the petite pig

a rustic apple galette (and many other holiday recipes)

a few months ago, i was asked by the wonderful women behind blogher.org to be a part of the blogher holiday guide.  four female food bloggers got together with erin vest (the beauty behind the queen of spain blog) along with some other ladies of the blogher community to do some food filming in a beautiful redwood city home.  a month later, blogher brings to you four female food bloggers with four great holiday how-to videos:

dani spies known in food bloggerspace for her great video demos shows us how to be fearless of the holiday turkey.  and you can't have turkey without the stuffing!  thanks to elise bauer of simply recipes, stuffing never looked so easy (and good).  say good-bye to the standard (and sometimes bleh) green bean casserole as stefania pomponi of citymama gives us her family twist on this traditional thanksgiving side.  and providing the sweet, sweet ending to your thanksgiving meal is yours truly with a rustic apple galette.

so, check out my return to the camera and plan your holiday meal with some fantastically simple thanksgiving recipes (we have the videos to prove just how simple). 

meet the pomegranate steak sauce

a good steak doesn't need much.  a little bit of salt and pepper is usually all a good cut of beef really needs.  but if you want the kind of steak where you're left licking every last morsel of meaty flavor off of your lips, then you need that special sauce to turn that steak into a steak if you know what i mean.  a few entries ago, you all met the pomegranate; now meet the pomegranate steak sauce. 

combining the tartness of balsamic vinegar with the rich sweetness of the pomegranate, this pomegranate-balsamic reduction sauce adds a whole other range of flavors to the typically savory steak.  and don't be scared by that fancy food word, reduction.  all it means is we'll be thickening the sauce by evaporating some of the liquid out of it, which also helps intensify the flavors of the balsamic vinegar and pomegranate juice.  mmmmm . . .

new york strip with pomegranate-balsamic reduction sauce
serves 2 (for a very romantic meal)

1 tbs. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
16 oz. new york strip
1 tbs. olive oil
the juice of one pomegranate (learn how to dejuice a pomegranate)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced

the night before:
i'm a big believer in seasoning red meat the night before.  it makes a huge difference in the flavor, so the night before, mix up the first four ingredients and season liberally over both sides of the steak.  refrigerate overnight, leaving plenty of time for the seasonings to seep into the steak. 

the day of:
take the steak out of the fridge about an hour before cooking to give it plenty of time to rise to room temperature.  for thicker steaks, cook's illustrated has found a great trick for ensuring the perfect medium-rare center.  before searing, place the steak on a wired rack and heat to 95 degrees in a 275 degree oven. 

in a stainless steel pan (anything non-stick will prevent searing), heat the pan over medium-high heat.   add olive oil and place steak into center of the pan.  once the steak touches the pan, leave it alone and just let the heat do its job and create a juicy crust.  after about 1 and a half minutes, flip and do the same to the other side.  remove from pan and cover with two layers of foil to let the residual heat cook the meat some more. 

take the pan off the heat and add pomegranate juice and balsamic vinegar.  lower the heat to medium and place pan back onto heat.  the liquids will deglaze the pans of all the brown bits that have formed from the searing process.  these bits are packed with intense meaty flavor, so make sure to scrape them all up, incorporating them into your sauce.  the sauce will reach an active boil and as some of the liquids evaporate away, you'll see the sauce start to thicken.  once it's reduce by a third (meaning about a third of the liquid has evaporated), add the red onions.  cook for about 2 minutes, which is just enough time to soften the onions a bit and infuse them with the flavor of the sauce while still leaving some crunch.

serve the sauce over your rested steak and garnish with reserve pomegranate seeds.  dish up with some sauteed carrots and spinach, and you have yourself a meal.  (also great over pork)

thyme & brown sugar sauteed carrots
serves 2

4 organic carrots (or 2 regular carrots), sliced on the bias
1/2 tbs. butter
1/2 tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. thyme
1 tbs. brown sugar

heat a medium-sized frying pan over medium-high heat.  add butter and olive oil to hot pan.  once the butter has melted, add thyme.   once the thyme begins to sizzle and pop a bit, add carrots.  cook for about 5 minutes and add brown sugar.  cook for about another minute and add salt to taste.

garlic sauteed spinach
serves 2

1 bunch spinach, washed and dried
1/2 tbs. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 tsp. salt

heat medium-sized frying pan to medium heat.  add olive oil to hot pan.  allow olive oil to heat up before adding garlic.  once garlic starts to sizzle, add spinach.  cook for about 2 minutes or until spinach has wilted.  season with salt and serve with the juices left in the pan. 

an attack on grammar (and diversity)

after my recent "meet the pomegranate" blog post, i received this comment from a reader:
"First, this is NOT the proper way to process a pomegranate.  You do not cut it if half.  You cut a small section of the top off, score the rind, then separate it into parts.

Second, why do you people not capitalize properly.  You are in America.  We speak and write English in America.  When I see English grammar butchered, it drives me nuts."

i'd like to first thank him or her for his suggestion.  i received a comment from another reader suggesting this same method, so i definitely plan on giving it a try later today when i make my favorite meat sauce: a pomegranate-balsamic reduction. 

second, i'd like to suggest to him or her that he definitely has a place in the kitchen of gordon ramsay but probably not on my blog.  one thing i love about writing "the petite pig" is the feeling that i'm part of a larger food community where homecooks (like myself), avid eaters and even professional chefs can come together over our common love of food.  it's a community where ideas, recipes and techniques are shared openly.  it is not the restaurant kitchen of some hotheaded celebrity chef where there is barking and ordering and a right way and a wrong way to do things.  i do not run my kitchen that way and i definitely do not write my food blog that way.

third, and my real issue with this reader is his or her's second comment.  "why do you people not capitalize correctly.  you are in america.  we speak and write english in america."  i've had other readers take issue with my stylistic choice to not use capitalization.  despite the criticism, it's a choice i stand by.  it worked for e.e. cummings.  why can't it work for me?  but i feel that this comment is not an attack on my freedom of expression but on the value of diversity.

i realize that i live in america.  but america is a melting pot of cultures and people and of course, their food.  i feel incredibly lucky to be exposed to so many cultures without traveling more than a few steps outside of my door.  it is the immigrants of america that have helped make the american food scene what it is.  more than ever, we in america can experience the assorted tastes and foods of all those that make up the world. 

i'd like to think that all of us are in a better place because we have access to so many cultures but i know this isn't the view held by all.  i grew up in a small apartment in maryland with five of my family members.  dinners were cozy and chinese.  one of our favorite meals was fried fish, which as some of you may know creates a pungent smell.  this dish particularly upset one of our neighbors, who felt the need to post a public letter encouraging us to move because we and our food were not appreciated.  it was the first time in my life where i felt the demeaning nature of racism.  this reader's comment called upon those feelings again.  to me, this reader might as well have written, "why do you people not cook properly?  cook american?"   

english is not my first language.  american food is not my first taste.  but it doesn't mean that i don't belong here.  what doesn't belong is any tolerance for racism or food fascism.  neither are welcome at my table or my blog.   

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thanks to everyone who offered their comments.  this post is now closed for comments so we can get back to the heart of this blog: food.

other ways to crack open the pomegranate

i was stoked to find a few other ways to crack open the treasures of the pomegranate from some of my readers after my last blog entry: "meet the pomegranate."   i'll be blogging my favorite pomegranate recipe later today so i definitely plan on trying one of these other methods and will report back.

from rose:
Great intro for those new to pomagrantes! Here's a tip from me: after slicing in half fill a mixing bowl halfway with water and break apart your fruit under water. Much less damage to the little jewels and the white membrane floats to the top!

from cee:
Here's a good method:

Don't slice it in half. You lose a lot of the seeds that way and it gets very juicy. If you cut the top off you'll see that the membrane makes a star-shape. Make slices into the skin following the star shape (where the membrane touches the outer skin). Be careful not to cut too deep as to  slice any of the seeds. Then break apart. No lost seeds, no juice, and membrane which is easy to peel off. :)

thank you both!

to read about another reader's comment, check out, "an attack on grammar (and diversity)."