I had a great time helping my dear friend at yesterday's Pop-Up General Store in Oakland. I had an even better time spending my morning creating and writing recipes to share with our visitors and patrons that provided some fun uses for their gorgeous Becker Lane Organic Pork.
The Pop-Up is a twice-monthly occurrence in Oakland, and is a wonderland for the food-minded. A group of professional cooks, artisans and producers come together, each with their own table, and create an impromptu market bursting with everything from cheese, to breads, to baked goods, to fresh pastas, to pork!
I promised many visitors that they would find my recipes up on the blog, so here they are! Photos to follow...
Inspired recipes for your Becker Lane Pork, courtesy of Chef Kelsey Bergstrom
One braise, two ways: Who doesn’t love multitasking dishes? Prepare this blonde pork braise and use it for two very different, delicious and unique meals.
Pork Braised with Dried Porcini and White Wine
5-6 pounds pork shoulder, diced to about one-inch square
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
¼ c. chopped dried porcini mushrooms
1 dried bay leaf
2 whole cloves
1 c. dry white wine
stock, as needed
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a 6-8 qt. dutch oven or another heavy, large pot over high heat. Let the pot get nice and hot. Season a quarter to a third of your pork with salt and pepper, and add to pot. Let the meat sit for a couple of minutes before giving it a gentle turn, careful not to disturb the golden crust forming on the bottom. Do this a couple of times, until the meat is browned on all sides and the bottom of your pot continues to develop its “fond”. Remove meat to a bowl or dish, repeat with remaining pork. **This is a balancing act- this bottom layer is the source of much savor and depth- so pay close attention to managing it as you work. Do not let it burn—each successive addition of meat will slow it down and protect it, as the meat cools the pot and throws a little liquid.**
Once all of the pork has been browned and you have a delicious fond at the bottom of your pot, add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, porcini, bay leaf and cloves. Make sure that there is enough fat in your pot to generously coat the vegetable base and protect it from burning. Now cook this base over a low flame, scraping up the fond with a wooden spoon, until the vegetables are meltingly tender, about ten minutes. Add white wine and enough stock to completely cover meat, stir well, and then add back in your pork and any DELICIOUS accumulated juices at the bottom of it’s dish. Cover tightly with foil and then the pot’s lid, bring to a boil, then transfer to pre-heated oven. Braise without disturbing for 1 ½ - 2 hours, or until melt-in-your-mouth tender. Remove from oven, uncover immediately and let cool. (Can be prepared up to two days ahead up to this point.)
Pork and Roasted Root Vegetable Cobbler
Serves 4.
½ batch of Pork Braised with Porcini and White Wine
1 each of an assortment of root vegetables, I like sweet potato, celeriac, sunchokes (4-5 each of these, they’re little!), rutabega, parsnips, potatoes.
Olive oil
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1 batch buttermilk biscuit dough, use your favorite, or visit my blog for the recipe
1 egg, beaten
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Peel and dice each of your selected root vegetables to about ½-inch square. Keeping them separate, toss each with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Lay each out on a parchment-lined sheet tray, a row of each kind of vegetable. This keeps them separate (therefore assuring perfect cooking for each vegetable) without dirtying a million dishes. Roast until tender, removing each vegetable as it is done. Set aside.
Bring pork braise to a boil in a dutch oven or other heavy pot, and reduce until the sauce just coats the back of a spoon. Add roasted root vegetables to the braise, stir in. Turn off heat and lay in rounds of buttermilk biscuit dough, so that they are sitting on top of the meat and vegetables, forming a single-portion crust. Brush biscuits with beaten egg and transfer entire cooking vessel to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown and cooked through.
Buttermilk Biscuits
Adapted from The Baker’s Dozen cookbook.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Rounded ¼ teaspoon salt
½ stick (¼ cup) cold unsalted butter or lard if you have it, cut into ½-inch cubes
¾ cup well-shaken buttermilk
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cold fat and, using a pastry blender or your finger tips, work it in until the mixture looks crumbly, with the occasional pea-sized bit of fat still visible. Add the buttermilk and stir with a fork until you have a moist, coherent dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead gently until the dough looks smooth and feels soft. Pat dough into a ½-inch thick rectangle and cut rounds about 3-inches in diameter. Makes about 6 biscuits.
Pork and Fontina Cheese filling
½ batch of Pork Braised with Porcini and White Wine
4 T. butter
4 T. all-purpose flour
2 c. whole milk
nutmeg, to taste
1 c. Fontina cheese, grated
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
Begin by bringing the braise up to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, pull out the meat from the sauce and set it on a cutting board. Dice the pork into smaller pieces, each cube roughly quartered. While you are doing this, allow the sauce to continue reducing until nice and intense, by at least half. Add the diced pork back to the pot. The sauce should coat the meat. Set aside to cool.
Make béchamel: In a sauce pan, heat the 4 T. butter over medium heat until melted. Whisk in the flour and when fully combined, pour in the milk in a steady stream. Increase heat to high, and continue whisking (this part is both tedious and important! It takes many minutes, but will result in a lump-free sauce!) until the entire pot comes to a boil and thickens. Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally, for about twenty minutes. Season lightly with salt and nutmeg.
Add the béchamel to the pork braise and mix gently until fully incorporated. Set aside to cool until close to room temperature. Fold in cheeses. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Use this savory filling for your favorite stuffed pasta preparation- cannelloni, lasagna, ravioloni. Alternately, halve, scoop and roast your favorite winter squash (acorn, delicata and buttercup are all good choices) until tender. Stuff with pork filling and bake until hot throughout.
*Hazelnut-crusted Pork Chops with Wild Mushrooms and Madiera
Serves 4
For hazelnut-crusted pork chops:
4 bone-on pork chops, about 1-inch thick
1 c. hazelnuts, toasted, cooled and rubbed of their skins
2 eggs, beaten
¾ c. all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Set up to coat your pork chops by spreading your flour evenly over a flat surface, like a dinner plate. Take your toasted hazelnuts and either chop them by hand or pulse in a food processor until uniformly bitty-- not powder-fine, but small enough to make for an even coating. Spread them, like the flour, on another dinner plate. Have your beaten eggs in a baking dish or bowl that easily fits the size of the pork chops. Arrange these in front of you from left to right, as follows: pork chops, beaten egg, flour, hazelnuts. Have a baking dish handy for holding your crusted meat.
Pat your pork chops dry with a paper towel, season lightly with salt and pepper. Taking one chop at a time, dip in the beaten egg, allowing all of the excess to drip off. You’re looking for an even, smooth coating. Dip next into the flour, shaking off excess. Take the chop back to the beaten egg for another coating on top of the flour, and finally, dip in the chopped hazelnuts. Take your hands and gently press the hazelnuts into the meat. Set the crusted chop in your baking dish, and repeat with remaining chops, taking care to keep them in a single layer in the dish. (Can be prepared several hours ahead to this point.)
For mushrooms:
1 pound wild mushrooms (Chanterelle, hedgehog, morel and/or porcini. Button mushrooms are a perfectly acceptable substitute!)
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
salt
splash of white wine
Sprig or two of thyme (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Warm butter with oil in small sauce pan until melted. Place mushrooms in a mixing bowl, and add butter-oil mixture. Sprinkle with a moderate pinch of salt (you’ll taste them when they come out of the oven and adjust seasoning to taste), add a splash of white wine and thyme sprigs, if using. Mix thoroughly and spread into a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet tray. Roast, turning occasionally, until golden and until the liquid that the mushrooms will throw has almost entirely evaporated. Mushrooms vary wildly as to how wet or dry they are to begin with, so this could take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. (Can be prepared well ahead.)
For cooking pork and making sauce:
4 T. butter
2 T. cooking oil
Hazelnut-crusted pork chops
1 shallot, finely chopped
2/3 c. stock
¼ c. Madiera
1 T. whole-grain mustard
1 sprig tarragon, leaves picked and chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet or wide sauté pan, large enough to hold two pork chops at a time, heat 1 T. each of butter and oil until the foam from the butter subsides. Add two of the chops and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown on the first side. Flip chops and repeat on the second side, transfer to rimmed sheet tray while you repeat with second two chops. If you find that bits of hazelnut are falling off of your chops and in any danger of burning, pour out your fat and begin with fresh. Transfer baking sheet to oven and continue to cook until an instant-read thermometer reads 125 degrees, about five minutes. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest five minutes, while you are finishing the sauce.
In a small bowl, whisk together Madiera and whole-grain mustard. Set aside.
While pork is cooking, pour out all but one tablespoon of fat from skillet. Add chopped shallot and cook over low head until tender, about five minutes. Deglaze with Madiera and whole-grain mustard mixture, then add stock. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. Melt in remaining 2 T. butter and chopped tarragon. Keep warm.
To serve:
Have sauce and mushrooms hot. Place a pool of glossy sauce down in the center of each of four entrée plates. Place golden, nutty pork chop atop and spoon over wild mushrooms. To complete the meal, offer sides of sautéed spinach, chard or another green, and/or your favorite potato preparation.
