Daytime

If you get Southern Living’s Daytime TV in your area, tune in today and watch us prepare a delicious fall dish!

Good Day Tampa Bay

For those that missed our recent demo of Ropa vieja with Roasted Corn and Black-eyed pea Salsa on Good Day Tampa Bay, enjoy!

Some Old Clothes

As Labor Day approaches, it heralds the arrival of fall and the packing away of white pants. To prepare for her arrival we brought out some old clothes. An excellent dish, with many world-wide variations, is old clothes also known by its much tastier Spanish name, Ropa vieja. Here we simply took a wonderful cut of pork shoulder seasoned with Doc’s South African 5 Spice, Doc’s Chili Powder, salt and pepper and braised for several hours on a bed of carrot, onion, leek, celery and garlic. The pork grew tender in some home-made chicken stock and delicious Spanish red wine. We served it with a fall inspired roasted corn and black-eyed pea salsa, all of which was piled upon a home-made flour and corn tortilla. A simple and oh so satisfying way to welcome fall.

One More….

Here was one of the favorites from The Event in Malibu: A South African 5 Spice Pork Tenderloin served in a Potato Ring and Drizzled with Granny Smith Apple Gastrique. This was a crowd pleaser! Read more about the event here: The Event at Malibu

Pork Chops and Applesauce

I wonder if Peter Brady asks his new wife for “pork chops and applesauce.” It would have made great reality tv. Regardless, it makes for a great dinner. We used boneless 2 inch center cut chops, seasoned and stuffed with cranberry cornbread (recipe follows) and andouille sausage stuffing. We served it with a stovetop applesauce made with a few fresh Granny Smith apples. Simple and satisfying, just like an old Brady Bunch episode.

Cranberry Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 pound fresh cranberries
• 1 Tbs light brown sugar
• ½ cup apple cider
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup AP flour
• Kernels from 2 ears roasted corn
•  2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 egg whites

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degree F. Place the vegetable oil in a 9-inch baking pan or cast iron skillet. Place in the oven to heat.

Place the cranberries, sugar and apple cider in a saucepan and heat over medium heat. This amount of sugar makes for a tart cornbread. If you like it a little sweeter, add up to ¼ cup of sugar. Cook until the berries have burst and the liquid has thickened.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, corn, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice and black pepper and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, cranberry mixture and whole egg. Add to dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Whip the egg whites to soft peaks and gently fold into the mixture. Remove the hot pan from the oven and pour the cornmeal batter into the skillet.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until firm and golden brown on top.

Pumpkin and Sage Crusted Spiced Chevre Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Persimmon Glaze

 

This a dish that brings home a host of fall flavors in a most delicious way.

• 2-3 pound pork tenderloin
• Butcher’s twine

Pork Tenderloin Stuffing

• 5 oz chevre
• 1/8 tsp mace
• 1/8 tsp ground clove
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cumin

Combine all the ingredients together in  abowl and set aside.

Pumpkin Sage Crust

• 2 Tbs ground sage
• ½ cup of pumpkin seeds, roasted (often sold in stores as pepitas)

Crust exposed to demonstrate composition

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend. Remove and set aside.

Trim the silver skin from the pork tenderloin. Butterfly the halves and stuff the middle of each half with the spiced chevre. Reassemble the tenderloin and tie together with butcher’s twine. Coat the outside of the tenderloin with the sage and pumpkin seed mixture. Sear each side for 4-6 minutes in a pan over medium high heat. Remove and finish in the oven at 425 degrees F until the internal temperature is about 140 degrees F. Remove and allow to rest for ten minutes.

Persimmon Glaze

• 4 persimmons, peeled and chopped
• ¼ cup pomegranate juice
• ¼ cup red wine
• ¼ cup apple cider
• 1 Tbs honey
• 2 pods star anise

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer until the persimmon is tender. Using a potato masher, mash up the persimmon and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about fifteen minutes. Remove and strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve. Return the liquid to high heat and reduce until the liquid is a syrup consistency, about 5-10 minutes.

House Calls Menu-Pork Tenderloin

South African 5 Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

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The flavorful South African 5 Spice blend (recipe follows) livens a delicious center cut pork tenderloin, which while tender can lack a little bit in the flavor department.

• 2 to 2.5  pound center cut pork tenderloin
• Enough Doc’s South African 5 Spice blend to coat the tenderloin
• 1 Tbs olive oil

Trim any fat or remaining silver skin off the pork tenderloin. Generously cover the pork  in the spice blend. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. When the oil is smoking, add the loin. Sear each side until brown, about 2-4 minutes each side.

Place in the oven and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes, until the thermometer in the middle of the meat reads 145. Remove the pork  and allow it to rest about 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve the sliced pork loin on the risotto and drizzle with a little of the port wine and fig reduction sauce.

Doc’s South African 5 Spice Blend

• 1 oz cinnamon
• 2 oz cumin seed
• 1 oz anise seed
• 2 oz coriander seed
• 1 oz ginger powder

Combine all ingredients and blend in a spice blender. Store in an airtight container

The Law of Unintended Consequences

From Doc’s Rx Pad: I know this is a long post, but I believe it is an important one. It speaks to the core philosophy of Doc’s Grassroots Gourmet Program. It highlights that the “conventional wisdom” while often conforming is not always wise. Please read and pass it along, I am going to leave this one up all weekend so everyone has a chance to read it.

Thanks,

-Doc

Along with Murphy’s Law, I believe the other universal truism is The Law of Unintended Consequences. The universe is always in a cause and effect mode. The glass falls off the table and breaks. Cause then effect, the glass never jumps from the floor and reassembles itself on the table. The universe never operates in an effect then cause fashion. As many of you know, I promote Doc’s Grassroots Gourmet style of food preparation and cooking. This means, among other things, using fresh ingredients and minimizing the processed additives where possible.

Why?

The Law of Unintended Consequences.

Whenever you alter something, no matter how slight, it has some consequence. Some consequences do not translate into any meaningful effects, homeostasis is maintained. Some cause major perturbations. But make no mistake, there is some effect. With our keen science we do our best to foresee what those effects will be and appropriately address them. That is where the law of unintended consequences comes in; there are things which occur to a system that neither anyone can foresee nor did anyone ever intended to happen.

For awhile now I have been promoting eating healthy not by necessarily skimping on the steak, but by choosing a different steak (and a reasonable portion). Beef from free range grass fed cattle is low in saturated fats and rich in omega -3 fatty acids and other goodies (see previous posts for the references). Well, here’s the data coming in to support our working hypothesis about choosing these products and including them in a tasty, enjoyable and healthy diet.

A recent meta-analysis from the Harvard School of Public Health published in Circulation this month suggests that the cardiovascular risk associated with red meats comes primarily from the highly processed and chemically treated varieties such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and other processed lunch and deli meats. The non-processed meats examined were beef, lamb and pork (not poultry).

While both contain fat, cholesterol and saturated fat, the processed choices are much higher in salt, preservatives and additives. The analysis combined data from 20 different studies involving more than 1.2 million people worldwide.  The findings revealed that daily consumption of about two ounces of processed meat was associated with a 42% increased risk of heart disease and a 19% increased risk of diabetes. Conversely, a four-ounce daily serving of red meat from beef, hamburger, pork, lamb or game did not increase the risk of heart disease, nor did it significantly increase the risk of diabetes. The rates of smoking, exercise and other risk factors were similar between the two groups.

The study concluded people, especially those already at risk of heart problems or with high blood pressure, should consider reducing consumption of bacon, processed ham, hot dogs and other packaged meats that have a high salt and nitrate content. The heavily processed choices had four times the amount of sodium and 50% more nitrates than their unprocessed counterparts. I would add to that the processed versions also contain high levels of additional compounds and preservatives. This combination is what may have led to an unintended consequence in the effort to keep food preserved. The levels of saturated fat and cholesterol are roughly equivalent between the highly processed and unprocessed meats.

“ (There are) factors that have made all red meats potential culprits in raising the risk of cardiovascular disease….But when you try to separate processed from unprocessed meats, you get an entirely different picture.” said Renata Micha, a research fellow in the Harvard School of Public Health’s epidemiology department and a lead author of the study. Victoria Taylor, senior heart health dietician at the British Heart Foundation echoes our Grassroots Gourmet viewpoint: “If you like red meat, this can still be included as part of a balanced heart-healthy diet… aim to cook from scratch.”

A previous meta-analysis released in March involving 21 different studies found that intake of saturated fat wasn’t linked to a statistically-significant increased risk of heart disease, stroke or cardiovascular disease.

These studies do not establish a cause and effect relationship; it is correlative. They do, however, validate the universal truism held within The Law of Unintended Consequences. In our Grassroots Gourmet philosophy, we choose the path of least perturbation.

When you gets your meatses, I suggest you do the same.