Orange Glazed Pork Loin

Eat locally!

I always eat locally. No matter where I am that's where I'm eating.

I've complained before about this new obsession with being a "locavore" (God, there aren't enough travails in all of Hell to punish the genius who came up with that word). Allegedly we're all doing the environment good by buying locally. Yet every week, I see all the same "local" farmers putting on 500 miles a week to supply the various local Farmers' Markets. Twenty to twenty-five farmers, driving 10,000 combined miles a week to sell produce to a couple thousand people, who also have to drive untold miles to get to the various markets. Efficient, yeah right.

Now, word comes that "organic" food can contain up to 5% non-organic "material"; my doesn't that sound tasty? An article in the Washington Post shows that producers are allowed to add all sorts of strange things to food and still be able to label it organic. Wood starch in your grated cheese, mmmmm, give me some more of that. Or how about "Organic Mock Duck" that uses additives to make the "protein" have a stringy texture like real duck. Yummmm-eeeeeee!

"Organic Mock Duck"? That is wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start.

Look folks, just eat - OK? Try and support your local farmers and small businesses, but don't get nuts about it. Local vegetables should be fresher, so buy from the local farm stand. But when you're leaving see if the burlap sacks of corn are from your state or from 10 states away. Make sure you're not just buying the idea of buying locally.

Enough ranting. Today's recipe is Orange Glazed Pork Loin. Now the pork is from my butcher who gets it from some Amish guy in Ohio. The honey is from a local farmer. But the oranges aren't local. Oranges in Michigan will never be local. So forgive me my out of state citrus and try to enjoy...

Orange Glazed Pork Loin

adapted by Crabby from Weber's Real Grilling

2 pound boneless pork loin

Glaze

2 cups orange juice

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves

4 whole cloves

1 TBSP Honey

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

In a small saucepan combine the orange juice, rosemary, cloves, red pepper flakes and orange zest.

Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the mixture until about 3/4 cup of glaze remains, about 30-45 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly then strain the mixture into a bowl. Add in the Worcestershire sauce.

Pre-heat grill to medium high.

Reduce heat to medium and sear the pork loin fat side down for two minutes. Turn the pork loin and baste with the glaze.

Baste the pork every ten minutes until done. Depending on the heat of your grill and the thickness of the pork, total grilling time will be from 35 - 50 minutes.

Insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the loin. I cook my pork loin to 140 degrees, this may leave the very center of the meat slightly pink.

Remove the pork loin and allow to rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Helpful Hint: After searing, I place the pork loin on an aluminum foil sheet. This traps the basting glaze and helps caramelize the bottom of the roast.

Not bad crablings. This meal takes a bit of time so save it for a lazy Saturday or Sunday evening. A lounge chair by the grill and a beer or two should do the trick.

Until next time, remember you can do it, you can cook.

Cider Adobo

I haven't got a clue what to write about.

Some of you bop in here for the recipes. Others of you drop by to read the stories. Both can be easy. Both can be insurmountably hard. Today it's the story.

I keep an inventory of prepared recipes and photos that I pick and choose from. Sometimes a story reminds me of a meal, sometimes the meal jogs a story idea. Today, nothing. I have an ocean of photos, an encyclopedia's worth of recipes, an embarrassment of food, but "I got nothin'".

Maybe it's because of the long weekend. Maybe it's because of the heat. Maybe my brain is just empty.

That would explain the dull echoing sound.

So today I'm going to steal from the newspaper columnists. I'm going to write about nothing. It's the oldest trick in the book. Got nothing to write about? Write about nothing! No talk about Federer winning an epic match; no blithering about Palin quitting in mid-stream. Nothing.

Sigh, maybe the dog wants to go for another walk...

Sometimes cooking is like my brain: bereft of creative ideas. The easiest solution is to take something "normal" and add a different twist. That is the easy part - start fire, put meat on fire, turn over, eat. The twist, not so easy. Well, I scoured my cookbooks and print outs and found Cider Adobo. It fits today's conundrum of trying to make pate out of chopped liver. This sauce gives grilled meats a nice sweet-sour bite. Enjoy...

Cider Adobo

from Cowboy In The Kitchen by Grady Spears & Robb Walsh

3/4 cup red wine

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup apricot preserves

1/4 cup honey

2 TBSP packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon peeled & minced fresh ginger

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Place all the ingredients in a large heavy pan and stir well to combine.

Place the pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Pay attention, this sauce has a desire to boil over!

When boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook the adobo uncovered until it reduces by half; this will take approximately 20 - 25 minutes.

The sauce should have a syrupy consistency.

Serve with grilled meats, especially game (quail, duck, pheasant), pork and chicken.

Refrigerated, the adobo will keep for about 5 - 7 days.

See nothing to it. You can barely call it cooking - put stuff in pot, boil, don't let it boil over, reduce, cool eat. But in the end you've added another taste weapon to your arsenal.

OK crablings, time to go. Until next time, remember you can do it, you can cook.

Chilled Beet Soup

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

Growing up my father worked on a steam locomotive, helping his father, the engineer. He often traveled with his father, and on February 13th, 1945 they pulled into Dresden Germany. His father was killed in the first night's bombing, and if not for a passing soldier, my father would have died, burned, at 14.

His home country, Lithuania, first overrun by the Nazis and now occupied by Stalin, held nothing for him. So he made his way to a refugee camp where he finagled a job as a food server. He knew that being close to the food meant you would eat.

Every day a 7-year old orphan came through the line and, for whatever reason, my father gave him an extra scoop of food. The orphan said, "Thank you, I'll remember this". One day the orphan didn't show up for dinner and my father went to find out what was going on. He learned that the boy had left for America, he'd been "sponsored", bought for adoption really, by a widowed English teacher from Framingham Massachusetts.

A year passed and my father was approaching his 16th birthday. At the time, 16 year old males were offered automatic Australian citizenship if they agreed to immediately join the military. My father wanted out of the refugee camp and he wanted to be a citizen somewhere. He had the forms ready when he was called to the Red Cross tent.

"Would you like to go to America?"

My father, recognizing Fate tapping him on the shoulder, said "Yes!"

The ocean crossing was rough, but he made it with the clothes on his back and nothing more. The ship docked in Boston on his 16th birthday. Disembarking, he saw a small crowd at the end of the gangway, a few people, a reporter, a photographer, and in the middle of the group, a now 9-year old boy.

"See, I told you I'd remember."

True story.

It's Fourth of July and the Statue of Liberty is back in business. America is a country of immigrants and visitors. I can't think of a better time to post a recipe from the "old country". This is Boonsta's version of chilled beet soup. Now I know this recipe is going to be controversial. This is NOT borscht! This is a cool, refreshing, slightly tart summer soup, perfect for a hot night. Enjoy...

Chilled Beet Soup

by Boonsta

serves about 6

1 pound beets

1 cup half & half

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBSP fresh dill, chopped

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 pickling cucumber, thinly sliced

salt & pepper to taste

2 sliced hard boiled eggs for serving

Wash the unpeeled beets to remove any dirt. Place the beets in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender (a sharp knife should easily pierce the flesh), depending on the size of the beets, this could take 20 to 40 minutes.

Drain, allow to cool slightly, then peel. The tough outer skin should slide off easily.

When the beets are cold, grate them on a box grater or in your food processor. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the half & half, buttermilk, water and sour cream. Mix well to combine.

Stir in the beets, sliced cucumber, dill and diced onion. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

When cold, ladle into serving bowls and garnish with slices of hard boiled egg.

Peasant food, simple and flavorful. For a smoother texture, add the beets and onion to the liquid and use a stick blender to puree the soup. Then add the cukes, dill and eggs.

OK crablings, I'm off to sit in a lounge chair and watch some fireworks. Until next time, remember, you can do it you can cook.