Mighty Maple Tenderloin and Spicy smoked tomato chicken Recipe by Brad Leone

1. Mighty Maple Tenderloin Recipe by Brad Leone

Serves 4

Pork has a bad reputation. My mom's generation roasted a lot of dry, bone-white big pork loins and called it the "other white meat." Pork shouldn't be bone white-that's often just bad, factory-farmed pork. And a pork loin is better off as a pork chop. But the loin's cousin, the tenderloin, is literally the filet mignon of pork. It's dark in color and smaller, a little meat log you can roll around, char on all sides, and cook quickly. It's the perfect weeknight piece of pork, with any side you like-sweet potato, salad, rice, whatever.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1-pound Poek Tenderlion
• Kosher Salt
• Extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 5 Shallots, Quartered
• 1 Fresno Chile
• 5 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
• 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
• 2Tbsps. Salted Butter
• Pepper Mix
• Parsley (optional)
• Wilted greens (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sprinkle the pork with salt a day or at lease a few hours before cooking. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate.

2. Coat the pork with a little oil and preheat a skillet over high heat. Add the pork and cook, turning and flipping it often, until it is well browned and about 150°F. Transfer the pork to a cutting board to rest.

3. Add the shallots to the skillet and let the cut sides color a bit before adding the chile and garlic. Let them cook for around 10 minutes before adding the maple syrup and butter.

4. Slice the pork and place the medium-cooked meat back in the skillet. Spoon and toss the sauce all over the pork before serving. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with some parsley and/or wilted greens. (The greens can be wilted down in the skillet after you remove the finished pork.)

Note: Salting meat ahead of time is one of the most important things you can do to it. It helps to season the meat, bring out its flavor, and keep it juicier once it's cooked. I get mad if I don't have the time or ability to let a piece of meat sit with salt for a while before I cook it.

2. Spicy Smoked Tomato Chicken Recipe by Brad Leone

Serves 4

Served hot or cold, you can't beat this smoked chicken. What stands out about it is the fermented tomato, which has an earthy sweetness and funkiness. As it caramelizes onto the chicken skin with the chicken fat and spices, it becomes a salty, fatty, sweet tomato jam that creeps into all the crevasses of the meat and is unbelievably delicious.

Smoke the bird if you can-if you're looking for perfection-but this recipe works just fine with an oven-roasted bird. I like to split the chicken in half because I love how it opens the cavity and exposes the insides to the heat and smoke, letting it cook more quickly and take on more flavor. But go ahead and use a whole chicken or chicken parts, it doesn't matter. In fact, I really enjoy making this recipe with thighs or drumsticks.

INGREDIENTS:

Fermented Tomato Base

• 1 pound Cheery Tomatoes
• 2 Springs Fresh Thyme
• 1 Habanero Chile, Seeded
• 3 Garlic Clovesm Crushed and Peeled
• 1/2 Tsp. Pepper Mix
• 1 Tsp. Kosher Salt

Glaze

• 1/2 cup Fermented Tomato Base
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/4 cup Extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsps. Mirin
• 2 Tbsps. Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsps. Pepper Mix
• 3 Springs Fresh Thyme

Sauce

• 1/2 cup Fermented Tomato Base
• 1/4 cup Extra-virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp. Brad's Za'atar
• One 3- to 4- pound Whole Chicken, Split (Salted 1 day ahead)
• (Kosher Salt, Extra-virgin olive oil)

DIRECTIONS:

To start the fermented tomato base: Combine all the base ingredients in a vaccum bag or a fermentation vessel (jar, crock, or bag). I prefer the vacuum bag for this ferment because it prevents oxidation, which changes the tomatoes' color and flavor. I like the mixture to finish bright red, not a shade or rust. Let the mixture ferment at room temperature for a few days or up to a week, until the tomatoes are all busted up and juicy. Like most ferments this will be affected by the temperature of the envirenment it's fermenting in. A hot room makes for a faster ferment, but in my opinion that doesn't always mean a better ferment.

I like to break the tomatoes up with my fingers throughout the process, but that will also happen on its own over time too. Once nice and juicy, I pour the base into a blender and pulse until smooth. This is optional. I don't like to strain out that fiber, I've found it helps make a better sauce and glaze, but please fool around here! After blending, I divide the base in half, one half for the glaze and one half for the sauce.

For the glaze: Stir all the glaze ingredients together in a medium bowl.

For the sauce: Stir all the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Like the larger cuts of meat I cook, I salt the chicken for this dish 24 hours before I cook it. Salting ahead will make for a juicer bird that's nicely seasoned all the way to the bone. Simply rub the bird inside and out, under the skin and all over with kisher salt-about 1 tsp. per pound of meat. Wrap and refrigerate it.

When you're ready to cook, preheat the smoker or oven to 255°F

Give the salted bird a light coating of oil before placing it split-side down in the smoker or in a toasting pan and placing it in the oven. Let cook for about an hout before starting to brush on the glaze. I apply with a brusg about every 40 minutes until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160°F, a total of about 2-4 hours.

At that point, I crank the temp up to 400°F and brush on more glaze every 5 minutes ot so, to allow the sugars to begin to caramelize and build a nice sticky glazed surface. This should take about just about 10 minutes longer: The outside should be sticky and caramelize and taste like a spicy tomato jam. Don't get distracted and walk away from the smiker at this point; you've worked days and hours to make this dish and you can ruin it by letting it burn in the final minutes.

Once the joints of the bird are loose and the internal temperature is about 170°F, I remove it from the oven or smoker and let it rest. Slice and serve with the fermented sauce.