Duo of Alberta Pork Recipe from The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

This past weekend I had the pleasure of staying at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge during the annual Jasper in January festival. Always on the hunt for recipes from chefs, I put in a request to see if the JPL culinary team would share an Alberta Pork recipe with me.

After a full day of skiing on Saturday, I was ecstatic to learn that Sous Chef Paul Shewchuk had time to meet. Trying to fit in a visit before the dinner service kicked off, my friend Jaya and I ran over to the main lodge where Chef Shewchuk was waiting for us (and had been pre-warned that we would be dressed as post-ski/snowboard grubs).

Chef Shewchuk has been with The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for over two years and has a wealth of fine-dining experience having worked with Langdon Hall Executive Chef Jonathan Gushue and at Cin Cin inVancouver.

After a brief introduction, we were treated to a tour of the facility by Chef Shewchuk which included a stop in the pastry kitchen, the chocolate room (with some fantastic sculptures on display by the Pastry Chef), and the staff cafeteria (a.k.a. The Bean, which serves upwards of 1200 meals to 600 staff daily in the summer months). We learned about The Jasper Park Lodge’s in-house bee initiative (including some honey samples), as well as a summer initiative that involved canning $20,000 + of Okanagan fruit into a winter supply of preserved fruit used on desserts, cheese boards, etc.

Chef Shewchuk works the line on the main floor that serves the Emerald Lounge, all in-room service, and the lifestyles menu (catering to the health conscious or gluten-free girls like myself). In the summer the staff on this line alone can accommodate 500-650 meals (covers) per day.

We learned that pork certainly has a presence on each of the menus at the restaurants at the Jasper Park Lodge (apparently breakfast involves sheet upon sheet of baked bacon). While pork tenderloin is a popular cut, the classic pork chop has found a home on the menus throughout the JPL; the Emerald Lounge is currently featuring an Asian Marinated 10oz Pork Loin Chop with sweet & sour red cabbage, potato puree, and sweet mustard sauce.

Whether it’s the pulled pork poutine at Tent City Pub or the Rocky Mountain pizza with BBQ pulled pork at Cavell’s Restaurant, the chefs at JPL clearly have a passion for pork. Chef Shewchuk shared his pleasure for working with what he thinks is the most versatile (and affordable) meat, and was kind enough to share an off the menu pork recipe that was being made for a VIP group that evening.

After taking pictures of his duo of pork featuring Buttermilk Marinated Pork Tenderloin and Confit Pork Belly, Jaya and I were treated to sample the goods. The recipe may take some effort, but I can’t wait to soak my next pork tenderloin in buttermilk as every morsel was delicious! A huge thanks to Sous Chef Paul Shewchuk and The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge culinary team for the behind the scenes tour, the creative recipes, a bite of pork belly, and of course being huge supporters of Alberta Pork.

 

Duo of Alberta Pork
Recipes supplied by Sous Chef Paul Shewchuk at The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

Buttermilk Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

1 Pork Tenderloin
1 cup buttermilk
6 juniper berries
1 sprig rosemary
3 thyme sprigs
1 tbsp cracked pepper

Directions:

1. Combine buttermilk, berries, herbs and pepper. Marinate the pork tenderloin in mixture for 12 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove from marinade, and pat dry with towel. Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper. Heat an oven safe pan on medium-high heat. Sear tenderloin on all sides then place pan in oven and cook until medium (approximately 8-10 minutes).
3. Remove from the oven and let rest on a rack for 5 minutes before cutting.

 

Confit Pork Belly

1 lb pork belly slab (whole piece)

Curing mixture
1/8 cup salt
1/8 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp coriander (toasted and ground)
2 tbsp fennel seed (toasted and ground)
5 juniper berries ground
3 star anise ground
1 tsp cayenne

 

To Confit:

Rinsed and dried pork belly
duck fat to cover (if you cannot get duck fat you can use olive oil)
4 cloves of garlic,
2 shallots
10 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
5 juniper berries.

 

Instructions:

1. Rub the pork belly to completely cover all sides with the cure, then wrap in saran wrap and put in between two small baking sheets and press lightly with weight (approximately 2-3 lbs) for 24 hours (left over cure can be reserved for the next time).
2. Remove the pork from the plastic wrap and rinse the cure off and pat dry. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
3. Place pork belly in an oven-safe large pot and cover with duck fat. Bring to a simmer, then cover and put in preheated oven for 3-4 hours until pork belly is tender and a knife can easily be pulled in and out without resistance.
4. Remove from oven and allow pork to cool in the fat until it has reached room temperature. Remove from pot, wrap in plastic wrap and press it between two baking sheets with at least 10 lbs of weight for 12 hours.
5. To serve – Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Remove pork from the plastic wrap and cut into square pieces. Place in an oven-safe frying pan with a little of the duck fat. On media heat, sear the pork belly on all sides so they are caramelized. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet for five minutes to heat through.

 

Cauliflower and Brown Butter Puree

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower (cored and cut into medium flowerets)
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
500ml whipping cream
3 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon juice to taste

 

Instructions:

1. In a pot add cauliflower, cream, thyme and bay leaf, bringing to a simmer and cooking until tender.
2. In a small frying pan add butter and slowly heat up until it turns a light brown colour. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl for later use.
3. Once the cauliflower is tender, strain off the cream and reserve.
4. Using a blender, puree the cauliflower until smooth. Incorporate brown butter and season with salt and pepper, and finish with a dash of lemon juice (The puree should be thick but spreadable. If mixture is too thick adjust with a little of the reserved cream).

 

Hunter Sauce

Ingredients:

250 ml Beef Jus
1 tbsp double smoke bacon lardons
1 tbsp tomato cocasse
1 tbsp white wine
Yellow foot chanterelle mushrooms
1 tsp butter

 

Instructions:

1. Render the bacon, straining off the fat when cooked.
2. Add the mushrooms and sauté until cooked.
3. Deglaze with white wine, add in the beef jus and bring to a simmer. Add in the tomato and finish with a tsp of butter.

 

Garnishes:

Baby Carrots
Baby Beets
Toasted Pine Nuts
Asparagus Tips
Micro Greens (Tatsoi and Arugula)