Pork Souvlaki on a Picnic

One of the many benefits of growing up in a warm climate is the option of eating outdoors on a regular basis. My mother made dinner for our family almost every night of the week and we ate it together, not in front of a television. As spring arrived each year and daylight extended a bit further into the evening, it would come time for my brother or I to set the table and my mother would ask, “are we eating inside or out tonight?” My answer was always, “out!” and if I could get outside fast enough, before any other family member had the chance to object, I would set our patio table and light the citronella candles to try and keep the bees away.

I’m not sure why I loved eating outdoors so much. Perhaps it was a change from the usual or maybe, even at a young age, I appreciated the amazing view of the Angeles Crest National Forest visible from my parents’ backyard. I couldn’t have known then that they wouldn’t live in that house forever and that I needed to make the most of the surroundings while I had the chance; luckily, I did it anyway.



I continue to love eating outdoors though I rarely get the chance to entertain in my own backyard. Busy schedules and the absence of my own family to cook for every evening mean eating outside is relegated to Saturday evenings and only then if I can round up a group of friends to come over for a BBQ.

Since the time change has already happened this spring and the sunlight hours are once again extending further into the evening, I need to make sure that my propane tank is full and ready to BBQ. Of course the first question that comes to mind and perhaps should not be addressed so late in this post is what to serve?

I love making skewers for picnics and BBQs. They can be prepared in advance and grilled on the spot or if you’re headed out on a picnic they can be cooked in advance and served at room temperature. Even more importantly, you don’t need silverware. Simply put, meat on a stick is easy outdoor food.

When meat on a stick is made with Greek flavors, it is often referred to as souvlaki or shish kebab, but still, at its base, it is meat on a stick. This recipe for Pork Souvlaki is marinated the night before so when it comes to cooking, all you have to do is skewer and grill. The accompanying honeyed apricots can also be prepared ahead, making the work when your guests arrive an exercise more in plating than in cooking.

Cooking note - Finding myself without a bottle of wine in the house, I substituted champagne vinegar for the wine, reducing the amount by two thirds. If you prefer to use wine, I’ve included the original amount called for. If you do use vinegar, be ready for a bit of a sour bite to the apricots, a bite that I found to be perfectly balanced by the Greek yogurt served on the side.



Pork Souvlaki with Honeyed Apricots
Adapted from Michael Symon
Serves 4 - 6

For the Pork:
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T fresh oregano, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-to-2-inch chunks
Salt

For the Apricots:
Juice of 3 limes
3/4 cup white wine (or 1/4 cup champagne vinegar and 1/4 cup water)
1/4 cup honey (or, if using vinegar, 3/4 cup honey)
1 shallot, minced
12 or more dried apricots
1 T fresh mint, chopped
1 T toasted pine nuts
Greek yogurt for serving

For the Pork: Combine the shallots, garlic, oregano, jalapeno, lemon juice, olive oil and pork in a large Ziploc bag and turn to coat. Marinate overnight (or at least three hours if you don’t have that much time).

For the Apricots: Combine the lime juice, wine or vinegar, honey and shallots and bring to a boil. Add the apricots and simmer the mixture until syrupy, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the mint and pine nuts.

For the Pork: Soak 16 wooden skewers in water for half an hour if you are using a BBQ. If you are using a grill pan then there is no need to soak the skewers. Place two pieces of pork on each skewer, sprinkle generously with salt and cook over high heat until cooked through, about two minutes per side. Plate 2 to 3 skewers per person and serve with a dollop of yogurt and 2 to 3 apricots.

Prosciutto Corn Cakes

I love corn. I love corn on the cob, cornbread, corn pudding and I certainly love a coarsely ground cornmeal, cooked for at least thirty minutes while liquid is slowly introduced, turning the whole mixture into what is known as polenta.



This love of corn is why I get excited anytime I see a recipe that resembles cornbread or calls for some kind of ground corn product. It’s why I turned my mother’s cornbread recipe into madeleines so I could snack on them at tea time, or anytime really. It’s also why these little corn cakes caught my eye in a recent Donna Hay Magazine.



They’re quite simple really. An instant polenta mixture is seasoned with sage and poured into waiting muffin tins lined with prosciutto. The most complicated part of this recipe was locating instant polenta. If you live in Southern California let me save you the trouble of going to the four grocery stores that I visited during my search (yes I said four and yes I am aware that I have possibly the most patient boyfriend a girl could ask for). Gelson’s in Marina del Rey carried the instant variety and I’m willing to bet that their other locations do to.



If you can’t find instant polenta, do not try to substitute regular polenta here as it will completely throw off the cooking times. If you don’t feel like putting in the effort to find the instant variety than try what I am going to do next time – whip up a batch of my mother’s cornbread and use it to fill the prosciutto-lined muffin tins. I can’t make any promises about the state of the prosciutto after a longer cooking time, but I love my mother’s recipe so much that I’m willing to give it a try.



Prosciutto Corn Cakes
Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine

1 cup of instant polenta
1/2 cup of flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
2 T of chopped sage + 12 sage leaves
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
12 slices of prosciutto

Preheat the oven to 350*
Place the polenta, flour, baking powder, baking soda, chopped sage, cream and eggs in a bowl and mix well to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Place extra sage in the bases of 12 lightly greased 1/2 cup capacity muffin tins. Line each tin with prosciutto and fill with polenta mixture. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until cooked. Let cool slightly before serving.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates

Wrap anything in bacon and I’ll try it, at least once. Wrap something sweet with salty bacon and stuff it with cheese and I am probably going to get addicted. If you haven’t been to AOC in Los Angeles, you should know that you can feed your addiction to the perfect combination of sweet, salty and cheesy with Suzanne Goin’s bacon-wrapped dates. The first time I had them I was hooked and have ordered them on every subsequent visit (and there have been many).



It’s hard to believe that such a flavorful appetizer is made up of only three ingredients, but its simplicity makes it an easy dish to recreate at home. The first time I made these I replaced the bacon with what I saw as a more sophisticated option – prosciutto. Mistake. Serious mistake. This dish is perfect as is. Don’t mess with it.



When Gourmet printed this recipe in their October 2005 issue, they allotted three dates per person. I have modestly increased that number to five per person. People will not be able to stop eating these so make sure you make plenty.



Bacon-Wrapped Dates
Adapted from Suzanne Goin
Makes 30, allow 5 per person

10 slices of bacon cut crosswise into thirds
30 dates
3 - 4 oz of Parmigiano-Reggiano, broken or cut into small pieces about the size of a date pit

Preheat oven to 450*
If the dates are not already pitted, use a paring knife to make a small slit to remove the pit. Replace the pit with a piece of parmesan and reform the date around the cheese. Wrap each date with a piece of bacon. Place on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the bacon is browned (cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your bacon). Remove from the oven and serve immediately while still warm.

Apple-Crusted Roast Pork Loin

Roasting a pork loin is a really quick and easy way to get a somewhat elegant dinner on the table without a ton of work. It's so simple in fact that I usually like to dress mine up with a crust or some sort of spice rub on the outside. The little added effort makes such a difference in the end result.

This recipe is a great one for the start of fall as it makes use of apples and sage in the crust. Dijon mustard is used as a "primer" of sorts to help everything stick to the meat. Variations on this crust are definitely encouraged!

Apple-Crusted Roast Pork Loin

1 lb pork loin

2 T dijon mustard

2 small apples

6 sage leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450*

Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into chunks and place in a food processor with the sage leaves. Pulse until everything is finely chopped. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the pork loin. Coat pork loin with the dijon mustard. Spread the apple mixture on a piece of plastic wrap and roll pork loin in the apple mixture to fully coat. Place on a baking sheet lined with a silpat and bake for 25 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!