Pork Vindaloo (PCP)

• 3 pounds boneless pork butt roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper
•  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 onions, chopped fine
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Mise en place.

Browning half the pork.

Softening the onion.

Cook aromatics until fragrant.

Add flour and cook for one minute.

Deglaze with chicken broth.

Add tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and pork and cook under high pressure for 30 minutes.  Allow pressure to naturally release.

Stir in cilantro if I bother to have any.  Season with salt and pepper.
It's been a while between actually writing about this dish and eating it, but I think I found it a pretty serviceable vindaloo.

Chicken Confit with Green Olives + Kumquats (TTH)

FOR THE DRY CURE

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 2 whole star anise, finely crushed with the side of a knife [Probably better done in a mortar and pestle]
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried [dried]
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest or dried orange peel [former]
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers [I did my best here in trying 3 different stores.  My third store was Christina's Spices and Specialty Foods in Inman which is the one store in Boston where if you can't find that spice/herb/rice/flour/tea/chile/pantry item here, you probably should order it online.  I guess they usually carry it, but they were all out.]
• 8 large bone-in, skin -on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), patted dry.

Mix it all up.

Pat thighs dry with paper towels.  Layer a third of the salt on the bottom of a pan that will hold the thighs as tightly as possible.  Throw in the chicken and evenly sprinkle another third of the salt in.  Pack the last of the salt so well that the chicken is completely covered.

Cover with another plate, pan, or saran-wrapped box of kosher salt in my case.  Weigh this down with a couple heavy cans.  Throw this in the fridge for a couple hours.

FOR THE CONFIT

• 2 cups vegetable or canola oil, or as needed
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 whole star anise
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers (optional)

My pyrex isn't quite stove-top safe so I moved the operations to my dutch over where things are a bit roomier.  Pour over oil to cover the thighs you have rinsed of salt and patted dry again.  Toss the spices in and confit in a 300 degree oven for I don't know how long.  Blais doesn't tell you, but a paring knife met with no resistance at the 1 1/2 hour point.

Transfer thighs skin side up to baking sheet to drain excess oil.

Heat up 2 tablespoons of the confit fat (You can apparently strain it and use it as many times as you like for 30 days, but I don't really think I'm going to confit again so soon.).

Dip skin side down into the flour seasoned with black pepper and crisp up the skin over medium heat.

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 18 kumquats, thinly sliced and seeded, or 1 small tangerine, peeled and finely choppes, any seeds removed [After cooking this, I think it would be nuts to use a tangerine over kumquats, but if you need to use a tangerine to get you by...]
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted green olives, such as Picholine or Cerignola
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sauce mise en place.

Toast the mustard seeds.

 
Add sugar and water and stir to dissolve.

Add kumquats and cook until they break down a bit.  Season with black pepper.  Later on, add olives.

You know, I've never been a fan of duck confit.  It's one of those hoity-toity ingredients I don't get that all foodies seems to love like foie gras that I simply can't fathom why they're interesting.

However, I do love cooking chicken thighs, it was fun to go through the confit-ing process using vegetable oil (rather than duck fat which will set you back a considerable amount unless you're rendering duck skin all the time), and...  This was insanely good.
Remarkably well-seasoned even without the lavender I failed to source.  Beautiful texture, beautiful skin, the kumquat-olive relish the perfect foil.  Great dish all around though not necessary one I'm going to cook all the time unlike the recipe in my next blog entry.

Corned Beef on Rye with Sauce Maria Rosa and Brussels Kraut (TTH)

FOR THE BRINE

• 10 cups water
• 5 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons coarse salt
• 8 garlic cloves
• 12 juniper berries, crushed
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, cracked
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon allspice berries, crushed
• 1 bay leaf, crushed
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 beef brisket flat cut, fat cap intact (about 4 pounds)     

Combine 2 cups of water with remaining brine ingredients and bright to a simmer.

Let cool.  Put brisket in heavy-duty gallon-sized resealable bag or large non-reactive container.  Pour brine over and add remaining water.  Refrigerate in bring for at least 12 hours, and up to 3 days.

I managed about 24 hours.

FOR COOKING THE BRISKET

• 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly choppes
• 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped

Place well-rinsed brisket over chopped vegetables and cover with water.  Bring to boil.  cover and simmer until brisket is fork-tender, about 2 hours.

Remove brisket and let cool slightly.  Although it was much easier to cut when it had been sitting in the fridge for a bit.

FOR THE SANWICHES

• 8 thick slices rye bread or pumpernickel-rye swirl
• 1/4 cup Pastrami Mustard
• 1 cup Brussels Kraut
• 8 cornichons, sliced lengthwise
• 1/4 cup Sauce Maria Rosa

PASTRAMI MUSTARD 

• 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup Beer Mustard [No, I don't this I'm making a subcomponent.  Plain dijon I think will be fine here.]

Toast coriander and mustard seeds.

Run them and the peppercorns through a coffee grinder and combine with paprika and mustard.

SAUCE MARIA ROSA

• 2/3 cup Aioli or good-quality store-bought mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup San Marzano Ketchup or store-bought ketchup
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Cholula hot sauce
• 3 drops Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Richard Blais' take on Thousand Island dressing is pretty awesome.

BRUSSELS KRAUT

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, bottoms trimmed
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Sandwich mise en place.

Regarding the Brussels Kraut, they are supposed to be cut in a "chiffonade" and blanched.  I didn't see much point in going through the trouble of blanching so I just skipped that step.

Combine with the vinegar and caraway and refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours.

Spread one slice of bread with 1 tablespoon mustard and arrange slices of brisket over.  The brisket wasn't really sliceable at the moment.

 

Top with Brussels Kraut and cornichons.  Spread other slice of bread with the Sauce Maria Rosa.

Really amazing, complex sandwich just like the one I used when I made mortadella.  It didn't take a lot of effort to make a slaw and a couple sauces.  Spread the sandwich around to various friends who all really liked the sandwich.
Eric S even said I should open up a sandwich store.  Ha.