Pork Green Chili

A little something about Colorado: Everything here is smothered in green chili and it's delicious. Hatch chilies, specifically, are a big deal here and right now just happens to be harvest season. In my relentless pursuit to be a tied and true Coloradan, I'm making a big pot of this tonight. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1" cubes
1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup flour
3 vine tomatoes, peeled and chopped
8 roasted, peeled and chopped Hatch chilies

1 jalapeno, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup chicken or beef broth

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add pork and cook until lightly browned. Drain off most of the liquid from the pork. Add onion and garlic and stir with meat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Add tomatoes, green chiles, jalapeno, salt, pepper, and sugar and stir to incorporate. Add broth and lower heat. Cover pot and simmer for 2 hours until meat is tender.

Serve with flour tortillas.

Beer Ice Cream

You can use a wide variety of malty beer in this recipe, depending on your preference. Simmering some of the beer not only cooks off some of the water but also some of the alcohol, which is helpful since alcohol inhibits freezing. The custard-style base is cooked to 180 degrees, strained, and cooled over an ice bath for a rich, smooth, creamy texture. Churning the chilled base in an ice cream maker, and then freezing it for eight more hours, guarantees a scoop that sets up perfectly. Make about 1 quart.

This recipe is best made with a malty beer that is 8–11% ABV. Avoid overly hoppy beers since hops become bitter once cooked. Make sure to cook the custard slowly in step 3 so that it thickens properly, which will ensure a creamy, rich-tasting ice cream. Serve with homemade sugar cones.

12 ounces 8-11% ABV beer
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
6 large yolks
2 cups heavy cream

1. Pour beer into liquid measuring cup. Add 5 ounces beer to 8-inch skillet and bring to simmer over medium heat. Simmer until beer is reduced by half, about 10 minutes, lowering heat as necessary to avoid creating too much foam. Return reduced beer to measuring cup with remaining 7 ounces beer, add vanilla, and stir to combine.

2. Place fine-mesh strainer over shallow medium bowl. Prepare ice bath in large bowl.

3. Whisk together sugar, salt, and egg yolks in large saucepan until smooth. Whisk in cream and cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat, until mixture thickens to custardy consistency and registers 180 degrees, about 10 minutes (custard should coat back of spoon enough that dragging your finger through custard on spoon’s back leaves visible trail).

4. Immediately pour mixture through strainer set over shallow bowl, whisk in beer mixture, and set in ice bath. Whisk occasionally until custard reaches room temperature, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

5. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to glass or plastic container, press plastic wrap or waxed paper against surface of ice cream, and cover with tight-fitting lid. Freeze until firm, at least 8 hours and preferably 24 hours. Ice cream will keep, frozen, up to 5 days.

Oklahoma Fried Onion Burgers

In Oklahoma, a burger isn’t a burger without a mound of thinly sliced onion pressed into a thin, crispy patty as it sizzles on the fast-food griddle. To make them at home, we sliced and salted the onions, then squeezed the moisture out of them so they’d easily stick onto the burger. Starting the burger over a moderate heat enabled us to brown the exterior of the onions while the interior softened. Add a slice of American cheese and these burgers will taste like they’re straight from the griddle. Serves 4.

A mandoline makes quick work of slicing the onion thinly. Squeeze the salted onion slices until they’re as dry as possible, or they won’t adhere to the patties. These burgers are traditionally served with yellow mustard and slices of dill pickle.

1 large onion, halved and sliced 1/8" thick
salt and pepper
12 ounces 85% lean ground beef
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 slices of American cheese
4 hamburger buns, buttered and toasted

1. Combine onion and 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl and toss to combine. Transfer to a colander and let sit for 30 minutes, tossing occasionally. Using tongs, transfer onion to clean dish towel, gather edges and squeeze onion dry. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper.

2. Divide onion mixture into 4 separate mounds on a rimmed baking sheet. Form beef into 4 lightly packed balls and season with salt and pepper. Place beef balls on top of onion mounds and flatten beef firmly so that the onion adheres and patties measure 4 inches in diameter.

3. Melt butter with oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Using spatula, transfer patties to skillet, onion side down, and cook until onion is deep golden brown and beginning to crisp around the edges, 8-10 minutes.  Flip burgers, increase their heat to high and cook until well browned on the second side, about 2 minutes. Place 1 slice of cheese on each bottom bun. Place burgers on buns, add desired toppings and serve.

Pan Seared Thick Cut Steaks

We tried this at home with beef tenderloin cuts. Simply amazing.

A nicely charred thick-cut steak certainly looks appealing. But cutting into the steak to find that the rosy meat is confined to a measly spot in the center—with the rest a thick band of overcooked gray—is a great disappointment. We wanted to find a surefire method for pan-searing thick-cut steaks that could deliver both a flavorful crust and juicy, perfectly pink meat throughout. We found it was essential to sear the steaks quickly to keep the meat directly under the crust from turning gray. But we’d need to take an untraditional approach for these thick-cut steaks and sear them at the end of cooking, rather than at the beginning. We began by moving the steaks straight from the fridge into a 275-degree oven, which not only warmed them to 95 degrees but also dried the meat thoroughly—dry meat is essential for a well-browned crust. At this temperature, when the steak met the hot skillet, our steaks developed a beautiful brown crust in less than four minutes, while the rest of the meat stayed pink, juicy, and tender.

Rib-eye or filet mignon of similar thickness can be substituted for strip steaks. If using filet mignon, buying a 2-pound center-cut tenderloin roast and portioning it into four 8-ounce steaks yourself will produce more consistent results. If using filet mignon, increase the oven time by about 5 minutes. When cooking lean strip steaks (without an external fat cap) or filet mignon, add an extra tablespoon of oil to the pan. If desired, serve with a pan sauce, relish, or butter; see related recipes.

2 boneless strip steaks (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches thick (about 1 pound each)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Pat steaks dry with paper towel. Cut each steak in half vertically to create four 8-ounce steaks. Season entire surface of steaks liberally with salt and pepper; gently press sides of steaks until uniform 1 1/2 inches thick. Place steaks on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven. Cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center of steak registers 90 to 95 degrees for rare to medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes, or 100 to 105 degrees for medium, 25 to 30 minutes.

Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat until smoking. Place steaks in skillet and sear steaks until well-browned and crusty, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, lifting once halfway through to redistribute fat underneath each steak. (Reduce heat if fond begins to burn.) Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer all steaks to wire cooling rack and reduce heat under pan to medium. Use tongs to stand 2 steaks on their sides. Holding steaks together, return to skillet and sear on all sides until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat with remaining 2 steaks.

Transfer steaks to wire cooling rack and let rest, loosely tented with foil, for 10 minutes while preparing pan sauce. Arrange steaks on individual plates and spoon sauce over steaks; serve immediately.