Ginger Salad Dressing ala Japanese Steakhouses

I know that they are so 1980s but we like eating at the teppanyaki steakhouses.   The sizzle when the meat hits the grill, the smell of fried rice cooking, the blur of chefs' antics, and even the pandering jokes makes a fun experience.  You just have to embrace the cheesiness and ignore the lack of authenticity.   

One of the standard courses is the salad with ginger dressing.  As far as salads go, it is rather plain.  Just a little ordinary iceburg lettuce, shredded carrot, and dressing.  But oh that dressing.  It is fragrant and eye wateringly pungent.  

This week we did teppanyaki style steak and veggies using our electric skillet.

I didn't flip an egg on a spatula or crack any lame jokes.  I didn't make a flaming volcano.  But I did make the mandatory salad.

Teppanyaki Style Ginger Salad Dressing

Source:  www.nibblemethis.com
Makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup onion diced
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• 1 Tbsp ginger, diced and peeled
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp ketchup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup oil

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients except oil in a blender and liquify until it is a smooth consistency.
2. Slowly add the oil, while blending.

Notes

• To serve, simply break up a head of iceberg lettuce, finely grate carrot over it and top with dressing.
• I like to make a day in advance, keep in the fridge, and then blend it again just before serving.

We hadn't made this in a while and it was so good that Alexis and I ended up eating salad for dinner the next two nights.  I had a little left last night and poured it onto some boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  They've been marinating overnight and we'll see how they turn out at lunch.

Another Grilled Chicken Taco

Hop in the Way-Back Machine, this is the first version of "fajitas" that I ever learned to make.

Served with pico de gallo and guacamole.

Back then I got my recipes off of packages and magazines and used a DOS based recipe program to store them.   I got this one by sending an SASE to the Rotel folks to get a pamphlet of Rotel recipes.  

What is an SASE?  Kids, back before the inter-web-thingy, if you wanted information from a company, you mailed them a request with a "self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE)" and they would send you materials like recipes and catalogs.  This was shortly after we defeated the dinosaurs.

It is a little different in that it marinates the meat and veggies together and it relies partly on the acid in the tomatoes for the marinating effect.  

Another Grilled Chicken Taco

source:  Adapted from Rotel's Beef Fajitas

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, fat trimmed
• 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes and chiles 
• 1 cup beer 
• 1 onion, sliced in 1/4" rings
• 2 bell peppers, sliced in 1/4 inch rings, seeded
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3 tsp fajita seasoning, divided*
• 6-8 flour tortillas
• guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, and whatever other toppings you want

Instructions

1. Place chicken thighs in a 9 x 13" casserole dish and top with the onion, bell peppers, and garlic.  
2. Whisk together the Rotel, beer, lime juice and 1 tsp of fajita seasoning.  Pour over the chicken and veggies. Cover and marinate refrigerated for 6-12 hours.
3. Preheat a grill to 400f.  
4. Remove chicken, peppers, and onions from the marinade and discard the marinade.  Season with the remaining 2 tsp of fajita seasoning.  
5. Grill the chicken, peppers, and onions about 5-6 minutes a side, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165f.  
6. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes.  Slice thin and serve on tortillas with veggies and toppings.

Notes

• If you don't have fajita seasoning on hand, you can make a quick version using 3/4 tsp each of season salt, cumin, and oregano and 1/4 tsp each of ground red pepper, chili powder, and paprika

Pottery by our friends at Stony Claystation, Benjamin and Melissa.  Not available online but you
 can buy locally at the  Market Square Farmers' Market and other locations.

For a quick guacamole, just smash two peeled and seeded avocados, one seeded and minced jalapeno, 2 Tbsp of minced onion, a tsp of fajita seasoning, and a splash or two of lime juice.

Product Review:  Technique Hard Anodized 18 x 12 BBQ Pan with DuPont Teflon non-stick coating

The folks at DuPont invited me to test drive their Technique Hard Anodized BBQ pan about a month ago.  

My first impressions were that it is a gorgeous and well designed pan.  It has a nice thickness and heft to it.  The pan is raised in the center and every other grid has slits cut out to allow heat and smoke to come through.  One corner is formed into a spout that facilitates pouring off the collected drippings.

I was impressed but they also made some bold claims, such as:

1. cooks evenly
2. has runoff grates to get rendered grease away from the food
3. allows smoke to penetrate
4. cooks whole meal on one surface
5. easy to clean
6. you CAN use metal utensils (wha-wha-what?)
7. revolutionizes how you use your grill

The issue that I had was that I had heard that you can't cook with Teflon at high temps like you have on the grill.  The DuPont reps advised that this pan can cook at temps up to 500f*.  So I fired up my grill and cooked a few dishes on it to test it out.  I tried it on gas and charcoal grills.  Here is what I thought.

1.  Cooks evenly

Check!  The thick metal did help to even out hot spots from the grill and cooked evenly across the grill pan.  Even at a low temp of 350f, the burgers I cooked still had nice, even grill marks.

2.  Runoff grates

Check!  The angled surface quickly directed the grease away from the meat.  I don't think this gives you a health benefit ("ooooh look, the grease is away from the meat, less fattening!") like a certain indoor grill manufacturer used to tout but it does let the meat grill instead of fry.  

3.  Allows smoke to penetrate

Check!  The cut out grids did let smoke come up through the pan.  When I did the chicken, I had a chunk of mesquite in the coals and I could see the smoke wisp up through the slits.

4. Cooks a meal on one surface

Check!  I did cook fajitas all at once and no onions falling through the grill grate.  You can cook a meal for a family of 4 on this pan.

5.  Easy to clean

CHECK!  I thought this was only going to be about how easy it is to clean the pan surface, which is true.  While it is still hot, just wipe it with 2-3 folded, wet paper towels and after that it only needed rinsing with hot water.

But even better, all of the rendered fat is kept in the pan but away from the food.  Normally it would have poured down into your grill.  For a gas grill, that's a huge mess that will have to be cleaned out eventually.  For a charcoal grill, it promotes flare ups which make burned grease smoke, not good eats.  

6.  Metal utensils

Check! You NEVER use metal utensils with non-stick surfaces, right?  Wrong, DuPont ScratchGuard Teflon used on these pans is twice as tough as stainless steel and can take a beating.

Gratuitous shot of the bacon cheeseburgers we made.  I didn't have a pictures of me
using metal utensils so I thought that this would do instead.  

7.  Revolutionizes how you use your grill

Revolutionize?  I can't check off on that one, at least not for me.  Grilling has been around for thousands of years, so revolutionizing it would be something extreme.  But it DOES do what else it says.  

This pan will fit on most standard gas grills like my Smoke Hollow combo unit.  Sadly, it it will not fit in a standard 18.5" sized round grill like our Big Green Eggs or a Weber kettle because of the rectangle shape.  Square peg, round hole kinda thing.  

*Warning - Birds are sensitive to cooking fumes.  Although most household pets do not appear to be adversely affected by fumes from overheated non-stick cookware, PTFE coated cookware heated to temperatures exceeding 500f can emit fumes which are hazardous or fatal to birds.  Never keep pet birds in your kitchen.  Do not leave pan unattended.  The cookware should never be heated to temperatures in excess of 1000f as this may cause delamination of the cookware materials.  

[Standard Disclaimer] I received the grilling pan for review at no cost, but the opinions stated are my own.

Sustainable Pork Tour 2012 (Part 3 of 3)

I often joke that if God didn't intend for us to eat pigs then he/she would not have made them taste like bacon.  But one of the main reasons that I wanted to visit Wuebker Farms as part of the National Pork Board's Sustainable Pork Tour 2012 was to explore my personal responsibility involving eating meat.  

I read a quote from William Cronon in On Food and Cooking (McGee) about how today's meat consumer is disconnected from the personal responsibility of what it means to eat meat.  All today's consumer sees is a neatly wrapped tray of meat. 

Formerly...one was not likely to forget that pigs and cattle had died so that people might eat, for one saw them grazing in familiar pastures, and regularly visited the barnyards and butcher shops where they gave up their lives in the service of one's daily meal...As time went on, fewer of those who ate meat could say that they had ever seen the living creature whose flesh they were chewing...it was easy not to remember that eating was a moral act inextricably bound to killing.

That thought stuck with me.  So I thought that going to the farm would be a good way to learn about pork farming and get a better understanding of how I get the pork that I love to eat. 

Wuebker Farms was the ideal place for that because the brothers believe strongly that they are stewards of a precious resource.   Since they run a specialty farm for farrowing, they call it "an ob/maternity ward for pigs".  They aren't joking, they even have an ultrasound machine!  We spent the day touring the farm which boasts technologically advanced breeding, gestation, and farrowing barns that 

• provide a clean, safe environment for the pigs
• minimize electrical consumption & the farm's carbon footprint
• conserve water
• preserve air quality

The most telling takeaway of the whole day for me was actually a side comment that Jeff Wuebker made.   Even though they run a specialty operation, surely they raise some pigs to market weight for themselves right?  Nope.  Jeff said that they buy their pork just like you and I do, from the market.  He said that he just trusts the system that much.

Here are some of the questions I asked throughout the day. 

Question:  Are the pigs given any hormones to make them bigger/fatter?

Answer:   No - the use of hormones with pigs is not permitted by the USDA.  This had to be the most frequently asked question from my readers and I assumed hormones were used as well.  I was shocked at this answer and I think so was everyone else because I looked around and saw the surprised looks on their faces.  The USDA does not permit hormone use with pigs (but does with cattle) and tests for residue in samples prior to market.  They said it was a different story even just 15 years ago. 

Question:  Are pigs given preventative antibiotics?

Answer:   Not preventative.  They are only given antibiotics for treatment if prescribed by the veterinarian.  I liked Jeff's answer because he pointed out that antibiotics are cost prohibitive and they don't want to use them unless they have to.   The pigs do get vaccinations for swine flu, clostridium, and syphilis each year. 

Question:  Then how is it that pigs have gotten bigger and leaner?  What caused the change?

Answer:   Breeding, feeding, and specialization.  They use selective breeding for various purposes.  Since their current contract is pigs for eating they use landrace breed sows and use a duroc/yorkshire/berkshire blend for the male pig semen.  (The male pig was a blend....not the semen, just to be clear.)  Also, breaking down into specialties like farrowing allows them to focus on specific aspects.  This farm even has an utlrasound machine on site to assist with the breeding.  I'll address the feed later.

Question:  What becomes of the farm's waste streams?

Answer:  Solid waste (afterbirth, mortalities) goes to a series of very efficient compost bins.  They can reduce a full grown sow carcass to nothing in 45 days.  Stormwater and manure are diverted to two holding basins (one inside, one out) capable of holding 3.8 million gallons.  

They treat the manure with More Than Manure because pig shit is low in potassium, who knew?  Then they test it for nitrogen, calcium, zinc and a few other things.  Then they pump the mix on their feed farm and nearby farms.  Next they plant a cover crop on that land to grab the nutrients and then till that crop under to form a "green manure" (Think that's what he called it).  Then they plant the feed crops.

Question:  Is there anything like "pink slime" in the pork industry

Answer:  No, the process of butchering and producing pork is entirely different, there is no similar method to "pink slime".  

Question:  Several people mentioned their dislike for the new "lean" chops.  Any chance the industry will offer more marbled chops at the grocery stores.

Answer:   The farms production process is geared towards the packers' specifications, which in theory is driven by consumer demand.  So it's not likely with larger farms but some specialty farms may do that.

Question:  What causes the price of pork in stores to fluctuate?

Answer:   Food.   65% of "pig to market" expense is feed cost.  It takes about 3 lbs of feed for every 1 lb of pork produced.  

Question:  How representative is Wuebker Farms of the average US pig farm?

Answer:   Slightly smaller than average and from the tour, obviously on the leading edge of technology.

Question:  How are the pigs raised, in a cage or free roaming?

Answer:   The sows are kept in pins and are not free roaming.   

As part of the bio-security, we all had to suit up for the tour.  One of the diseases they are trying to prevent is porcine respiratory syndrome (PSR).  It hit their farm in January of this year and resulted in losing 249 sows and an estimated 10-12,000 piglets as a result of weak and lost litters.  They didn't recover to full production until June.  Even then, they only used minimal antibiotics (1/2 cc of penicillin) were used.

Photo courtesy of the National Pork Board

Wuebker Farms use of data and daily tracking metrics impressed me.  I honestly did not expect a pig farm to have a such business minded approach.  They plan, track, and measure everything.

Jeff explains some of the controls the farm uses to minimize energy & water consumption and maintain a comfortable 72f environment year around.  They use water cool cells, CFL lighting, and automated vents.  If something does go wrong at anytime of the day, the farm has an alert system that pages the Wuebker's cell phones immediately.

One of my tour-mates holds a piglet.  You can tell this one is several days old because it's split hooves have developed, it's umbilical cord was falling off, and....he isn't covered in placenta!   A pig will grown from 3lbs to 20lbs in just 20 days and then 270lbs by 5 1/2 months.

The average litter is around 11-12 pigs but they have had a record of 24.  When that happens, "there aren't enough dinner plates" for the piglets so the farmers will cross-foster some of the piglets with other sows with smaller litters.

Jeff explains the feeding system.  The feed is metered out and measured.  The amount and composition of feed varies depending on whether the pig is breeding, gestating, or nursing.  The average is 12 lbs a day.

Each pig has a tracking card that will be used for data entry.

The farm uses a computer program called Pigwin for tracking all critical data about the 1,800 sows.  This information can be used to spot trends, potential problems, and maximize efficiency.  I bet when the owners are asleep the pigs use the computer to play Angry Birds, they love that game.

Photo courtesy of the National Pork Board

Everything in this place is metered, monitored or automatically controlled.   Heck, I was afraid to ask to use the restroom because I was worried I'd have to pee in a beaker and record the data (kidding!).

Artificial insemination.  Yep, I did it and it was an interesting process.  The sows are in these stalls and they bring a boar through in front of them.  The sows get all hot and bothered.  Then you slide a hollow lubricated tube into the pig at a 45 degree angle until she "grabs a hold" of it.  The black bar in the picture is designed to simulate a boar "grabbing" the sow.  Next you attach the semen package to the rod pictured below and squeeze it in like a pastry bag.  They do this two days in a row and then check with the ultrasound at 28 and 50 day intervals.

Jeff explains how they process the corn from their crops used for feed.

Photo courtesy of the National Pork Board

The feed is ground corn mixed in precise ratios with calcium, lysine, amino acids, soybean meal, phosphorous, selenium, vitamin E and probiotics (like Activia for pigs!).  They do different blends for the different birthing and nursing phases.

All of that processing is done on site with an assortment of equipment.  Expensive equipment.  Everywhere I looked I saw capital investment, farming is NOT cheap.

We ended the tour with a cookout.  Check out Alan's awesome cooker.  It is a propane fired unit with an internal rotisserie of 6 racks (a meat Ferris wheel).  Can you believe he bought this thing for only $250 at an auction!?!?!?

It rained during our cookout but the area needed the rain in a big way.  So we all gladly adjusted and moved inside for a great meal with the Wuebker families.

On the menu?  Pork of course!  Pork chops and bratwursts were the meats with a bountiful assortment of sides.

Our hosts and my tour-mates.

Photo courtesy of the National Pork Board

Thanks to the National Pork Board and the Wuebker families for this educational and fun opportunity.  I feel like there is so much to say but I have already rambled on for too long.  Here are my quick takeaways:

1. Hormones are not permitted for use with pig farming in the US.  (shocker for me!)
2. Today's pig farmers are serious business men and women that use modern technology and practices.
3. Today's pig farmers are taking steps to minimize their impacts on the environment.
4. I looked a piglet in the eye and still have no problem eating pork but appreciate it much, much more.

Grilled Pork Chops with Honey Glazed Cippolini

This was a meal worth serving to company.  (A quick break from the Sustainable Pork Tour 2012 series while I work on the third and final post.)

We made Chef John's creamed spinach (Food Wishes), a version of Jaden's "Very Best" mashed potatoes (Steamy Kitchen), and thick grilled pork chops with honey glazed cippolini. The meal was fabulous and this pork chop recipe is going into my signature dish file.

I think that a properly grilled, extra thick pork chop is as good as a steak.  The only difficulty with extra thick steaks is cooking them all the way through without overcooking the parts near the outside.  The trick is to get the entire chop to an even temperature before grilling it over high heat and there are a few ways to do that, including sous vide, reverse sear, and my weapon of choice for this dish - the "hot tub method".

The hot tub method is submerging the pork chop in hot water for about an hour until the whole cut is an even 105f.   Then you can grill the thick chop to safe internal temperatures without scorching the edges.  The result is a tender, juicy, and evenly cooked chop.

Grilled Pork Chops with Honey Glazed Cippolini

source:  Cippolini recipe adapted from Ciao! Tuscany

Ingredients

• 2 bone in pork loin chops, at least 1" thick
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Brine

• 1 quart water
• 3 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cracked peppercorn melange
• 1 bay leaf

 For the Honey Glazed Cippolini

• 6 oz (by weight) cippolini
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 sage leaves, split lengthwise
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp honey

 Instructions

1. Brine the chops - Mix the brine ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Cool to 40f by either adding 2 cups of ice or chilling in a freezer.  Add the chops and brine, refrigerated for 4 hours.
2. "Hot tub" the chops - Fill a stock pot with very hot tap water (ours was 122f).  Remove the chops from the brine, place in a zip top bag and place into the hot tap water.  Let them sit in the pot for 1 hour. 
3. Blanch the cippolini in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Cool and peel them.
4. Preheat a saute pan over medium heat.  Add the butter, onions, and sage and caramelize the onions (about 20 minutes).  Add the honey and vinegar and cook until reduced, another 10-20 minutes.*  Allow to cool.
5. Preheat a charcoal grill to 500f.  
6. Remove chops from the bag and pat them dry (wet meat doesn't sear well and delays the Malliard reaction).   Season the chops with cracked pepper and salt.   You can see in the pictures I went heavy with the black pepper but lighter on salt since they were already brined.
7. Grill the chops until they reach an internal temp of around 137f, about 3 minutes per side.  I like to rotate the chops 90 degrees half way through each side's cooking time to get cross hatch marks.  That's pretty but not necessary.
8. Allow the chops to rest for 10 minutes so the carry over cooking will raise the internal temp to 145f.

 Notes

• Sauce - I did mine for about 10 minutes after adding the vinegar/honey.  It tasted phenomenal but should have gone longer to thicker.  

These were about 1 1/4" thick. 

I use these Rubbermaid square bins for brining.  Makes it easy to measure, comes with a cover and fits nicely in our fridge. 

It helps to squeeze out as much air from the bag so the chops don't float.  I also put the lid on to help keep the heat in.

Steaming my potatoes per Jaden's post.  This steamer is about 15 years old.

Cippolini are mild, sweet onions.  The book says you can substitute pearl onions but I can't imagine the dish being the same that way.

The sage is soft and green here but gets crispy during the saute.

My target temp is to have the whole chop at around 105f before grilling. 

I didn't measure the pepper, just seasoned it rather heavily.

I use the multicolored peppercorns not just for visual appearance.  The green, pink, black and red peppercorns give a more complex taste than straight black pepper.

I like to drop a cold pat of butter on the chops while they rest.  It adds flavor and gives them a glistening appearance.

I could only eat half of this big boy but it made for great leftovers.  Better than restaurant quality for sure.

Sustainable Pork Tour 2012 (Part II)

To be honest, when the National Pork Board invited me to tag along on their Sustainable Pork Tour, I didn't really know what to expect a "sustainable pork farm" to be.

You hear "sustainable" bounced around in terms of agriculture but what does it really mean?  I wasn't sure. I kind of pictured pigs running around with rainbows and unicorns.  

Reading various definitions can be even more confusing but this is what I take away from it:  "Agricultural farming that is economically viable and maintains stewardship of natural and human resources."  [Legal definition here]

Our tour started at the Inn of Versailles located in the Village of Versailles, OH (pronounced Ver-sales unlike its French namesake).  The hotel was built after a fire devastated the downtown in 1901 and has a charming bed and breakfast feel.  Despite retaining the older feel of the building, the individually furnished rooms have all of the modern day conveniences.

Lobby (photo from their website)

We were treated to a behind (and under) the scenes tour of the kitchens at Michael Anthony's Euro-American Bistro.

It always amazes me how commercial kitchens can do so much in a relatively small space.

Click click click

The whole Delligatta family works in the operation, she said it makes it fun to work there.

I saw a large drum of split wood in the kitchen, my favorite ingredient!

Chef Delligatta explains a little about the sustainable practices that they use, including their own gardens.

Wood embers burning on the grill, now THAT'S what I'm talking about!  I wanted to grill right then.

When we went down into the basement, I couldn't help but say, "It puts the lotion on its skin..."

What happens when a bunch of food bloggers see an underground micro-green garden?  More clicks.

They are pretty though, right?

We went back upstairs to test out the coal fired pizza oven.

A horse designed by a committee is a camel - a pizza designed by a committee is a....HUGE pizza with everything on it.

Then we met with the Wuebker's for dinner back upstairs.  Chef Delligatta and his staff served us several delightful courses of pork. 

Niles was kind of creepy, I never saw him blink ;)

The dining room is decorated with murals reminiscent of a European street.

In addition to being a trained chef for the past 15 years, Delligatta also was a certified Honda motorcycle mechanic.

 The antipasti course included the pizza we all created, bacon wrapped figs with oregonzola bleu cheese, San Daniele prosciutto with fresh melon, and fried squash blossoms.  The squash blossom and oregonzola bleu cheese were two of many firsts for me during this tour.

The salad course was a roasted beet and goat cheese salad.  The pasta course was probably my favorite of the night, braised sausage and beef ravioli with kale, peppers, and shaved parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

The main entree was a wood fired pork chop with fig and cranberry chutney with a grilled summer vegetable spiedini.

Another first, I had not had capers like the two laying against the chop. They were spectacular when cut into little bites with the pork.

If you follow this blog, you know I do NOT care for dessert.  I don't like sweets much.  I even have a post tag of "holy crap I posted a dessert".

The dessert course was a salty caramel and bacon gelato.  I thought I would take one bite to be polite.  This was one of the best desserts I have ever eaten in my life.   I ate every single bite.  Yeah...me. 

After dinner, we sat around and Jeff Wuebker gave us a preview of what we might expect the next day.   He described their farm as an "ob/maternity ward for pigs".  Instead of being a "birth to market" farm that raises pigs from birth to slaughter, Wuebker Farms is under contract as a farrowing farm.  

In 1986, they only had 60 sows and have grown to 1,800 sows today.  Last year they produced enough pigs to supply 1 million pork chops.  But the focus was on how they won the Environmental Stewardship award with their sustainable practices.  He talked about how they use automation, policies, and practices to minimize consumption and keep waste streams onsite.  

More about that in the next post but it was clear the modern pig farmer is part businessman, part biologist, part nutritionist, part veterinarian, and 100% dedicated.

Funniest moment of the dinner: During dinner one end of the table exploded in laughter.  I debated about putting the reason behind it here since it is a little risque.  For a compromise, I will put it as the first comment.  View it at your own risk.

Jeff also mentioned that tomorrow we would have the opportunity to hold a freshly born piece of bacon pig and even participate in the artificial insemination of sows.  WHAT WHAT WHAT? Yeah, you'll have to wait for Part III about the farm tour for that part!  :)