cherry tomatoes

Turn It On Its Head- Upside Down Sweet Potato Gratin

03 Oct 2011
sweet potato gratin

I started this Sweet Potato Gratin without a recipe. Heck, I started it without a plan. All I knew was I wanted sweet potatoes like my mother used to make. My mother used to make sweet potatoes with maple syrup and caramelized onions. Hers were done in a mash. They were delicious but in my opinion they didn't take advantage of the very thing sweet potatoes do best. Sweet potatoes caramelize like no vegetable I know. In other words they need to be baked or roasted.

But as I started prepping I decided that a sweet potato gratin might be the direction I wanted to go. I had already boiled and sliced the potatoes. I had already slow cooked some Sweet 100 tomatoes. Caramelized onions were filling the house with their marvelous fragrance.

Was it too late to turn this into a gratin? Well I didn't prep a gratin pan. I already had a cake pan lined with parchment and drizzled with maple syrup all ready to go. I even had laid out an attractive layer of potato slices. But still I stopped what I was doing and ran to the computer. Just what was a gratin, I wondered.

Well it turns out a gratin is typically a vegetable baked with cheese and topped with crunchy breadcrumbs. Hmmm. Was I past the point of no return in making this into a gratin. Well yes and no. I had big chunks of potato and no plan for cheese. But I had some excellent aged goat cheese in the fridge and who says gratins can't have chunky potatoes!

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Sweet Potato & Onion Upside Down Gratin

Sweet Potato & Onion Upside Down Gratin
By jgreghenry Published October 3, 2011
Prep time: 90
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 7 c cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 2 T olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 1 lb small sweet potatoes, about 2-inches diameter at widest
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 T maple syrup
  • 1 T thyme leaves
  • 5 oz aged (hard) goat's cheese, sliced
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 1 c panko breadcrumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Halve the tomatoes and place them cut-side up on a baking-sheet. Drizzle over some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to dry for 1 hour & 15 minutes to dry. Too much juice will make the gratin difficult to unmold.

Meanwhile, cook the whole potatoes, with their peels in boiling salted water for 15 minutes. They should get a bit soft, but not thoroughly cooked. Drain and let cool. Trim a bit of the pointy ends off each potato, then cut into 3/4-inch thick rounds.

In a medium sauté pan cook the onion over medium heat with 2 tablespoons oil and a big pinch of salt , stirring often, until lightly caramelized to golden brown. About 18 minutes. Once you've prepared all the vegetables, brush a 9" cake pan with a bit of oil, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.

Pour the maple syrup into the cake tin and tilt it to spread evenly over the bottom. Scatter half of the thyme leaves on top of the syrup. Lay the potato slices close together, cut-sides down, on the bottom of the tin. Gently press the onion and tomatoes into the gaps and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread the slices of goat's cheese evenly on top. At this stage you can chill the gratin for up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the gratin for 25 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking for another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked.

While the gratin bakes prepare the breadcrumbs. In a small skillet set over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the panko and toast, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining thyme leaves, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.

When the gratin is finished cooking remove it from the oven and let rest for two minutes and no more. Hold an inverted plate firmly on top of the pan and carefully but briskly turn them over together, then carefully lift off the pan.

Sprinkle each individual serving with toasted bread crumbs. Serve warm.

Choosing a Cut That's High on the Hog- Braised Pork Sirloin

26 Sep 2011
Braised Pork Sirloin with Tomatoes, White Beans & Sage

OMG. I have a simple and satisfying meal. It perfectly bridges the season between summer and autumn. Braised Pork Sirloin with Tomatoes, White Beans & Sage. Sounds delicious and seasonal, right? But it also offers me an opportunity to discuss something I have not talked about in almost three years of writing this blog. Which is shocking to me. I mean how can there be any virgin territory in three years of blogging.

And I don't mean pork. This ex-virgin has been porked. In fact the word pork appears in 141 posts. That's is out of almost 700 posts. That's a pretty strong pork ratio. Oink. Oink! Wink, Wink!

No the subject I seem to have missed is talking about the myriad of pork cuts. Which is a bit shocking. I mean I have read Fergus Henderson's The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. I have even eaten nose and tail. My last post was jowl. But truth be told. Snout thru jowl to tail is fun information. But I suspect lots of us could use a bit of briefing on the more common cuts of the pig.

Seems like a good idea, but here I am three paragraphs into this post and I realize there is no freakin' way. There are just too many cuts of pork. I can't possibly discuss them all without you wanting to butcher me! Take ribs. Pork back ribs = pork backribs = pork country back bones = pork loin back ribs = pork ribs for barbecue = Canadian pork back ribs. These are all just different names for pork baby back ribs. All those names and I am not even including spare ribs!!

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Braised Pork Sirloin with Tomatoes, White Beans & Sage

braised pork with tomatoes and white beans
By jgreghenry Published September 26, 2011
Prep time: 45
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 2 T olive oil
  • 0 salt & pepper, as needed
  • 2 pork sirloin steaks, about 1.5" thick
  • 2 clv garlic, peeled & sliced
  • 1 large onion, halved and sliced into slivers
  • 1 lb whole cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 1 cn white beans, drained & rinsed
  • 2 T sage leaves, sliced, plus more for garnish
  • 1 c chicken broth, or as needed

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Season the pork sirloin steaks well with salt and pepper. Sear them in the skillet on both sides until well browned. Transfer to a platter, and keep warm.

Reduce skillet heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the garlic slices; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the onion and continue cooking until tender, about 6 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until they begin to pop, about 6 minutes. Stir in the white beans and sage leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Return the pork chops to the skillet, adding enough broth to come about 1/4 of the way up the side of the skillet. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 10 minutes. Remove cover, adjust seasoning, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or to desired doneness.

Remove meat from skillet and let it rest about 4 minutes. Reduce the liquid in the beans, tomatoes and onions if desired. Pour the bean mixture onto a serving platter, topping it with the pork sirloins. Garnish with additional chopped sage and serve warm.

Notes:

Substitutes: pork tenderloin (slice medallions from it) or pork sirloin chop

Caught Between Two Seasons- Grilled Halibut with Fried Garlic & Cherry Tomatoes

20 Sep 2011
Grilled halibut with garlic and cherry tomatoes

I am an unabashed lover of Los Angeles. I especially love Los Angeles in the autumn.

Well, happy days are here again because my favorite season has officially started. And though I love fall, I want to let the Los Angeles summer linger a bit longer. So I decided to grill some fish. Grilled Halibut with Fried Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes.

So when autumn rolls around are you moving the flip flops to the back of the closet? Are you raking leaves and relishing in their sweet earthy smell? Does the change in season bring a change in attitude? Me too! Because for your information, we rake leaves in Los Angeles too. Just not very many of them and we do it in flip flops.

Because one of the advantages of Los Angeles is the marvelous weather, but people unfamiliar with Southern California always (unmelodiously) ask... "Oh, but don't you miss the seasons?"

What that ridiculous question fails to comprehend is that we have beautiful seasons in Los Angeles. There are changes in temperature of course, and we can expect rain. Which is a welcome change from our dry summers. The air feels different, The breeze blows from a new direction and the sky takes on a slightly different hue. Yes there are changes associated with the seasons in Los Angeles. Sure they are not drastic extremes, but I don't really feel I need that kind of drama in my life anyway!

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