A Culinary Lesson with Chef Dean Fearing

Cooking with Chef Dean Fearing!

We had the exciting opportunity to learn cooking techniques first-hand from Chef Dean Fearing himself! The culinary demo and event was held in the Cooking School at Central Market off of Lovers Lane where we sampled some of Chef Dean Fearing’s famous dishes. The event was sponsored by Toyota and provided a sneak peek of what’s to come at the Central Market Lone Star Food Fest, which is a part of this year’s inaugural Toyota Texas Fest (TTF). The TTF is a three-day event taking place May 20-22 in Frisco at Toyota Stadium. The festival will feature country music concerts by top country music artists (Big & Rich, Lee Brice, Kip Moore, and more!), an outdoor consumer expo, the 10th Annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) Outdoor Adventure Area, family-friendly fun and, of course, the Food Fest! The Food Fest takes place from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, May 21st and from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 22nd.

Aside from celebrating all things Texas, the TTF showcases and benefits the conservation efforts of TPWD and will have contributed a total of $2.5 million to TPWD after presenting an additional $250,000 donation at this year’s TTF. The donations help support youth fishing and urban outreach programs throughout Texas.

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Chef Dean Fearing is the creator of Fearing’s Restaurant at The Ritz Carlton here in Dallas. This is also where my fiancé proposed to me back in October and as you can imagine it’s my favorite restaurant in Dallas! To read more about my proposal at Fearings you can check out our story here.

Dean’s also the author of The Texas Food Bible and is known as the “Father of Southern Cuisine!” If you haven’t had his food, we recommend you make a reservation at Fearing’s ASAP and also check out his version of Mexican street tacos at Toyota Texas Fest! He’ll be making smoked carnitas street tacos marinated overnight in achiote, yum!

At the cooking demo we attended, Chef Fearing made Wood Grilled Pork Chops Glazed with his very own ‘D1 Sauce’ on Heirloom Tomatoes with Crispy Sweet Onion Rings and Pablano Pepita Pesto. This dish was a flavorful explosion in our mouths and was nothing short of impeccable!

Wood Grilled Pork Chops Glazed with his very own ‘D1 Sauce’ on Heirloom Tomatoes with Crispy Sweet Onion Rings and Pablano Pepita Pesto

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 12 ounce center cut bone-in pork chops, trimmed of all fat and silver skin
  • Fearing’s Garlic Powder to taste
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • D1 sauce (Chef Fearing plans to start selling his D1 sauce soon, so keep an eye out for it at Central Market)
  • 1 1/2 cups Poblano Pepita Pesto (recipe to follow)
  • 4 Heirloom Tomatoes, medium sized
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Crispy Sweet Onion Rings (recipe to follow)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Fire up the grill.
  2. Season pork chops with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Place the pork chops on the hot grill, do not crowd.
  4. Cook pork chops for 3 minutes and then rotate one half turn and cook another 3 minutes, turn the chops over and repeat the same steps for a medium temperature.
  5. A minute before the pork chops are done, brush on a generous amount of D1 sauce to glaze.
  6. Turn each pork chop and cook until glaze thickens, about 1 minute, or cook longer if higher temperature is desired.
  7. Remove the chops from the grill and keep them in a warm spot to rest, about 5 minutes, until serving.
  8. Slice each tomato in 1/2 inch round slices and drizzle evenly with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  9. On each of four warm plates, place 1 tablespoon of the Poblano Pepita Pesto and equally divide the slices of tomato in the center of the plate, lean each pork chop against the tomatoes, and place two of the onion rings behind the pork as garnish.

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Poblano Pepita Pesto

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup packed Basil leaves, washed
  • 1 cup packed spinach leaves, washed
  • 1 Poblano pepper, roasted, seeded and peeled
  • 1 Lemon, medium sized, juiced
  • 2 tablespoons Cotija or Mexican Farmers Cheese, grated
  • 1/4 cup Pepitas, Mexican pumpkin seeds, roasted
  • 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons Water
  • 1/2 cup Olive Oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
  2. Adjust consistency as needed with water – consistency should be of a thick paste.

Crispy Sweet Onion Rings

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 quarts Vegetable Oil
  • 1 cup Tempura Flour
  • 1 cup Corn Meal
  • 1 bottle Shiner Bock Beer
  • 2 Texas Sweet Onions, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a medium sized pot, add the oil and heat to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the Tempura Flour, Corn Meal, and Shiner Bock Beer. Whisk mixture together, forming a loose batter. Add water if necessary to adjust consistency.
  3. Individually dunk the cut onions into the batter, then remove the onions from the batter and drain off the excess.
  4. Place the onion ring into the oil, turn after 30 seconds to evenly brown both sides.
  5. When gold brown, remove the onion ring from the oil, place on a paper towel to drain, and season with salt.
  6. Repeat the process with the rest of the onion rings.

For more of Chef Dean Fearing’s amazing and delicious Texas inspired recipes check out his cookbook – The Texas Food Bible. At just $20 it makes for a great gift and is a go to in our kitchen. Another one of our favorite recipes in this cookbook is the Dr. Pepper braised short ribs with quest fresco corn whipped potatoes and caramelized onions! The last time we had guests over this is what we served and everyone went crazy for it.

The Texas Food Bible

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It was an absolute treat to get to watch Chef Dean Fearing in action and to sample his delicious dish! He is a true culinary master and so genuine and engaging to boot! Our mouths are already watering thinking about the smoke carnitas street tacos he’ll be cooking up at TTF this coming weekend! Tickets and additional information for the festival are available at ToyotaTexasFest.com.

Cheers!

Emily & Barbara

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