Just when I came up with a new game plan to be able to cook a bit more, my life is going through some more upheaval. I'll write about that more as it happens, but for now one implication is that I need to start using up my stockpile of proteins in the chest freezer. To help me with this, I invited a couple friends over for a simple dinner the other night.
The original version of this bread pudding recipe was from Cooking Light, which is why you'll notice it uses stock instead of heavy cream. (I was going to make Thomas Keller's Leek Bread Pudding until I noticed that the recipe involved upwards of 400 grams of fat...) I had made this previously following fairly close to the Cooking Light directions, but this time I followed my instincts instead and it turned out even better, so I'll give you those quantities here.
The basic ingredients are pretty simple: 3 large bulbs of fennel, 2 to 2.5 large onions, 4 ounces good fontina cheese, and 15 ounces brioche (a definite upgrade from the Italian bread in the recipe...). Also, not pictured, is a quart of chicken stock that I replaced here with pork stock from the freezer, since I figured that would tie in nicely with the porkiness of the main dish. There can be a few cloves of garlic in there as well, but I was out of garlic so I omitted it this time and didn't miss it at all. I'll leave that one to your discretion. The fennel and onions are thinly sliced and thrown into a pan with a little oil. This is where the recipe is a lying liar, because you're supposed to "cook until golden brown (about 20 minutes)." HA!
Anyway, two hours later, I had my golden brown fennel and onions. I did this step almost entirely while sitting in my recliner, so it was no big deal that it took a long time, but I'm glad I decided to make this in advance rather than the original plan to prepare dinner with my friends when they arrived...
That's all the "hard work" of prep. The other ingredients then just need to be combined.The brioche is cut into rather large (approximately one inch) hunks...
And four ounces of the fontina is grated...
The stock is added to the pan with the caramelized onions and fennel, a little at first to deglaze, then the rest. After the mixture comes to a simmer, the bread chunks are gently folded in. I spooned about half of this bread and fennel mixture into the bottom of a silpat-lined 9" x 13" baking dish, sprinkled most of the fontina over the top in an even layer, then topped with the remaining bread cubes and stirred the remaining fontina through this top layer. A little (optional) Parmesan can be grated over the top for extra flavor and browning if you have it lying around, then the dish goes into a 350°F oven for about 75 minutes when you're ready for dinner. Look how pretty:
As for the pork, I used a pork loin roast rather than the tenderloin in the recipe, and varied the brine a little since I wouldn't be crusting it in fennel seeds to roast. I used the 8 cups of water, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup kosher salt as the recipe calls for, but also added a a heaping tablespoon of fennel seeds and a tablespoon of black peppercorns. I left the pork in the brine overnight, and there was definitely a lovely fennel accent in the finished dish. The pork cooks sous vide at 140°F for 6.5 to 7 hours and is finished in a skillet to brown. (I aided the browning with my blow torch because it is fun.)
As always, the pork was perfectly cooked all the way through. Pork remains one of my very favorite ways to use the sous vide technique. The resulting meat is so absurdly juicy and tender, and by vacuum-sealing individual portions of leftovers to re-therm (as they say), every leftover portion is just as perfectly cooked as your first meal, which is impossible with any other method of reheating pork that I've ever tried...
There you have it. Sous Vide Pork Loin Roast with Savory Fennel Bread Pudding.
I guess this is a perfect example of a meal that technically takes a long time to cook (the bread pudding takes about 4 hours start to finish, the pork takes 7 hours not counting the 8 hours of brining time...) but almost none of that time actually requires you to be in the kitchen. I poked my head in 4 times to stir the caramelizing onions and fennel... Then just tossed the dish of bread pudding in the oven while I hung out in the living room with friends sipping martinis... Didn't need to monitor the pork at all while it did its thing.
Sometimes a great cold-weather meal practically cooks itself...
The original version of this bread pudding recipe was from Cooking Light, which is why you'll notice it uses stock instead of heavy cream. (I was going to make Thomas Keller's Leek Bread Pudding until I noticed that the recipe involved upwards of 400 grams of fat...) I had made this previously following fairly close to the Cooking Light directions, but this time I followed my instincts instead and it turned out even better, so I'll give you those quantities here.
The basic ingredients are pretty simple: 3 large bulbs of fennel, 2 to 2.5 large onions, 4 ounces good fontina cheese, and 15 ounces brioche (a definite upgrade from the Italian bread in the recipe...). Also, not pictured, is a quart of chicken stock that I replaced here with pork stock from the freezer, since I figured that would tie in nicely with the porkiness of the main dish. There can be a few cloves of garlic in there as well, but I was out of garlic so I omitted it this time and didn't miss it at all. I'll leave that one to your discretion. The fennel and onions are thinly sliced and thrown into a pan with a little oil. This is where the recipe is a lying liar, because you're supposed to "cook until golden brown (about 20 minutes)." HA!
Anyway, two hours later, I had my golden brown fennel and onions. I did this step almost entirely while sitting in my recliner, so it was no big deal that it took a long time, but I'm glad I decided to make this in advance rather than the original plan to prepare dinner with my friends when they arrived...
That's all the "hard work" of prep. The other ingredients then just need to be combined.The brioche is cut into rather large (approximately one inch) hunks...
And four ounces of the fontina is grated...
The stock is added to the pan with the caramelized onions and fennel, a little at first to deglaze, then the rest. After the mixture comes to a simmer, the bread chunks are gently folded in. I spooned about half of this bread and fennel mixture into the bottom of a silpat-lined 9" x 13" baking dish, sprinkled most of the fontina over the top in an even layer, then topped with the remaining bread cubes and stirred the remaining fontina through this top layer. A little (optional) Parmesan can be grated over the top for extra flavor and browning if you have it lying around, then the dish goes into a 350°F oven for about 75 minutes when you're ready for dinner. Look how pretty:
As for the pork, I used a pork loin roast rather than the tenderloin in the recipe, and varied the brine a little since I wouldn't be crusting it in fennel seeds to roast. I used the 8 cups of water, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup kosher salt as the recipe calls for, but also added a a heaping tablespoon of fennel seeds and a tablespoon of black peppercorns. I left the pork in the brine overnight, and there was definitely a lovely fennel accent in the finished dish. The pork cooks sous vide at 140°F for 6.5 to 7 hours and is finished in a skillet to brown. (I aided the browning with my blow torch because it is fun.)
As always, the pork was perfectly cooked all the way through. Pork remains one of my very favorite ways to use the sous vide technique. The resulting meat is so absurdly juicy and tender, and by vacuum-sealing individual portions of leftovers to re-therm (as they say), every leftover portion is just as perfectly cooked as your first meal, which is impossible with any other method of reheating pork that I've ever tried...
There you have it. Sous Vide Pork Loin Roast with Savory Fennel Bread Pudding.
I guess this is a perfect example of a meal that technically takes a long time to cook (the bread pudding takes about 4 hours start to finish, the pork takes 7 hours not counting the 8 hours of brining time...) but almost none of that time actually requires you to be in the kitchen. I poked my head in 4 times to stir the caramelizing onions and fennel... Then just tossed the dish of bread pudding in the oven while I hung out in the living room with friends sipping martinis... Didn't need to monitor the pork at all while it did its thing.
Sometimes a great cold-weather meal practically cooks itself...
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