SC - Re: Gunthar, look at this

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

Mike C. Baker wrote:

>  Adamantius (Philip & Susan Troy) wrote:
> > On a slightly tangential note, I frequently serve roast
> > pork loins at events, and refuse to cook them to the
> > bone-dry plywood stage almost invariably called for in most
> > cookbooks.
> 
> Covered pan? "Bagged"? Laboriously basted?

I roast a pork loin in several different ways, but I think my favorite
method for event purposes is a simple, real roast, or as close as it
gets in a modern kitchen. Generally this means I sear the meat in very
hot saute pans or on the infamous pancake griddle, season them with
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, and roast them in a 400 degree F.
oven. A few months ago we served a feast with about six or eight meat
dishes, so we cut whole, boned loins into four (roughly two-pound)
portions, first cutting them in half into two segments, and then
carefully splitting each half so there was fat and lean in each piece.
We rolled and tied these, and, when cooked, they sliced into nice little
2.5 inch medallions. It would have been considered just slightly skimpy
but for the presence of haggis, saumon gentil, cig oen a mel (Welsh
honey-basted meat, in this case chicken), mussels, and mincemeat chewets
made with emphasis on the meat. This is in addition to egg, cheese, and
vegetable dishes.

The pork got et with Sauce Robert, made from caramelized shredded
onions, extra-fine matzoh [cake] meal toasted brown (an excellent source
for extra-fine bread crumbs, BTW), white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard,
reduced brown pork stock made from the roasted bones of the pork loins,
and the deglazed pan juices from the meat. This would be more in the
Taillevent tradition than the La Varenne style of this sauce, which
apparently features butter and capers, which is equally good, but
different.  
> 
> My favorite method for pork loin involves a paper bag,
> oil, spices, and long, slow, roasting. Considering other
> uses of parchment in "antique" cookery, d'ya think that
> a parchment envelope could be used for the same purpose?
> (I've been cooking many years, but am still trying to
> learn more about traditional / "ancient" techniques...)

I'm more inclined to roast the meat quickly, but this is largely a
policy adopted from the need to free up not-quite adequate oven space at
events. Both methods work well, and the advantage of a slow roast is
that there is less shrinkage of the meat as it cooks. My major objection
to the methods involving bags is that the meat tends to steam or braise
to some extent, and I do expect there to be a difference between
something that is dry-roasted in an oven, and braised in a  pot. Many
people have no problem with this, though.

> > Trichinosis parasites and their eggs are killed at
> > 137 degrees F. internal temperature, at which point
> > the meat is still pretty rare. I generally cook it to
> > an internal temperature of 150 degrees, technically
> > medium. Some people do become alarmed in spite of
> > this, and have been known to complain that the meat
> > wasn't sufficiently dead to their taste. It has juice.
> > It has flavor. Bad cook!
> 
> As a relative dabbler and culinary heretic, I do not even
> own a meat thermometer. In particular with the "bagged"
> pork loin, experience, proper timing and oven temperature,
> and observation (is the surface of the roast a uniform
> nut-brown? are the carved slices / pulled shreds tender and
> moist, juicy but without bright pink color or running blood?)
> tell me everything that I need to know, at least for my own
> consumption. (Opening the bag before the cooking time has
> completed is one of the most certain ways to spoil this
> particular dish.)
> 
> Given that there is still some risk, just how important is
> the use of thermometric measurement as opposed to eyeball
> and experience?

The answer is right there in the question...yes, there is still some
risk when you don't use a thermometer. But, there is also some risk when
you do, if it isn't properly calibrated, or if you misread it, or if you
don't do any of the various things that would catch temperature
variances between, say, the front and the back of the oven, or top or
bottom shelves. If you use a thermometer, you need to be sure you use it
correctly. For the truly experenced, by which I mean, say, a roast cook
for a large hotel or restaurant, (and I myself don't fall into this
category) a thermometer might not be necessary. For ordinary humans it
seems to be quite helpful in avoiding both danger and embarrassment. I
like the little quick-register thermometers that look like a ball-point
pen with a dial the size of a nickel on the end. They cost anywhere from
5 to 10 bucks, but are worth it, in my opinion. 

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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