Honey Spiced Pork Roast
Whereas the moist-heat technique braising offers a slow, comforting, easygoing cooking experience for which you can judge doneness of meats by sight (meat falls off bone) or feel (skewer gets no resistance going in or out), the dry-heat methods require more speed and vigilance.
The dry-heat cooking techniques — sautéing, pan searing, pan roasting, oven roasting, grilling, broiling, and deep frying — demand higher cooking temperatures and shorter cooking times than stewing and braising, so they require more attention to avoid overcooking.
In this post:
→Dry-heat cooking candidates
→Dry-heat cooking methods
→Prepping for dry-heat cooking
→Finishing dry-heat cooking
→This week’s eats: a sampling
Dry-heat cooking candidates
Tender, well-marbled cuts of meat are best suited for dry-heat methods. Fattier cuts such as rib-eye are moist and flavorful so they don’t require any breakdown of collagen to be enjoyed. Some cuts dry out more quickly than others, tenderloin being one of them, and therefore require additional watching during cooking.
Hard or semi-hard cheeses are also good candidates for dry-heat cooking, as are hardy vegetables and fruits such as squashes, root vegetables, apples, and pears.
Dry-heat cooking methods
In general, dry-heat cooking features high oven, grill, and stovetop temperatures, or very hot frying oil. Unlike braising and stewing, in which foods cook in covered vessels, foods cooked by dry-heat methods are generally uncovered to avoid creating steam, which can toughen meat or encourage soggy crusts. Other than hot oil for the deep-frying, barely any liquids are used. Here’s a quick run-through of the dry-heat options:
Sautéing. In a hot pan coated with very little oil, quickly move small cuts of meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables around to ensure even, fast cooking. “If the pan is not hot enough,” said Hong, “onions won’t sweat; meat will stick.”
Pan searing. In a hot pan coated with very little oil, if any, brown meats on one or more sides by letting them sit undisturbed until browned. Searing produces a nice color and flavor by way of carmelization, but doesn’t necessary ensure moisture retention.
Pan roasting. Sear one side of meat, flip, then place in oven seared side down. You can use the same pan you used on the stovetop, or transfer to ovenproof vessel after searing. Potatoes and vegetables can be pan roasted, too — but you can skip the searing part. In pan roasting, the food is in direct contact with the pan, as opposed to oven roasting, in which the food sits on a rack.
Oven roasting. This is often the method for big roasts, so searing is optional. Oven roasts sit on a rack in the pan to allow air circulation and prevent the roast from stewing in its own juices, thus upping your chances of even cooking and getting a nice crust or crispy skin.
Grilling. Grilling features a high-heat source below the food being cooked. Grilling over a fire gives nice grill marks and flavors to foods; gas grills and non-fire grilling methods may not impart as much flavor. Rule of thumb: High-fat meats get high heat, low-fat meats such as chicken breasts without skin, and fish, get low heat. Do not grill fragile fish; use a grill rack when grilling fruit or small items. Hong advised, “You never want to grill meat until it is done; finish it in the oven. You can even finish in the oven the next day.” But small steaks and such are OK to cook to doneness on the grill.
Broiling. The opposite of grilling, broiling features a high-heat source above the food being cooked. Hong recommended leaving the oven open a crack during broiling. You can sear meats under a broiler.
Deep frying. Deep frying is submersing food in hot oil. Make sure oil is 375° F. Use enough oil to fully cover food. Chill food before frying to keep oil absorption to a minimum. If you’ll be coating the food with breadcrumbs, put the coat on before sending it to chill.
Grilled Diablo Skirt Steak with Fresh Tomato Salsa
Prepping for dry-heat cooking
Rubs, marinades, and brines
Dry rubs are salt-free mixtures of dried and ground herbs and spices that flavor meats and help create nice crusts. Pat dry rubs directly, thickly, and firmly on the uncooked meat. (Don’t salt meat too early or the meat will start to dry out.) For best taste results, toast and grind your own spices.
Wet marinades are sauces that add flavors before a food is cooked. They usually contain an acidic ingredient such as tomato juice, citrus juice, or vinegar.
Brines are baths of water and salt that can help tenderize meats and poultry. Meats and poultry can brine for a few hours or up to two days. (Don’t brine for more than two hours without refrigeration.) Rinse and pat dry the brined food before cooking. Generally, you use one gallon of water per one cup of salt, depending on the coarseness of salt used. Sometimes flavorful ingredients such as molasses, orange zest, cinnamon, onion, and ginger are added to brines.
Temperature concerns, inside and out
For all dry-heat techniques other than deep frying, the internal temperature of the food should be at room temperature.
Oven type and temperature is important, too. In conventional ovens, heat radiates from above and below — a good environment for roasting. In convection ovens, hot air blown around oven. This situation is ideal for baking — a situation ideal for baking, but it can cause roasting meat to dry out too quickly. (“You do not blow air on tenderloin!” explained Hong.) If following a recipe designed for cooking in a conventional oven, set the convection oven 25 degrees lower than the recipe recommends.
Finishing dry-heat cooking
Carryover cooking
The temperature of fast-cooked meats and poultry can climb eight to ten degrees after removal from oven — this is one reason why you should always let a roast rest before cutting and serving. (Another reason is to let the juices redistribute themselves.) You must take carryover cooking into account when checking doneness — you want to take your meat out of or off of the heat BEFORE it reaches the desired temperature. In other words, if your pork roast is registering 137°, you should remove it from the oven because its temperature will rise to 145° or so while resting outside the oven.
Testing for doneness
You can test the doneness of meats using any of the methods listed below. Until you’re comfortable with your skills when using any of the first three methods listed, always double-check your guesses with a meat thermometer.
Your fingers. Testing doneness using finger-flesh firmness comparisions takes lots of practice to get it right. Because I’m not totally familiar with this method myself, I shall quote the Culinary Institute of America’s instructions:
To approximate what meat should feel like at various stages of doneness, press together your thumb and forefinger and feel the flesh on your palm, right below your thumb, with the index finger of your other hand: that’s rare. Now press together your thumb and your middle finger, them your thumb and your ring finger, and finally, your thumb and pinky. As you change fingers, you will be able to feel that the flesh is tightening. These changes represent an increasing degree of doneness, all the way from rare (your forefinger) to well-done (the pinky). —The Culinary Institute of America, Culinary Boot Camp, page 18.)
Skewer or fork. If you poke a fork or skewer into the meat and the meat’s juice runs red, the meat is not done. If the juice pink, it’s getting there. If it’s clear, it’s done. If no juice comes out, you’ve overcooked your dinner.
Metal cake tester. A metal cake tester is basically a very thin metal skewer. Insert the skewer into the food then judge doneness by how hot the skewer feels when you touch it to the top of your lip. If the skewer feels cool, the meat is nowhere near done. If the heat causes you to wince, the meat is probably overcooked. Hong says this is the method favored by chefs in professional kitchens because it’s faster and produces smaller holes than the other testing methods. It evidently take a lot of practice, for I’d actually been doing a similar routine for some time — using a fork — when reheating foods at home, and I usually go straight from cool to “ouch” stage.
Instant-read thermometer or continuous-read digital probe. Depending on the actual thermometer you use, this may be the most foolproof—if not always the quickest—method of testing for doneness. I never trust my instant-read thermometer fully, so I’m glad there are other ways to determine doneness that rely more on instinct than technology.
The USDA recommends certain minimum internal temperatures, as specified in the box below. Remember to remove your meat from the heat when its temperature comes to seven to ten degrees below these figures.
USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures
- Steaks and roasts – 145° F
- Fish – 145° F
- Pork – 160° F
- Ground beef – 160° F
- Egg dishes – 160° F
- Chicken breasts – 165° F
—USDA brochure, Is it Done Yet? (www.fsis.usda.gov/is_it_done_yet/brochure_text/index.asp)
For steaks, rare is generally just under 120 °F, medium-rare is anywhere from 120 to 130° F, and medium is between 130 and 135° F. If cooking whole poultry, check temperature at the thigh.
This week’s eats: a sampling
Scotch Eggs with Honey-Chipotle Mayonnaise and Grilled Swordfish Verde
Warm salad of fruits, endives, and pancetta. Make dressing of pomegranate juice, red wine vinegar, and canola oil. Cook quince and pears in sugar water (three cups water, one cup sugar), then grill until tender and the sugar carmelizes. Grill endive halves and grapefruit rounds. Sauté some pancetta until crisp. In skillet with some leftover pancetta fat, toss endive, quinces, pears, pancetta. Garnish with grapefruit or orange slices. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with tarragon and pomegranate seeds.
Scotch eggs with honey-chipotle mayonnaise. Soft boil eggs, submerge in ice bath, set aside. Combine ground sausage meat with freshly ground spices. Combine breadcrumbs and herbs, coat otside of each egg with sausage, roll in flour, brush with beaten egg, then coat with breadcrumbs. Shake off excess and deep fry until brown and sausage is cooked, four to five minutes. Remove, drain off excess fat, and serve warm with honey chipotle mayonnaise (mayonnaise with honey, chipotle pepper, and adobo sauce, of course!).
Honey spiced pork roast (Gary’s in-class contribution). Toast juniper berries, peppercorns, cardamon seeds (from the pods), allspice berries, and fennel seeds, grind to a coarse powder. Blend in salt. Pat 1.5-pound pork loin dry, brush with honey to coat well. Pat spice mixture all over loin, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (if possible). Place loin on rack. Roast in middle of 400° F oven for ten minutes, reduce heat to 350° and continue roasting for another 50 minutes or until thermometer reads 144º in center of roast. Remove roast from oven and rest ten minutes before carving into thin slices. Once the meat is sliced, salt the meat lightly.
Diablo skirt steak with fresh tomato salsa (my favorite of the week!). Whisk together salsa and cider vinegar, sugar, oregano, and salt. Transfer to plastic bag, add two pounds of skirt or hanger steak, and marinate 30 minutes or up to four hours. Remove meat from marinate and grill over high heat three to four minutes, turn, then grill a few minutes more or until rare. Slice the meat thinly against the grain. Serve with fresh salsa.
Indian flavored roasted vegetables with paneer (in-class assignment for me and a classmate). Make paneer. Prepare a vat of marinade made of toasted and ground cumin seed, cilantro, chives, tomato juice, jalapeño peppers, red wine vinegar, ginger, dijon mustard, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and garlic. Cut a nice variety of vegetables such as summer squashes, eggplant, onion, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, and cauliflower into pieces about one-fourth inch thick. Cut up some red bliss potatoes similarly, but keep them separate. Reserve some marinade for the paneer, then toss the nonpotato vegetables in the remaining marinade. Toss potatoes in vegetable oil. Put vegetables and potatoes in 400° F oven to roast until tender. (Hong recommends roasting vegetables before adding marinade, however.) Grill paneer carefully and briefly over low flame just long enough to get grill marks on both sides, then cut into cubes. Arrange vegetables, potatoes, and paneer on serving platter, drizzle with remaining marinade.
Other entrees created and enjoyed in class were quinoa with sauteed carmelized onions and mushrooms, grilled swordfish verde, and grilled cranberry-orange zinfandel bread with an absolutely luscious and dreamingly smooth orange mascarpone cream.