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Magic in the Kitchen (Artisan, $50, 214
pages), 54 recipes As one might expect with a photographer as the coordinator, "Magic in the Kitchen" is a visually stunning book. Fanciful pictures of chefs, stark photographic presentations of the recipes, and an eye-catching two-part book jacket make this the quintessential coffee table book. Spotlighting 39 chefs from around the country, the book has 54 recipes and detailed descriptions of 15 others. While you could experiment with some of the recipe descriptions, it was disappointing that legendary chefs like Charlie Trotter and Thomas Keller, while featured, offered no full recipes. A diversity of regions and cooking styles are represented, but more than half of the recipes are seafood. Surely a book containing the work of America's best and brightest chefs could have offered a broader range of recipes. As someone who doesn't eat seafood, my choices of what to make from this cookbook were severely limited. Most of the recipes are very complex with multiple steps, as one would expect from high-level restaurant chefs, though none really seem beyond the grasp of an adventurous home cook. Certainly not typical of what the home cook would normally whip up for dinner, but the kind of recipes you'd reserve for a special meal or when you feel like challenging yourself. Most recipes have hard-to-find regional or seasonal ingredients. In fact, of the three recipes I liked enough to try, two of them would have to wait for some ingredients to be in season. I decided to try Bobby Flay's pork tenderloin dish. It features a spice rub with three different types of ground chiles and a sweet-spicy sauce. I found the three different whole chiles at my local supermarket, but had to grind them myself. The tip to crisp the chiles was helpful, as mine were still bendable (and therefore not grindable). As I expected from reading the recipe, preparing this dish was not difficult, just time-consuming. I had never made a spice-rubbed meat dish before, and the only sauces in my repertoire were simple pan sauces and gravies. I made it for my parents and husband and enjoyed the process thoroughly: The scent of fresh ground chiles; the ever-deepening color of the sauce; the rich brown of the spice-rubbed tenderloin, and the mingling aromas of the cooking meat and reducing sauce. And the flavor of the dish was something to truly revel in; the heat of the spice rub was perfectly tempered by the sweet bourbon sauce. Even my husband, who has a low tolerance for spicy hot foods, was able to enjoy the dish and actually wanted seconds. PORK TENDERLOIN WITH BOURBON-ANCHO SAUCE FOR THE CHILE RUB: FOR THE SAUCE: FOR THE PORK: 1. Prepare the rub: Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. 2. Prepare the sauce: Soak the chiles in warm water to cover until softened: drain, reserving the soaking liquid. Stem and seed the chiles. Transfer to a small food processor and process to a puree, adding a little of the soaking water as needed. 3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup of the bourbon and cook until reduced to a glaze. (Lower the heat at the end of cooking so as not to scorch the sides of the pan.) Add the pureed chiles, the stock, apple juice, brown sugar and peppercorns and cook until the liquid is reduced by one-half. Strain through a fine-meshed strainer into a clean saucepan. Cook until the mixture thickens to a saucelike consistency. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon bourbon and simmer for 2 more minutes. Stir in the salt and set aside. 4. Prepare the pork: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan or a roasting pan large enough to hold the tenderloins comfortably over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork all over with salt. Dredge the pork in the spice rub (using about 2 tablespoons of the rub) and pat off the excess. Add the pork to the pan and sear for 1 to 2 minutes on each side. 5. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 15 to 18 minutes for medium, 135-140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the pork to a plate, cover loosely, and set aside to rest 7-10 minutes. 6. Finish the dish: Rewarm the sauce and taste for salt, adding more as needed. Cut the pork into 12 thick slices and divide among four serving plates. 7. Spoon the hot sauce over the pork and sprinkle with the chives. Garnish the plates with cilantro leaves and serve. Per serving: 972 calories, 43 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates, 60 g fat, 163 mg cholesterol, 1194 mg sodium, 1 g fiber. Calories from fat: 65 percent. NOTE: You may be able to find these chile powders at your supermarket. If not, you'll certainly find the whole dried chiles there and you can grind them yourself in a spice or coffee grinder. If the whole chiles are still pliable when you buy them, they aren't dry enough to grind: dry them in a 200 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until they get a crackly texture. |
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