Test 2 - Lamb chops in red wine sauce

This is a bit unusual in my process, but I'm starting this recipe at the Testing 2 phase. I once mistakenly thawed lamb chops instead of pork chops to make this recipe, and decided to go with it. Given that the cooking time for lamb chops is so much shorter, and I was cooking on a wood stove top, I separated the recipes and created this one. Oh, and I really like cooking with wine. And there's always the option of adding more herbs!

2 Tbsp oil
2 + 1 Tbsps butter
1 kernel of popcorn (optional)
Salt and black pepper
4 bone-in lamb chops, 1" thick
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 ½ cups red wine
1+1 bay leaf
½ cup beef broth, plus more if needed
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. (optional but a good idea) 30 minutes or several hours before, brine the pork chops in a water bath including a little less than 1 Tbsp of salt per cup of water, and a few bay leaves. 
2. In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of butter to sear the chops. To check that it's hot enough, throw in a popcorn kernel - when it pops, the oil will be at 325-50F and ready for a good, quick sear. 
3. Salt and pepper both sides of the chops and sear, 3-4 minutes on each side. To sear properly, avoid crowding! Giving them room means they'll brown before they overcook. When one side is beautifully golden, flip and brown the other side. 
4. Remove the chops from the skillet and set aside to make the braising sauce.
5. Reduce the heat, drain off the rendered fat to leave about 2-3 Tbsps, and throw in the whole cloves of garlic in the hot oil and juices. Swirl them around and cook until they get nice and golden brown. 
6. Deglaze with the red wine, then add the bay leaf. 
7. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced and thick, and it leaves a clear line when you draw a wooden spoon along the bottom of the pan.
8. Stir in the beef broth (you can add more if it needs the liquid) and put the chops back in, arranging them firmly in the sauce. 
9. Add the balsamic and tilt the pan back-and-forth to help it distribute (this does not have to be thorough). Cook, uncovered, for another 3-4 minutes per side.
10. Remove the chops from the skillet to rest and bring the sauce to a rapid simmer once again; cook until it has reduced to your desired consistency and the garlic is nice and soft and sweet.
11. (Optional) Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
12. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning.

Cornmeal Griddle Cakes - PUBLISHED

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/260553/cornmeal-griddle-cakes/

1 - Ben seems to want to eat these with everything. He even suggested they could be used with caviar. I think this one doesn't need much on my part and is already done. I just want to spruce up the instructions a bit.
2 - Apparently I made a different kind of griddle cake - these rose into flap-jack-like thickness. They were good, but they lost something in the transformation. And I made these changes just to try and avoid lumps in the batter. Apparently beating in the flour into the cornmeal before adding the milk and eggs makes a big difference. I've kept the flapjack version at the bottom, with all the marked changes.
3 - Adding the butter in the with boiling water works just fine. I continue to be amazed at how changing the sequencing can have such an impact on the final product.
4 - The trick to fewer lumps is actually at the stage where you add the flour et al. If one takes the time to break down the cornmeal into small bits covered in flour, then adding the egg and milk becomes so much easier.

3/4 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup boiling water
1 Tbsps butter
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbsps sugar
1 Tbsps baking powder
1 pinch salt
3/4 cups milk
1 egg, beaten

1. Cook the cornmeal in the boiling water with the butter over low heat for 5-10 minutes.
2. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and beat with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. It's important at the stage to be thorough and break down the cornmeal into small particles covered in the flour mixture; this will make adding the milk and eggs to make a smooth batter so much easier.
3. Mix in the milk and beaten egg and beat with a wooden spoon until the big lumps are gone. You can probably use a whisk since the batter should be pretty liquid. To tell the truth, I've made this with lumps in and you can't tell from the finished product.
4. Heat a griddle or pan over medium heat for 5 minutes before putting anything in it.
5. Add a bit of oil or fat and swirl around to cover the bottom of the pan, then drop soup spoons full of batter onto the griddle (you can fit 5 if you're careful) and cook until the edges are dry.
6. Flip and cook again until brown, set aside in a warm oven while repeating the process with the rest of the batter.

• Pour cornmeal and butter into a large bowl. Cover with boiling water and stir until the butter is melted. Let stand until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Cook over low heat, 5-10 minutes.
• In a separate bowl mix together Stir in flour, sugar, melted butter, baking powder, and salt. 
• Mix in milk and egg until batter is smooth.
• Whisk in the cornmeal until the batter is smooth.
• Heat a lightly greased griddle over medium heat for 5 minutes before using. 
• Drop soup spoonfuls of batter onto the griddle and cook until edges are dry, 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Flip and cook until browned on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. 
• Repeat with the remaining batter.

Crispy pan-fried salt pork belly - Testing

https://www.almanac.com/recipe/fried-salt-pork

https://www.rotinrice.com/pan-fried-crispy-pork-belly/

1 - I have removed the salt from the recipe. It may be that the original recipes asked for fresh pork belly, but I use the Hertel's salt pork belly and, with the additional salt crust, it was unpleasantly salty. The texture, however, was lovely, and it came out quite tender with a lovely crispy outside.
2 - I made it without the extra salt, but also without blanching it to remove extra salt, just a good rinsing under cold water. It seemed to work fine. It makes for a bit of a salty meat, but matched with a less salted starch and a vegetable side, it balances it well. I made it with a French lentil side dish. Hmmm, I will add it here, since it is a variation from another untested recipe that I used.

3 - Made with fresh pork belly, not cured. It has skin on, which changes things - the recipe says to pierce the skin with a fork. A fork?!? The skin is really tough, like, football tough. So I cut a grid pattern with a sharp knife. Good, but I overcrowded the pan and bits didn't cook enough and the not-cooked-enough bits didn't taste as good. But the cooked bits were very good!

FOR THE LENTILS

Oil for sauteing

1 onion, finely chopped

7 ounces duPuy lentils (about 1 cup)

2 tsps Herbe de Provence

1/2 cup white wine

1 3/4 cups chicken stock

1. Saute the onion in the oil until soft and translucent.
2. Add the lentils and the Herbe de Provence and saute for another 2 minutes. It should be very fragrant by now.
3. Add the wine and reduce for a bout 5 minutes.
4. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils are perfectly soft.

FOR THE PORK

1½ lb pork belly with rind (675g)
1+1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper

1. Cut pork belly into 4 strips of about 6 in x 1½ in each. Scrape each piece of pork belly rind with a knife to remove any impurities. Rinse well and drain.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch the pork belly in the boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove and place pork belly, skin side up, on a tray.
3. Combine 1 tsp salt and all the pepper in a small bowl. Pierce the pork belly skin all over with a fork. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub the seasoning evenly over the three meaty sides of the pork belly. Rub the remaining 1 tsp salt into the rind.
4. Heat a cast iron skillet on the stove over medium heat (Use the popcorn trick?). When hot, start with the meat sides of the belly, and also, importantly, the ends! About 5 minutes per side, or until a deep brown.  thoroughly brown all the narrow sides and the ends. Cook the sides for 5 minutes each.  place pork belly strips on their side and cook for 5 minutes. Do the same for the other side and the meat side.
5. For the skin, turn the pork belly strips skin side down and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or until well browned and turning crispy. If the skin side is not flat, you may want to press each piece down with a pair of tongs so that they touch the base of the pan and sizzle. 
6. Remove and slice into smaller pieces (cubes? Size?). Serve immediately on top of the lentils and accompanied by an al-dente steamed vegetable like broccoli.

Stewed Parsnips and Apples - Test 1

https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/recipes/pork-chops-pan-seared-butter-parsnip-apple-pureehttp://pass-the-garum.blogspot.com/2013/06/parsnip-mash-and-salt-pork.html

1 - The original recipe is for mash, but I left it chunky. I don't know, I could try it mashed, but it looked pretty good as-is.

3 Tbsps butter 1 Tbsp lard
1 Onion sliced into rounds
10 oz Parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 lrg Apple, peeled cored and chopped
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsps citrus zest
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Sage
1 cup Chicken stock
Salt and pepper

1. Melt the lard over medium-high heat and add the onions. Cook until soft and caramelized, 12 minutes. 
2. Add the parsnips, apples and garlic, and cook until golden brown, 8 minutes. 
3. Stir in the citrus zest, thyme and sage, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. 
4. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. 
5. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced slightly, 20 minutes. If the liquid evaporates too quickly, 
6. Working in batches, transfer to a blender and purée until smooth. 
7. Scrape back into the pan and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

La Pescajoune Savoureuse au lardon - PUBLISHED

http://soda81.over-blog.com/article-les-pascades-une-recette-traditionnelle-44021866.html

The basic ingredients for the pascajoune in the flour, milk, eggs, salt and baking powder. The savory elements can be whatever seems a good combination. I chose to pre-cook most of the ingredients (obviously not the cheese).

1 - I made this as one giant pancake which worked quite well. It must be cooked on a low heat (it was on the wood stove so I'm not sure what the setting would be on a mechanical stove) so that the top can become firm enough to flip the thing.
2 - The batter is working out just fine, and I can mix-and-match the ingredients as long, I think, as the other constant is the onion. I made it again but will different filling - onion, garlic, potato, arugula, Gruyère. Delicious. And it's very good cold, like a crustless quiche (which of course it isn't and isn't Paleo because there's still flour and dairy in there).
3 - This continues to work for me, but I'm a little stymied on how to provide simple and clear instructions on the endless variations this recipe is capable of. Last time I made it I substituted the lardons with 8 oz of cooked ham leftovers.
4 - Made it again, and cooked it at very, very low temperatures, which took a long, long time (don't know how long) and it was a marked improvement on earlier versions. This version - bacon, spinach, chives, cheddar and gruyere.
5 - Made it once more and it was really very good. The difference is twofold - the caramelization of the onion and the quantity of cheese. More of both.

3/4 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 eggs
3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup Parmesan (2 oz)
1 cup grated cheese of your choice (or more Parmesan) (4 oz)
3 slices bacon, cut into lardons
1 onion, sliced thin

1. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and cheese. 
2. In a large bowl whisk the eggs; add the flour mix and combine until there are no lumps.
3. Once the egg and flour mix is smooth, drizzle in the milk and mix until perfectly smooth. 
4. Let the batter sit for at least the time it takes for you to prepare and cook the rest of the ingredient.
5. Heat an 8 to 10" pan and add the bacon and render until the lardons become golden. With a slotted spoon remove the lardons and stir into the egg mixture.
6. Add the onion to the hot oil and slowly cook together until the onion becomes quite soft and brown. The browning is very important - the more caramelized, the better.
7. Once cooked, with a slotted spoon remove the onion and stir into the egg mixture; mix to combine evenly. 
8. Pour the batter into the oily pan (you can remove all but about 2 tsps of the oil if you want, or leave it all in). 
9. Cook, covered, over incredibly low heat; it a dish susceptible to burning, so cook at as low a temperature as you can. Just as the top sets, the underside should be nicely browned. 
10. Meanwhile, lightly grease a dinner plate for the next step.
11. Once the top is firm, loosen the sides with a knife. Upturn the plate on top of the pancake, hold firm with your hand, grab the handle of the pan and flip the pancake onto the plate. Set the pan back on the stove-top and slide the pancake back into the pan to finish cooking, just enough to lightly brown the top.
12. Once browned on both sides, flip back onto the plate and serve immediately.