its distinctive color. To produce the green peppercorn, the berry is merely treated to prevent its skin from turning black. Conversely, the white peppercorn is the berry with the skin removed. To accomplish this, the berries are allowed to ripen, then they are soaked and the skin is removed before the rest of the berry is dried. Ripe Piper nigrum berries are red, and red peppercorns do exist, but are not widely available and should not be confused with the "pink peppercorns" often found in peppercorn blends. These are the fruit of a different plant altogether!

Pepper gets its spicy quality from the compound piperine, and this compound, along with pepper's other aromatic qualities, can quickly evaporate once they are released. For that reason, I am a firm believer in a good pepper grinder, used as close to service as possible! So much is lost from pre-ground pepper, next to freshly ground, it doesn't even taste like the same spice. In my kitchen, the pepper grinder is always on hand, and is integral in (starting and) "finishing" many a dish. My favorite uses of pepper are very simple - a couple of turns over a green salad before serving makes the salad restaurant-worthy, combining pepper with citrus juice and olive oil produces a simple, bright marinade, and sprinkling it over potatoes or sweet onions before roasting creates great contrast. I've even used pepper to top strawberries...and in cookies! If you don't have a pepper grinder, consider investing in one now. It could change the way you cook.

Wine of the Week: McManis 2007 Pinot Noir

Since the book review I am working on is not yet perfected, I decided to publish this Wine of the Week post instead. I figured that wine is always welcome! My friend Mary gave Kevin and I this bottle of McManis 2007 Pinot Noir as a gift a few weeks ago, and I was eager to give it a try. Her choice of the McManis Pinot Noir was not random; we enjoyed the McManis most out of a Pinot Noir flight a while back, and the gift was a reminder of that night. I was interested to see if this, a more recent vintage, would be as enjoyable. The color of this wine is ruby, and pretty dark for a Pinot Noir. The fruit did not come through in either the aromas or the flavor upon first encounter. Fifteen or twenty minutes after opening, the wine smelled smoky and earthy to me. The taste was not fruit forward either, and I had to search for the cherry flavors. As the wine had more time to breathe and also to come closer to room temperature, though, the fruit began to come forward more, and the wine developed a more "red fruit" taste. I found the tannins in this wine to be prominant, but not astringent, and the balance to be tipped a little toward the acidic side. The wine is light- to medium-bodied overall, with a long finish. This is what McManis' website has to say about it, "The 2007 is deep Ruby in color. The Pinot Noir has aromas of Cherry, Strawberry and Violets. Adding to the intrigue of this wine, are notes of Vanilla and Cola which are contributed by the oak aging. Full of berry fruit, the flavor of this rich wine remains long after swallowing." I would tend to agree with everything except perhaps the aromas. The Cola seems to have come through for me, perhaps the Violets, and maybe the fruit, but I did not get any Vanilla at all. Overall, I'd say that this wine is good, but fell a little bit short of my (perhaps unfair!) expectations.

Gruyere Grilled Cheese on Challah

I am fortunate to live in an area where challah, that deliciously egg-filled and braided Jewish yeast bread, is readily available. Last fall, after securing a beautiful golden loaf at the cider mill (of all places), I practically stumbled upon the most heavenly way to use it. Scouring my kitchen for the makings of a meal, I came up with the loaf of challah, half of a block of gruyere cheese, and a tomato. It was all of the makings of a gorgeous grilled cheese sandwich! The sweetness of the challah and the gruyere nicely complement each other, while the slight salty, nuttiness of the cheese melds perfectly with the butter. The light and fluffy challah browns up nicely, and the gruyere melts easily, attaining that creamy consistency so critical to a good grilled cheese. I like to make two or three big sandwiches and then cut them up into fancy little bites. This sandwich is rich, so a little goes a long way.

Gruyere Grilled Cheese on Challah

3 oz. Gruyere

6 slices Challah

1 small tomato

1/2 T butter

Using a cheese slicer, section the gruyere into small slices and set aside. Cover both sides of each of the challah slices with the thinnest layer of butter possible. Place one layer of gruyere onto each of three slices of the buttered challah. Add a tomato slice (or two) to each, and top with another buttered challah slice. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium, then place the sandwiches on the skillet. When the first side is browned (2 or 3 minutes), flip the sandwiches and brown the other side. Keep flipping every couple of minutes until the cheese is melted. If the bread is getting too dark and the cheese has not melted, cover the sandwiches with the lid of a pan for a couple of minutes to coax it along. Remove the freshly grilled cheese and cut into bites. Serve while still hot.

Wine of the Week: Pacific Rim NV Chenin Blanc

I have been curiously considering bottles of Pacific Rim Chenin Blanc at Trader Joe's for a couple of months now; The bright teal caps and Japanese-inspired art are eye-catching, to say the least. So, I was particularly thrilled when my cousin Lisa gave me a bottle of the non-vintage as a gift last week! Some might know Chenin Blanc as the grape of the Loire Valley, but despite the "French" grape, and the Asian name, this wine is made right here in the United States by the Pacific Rim winemakers out of Washington state. The color is light straw, almost greenish, and the first thing I noticed when I picked up the glass was the slight effervescence clinging to the sides. This wine is bright, but also off-dry. In fact, I was caught off-guard by how sweet it tasted at first! Upon further tasting, though, I was able to pick up the slightly bitter citrus flavor which, along with the acid, balances the wine out nicely. There are also apple or pear flavors present. The nose, described as floral on the bottle, is slightly herbal to me. I will admit that I am not as familiar with Chenin Blanc as I am with other grapes, so I found this wine to be very interesting. I think it retails for a little more than $10 at Trader Joe's, so I won't rule out picking up another bottle on a night when I'm looking for something to pair with seafood. Pacific Rim is more well-known for their Riesling, though (their website is rieslingrules.com), so now I am tempted to try their Dry Riesling first!