Me and Jamie Oliver!!!
This was taken in London at his "Fifteen" restaurant where Kim Wold and I ate once when we visited. As we were eating, in walks the Man himself! What a great surprise for us. I love watching Jamie Oliver on Food Network but his recipes are really not practical to make until he did this one:
Balsamic-Baked Onions and Potatoes with Roast Pork
Available wherever books are sold. www.jamieoliver.com
This dish has attitude - it uses a lot of balsamic vinegar but, trust me, it works really well! The onions and potatoes are baked in the vinegar, making them crispy, dark, sticky and sweet. I've chosen to serve them with roasted pork, but beef or lamb works just as well. I prefer red onions for their color and sweetness.
3 1/2 pounds medium-sized waxy potatoes (all purpose), peeled and quartered lengthwise
Olive oil
7 ounces butter,
cubed 1 bunch fresh rosemary,
leaves picked and chopped 1 whole bulb garlic,
quartered or smashed 5 medium red onions, peeled and quartered
1 1/2 cups cheap balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pork:
1 small bunch fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons freshly ground fennel seeds 1
(3 1/2-pound) boneless rolled pork loin, preferably free-range or organic, skin off, fat scored in a crisscross pattern
Olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium red onion, peeled and quartered
2 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
4 bay leaves
2 wine glasses white wine (I used white grape juice)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the potatoes into a pan of boiling, salted water and cook for around 8 minutes, then drain and return to the pan. Chuff them up a bit by shaking the pan.
To prepare the meat, scatter a handful of finely chopped rosemary leaves over a large chopping board. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper and the ground fennel seeds. Roll the pork across the board, pressing down hard so all the flavorings stick to it.
Get a large roasting pan that your pork will fit snugly into, and place it on a burner over a medium-high heat. Pour in a little olive oil and place the pork in, fat side down, sprinkled with any flavorings remaining on the board. After a few minutes, when the pork fat is lightly golden, turn it over and add the garlic cloves, onion, celery and bay leaves to the pan. Place on the bottom shelf of your preheated oven for 1 hour, basting it halfway through. (For the last 20 minutes of cooking, you may need to cover the pork with a bit of damp waxed paper to stop it coloring too much.)
Get another roasting pan, into which you can fit the potatoes in 1 layer, and heat it on the stove. When hot, pour a glug of olive oil into it and add the butter, rosemary and garlic. Add the potatoes and toss them in all the flavors. Add the onions and all the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes on the burner to reduce the balsamic vinegar a little. Place the pan on the top shelf and cook for around 50 minutes, until the potatoes and onions are dark, sticky and crispy - removing the pan to toss the onions and potatoes halfway through.
After 1 hour, the meat should be cooked. Prick it with a sharp knife - if the juices run clear, it's done; if not, pop it back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, keeping the potatoes warm. Remove it from the oven and let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes. Pour away most of the fat from the pan and mash up the garlic and onion. Place the pan over the burner and add the white wine. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, scraping all the meaty, marmitey goodness off the bottom to make a tasty little sauce, and season if necessary. Pass through a sieve into a serving pitcher. Then slice the pork and serve it with your incredible baked onions and potatoes, drizzled with the pan juices. This meal goes great with some nice greens or an arugula salad.
I want to introduce you all to one of my favorite places in Arizona. It is the small mining town of Jerome. It is located just 20 SW of Sedona and the first time I saw it, I was reminded of what Park City UT was like when I was a child and was forced by my parents to go skiing every weekend, and I hated the cold… back to Jerome… The first time I ever saw Jerome, we had taken the kids over to see the GREAT Indian ruins of Tuzigot (you’ve got to see those also) while we were visiting Sedona. It was late in the afternoon when I looked across the valley from the ruins toward the mountains and I saw a “glimmer” half way up the side of the mountain. I asked one of the Rangers what it was and she informed me that it was Jerome. I was so intrigued that we drove over just to see it quickly. It was so amazing and quaint that we went back over the next day to spend more time. There are many galleries which aren’t really my thing, but there are also great shops and museums that tell the history of Jerome. It use to be the 3rd largest city in AZ during its’ hey-day. If you are looking for great buys on interesting things, skip Sedona and go straight to Jerome where you will find great stuff at 1/3 the price. There are some great restaurants also, one of which is “The Haunted Hamburger”. Bruce and I stayed in the "Ghost City Inn" B&B (pictured above) when we stayed for a weekend and it was great. There is also a connection to England in Jerome. One of the founders of the town was a cousin to Jennie Jerome, who is Winston Churchill’s mother, however as far as we know, she never visited the town. Another great mining town is Bisbee but we will discuss it later. Check out Jerome and let me know what you think.
