Cooking Tartine : Croissants
After living in SF for a month, I keep thinking, how did we not live here sooner?? I think my palate is working overtime consuming all the delicious foods that the Bay Area has to offer and I feel like we've barely even made a dent! One bakery in particular that was way overdue for a visit is Tartine bakery in the mission district. Their baked goods are delectable and the atmosphere airy and homey. Every time I've gone I've definitely wanted to order way more than our party can handle and while the prices are on the steeper side, one bite and you know it's worth every penny.
That being said, I've obtained the Tartine cookbook (or bakebook) and am ambitiously going to try out the different recipes. Unlike the Ad Hoc book where different meals call for me to jump around on different sections, I've decided to start from the very beginning with this one and work my way through the book. Of course, the very first recipe in the book is making croissants. Croissants - the buttery, flakey, super rich and super heart warming pastry. That's a big big task to start the book off with.
So off I go - a 3 day journey to making croissants because that's how long it takes between all the proofing, waiting, resting etc.
Things I've learned includes:
1. Treat the dough like a baby, schmooze it, caress it, and don't over kneed it or it gets super tough.
2. Patience is a virtue. Let it rest, let it rise, let it do what it needs to do. I guess that's why it took 3 flippin days. The planning ahead does not work out well because every time I'm like, oh okay almost there - the book then says something like "and let it rest for 2-3 hours" *jaw drops* Oy...
3. I know you already know this, but croissants are VERY rich. Making 14-16 croissants take 5 sticks of butter. That's 2.5 cups of butter. FIVE. Almost makes me not want to dive into them...ever again. But alas, deliciousness prevails.
Tiem has been so supportive of my little "food experiments" as he likes to call it. I never thought it was an experiment, I just thought I was cooking for us. But nonetheless, he's been so supportive and inquisitive about everything I make and I just really appreciate his enthusiasm even when things don't go well. Well, especially his enthusiasm when there is suddenly a huge stack of butter boxes in the fridge.
How did it come out? Just okay, but it was my fault. I over kneeded the dough in the beginning by ONE minute and I didn't use enough butter when laminating. It says to dot and smear butter all over the rolled out dough to fold into threes like a letter. I did except I couldn't use all the butter because it was overflowing from the dough so I really don't know how they find the extra space to fit 2 extra sticks of butter in. Tiem told me I should have followed the recipe to a T, which next project on, I will for sure. It still turned out tasty, but definitely not as rich and flaky as I was expecting.
Cooking Ad Hoc At Home: Pie Crust
Okay, I didn't JUST make pie crust and had everyone eat crust. I made a pie but only with the fruit produce from our most recent CSA box, which included a lot of green plums that were a little sour to the taste.
My sister came for a surprise visit that Tiembo and her planned! So for 5 whole days, we ate and ate and ate. What else can three people who absolutely love everything food want to do?? Whether it was homemade or eating out, I thoroughly enjoyed having two of my bestest friends with me to do a belated birthday celebration.
Because we've been eating a lot of savory meals with little sweets to wash it all down, my sister in a fit of genius, declared, "let's bake something!" which usually (and this time too) translates to "Let's have Carol bake something while I nap in moral support."
Did you know that to get a good flakey crust, you use a LOT of butter? Yes, a LOT. I mean, like, 1 cup of flour to 1 cup of butter LOT. The pie crust turned out perfectly and delicious. I learned that with all baking situations, you just have to be very very patient. Letting the crust rest in the fridge is a must so the crust doesn't shrink when baking. Someone please explain to me how that works.
For the stuffing, I just used plum and peaches and it turned out delicious! Make sure after baking you let your pie cool down completely (around 2-3 hours) or else all the insides will ooze out and before you know it, you're eating pie crust dipped in fruit stuffings.
Cooking Ad Hoc At Home: Panna Cotta
As much as I loved the Alinea cookbook, there is virtually NOTHING I could cook in there without acquiring some form of molecular gastronomical super machine. Sorry, Chef Achatz, your "in home" suggestions (such as low oven heat instead of dehydrator) just does not result in the same effect and after many attempts and countless hours, I just ended up adoring the lovely photographs while eating chopped up semi-dehydrated tuna.
However, I did pop my Thomas Keller cookbook cherry and got Ad Hoc At Home. This book...I looooove. * swoon * This is a perfect book for a new beginning of cooking adventures in San Francisco, where fresh local ingredients are aplenty. So, what better way to initiate myself into a new (bigger) kitchen, fresh local ingredients (mostly from our boxes of CSA produce...yum!), and a little down time than to cook my way through this family-oriented cookbook?
Those that know me know that I am a total sucker for homemade desserts, so why not start there??
Panna Cotta, page 301
Gathering ingredients for panna cotta made our fridge look like a dairy farm - sour cream, buttermilk, and creme fraiche. Yes yes, this dessert is fatty, but who in their dieting right minds would want dessert that's low fat?
Can someone from California explain to me if Clover dairy products is local to California? This is the first time I've seen this brand but it's everywhere!
To start, I put the gelatin in a prepping glass with some water. This is called "blooming" the gelatin. It'll turn into a hard chunk of jello - don't worry, the warming up of the cream mixture later will melt it.
While that's blooming, I got on with the cream mixture, whisking together the sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla, and sugar.
Then I spooned abt 1/2 cup of the mixture (which tastes AMAZINGly fat) into a stainless steel saucepan and slowly heat it till warm, at which point I dumped the gelatin chunk in and slowly mixed it till it melted completely.
Then I completely forgot to take pics of the rest of the process...I promise, I'll get better at this. Basically I let the gelatin mixed cream sauce cool, mixed it back into the original cream mixture, and then folded it into whipped creme fraiche. To make it completely smooth and mousse-y, I strained it through a fine-mesh conical strainer into small ramekins and chilled it in the fridge overnight.
Before I served it, chopped up fresh strawberries (locally grown from Eatwell Farm's transitional field) to give it a refreshing contrast and cut the fat and cream with the fresh fruit.
It was pretty darn good! I think it's just an overload of cream for me, I think next time I would like to try making a more milk-based version. However, it's 1/1 for me for attacking this awesome cookbook! Tiem loved it so much he left very little for our kitties that looked upon the containers eagerly.
Anniversary weekend in Napa Valley
For Napa being only 40 miles away from home, it is really hard not to want to go every single weekend. However, it also makes trips more relaxing because we don't have to hit up every single vineyard and get sloshed in order to cherish what little time we have to spend in Napa.
This weekend, Tiem planned quite a few places ahead of time as a surprise and I could not be happier. We took off shortly after breakfast on Saturday, drove up, and hit up Gott's Roadside (food first because we have our priorities) for some solid burgers and fried calamari.
And then off to wineries we go!
We first stopped at Heitz winery a little north of Napa come highly recommended by friends. This place had one of the few existing complimentary tasting so we got a good 6 tastes and walked away with a bottle of delicious Port.
Then we stopped at Rutherford Grove for a $10 tasting (which is waved if you spend $30 worth of wine) and then ended the day at Peju Winery before checking into our B&B. We looooved Peju. The tasting was very intimate and you really get to taste whatever you request even though they do say you only get 4 tastings. It was just a very pleasant experience and fun.
Then Tiem surprised me with the place we were staying for the night - a bed and breakfast called Inn on First. This is one of the best accommodations experiences I've ever had. From the moment we entered the door to the moment we left the place, Jim and Jamie, the owners of the B&B, have been so personable. They remember our names, they provide complimentary Port, tea and coffee, homemade cookies (best cookies. EVER.), sparkling wine, chocolate truffles, and they pay attention to all the smallest details. We were thoroughly impressed and would definitely recommend this to ANYONE going to Napa for an overnight.
For dinner, Tiem took me to Ubuntu, a seemingly inconspicuous restaurant from the outside because they say "restaurant and yoga studio". However, Ubuntu is definitely way more than meets the eye.
I think we found our AVEC (in chicago) replacement. And it's VEGETARIAN! Did not miss the meat at all. We ordered 4 dishes, 2 cold 2 hot, to share. They grow all of their vegetables.
We started with an a muse bouche of pressed plum. Delicious juicy plum.
And then started the main courses with: traditional steamed buns, stuffed w/ burrata and coated with crunchy corn
‘bianco di maggio’ ONIONS, WILD PLUMS, HONG VIT
Second course: marinated ‘forono’ BEETS, whipped sheep, ‘goldberg’ PURSLANE
caramelized ‘red top’ PEACHES, LAVENDER congee, noyaux
Then the first hot dish: “inside out” arbuckle grits cooked with goat’s whey, cast iron PADRONS
goat’s milk ricotta, assorted RADISH, ‘delfino’ CILANTRO, smoked corn husk
Just a side note - these grits tasted like it was cooked in smoked bacon fat. It was unbearably delicious you could never tell it was vegetarian.
And then the last hot dish: garden inspired extruded pasta: FENNEL fiore, various SQUASH (v) -
lemony CARROT TOP broth, ’china red’ AMARANTH and BLOSSOMS
Of course no good meal is done without some dessert.
glazed ‘frog hollow’ peach and cool corn pudding
popcorn streusel, BLACKBERRY, goat’s milk ice cream
And they ended the meal with some toasted strawberry marshmallow
We headed back to the Inn and passed out from flavor overload.
The next morning, we had a beautiful brown butter gnocci homemade by Jamie and Jim at the Inn, checked out, and headed out for some more tasting and tasty foods. We stopped by St. Helena's Olive Oil for some olive oil and vinegar tasting. Delicious.
For lunch, we headed over to Farmstead, another restaurant that grows all of their food on site.
Tiem's contemplating what delicious dishes we should order...
We started with: Meatballs with caramelized mirepoix and tomato marmalade
Tiem got his protein on with: Muffaletta sandwich with bierwurst, soppressata, olive salad and Jersey milk cheese.
While I got: Hazel’s chicken and buttermilk dumplings
Everything was so fresh, so perfectly seasoned. We sat outside on the patio surrounded by apple vines and ripe apples still on the trees. It was perfect.
Once again, we can't end a meal without dessert, even though we were both very very stuffed. It was homemade vanilla ice cream with peach and berry cobbler.
After lunch, we stopped by Mumm Napa to end the trip with some sparkling wine tasting. Tiem's been to the original Mumm winery in France so we wanted to check out how it is here. Not too shabby although it was very touristy.
While we were stuffed with great food and delicious alcohol, no weekend in Napa would be complete without a visit to Bouchon bakery for some road snacks.
It smelled like heaven. I could have stood outside the bakery for eternity and be completely satisfied.
Once again, Tiem pulled off an amazing anniversary weekend. Rest assured, we'll be making many many trips up there "just because". This is our yield from the weekend:
Does this make you, our friends, want to visit the Bay Area yet? Come visit!
Happy 3 years of awesomeness, Tiembo.
I don't know why people make such a big deal of anniversaries. To me, every day spent with Tiembo feels like a celebration and each day more interesting, fun, and relaxing than the previous one. I have never gone through a day without Tiembo making me feel like I can conquer the world and making me feel so deeply appreciated. Even after 3 years, I still feel like we're newlyweds, exploring each other's personalities and quirks while laughing along the way...
Finding the smallest things to laugh and laugh...and laugh about...
(our first plane flight to Thailand as a married couple)
Sharing each other's ever so loving and supportive family and all the quirks that come with it...
Taking the leap moving to Chicago...
Around Chicago...
And out of Chicago...
Enduring an insane 4 years of Chicago winter...
Making the best of the city...
Building a whole photography business...and then closing shop to move across the country...
Having ongoing friendly competitions (that Tiem often throws the game to let me win...)
Never ending food fest, eating and eating and eating and... eating...
(Taste of Chicago)
(Taiwan EATFEST)
(Chicago - Alinea)
(Vancouver - Japadogs)
(Seattle - Crab Pot)
And always, without fail, finding ways to keep laughing with each other...
Happy 3rd year Honey. I would not have it any other way and a lifetime is simply not long enough to spend with you.
Drink tea, it’s good for you
My family's been in the tea business for over a decade now. I've always appreciated and respected how my parents upheld the integrity of their business and ensuring that no matter what, health of our consumers and ourselves come first.
This time, when I went back to visit, I had the opportunity to sit down with my parents and discuss all things beverage related. Since they interact with the food business on a daily basis, their insiders knowledge both shock, disturb, and educate me immensely about what we unknowingly put into our foods.
(This is a pic of what my parents' "office table" looks like every morning. Tea testing - chatting about life, business meeting, everything occurs in the morning over brewed pots of tea and an office smelling of delicious baked tea. I envy them so much).
For example, do you notice how many popular tea bags use staples and their strings are uber white? Staples are not meant to soak in water as it leaks toxins and the bleached strings leak bleach into your hot tea.
Another tidbit - loose leaf green and oolong tea should not be soaked in hot water above 85 degrees for more than 40 seconds at a time. After 40 seconds, the partially fermented (oolong) and unfermented (green) tea start producing tea tannins, which is a basic polyphenol that gives tea that bitter pucker-y taste and neutralizes the digestive acid in your stomach, causing indigestion and major gas. Black tea are fully fermented so that's why they can cook for longer under higher heat.
There's so many intricacies that go into tea drinking but most commercialized tea businesses do not even recognize or educate their consumers, pushing for buzz words and sensationalism (what's new). But going back to my appreciation for my parents' business that they created from the ground up all by themselves is that they never took consumer health for granted. They educated every single customer that came through their office door and monitored all our plantation tea to be pesticide free, to use organic fertilizers, and to be fair trade and hand picked.
I guess I can go on and on about secrets of why tea drinking is so much more complex and have so many more benefits than people realize, but I mainly wanted to get the word out there to watch what you drink. The packaging, quality, origin, and everything that embodies that little tea bag soaking in your mug can have long term health impacts - good or unfavorable.
Furthermore, I loved the values of my parents' business so much I decided to try it out here in the States. Hence, Noya Tea Co. was born. Nothing is set in stone yet and I'm still trying to find my way through this whole business world (since my father was pretty adamant about me avoiding studying business because of the ugliness he's witnessed), but I'm learning a lot as I go along. For now, I've got delicious tea to share with people. Just let me know 
Ann Arbor to San Francisco – Completing the move
We have successfully moved completely out of Chicago and in to San Francisco. It was quite the long drive but we did have a ton of fun in between. I remember when we were planning our trip, we thought, What are some places in the States that we probably would never JUST FLY THERE to see? And we made a point to try to get to those places, which brought our trip to a much longer and extended journey than google maps suggests.
We started the trip in Ann Arbor, Michigan (EST) where we shot our very last 847media wedding in the midwest. The wedding was beautiful with awesome people.
June 28, 2010 - Ann Arbor, MI to Austin, MN (618 miles)
Since the wedding was on a Sunday, we took off bright and early Monday headed back west. While passing through Gary, Indiana (CST), Tiem suggested we pay the King's hometown a visit. Okay. Whoever calls Bangkok third world again, I'm giving them directions to Gary, IN. This was one of the weirdest most abandoned towns we've ever driven through. And we've driven through many small town USAs.
We then briefly stopped by Chicago to pick up the rest of my worldly possessions and drove onward to our first stop on the journey in Austin, Minnesota (CST).
June 29, 2010 - Austin, MN to Mt. Rushmore, SD to Buffalo, WY (762 miles)
Did you know that Austin, Minnesota is the home of Hormel Foods - the company that makes Spam?? Tiem yelped the Spam museum and since it was 4.5 stars, he felt the need to pay the canned preserved meats a visit. So we went to the Spam Museum. The museum was really cute actually and they gave out free samples. It was small but actually very very cute.
Driving through Minnesota, we passed fields upon fields of gigantic wind turbines. At night, they all flashed the red airplane warning lights and all you could see were shadows of these monstrous structures against the moonlight. It was quite the sight.
And miles upon miles of rolling hills
Since our first major tourist destination stop was at the southwest corner of South Dakota, we had a lot of ground to cover for that day. We couldn't stop at the Badlands because the four presidential heads were awaiting us at the end of our trip for that day.
After the sun went down, we still had to drive quite a bit more to get to our next stop for the night in Buffalo, Wyoming (MST).
June 30, 2010 - Buffalo, WY to Old Faithful-Yellowstone National Park, WY, to Salt Lake City, UT (670 miles)
Once again, we took off bright and early to make good time all the way to Yellowstone National Park (MST). What is a little annoying about Yellowstone is that it is nowhere near a major interstate. It is smack dab in the middle of mountains and forest with wildlife threatening every mild of our path. We were driving super slow in order to avoid hitting a deer, especially at night, which would not have been good news for us or our car. There were some pretty close calls, one in which Tiem decides to test out the whole "Honk the deer out of the way" theory, which only ended up making the deer re-cross the street in the other direction looking very startled and confused. Never. Honk. At. A. Deer.
While driving through Yellowstone, we saw this:
It says "Vermont to Alaska + CA, Summer 2010". Hardcore.
Highest elevation topped at 9584 ft above sea level. Suck it, Denver.
Finally coming upon Yellowstone, we stopped by Old Faithful and waited 93 minutes. It should be renamed "sometimes faithful" instead.
Mind you, we have a full car loaded with stuff to the ceiling, 2 adults, and thousands upon thousands of feet of incline. After around 350 miles, this is what our car read:
Prius who?
We reached just outside Salt Lake City (MST) for our last night on the road. It was the most grueling and tiring day of driving mostly because of the slow pace and demand for 100% concentration on the road in case of deers.
July 1, 2010 - Salt Lake City, UT to San Francisco, CA (735 miles)
Homeward bound! So excited to finally be on a straight shot through the interstate, Tiem and I loaded up on water, Chelsea Handler's audio book, and plowed through. This was also the first day in 3 days that our blackberries got ANY signal so our phones were ringing like a casino. Another thing to keep in mind - if you get stranded in the middle of Nowhere, Wyoming, good luck. There is not even an SOS signal for AT&T. Less bars in more places indeed.
We drove through the Bonneville Salt Flats while I dared Tiem to take our Honda Fit and try to break the sound barrier. It was very bright and with miles of white salty desert, it was a giant tanning booth. Our left arms were definitely one full shade darker than our right arms (from driving).
After many failed attempts at securing an Asian restaurant on our way home (failed in Reno (PST) and failed in Sacramento (PST)...who knew), we finally ended our last meal of the trip with the Golden Arches and called it a night.
What I learned from this long trip through middle USA?
1. For a long road trip, make sure you love love love the person you are doing it with. It's tight quarters and a lot of boring lands to drive through.
2. Be flexible with food choices. There aren't that many along the way but that does not mean you HAVE to have the fast food cheeseburgers every time.
3. Bring lots of water bottles. My water bottles that I had brought along from Chicago really helped save us a significant amount of money on constantly buying bottled water along the way. It also reduces waste in the car and environment.
4. Always prepare trash bags. Trash accumulates in the car whether you like it or not, having a receptacle to put it in every day made our car a lot more welcoming and manageable since we were pretty much living out of it!
5. Just have fun! Detours, setbacks, even roadblocks (half hour road block in sunny Wyoming, for example) can and will happen. Make the best of it by focusing on something you CAN do with your partner at that time instead of focusing on what negative things will happen. I was not a fan of the Spam Museum idea because it would take at least 2 hours away from our long day trip. But looking back, I was glad Tiem convinced me to go because it makes for a great story and shared memories - and because I would never just go back to Minnesota for it.
Short ribs and Scallops – Last cookings in Chicago
Tonight I made my very last cooked meal in Chicago to thank my hosts for letting me crash on their couch. It's bittersweet to be leaving this city full of gastronomic wonders but I can't wait to start a whole new chapter in San Francisco working with another sorts of fresh ingredients!
Tonight's menu:
Lacquered braised beef short ribs, diver sea scallops, sweet potato mash, and greens
Look at this beautiful stack of short ribs, fresh from Whole Foods:
All that marbeling is just absolutely delicious. Short ribs are fat in itself, but it makes the braising so much more delicious as it falls right off the bone and melts in your mouth. Before any cooking begins, remember to get your mis-en-place ready. I'm a big proponent of clean working and cooking environments. Once you have all the ingredients laid out, it would make your cooking a lot more enjoyable and efficient!
This includes one vidalia yellow onion, 9 cloves of garlic, one large shallot, honey, white wine vinegar, soy sauce, and a sweet wine.
After I browned the outside to give it a nice singed burn and reduced the fat, I took the ribs out and threw the onions, garlic, and shallots in the fat reduction and oil. Another thing is, don't use olive oil to sear the ribs. Use an oil that has a higher smoke point like grapeseed or canola. Once the onion mix turns golden, place the seared ribs back into the dutch oven. The oven is already preheated at 325F at this point.
Then I added the rest of the braising liquid ingredients, filled the dutch oven up to cover at least 1 inch above the ribs. Placed it in the oven for 3-4 hours depending on how many ribs you choose to make. I did 3 hours for 3 ribs, usually 4-5 hours if I make 7 ribs.
I left the short ribs in the oven and did other things. By the time the short ribs are done, I turned the oven off and proceeded with the rest of my surf n turf. Using the suggestions of my good friend Pete (who is an amazing cook, worked briefly with Chef Tre Wilcox from TC3 and just started doing private catering), I seared the scallops in heated butter on my cast iron skillet (yes I love cast iron wares, it makes the most evenly cooked and delicious foods). The key is to not "play" with your scallops once it's on the skillet. You let it sit to build color, then flip it once and let it build color on the other side. Furthermore, be sure that your scallops are dried. I took them out and placed them on paper towels to soak up excess water.
And then just seared them. It turned out perfect. Not too dry, not too soggy.
Then I just threw some sugar snap peas on heated olive oil in a stainless steel All-Clad skillet, tossed it with some salt and added mushrooms.
Side note: What the....FARMVILLE HAS COME ALIVEEEEE!!!
Boiled some sweet potatoes, mashed it with a fork (I like lumps) and added a little butter for flavor and smoothness.
Voila.
I suck at plating so forgive the lack of plating awesomeness. Cheers to Chicago and all my food adventures that were possible because of this great city. Now onto the next!
Defended successfully
I defended my dissertation this afternoon to an audience patient and awesome enough to want to listen to me ramble about culture and statistics.
This concludes all academic portion of my doctoral schooling. All that's left is one year of full time clinical work and I'll be back in the Chi for one last hoorah with the cap and gown. Never thought that this day would come so quickly. It seemed like just yesterday when I am carrying a stack of print outs, killing trees, and imagining the day I can talk coherently about this amorphous project that is my dissertation. I think throughout this time, I've grayed a lot but truly learned by brute force how to decant an academic journal like no one's business.
Of all the lessons I've learned in the past 4 years, the biggest lesson I learned was how to take life a little lighter. As stressed as I got, I got to learn how to trust myself and my abilities more and just breathe and relax. After 2 weeks of intense dissertation defense preparation, I treated myself to one of the best comedy shows in Chicago. The eve of my defense. My friend, Matt K, was gracious enough to go with me to check it out (Side note: Armando Diaz Experience at Improv Olympics on monday nights is a MUST for those visiting/living/passing through Chicago. Must). But of course, it was not without the expected "Um, you're defending tomorrow and you want to go??" I'm glad I did because it refreshed my outlook on life in general and reminded me the important things in life that have nothing to do with defense.
I want to give a special shout out to a fellow classmate, Kelly F, who has been such a supportive peer and a motivation for me to stay calm and be confident. Her laid back nature has helped me reaffirm time and again my own conviction to just be chill. I know, a conviction to be chill, how oxymoronic is that.
Now I don't know what to do with myself. I honestly don't. I can watch tv, veg out, maybe even finish some books! It's weird being an adult.
Conquering a culinary fear
I love cooking. I'll try anything and everything. I cook when I'm stressed and I love being in the kitchen because it's the only time my mind is able to focus on one thing. But with that, I hate cooking pork. Why? Pork is a very hard choice of protein to cook well because everything has to be really precise. You cannot overcook it or it'll easily dry out and you might as well chew wood chips. You cannot undercook it because then you're risking everyone you're feeding in contracting some form of nasty food poisoning.
Most of the time I make pork I go the easy way out - braise the shoulder or belly that has loads of fat, which helps keep the meat part of the cut from drying out. But today, I decided to tackle pork tenderloin. Pork tenderloin is a very lean and delicate cut of the pork and because it comes from the pig in a whole strip, they usually sell it like a long log.
The key with the tenderloin is that I needed to roast/braise it with just enough heat to brown the outside and then cook the inside until it is soft and tender. I was nervous at first, but look!
Perfect. It was so tender, so juicy, and perfectly pink on the inside just when it is done. And I'm proud to say I did all this without using the meat thermometer, so modern technology can suck it.
Since I didn't follow any recipe, I'm not even going to attempt to measure how much I used of what, but here's a very rough recipe.
** KEY: BRINE THAT SUCKER. Don't skip this step because I think it made a WORLD of difference in both texture and taste.
Brine
Water, salt, sugar, dash of soy sauce, and sage leaves.
- Mix everything together, pat dry the tenderloin, and soak in brine (either with a ziplock bag or just in a covered container) for at LEAST 30 minutes. I left it to brine for 2 hours.
Rub
Garlic powder, ground white pepper, paprika, ground rosemary, salt
- Mix the rub and once you take the tenderloin out of the brine, pat dry again and rub it down.
Other ingredients
Garlic (thinly sliced), olive oil, 1 onion (chopped), 1 habanero pepper (chopped), soy sauce, sugar, balsamic vinegar
- Preheat oven 375F
- Mix soy sauce, sugar, and balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan on medium heat and heat it until it becomes a thicker sauce like consistency. Move to side and wait.
- Use a cast iron dutch oven, heat olive oil and garlic. P
- Place tenderloin in, searing all sides.
- Throw chopped onion and pepper on top of tenderloin.
- Drizzle meat with the soy sauce mixture until coated.
- The onions would start to sweat out some moisture but if you want, you can pour just a DASH of milk on the tenderloin. Yes, I said it. Milk.
- Leave dutch oven uncovered and put it in the oven, with a timer set to 25 minutes.
- Around when there is about 10 minutes left, cover the dutch oven and let it cook to the end.
- Once the timer goes off, immediately take the whole thing out, uncover the pan, and let the meat rest at least 10 minutes. This will ensure that your meat doesn't lose all that delicious juice from immediately cutting it.
Hope this helps. I am surprised myself how well it turned out. The meat is super tender I could cut it with the side of my fork.