Dinner Party Pork

Culinary Arts Level One Day 18... the other "white meat"... pork.

As a child, there were few things I wouldn't eat. My mother frequently described me as the family "garbage disposal"... that is when I wasn't "tuber" for my television obsession. Meat-wise, I refused anything white and dry. Mothers, worried for their children's health - God bless them, have a terrible way of overcooking chicken and pork. Thanksgiving Day chefs always overcook the turkey either on purpose or by accident. All of these things, for me, always needed lots of apple sauce, honey, or ketchup (Heinz only). I love Heinz ketchup. 

Until recently, the recommended internal cooking temperature of pork was 160, ensuring dryness... Luckily for me, the USDA recently revised it's recommended pork temperature to 145... but Michael won't eat it this way, so we'll need to work around that for this dinner party! 

We made this pork recipe that was absolutely delicious! Everyone in class was walking around saying, "This may be my favorite day yet."... "How good is this?"... "It is so simple to make, I could make it at home any night"... "How is this for an anniversary meal?" That is right. This recipe is AWESOME! There were no leftovers.  And, even better? It is easy to make and easy to duplicate... so you can make one, or have a real party and make three, four, or eight at a time. The recipe says serves four, but I promise you, it won't. It is too delicious! 

Ginger-Marinated Pork Fillet with Sweet and Sour Sauce 

(Recipe taken from The International Culinary Center Classic Culinary Arts Level One text book)

Ingredients

For the Meat and Marinade

50g ginger, peeled and emincer

2 garlic cloves, emincer

2T honey

1/2 Jalepeno pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

4T nuoc mam or fish sauce

2T oil

600g pork tenderloin, trimmed

For the Stock and Sauce

20g oil

300g pork bones and trimmings 

50g carrots, mirepoix

50g onions, mirepoix

2 garlic cloves

100g tomatoes, quartered

bouquet garni

500g veal stock

For the Gastrique

85g honey

85g cider vinegar

For the Garnish

Zest of 2 limes, julienne

60g ginger, peeled and julienne

60mL water

60mL sugar

Procedure

For the Meat and Marinade

1. Place all the marinade ingredients into a hotel pan and add the pork, turning the meat to cover with the liquid. Cover and marinate for 2 hours.
2. Remove the pork from the marinade and brush off any clinging marinade.

For the Stock, Sauce, and Gastrique

1. While the pork is marinating, start the reinforced stock.
2. Heat the oil in a large sautoir and brown the bones and trimmings. Add the mirepoix and caramelize. Add the garlic, tomatoes, and bouquet garni. Briefly cook.
3. Degrease if necessary and add the veal stock to deglaze. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and reinforce for 30 minutes.
4. Strain the reinforced stock.
5. Heat the honey in a russe and cook until it reaches a dark caramel color. Deglaze with vinegar and cook briefly to combine flavors.
6. Reheat the reinforced stock until full-flavored and nappant. Add the gastrique a little bit at a time until a sweet and sour balance has been achieved.

For the Garnish

Make a simple syrup with the water and sugar. Add the zest and ginger to the sugar and water mixture and cook gently until ginger is tender, approximately 30 minutes. Remove zests and ginger, and set aside for garnish. 

For the Finish

1. Heat 20g of oil in a saute pan. Season the tenderloins and brown well. Remove to a sizzle platter and place in a 350 degree oven to finish cooking. Cook the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of 145. Remove and let rest.
2. Slice the pork fillet diagonally, set 4 to 5 slices on a warm plate, and nap with the sauce. Garnish with lime zest and ginger julienne. 

Well, here is full disclosure... and perhaps a bit of venting about my own attempts to remake our French Culinary Institute masterpieces at home.

So I say "easy to make"... after approximately six weeks in culinary school, after completing the recipe in a culinary kitchen, etc... the truth is that so many things that are "easy" in a restaurant kitchen are just NOT easy at home... and REALLY NOT easy in a standard New York City apartment "kitchen" - a hallway.

Flambe? Not that it is called for in this recipe, but the other night at home I completely failed fearing that I might melt the plastic microwave positioned above the stove.

Honestly, at home, where are you going to get 300g pork bones and trimmings to reinforce a stock? And where are you going to get the high quality stock anyway (and yes, that matters)? At school, we have half of a pig lying on the Chef's table. It has two legs. My classmates are asking, "Which half is it?" Chef beats up the carcus with a knife for 30-45 minutes and brings us bowls of bones and trimmings. So easy! And veal stock? Yes, we had huge bones and industrial ovens for that.

So what are some solutions for the home cook? I haven't figured them out yet. Well, they do sell 8 oz of veal stock at Agata and Valentina for $5... but besides being a MAJOR ripoff, that isn't sustainable when the person paying the bills is (probably, though not certainly, rightfully so) complaining about ever escalating grocery bills. So, you see. I haven't figured it out either. If you have, I applaud you. And if you have any good ideas or secrets, or a half a pig or veal bones lying around, or even a huge kitchen to share, PLEASE let me know!