One Pan, Two Plates (13 page)

Creamy Yukon Gold Potato Gratin

with
HAM

The older I get, the more I’m seduced by potatoes—especially when they have a garlic-tinged, velvety interior and a crispy, cheesy topping. I love the Yukon gold potato’s creamy texture, and their tasty golden skins make them wonderfully low maintenance—I never peel them anymore. To make this a meal a hungry man or woman can sink their teeth into, I tossed in diced ham, which adds just the right salty-savory note. Hungry yet?

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START TO FINISH
1 hour

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HANDS-ON TIME
15 minutes

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serves 2

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½ tsp salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 large Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced crosswise

4 oz/115 g ham, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1½ cups/360 ml heavy cream

4 oz/115 g Gruyère cheese, shredded

1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C/gas 5.

2.
Combine the salt, cayenne, and a sprinkling of black pepper and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside.

3.
In a 12-in/30.5-cm ovenproof skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. When the butter is melted, remove from the heat and arrange one-third of the potatoes in the pan, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle half of the seasoned salt over the top followed by half the ham and half the garlic. Arrange a second layer of potatoes the same way and top it with the remaining seasoned salt, ham, and garlic. Add about half of the cream, top with the remaining potatoes, and pour in the remaining cream.

4.
Return the gratin to medium heat and heat until the juices are bubbling, then transfer the pan to the
oven. (If your oven hasn’t preheated by the time you finish assembling the dish, just simmer it gently on low heat until the oven reaches temperature.) Bake the gratin for 30 minutes, then scatter the cheese over the top and bake until the top is browned and the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes longer. To check, pierce the potatoes with the tip of a sharp knife; there should be no resistance.

5.
Scoop the gratin onto two warmed plates and serve hot.

it’s that easy:
If you don’t have one, a mandoline slicer is a worthwhile kitchen gadget to acquire for your batterie de cuisine. A basic one is inexpensive and you can save countless hours of cutting vegetables into perfectly thin slices.

extra hungry?
A green salad is a welcome accompaniment to this rich and satisfying meal. It could be as easy as a few handfuls of arugula, thinly sliced fennel, Kalamata olives, a squirt of lemon juice, and a glug of olive oil.

in the glass:
Look for an unoaked Chardonnay. It’s getting easier to find them since many wine drinkers are looking for more fruit-forward, food-friendly whites. Look for bottlings from Coppola, Kim Crawford, and Toad Hollow for good value.

Thyme-Dusted Pork Medallions

with
PEAR-RUTABAGA MASH

Pork tenderloin is a delicious, easy weeknight dinner, and it cooks up even faster when cut into pork medallions. Everyone knows that pork, sweet potatoes, and apples are great together, but did you know that Porky loves to be partnered up with rutabaga and pear just as much? Aside from being fun to say, old-fashioned rutabaga is kind of like a squash, kind of like a turnip, and every bit as delicious as either. The saucy yellow-orange mash and thyme-scented meat is, to borrow a phrase, “what’s for dinner.”

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START TO FINISH
45 minutes

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HANDS-ON TIME
25 minutes

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serves 2

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10 oz/280 g pork tenderloin, silver skin removed if necessary (see “It’s that easy,”
page 83
), cut crosswise into rounds about 1 in/2.5 cm thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp minced fresh thyme

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium rutabaga (see “It’s that easy”), peeled and cut into ½-in/12-mm dice

1 shallot, chopped

1 cup/240 ml fresh orange juice

1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-in/2.5-cm cubes

3 tsp unsalted butter

1 tsp orange zest

1.
Season the pork medallions on both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the thyme over one side of the pork and press down to help it stick. Set the pork aside on a plate.

2.
Heat a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the pork medallions to the pan, thyme-side down, and brown them, about 2 minutes. Turn
with tongs and brown on the second side, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the pork pieces to a plate. (They will not be cooked through at this point.)

3.
Add the rutabaga, shallot, and ½ tsp salt to the hot pan and sauté the vegetables for about 2 minutes to get them hot and cooking. Add the orange juice and bring it to a simmer. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. (To check for tenderness, pierce the cubes of rutabaga with the tip of a sharp knife. If they aren’t tender, cook another 3 minutes.) Uncover and stir in the pear and 2 tsp of the butter and cook another 2 minutes covered. Arrange the pork medallions on top, re-cover, and cook until the pork is rosy, about 2 minutes longer.

4.
Divide the pork medallions between two warmed plates. Taste the vegetables and season them with more salt and pepper if they need it. There should be some liquid in the pan; if there’s more than ¼ cup/60 ml, pour some of it off. Add the orange zest and smash the rutabaga-pear mixture with a potato masher until it looks like lumpy mashed potatoes. Scoop the mash onto the plates alongside the pork and dot with the remaining 1 tsp unsalted butter. Serve hot.

it’s that easy:
If you’re not familiar with them, rutabagas can usually be found near the potato and onion bins at your market. They are quite large—they look like giant gold-and-brown turnips. Just peel and slice and dice, use as much as you need, and store the remaining rutabaga in the fridge for another use—they add flavor and interest to pretty much any soup or stew.

extra hungry?
A salad of radicchio and Belgian endive tossed with a splash of balsamic vinegar, a glug of olive oil, and a scattering of goat cheese crumbles rounds out this meal perfectly.

in the glass:
If you’ve read through a few recipes in this book, it should come as no surprise that I love pork and I love Pinot Noir. So guess what I’d want to drink with this meal? Look for a bottle from Cloudline or Castle Rock for a tasty, inexpensive glass.

Crispy Sage Pork Cutlets

with
COUSCOUS, PEAS, FIGS,
and
PISTACHIOS

When sage is fried in butter, it changes from a rough, sometimes overpowering herb into a sophisticated, hard-to-define kind of delicious. I love how the sage’s flavor infuses the butter in the pan, which is then used to fry up the pork chops so that sage flavor and aroma perfumes the pork cutlets as well. The peas, figs, and pistachios flavor the couscous with sweetness, crunch, and color. What more could you ask from dinner?

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START TO FINISH
35 minutes

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HANDS-ON TIME
30 minutes

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serves 2

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12 oz/340 g pork cutlets, about ¼ in/6 mm thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp unsalted butter

12 fresh sage leaves

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

¾ cup/180 ml chicken broth

5 dried Calimyrna or Mission figs, stemmed and quartered

1 green onion, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced

⅔ cup/115 g couscous (see “It’s that easy”)

½ cup/70 g frozen peas

¼ cup/30 g shelled pistachios

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1.
Sprinkle the pork cutlets with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.

2.
In a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp of the butter. When it’s melted, add the sage leaves and brown them on both sides until they are crispy, about 1 minute total. They should bubble and the butter should become golden brown. Reduce the heat if the butter starts to burn. Using tongs, transfer the sage leaves to a paper towel—lined plate to drain.