OPEN FLAME PRESENTS PORK-TACULAR EVENT
Chefs offer stylish recipes
Last month, a pair of local chefs joined me at American Propane, 7401 N Broadway Ext., to do delicious things with pork.
The event was sponsored by the Pork Council, so the first person I called was chef Sean Cummings. Yes, he’s known for his Irish pub (currently missing in action) and the seafood that put him on the local culinary map with Boca Boca and Land and Sea.
But Cummings’ newest concept is called Bacon, where he not only serves it but cures and makes his own.
For this event, he did essentially a polenta dappled with a sampling of lush, crispy pork pieces that he called grits. Call it what you want, this cornmeal and swine combo was rich and sumptuous.
FOOD DUDE
When it comes to pork, chef Marc Dunham is never far from memory. He’s currently in the process of opening a chicken restaurant called Nashbird and oversees the kitchen at Iguana Mexican Grill, but one of Marc’s proudest accomplishments was producing a pilot show called “Course of Food,” which concentrated on heritage breed pigs raised in Waynoka, Oklahoma.
For that episode, he delivered a dazzling pork taco, so he was my second call. Dunham didn’t disappoint with his crowdpleasing
Puerco en Pipian tacos.
Not well enough
As for me, I developed a recipe for Pork and Beans, attempting to take it out of the can and onto the grill.
The dish that made the Van Camp family canning barons has long been dismissed as the base for baked beans, and it’s a shame.
Culinary calisthenics are stock in trade in most of the restaurant kitchens where I draw inspiration. Most chefs can’t stand leaving well enough alone with comfort food, and I’ve rarely been disappointed by their anti-establishment approach.
So I made soaked some white beans overnight then put them in the kettle the next morning for a long, hot simmer.
In the meantime, I fried copious strips of bacon, rendering plenty of fat with
which to sweat chopped onion and a little hot pepper. Once the beans were tender, I added the onion mixture along with a head of garlic I smoked along with the pork, which will get to in a second.
All that bacon went onto the chopping block for a good mince and into the bean pot.
Knowing Roy Lee Lindsey, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council, would be in attendance, I thought it would be good to go big on pig, so I also smoked some pork loin. That is, after I brined it. Pork loin is notoriously lean and usually is trimmed to within an inch of its usefulness at grocery stores. That’s because pork purveyors have spent years marketing pork loin and tenderloin as “the other white meat” to appeal to the calorie conscious.
When flavor is removed, a good cook finds a way to restore it. Brining is a good way to do that. So is a good rub and smoke derived from hickory wood.
This dish can served as a one-pot wonder or with buttered noodles or white rice. Crusty bread is always preferred as a sopping device.
Other notes
Today, I’ve also included a pair of pork recipes from our barbecue event. Pitmaster Levi Bouska’s eye-rollingly delicious Pork Belly Burnt Ends.
The next “Open Flame” at American Propane is at 6 p.m. June 15. Since Roy Lee and his pork brigade took center stage at this event, we figured it was only fair to give the Oklahoma Beef Council its turn.
Helping me with this study in beef will be chef Kevin Lee of Vast and the fall-arriving Korean concept Gogi Go, and David Egan of Cattlemen’s Steakhouse. Egan’s talent for cooking beef is only exceeded by his knowledge of it. He’s also a great joke teller, which is a good thing because Kevin Lee isn’t and neither am I.
Cost is $50, call 8436868 to secure seats at the table.