Homemade Smoked Pork Loin

Smoked Pork Loin served with roasted mushrooms, baby urugula and lettuce salad 

This is one of those unexpected flavors that worked well together. The pan-roasted mushrooms gaved that tacky earthy flavor and well contrasted with the balsamic vinaigrette, that tangy strong bite of urugula which is neutralized with the bland lettuce and that smokey taste of every bite of the homemade smoked tender loin (courtesy by Chef B.)   The flavors are dancing in the tongue of every bite which was really enjoyable that i cant afford to miss a post about it.  Oh well, i wouldn't remember it for sure after sometime, which makes this blog handy.  

I am not going write much about the salad because it is easy to make.  Let me write about how this smoked tender loin was made because it entailed a lot of processes and expertise to do it. Practice makes perfect indeed, and this one is nailed perfectly.

Oh well, Chef B isn't really blogging but I can do it for him! (winks!) I think i can do his recipe it if i had more patience! ssshh.  I had a lengthy interview while enjoying dinner last night. Don't tell him I blogged about it. Anyway, its not for him.  I will keep the recipe for our budding little Chef L.

Here's how he made the Smoked Pork Loin:

1.  Prepare a brine which is a mixture of 200g of salt per liter of water and freshly ground pepper.

Make sure the whole meat is soaked in the brine for a day and half at room temperature

2. Remove from the brine and soak meat in plain water for at least 2 hours. Pat Dry with a kitchen towel.

3. Whilst the meat is still moist, roll it on a bed of freshly ground pepper until all the surface of the meat is fully covered with pepper.

4. In goes the meat to the smoker for 5 hours at a very low temperature in continuous smoking.  He used mixed of Hickory and apple cider wood chips.

5. Chill the meat when done.  Wrap it cling wrap tightly until ready to serve. Slice as thinly as you can to serve.

This smoked loin has a perfect texture with just the right tangy flavor and succulent to the bite.

This goes well with this salad which was made by pan roasting the mushrooms, then toss with the leaves (baby urugula and lettuce).  Vinaigrette was made with fresh ground garlic (1 clove), salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Mix the vinaigrette until emulsified and drizzle over the salad.

For winter soups, we usually chop the loin finely and sprinkle it over our soup.  It eventually will sink and invisible therefore our little chef calls it "treasure" as she has to find the sinkers.  If she doesn't like asparagus soup, we negotiate with the "treasures" and she eventually loved asparagus soup.  Mushroom soup is not a problem, she just loved it since first serving, but she doesn't eat mushrooms! thats when she can see them on her plate. It is the sight of it she doesn't like but when blended, she cant see the mushrooms! By far, the "treasure" trick is still working.  She'll bust me out one day like how she busted me with the toothfairy!

#thekitchenjournal #homemade

Home Made Sausages

Making home made sausage is fun and can be frustrating at the same time.  Luckily we have this sausage maker attachment to our kitchen aide mixer, which does made life a little bit easier.  At first it was tricky but then we figure out some cheats to do it a little bit faster.  It should be fun to make it with the family as doing it alone isn't really that fun with all the mess you have to deal with, but at the end of the day you realize its is really worth it.  You can control the seasonings, amount of fat that goes in that sausage, and best of all,  no preservatives and the relief that you know what is in that sausage you are having on the table.

Here is a quick video of what we've done.

We are often frustrated with store-bought sausage, most of the times, there is so much fat in it. You can see as it you cook further, the amount of fat you that goes to the sides of your pan, which i usually spoon out to the drain. Aside from that amount of fat, sometimes it just have a nasty smell of "not so good" meat then you start to wonder, what is in this sausage?

Collagen Casing

For our homemade sausage, we used pork loin and shoulders (less fat).  For the casing we used the collagen casing  which is ready made and it is available in barbecue aisle of most shops, we bought ours from Academy Sports + Outdoors.

sausage making kit attachment

Kitchenaide mixer with attachment

finished product: homemade sausages

So, there won't be any recipe for this post as everything weren't measured, but bare in mind that when you make sausages, you better make a lot as it is a lot of work.  Freezing them makes it convenient. I hope to update this post with specific measurements, but for the time being we didn't bother to measure. All ingredients were estimated as per proportion of the meat.  We certainly used lean meat, cut it in cubes, seasoned it with salt and pepper, a little bit of paprika, cayenne pepper,  garlic powder, and onion powder.  Then comes mine and daughter's favorite part being the critic plays the crucial part. Tasting!  Hubby did a mini burger and cooked it over a heated pan subject to our criticisms.  Hubby then adjusts what is needed and if agreed with satisfaction, the fun begins with stuffing the casing.  I haven't took the video during stuffing as we were all got busy hands.

We usually serve sausage with salads and vegetables, or with egg for breakfast.  L loves it with a hotdog bun for school.  Sometimes pasta, or it is also good just as it is.

Thanks to hubby, who did most all of the job.  We were just helpers on the side waiting for his command. We really enjoyed making it for the 2nd time now, and i guess it won't be the last.  Rest assured, we won't be buying sausage from stores anymore.

Crispy Chicken Strips

Crispy Chicken strips

Crispy Chicken Strips

This is so simple and easy to make.  I like the versatility you can do with this.  Can be served with any of your favorite sauce or dip, or salad, potatoes, or rice. The cornmeal is the essential ingredient for its crispiness that you don't have to worry if it sits for awhile, without getting soggy.  I guess i don't have to elaborate more on the quantity as it is self-explanatory.  The more chicken, the more flavoring and coating you need.  Rough estimates won't do harm.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast (sliced into thin strips)

dried oregano

pepper (freshly ground)  ( i used pepper grinder all the time)

salt

oil for frying

Season the meat with salt and pepper, add a generous amount of oregano,  Give it a little rub so it will stick to the meat.

In a bowl, place the corn meal,  Add the meat and set aside. Shake each strip to get rid of extra cornmeal before frying.

Heat the pan and add oil for frying.

shake to get rid of extra cornmeal before frying.  Shallow fry for about a minute each side until golden brown.

watch the video:

Lettuce Salad with strips of ham

Here’s a simple salad for a light and healthy dinner.

Ingredients:

Iceberg lettuce
Green coral lettuce
Onion
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Strips of ham (cooked)
Shavings of parmesan cheese

Dressing:
1 tsp. capers
1 tsp. mustard
1 clove garlic
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
12 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper


Procedure:

Slice thinly the cucumber, tomatoes, cucumber and onion. Cut the lettuce leaves into manageable bite size; slice the ham into strips and set aside.

In a salad bowl, put lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Grate a clove of garlic and add to the mixture. Mix the mixture vigorously with a whisk or fork to emulsify and incorporate all the flavors together until thick. Add capers and mix further. Toss in the sliced vegetables and mix well. Lastly add some shavings of parmesan cheese. Serve with bread.

Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

Ribbon Pasta

Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Dressing:

2 Tomatoes (diced)

1White onion (thinly sliced)

1 clove garlic (crushed)

¼ cup Seedless green olives (sliced)

¼ cup Seedless black olives (sliced)

1 cucumber (peeled and diced)1 Tsp.

Capers

Juice of ½ lemon

Lemon zest

1/2 cup olive oil

Salt & pepper

To prepare pasta:

Boil pasta with salted water or stock until al-dente. Strain in a colander and run a cold water to get rid of excess starch. This prevents pasta from sticking together.

To prepare Dressing:

In a mixing bowl, put garlic, capers, lemon zest and onion. Squeeze in juice of half a lemon, add olive oil and mix thoroughly. Add in tomatoes and olives; mix further. Add the prepared pasta and toss thoroughly to mix the dressing. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top and serve. Could be served at room temperature or chilled.

Red Cabbage Salad

Red cabbage sallad

Ingredients:

½ clove of red cabbage (finely shredded)
2 carrots ( grated )
1 white onion ( finely sliced)
2 teaspoons lemon zest (grated)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
6 Tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

Blanch shredded red cabbage in salted boiling water for 5 seconds and drain in a colander. In a mixing bowl, mix cabbage, carrots, onion, and lemon zest. Toss with your fingertips to combine all the ingredients. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil. Toss altogether again until well combined. Serve as side dish.

Fruit Salad

Gotta have a break from creamy and cheesy stuffs! posted fruitsalad under desserts and I just launched a new category called "fruits around the world".