Chomp Zone

The holiday season pretty much prevented me from finding time to blog. Too much wrapping and shopping and cleaning to do. But rest assure, I continued to cook as much as I could (though I’ll admit, we ate a rotisserie chicken all last week). The December issue of Bon Appetit was filled with wonderful cookie recipes, including one for homemade nougat. 

As a child, we use to eat nougat from the North End. It was absolutely divine. Little did I know, it was entirely possible to duplicate this in my own kitchen.

Original recipe here.

Here’s what you need -

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup of unsalted, shelled pistachios
• 1 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 egg white, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup of dried bing cherries, roughly chopped
• Parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 325F. Arrange the pistachios evenly on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 10 minutes, stirring once. Let cool and roughly chop.

Meanwhile, cut pieces of parchment paper to fit an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish. Line the dish with saranwrap so that you have 3 inches overhanging on each side. Spray the dish with cooking spray. Place one piece of parchment paper in the bottom. Spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine 2 Tbsp water and the sugar and honey. Heat on medium-high and stir until sugar has dissolved. Fashion a candy thermometer to the side and boil until it reached 253 (mine was at 255 and it still worked). Remove from the heat.

In a standing mixer, whip the egg white and salt together until soft peaks form. With the mixer still running, slowly pour in the honey sugar syrup and continue to beat for 10 minutes until the mixture has tripled in volume and cooled off slightly.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in pistachios and cherries. Pour contents into the prepared baking dish. I found it to be incredibly stiff, and it was easier to spread with my fingers than with a spatula (hello, stickage). Spray the final piece of parchment paper and place spray side down on the nougat. Use an offset spatula to smooth.

Let nougat set for at least two hours. Use the saranwrap to pull the nougat up. Cut in 1/2 - 1 inch pieces.

Store in an airtight container for one week.

Boston was hot today. We’re talking 90 degrees, potential (severe) thunder storms and humidity that forces you inside at 2 PM. Unsure about the weather, we decided to stay home today (with lots of morning and evening walks). It was the perfect excuse to crack out the latest issue of Bon Appetit and make some grub.

We decided on grilled pork tenderloin with cherry salsa served with a side of sauteed greens. I halved the pork recipe since it was supposed to serve 6. If you make a side dish, the half recipe (the one I’m including below) will definitely serve 4.

Here’s what you’ll need -

• 1 pork tenderloin, approximately 1 - 1.25 lbs
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped and split in half
• 1/4 cup of shallots, chopped and split in half
• 3 tbsp lime juice (split 2 and 1)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 lb cherries, pitted and halved
• 1 small chile pepper, cut thinly
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

One thing to note about this recipe, it’s helpful if you prepare everything in advance. Then there’s no scrambling as you go through each step.

Combine 1/4 cup cilantro, half of the shallots, 2 tbsp lime juice and vegetable oil in a bag. Toss in the pork tenderloin and marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature. Every few minutes pick up the bag and move the loin around.

While this is marinating, pit and halve your cherries, add to the cilantro and shallots. Add chile pepper, 1 tbsp lime juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and let this sit in the fridge so that the flavor meld together.

If you do not have a grill (like myself), you can do this on the stove. Remove the loin after its done marinating and heavily salt and pepper it. Heat your stove to medium high heat and spray with Pam or another cooking oil. Throw on your meat.

Turn the meat every minute or so. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Don’t cut it open! You will lose all the wonderful juices that makes this melt in your mouth.

While the pork tenderloin is sitting, make your sauteed greens. I recommend doing the prep work before hand (chop everything!) and then just throw it together quickly.

Here’s what you’ll need -

• 1 lb swiss chard, rinsed and chopped into 1/4 - 1/2 inch strips
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Lemon juice

Chop up your swiss chard, and separate the stems from the leaves. Chop onions and garlic. Heat olive oil on high heat. Add onions, chard and garlic. Cook until onions are soft and add leaves to the dish. Cook for 3 - 5 minutes until leaves are wilted. Serve with a splash of lemon juice.

Cut the pork tenderloin into thin slices and top with cherry salsa.