Food for Grown-Ups? Yes, Please!

Adult food from The Accidental Hedonist:

There are foods that seemingly met with the approval of all age brackets. Chocolate is a gimme, as is pizza. Rare is the person who would turn down fried chicken, or a nice dish of ice cream.

Let’s go!

National Grape Popsicle Day?

While that one seems like a bit of a reach, even to me, The Nibble here rounds up all of the completely unnecessary but very fun food holidays that I can’t actually imagine anyone observing. (Mentioning them, however, is something entirely different.) And, again while National Grape Popsicle Day doesn’t really sound like much fun for anyone (unless everyone was doing it) what about National Coq au Vin Day (May 29th) or National Mint Julep Day which, of course, should be on Derby Day but is, instead, on May 30th.

Hmmm... might be time to dig out my Coq au Vin recipe in honor of. I haven’t used it in a while and, after all, Coq au Vin is a wonderful thing. One shouldn’t really require an excuse.

The Nibble’s Food Holidays are here. Tip of the hat to Dying for Chocolate.

Respect for the Headless Chicken (and other semi-related tidbits)

This has been a big month for chicken. First Oprah said she wanted everyone to try KFC’s new chicken (grilled not fried). Then the LA Times pointed out that Oprah’s chicken pointing outing made a lot of people mad. And then, still from The Times:

On a mildly related front, it's worth mentioning that it's International Respect for Chickens Month. And that we, uh, had two-front page Food section stories today about, um, buying themmarinating them.

Finally, it seems a little ironic that, smack dab in the middle of International Respect for Chickens month, the weekend some people are making a bee-line for the Headless Chicken Festival. It’s possible that vegetarians will want to give Fruita, Colorado a miss this weekend, maybe head for the New Orleans Veggie Fest instead.

Roast Pork Loin and Asparagus with Wild Morel Sauce

It makes no sense -- not even to me does it make sense -- but I’ve been craving -- and consuming -- pork all week. (This week, of all weeks!)

I tell myself it has something to do with building immunity, but it does not: the two thoughts are really not connected. It has to do with the fact that pork really is the other white meat: it has that terrific richness (they don’t call it “pork fat” for nothin’), is incredibly versatile and surprisingly economical, especially for a dish as luxurious and just wonderful as this one.

The technique seems to strike neophytes as weird and labor intensive, probably because of the different surfaces involved: from skillet to roaster to cuttingboard. It’s not really and it’s worth getting the hang of as it’s a useful technique for other types of meat. You can, for instance, do a really lovely steak this way, just cut the time appropriately.

This recipe will serve four. Add a starch -- some roasted potatoes or a bit of rice -- if you’re serving bigger eaters or just like the look of a filled plate.


Roast Pork Loin and Asparagus with Wild Morel Sauce

1 lb. loin of pork or thick boneless chop
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
10 ounces fresh morel mushrooms, halved lengthwise (sliced button or crimini will do, as well)
1/3 cup white wine
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb. asparagus, with ends cut or snapped

Prepare the asparagus by snapping or cutting the bottom inch of stalk. Lay the asparagus in a shallow ovenproof dish. Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Set aside.

Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and brown the pork loin all over. Putting the skillet aside, transfer the roast to a foil-lined pan, bake in preheated 400 F. oven until juices run clear, approx. 18-20 minutes. When removed from the oven, transfer the meat to a cutting board and tent with foil to let rest at least five minutes before slicing and serving.

While the pork is roasting, go back to the original skillet. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pork scraps in the pan, then add the onion and soften over medium heat, about four minutes. Add mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste, sauté until the mushrooms are cooked through, about eight minutes. (Slightly less if using common white mushrooms.) Add the wine and cook until almost evaporated, stirring to deglaze brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add stock and cook for another six minutes.

Mix butter and flour and add to sauce and simmer until sauce is thickened. Add the parsley and pan juices from the pork a couple of minutes before the sauce is done.

While the pork is resting and you’re still fussing with your gorgeous sauce, pop your previously prepared asparagus into a 450 F. oven. Cook for seven to 10 minutes or until tender. Peek in roughly halfway through cooking and move the stalks around a bit so that they roast evenly.

Slice the pork and arrange beautifully on a plate with asparagus stalks and sauce.

Five Foods to Help Fight Swine Flu

Pushing these immune-building foods as helping to fight swine flu in particular seems a bit sensationalist to me but, hey, I didn’t make it up. That part fell to “Internet Chef” Bridget Davis who, oddly enough for a chef, lists the foods, but leaves it up to us to figure out what to do with them.

When the World Health Organisation- WHO releases a global warning about a possible pandemic, currently swine influenza A (H1N1) or the swine flu public reaction tends to take one of the following forms.

You have your pragmatist or ‘well stocked pantry personality’ who is boy scout ready for any possible outbreak including stock piling face masks, bottles of drinking water and long-life batteries.

Lacking a recipe, I considered the five immune-building foods and it occurred to me that an answer could be very simple, indeed. If you were to combine the five, sauté slowly with a cup of coconut milk and then you poured the whole shebang over steamed rice, you’d have a rather lovely lunch.

Internet Chef’s list of the big five is here.

Happy Earth Day!

In some ways, around here every day is Earth Day! We’re very concerned about sustainable food options and how to make your kitchen a happier, greener place. Because today the whole Foodisima team is being pulled around to Earth Day events, here are a couple of links to tide you over. Kaboose overs up a whole bouquet of Earth Day friendly recipes here. And January Magazine delivers a review of Alice Waters very important Edible Schoolyard as well as a contest to win one of five copies.

Happy Earth Day!