Chinese Style BBQ Pork

Last night was a very tasty dinner that required a little advanced planning. This pork roast requires 24 hours of marinading for the best flavor. I would be interesting in trying to let the pork marinade for 48 hours. There was some good flavor going on, but I'm wondering if longer is better in this instance.

I served the pork with my carrot/cilantro salad.

For the salad, I started with the recipe located here as inspiration. I used the vegetable peeler to make ribbons from the carrots. The cilantro was very tender, so I didn't chop it, just torn it apart. (mistake!) The dressing was lime juice, rice vinegar and olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper. I didn't have any sesame seeds or sesame oil; which I wanted to use for an additional layer of flavor and texture. The salad was good, except the cilantro really was over powering! Next time, no matter how rustic and easy I'm trying to make something with cilantro, I will chop it.

The pork was really easy. Mix, pour, marinate, roast, rest, slice, serve. And you can do most of the work the night before. Don't be tempted to add an additional star anise pod, you'll see in the recipe, it's flavor is strong and aromatic, which is good, but like the cilantro in the salad, can be over powering. Use just one! Next time I make this, I might consider brush with some reserved marinade/sauce, then placing under the broiler for a minute prior to serving, to get the outer layer extra caramelized and crunchy!

Leftovers of this pork would be divine in stir-fried rice!

Chinese Barbecued Pork
Adapted from: 5 Second Rule

3-4 lb pork loin roast, cut into 2 large pieces
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 TB dry sherry
1 tsp 5-spice powder
2 scallions, smashed
2 stems cilantro, smashed
1 pod star anise

Mix sugar, soy sauce, sherry and 5-spice.

Place pork in a dish or zip top bag, pour soy mixture over the pork. Add scallions, cilantro and star anise. Zip the bag shut and give everything a good solid squish around.

Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Turn and squish once in awhile.

Preheat oven to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and parchment (the sugar will make a huge mess as it caramelizes, the foil makes clean up easy, the parchment prevents the roast from sticking and tearing the foil). Remove pork from the marinade and place in the center of the baking sheet.

Strain and reserve the marinade. Simmer reserved marinade for at least 10 minutes, watch carefully as it reduces to a thick sauce.

Roast pork for 30 minutes, basting once or twice with reserved sauce. Flip the pork, baste again, and roast for an additional 10 mintues. Until the pork caramelizes and just begins charring at the edges.

Transfer meat to cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Drizzle some additional sauce over the sliced pork.

Tweet Tweet

I am planning to Twitter my way through Thanksgiving. Feel free to follow me. I have opened my profile up to the public and am now getting the hang of this Twiting business.

EatWithMe75

Fair warning...you might get an earful about a lot of random stuff not related to this blog or food in general.

The Hot Tamale Pie

Last night's dinner was a simple, tasty one. Tamale Pie. This is a throwback to the days when I was cooking Rachel Ray on a regular basis. I think this was a Rachel Ray recipe, anyway. If it was, I feel it's a strong example of what she does right and where there could be improvement. As is, the recipe is easy, fast, anyone can try it and make it work. Dinner in a snap. Prep, toss in the oven, clean up, serve and enjoy. Where there is room for improvement is in the flavor department. The recipe can come off as a little bland, at least for me. So, you will need to start experimenting with flavors to bring the dish up a notch of two. Add some additional spices to base. Last night I added some shallot, coriander and chipotle chile powder. Combined with the onions, garlic, peppers and cumin, we now have a great base. The cornmeal topping, well, that is really bland if you don't play around. I cooked my topping with cream, chicken broth, Adobe seasoning, plenty of black pepper and at the end, stirred in some cheese. Now we're talking!

Of the few times I've made this, last night was spot on. We were very pleased.

You'll notice in the photos, I made the Tamale Pies in individual ramekins. With half the recipe I had 6 individual pies. I do this more as a convenience for saving extras for lunch. Just cover, reheat and go. It is also helpful with portion control. Except we each ate TWO instead of one! We didn't have a side, give us a break! Anyway, you have beef, tomatoes, corn, onions, peppers and lots of good, rich spices. Basically, a solid chili, without the soupy base.

Top the pies with cooked cornmeal/grits and sprinkle a little extra cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Enjoy.

Catch Up

I know I know I know...sorry. Geesh. I'm alive! I'm cooking. I'm just not blogging! I'm not giving it up...just siphoning my creative energy into a new side project...and it's wiping me out. I can't believe how many people have contacted me in the past week or so to make sure I'm alright. Love you all very much!!! Thanks for thinking of me!

So, to quickly catch up...it's been a few weeks since I've posted anything. We've had a few good things happen in the kitchen at Parkway Manor, and a few not great things.


This was ok. It's supposed to be a Bavarian Creme Cupcake...the custard set up almost to a tofu texture, it was nasty...tasted good, but nasty texture. The cake was good. The chocolate ganache didn't really work. I ended up sticking it in the fridge overnight and whipping it with the mixer the next day...it was tasty! Almost a rich chocolate mousse, with small chunks of chocolate in it. I was hoping these would have been fun for halloween. I tried to make the custard orange, and use a darker chocolate for the ganache. I had no red food coloring, only yellow. And the chocolate...once it was whipped, it was such a pale brown, there was no hope...

Here is a base for Roasted Red Pepper Soup. It's divine. Really tasty. Garlic, shallots, lots of red peppers, tomato and broth. Finish with a little cream.

The start of a salad. I was hoping for some Napa Cabbage, but Giant is ghetto sometimes and you can't get all the good stuff you need. So, it's green leaf, shredded carrots (w/ a peeler, instead of a grater) and cilantro.

The salad with finished with some toasted almonds, chunks of chicken and a soy-ginger dressing. Mmmm!

This was redonk! Super good. 2005 was a great year in Napa for cabs and this bottle, one of the most expensive bottles of wine I've bought ($25!!!), was so worth it. Please note, I rarely, rarely spend more than $10-$15 on a bottle of wine. This was a HUGE splurge, but divine!

Oh the carnage! The awesome Cab was served with Filet Mignon with a red wine/shallot pan sauce and white cheddar mashed potatoes. There was a salad on the side with pears, cashews, dried cherries on romaine with a balsamic basil dressing. Stupid Good!

Another soup base. This is the starter components for an amazing Tortilla Soup. The base is what takes the time...and that's only because it goes whiz whiz in the processor. Next time I make it, I'm making a double batch of starter, so the second pot can be just minutes away.

The final soup. The broth is phenom! But what makes it are the accoutrements! Chicken, Avocado, Cheese, Tortilla Chips, Sour Cream (if you have it, we didn't), Cilantro, Fresh Lime Juice. It's spicy, it's smokey, it'll make your sinuses sing with joy as they clear up. I really want to make this again...soon!

So there you have a it. A snap shot of the past few weeks. Part of the delays have to do with multiple nights away from home for work or when we go out for one reason or another. The other day, I've mentioned before, I'm trying my hand at writing fiction and my goal is finish 50,000 words or more by December 31, 2009...I have a ways to go, but I'm struggling through, as much on a daily basis as possible.

The holidays are here. They aren't even around the corner. If you are participating in a Thanksgiving Dinner, whether you are hosting or you going to a potluck, you should be making your plans now. Do you shopping as soon as you can, at least for the pantry staples and then just get the fresh produce and meats next week. The stores are madhouses and I like to do what I can to avoid them!!! I am really excited about Thanksgiving, even though I still don't have my menu fully worked out. I'm by-passing the traditional feast and going in a different direction all together! Stay tuned.

I have a full menu this week; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'm out for work on Monday and Friday. So postings will hopefully pick-up, but they might still be slow.

Curry Killz Cancer

Tumeric
Image Source

Studies are showing that chemicals in Turmeric can kill cancer cells. Turmeric also stains things yellow! But yeah for cancer kill agents! Might have to make some curry soon, just to be safe!

Curry spice 'kills cancer cells'

Getting the most from the goods...

image source

If you read something on the interwebz, it must be true right? Sure!

Here's an interesting, short article I saw online about bioavailability...getting the most nutrients out of your food. Your body only absorbs so much of the good stuff on its own. Sometimes with a little extra something something, you get more bang for your buck!!! For example, if you cook your tomatoes, the cooking process makes more lycopene available to your body, you do lose some vitamin C though. If you add black pepper, the chemicals there help more stuff make it into your system.

Some good tips. If nothing else, it's interesting...
Bioavailability: How to Get More Nutrients from Your Food

A quick heart attack recipe

White Cheese & Sausage Pasta
from Culinary in the Desert

I made this for dinner last night. It was good! Gut bomb good! Spicy from the sausage. Ridiculously creamy and gooey from the cheese and bechamel sauce. Stupid Good. I more or less followed the recipe; even though I didn't have it in front of me, so some of the quantities were off and I ad libbed a bit. Added some shredded white cheddar cheese (1/2 cup) as well as the mozzarella and parm.

Instead of using another baking dish, I made sure to boil the pasta in an oven-proof pot. After I drained the pasta, I dumped it back in the pot and poured the sausage/sauce mixture over, stirred and baked. Saved us a little extra clean up. I used a half pound of spicy ground pork sausage, not turkey sausage. I don't think it matters much. But use the spicy if you like some good heat. If not, use regular, but add a little red pepper flake. You want some heat to cut through all the creamy, cheesey goodness.



4 cups dry rigatoni or any other short tube-shaped pasta
8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
2 TB butter
3 TB all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
3 ounces fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400

In a large pot of boiling salted water, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add sausage - cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Add butter to the same skillet and allow to melt over medium heat - whisk in flour and allow to cook, whisking, for a minute or two. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring, until thick, about 8 minutes - remove from heat.

In a large bowl, toss together the sauce, cooked sausage Parmesan, crushed red pepper and salt. Scoop the mixture into a 7" x 11" baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Scatter the top with mozzarella. Bake until bubbly and the top is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Beef Stew

This recipe for Oven Beef Stew is adapted from one shared with readers in a recent Penzey's catalogue.

The key to this adaptation is to find a very tender cut of beef. The original recipe has this cook for 5 hours...I cooked it for an hour. Long enough to make most beef pretty tough and chewy. But having a tender cut that slow cooks, for only an hour, in a wet environment, is key.

That being said...I didn't read what type of beef this was and was surprised how tender it was after an hour of cooking! Trial and error my friends. Sorry.

Oven Beef Stew
adapted from Penzey's

1 1/2 lb beef, cubed and trimmed.
2-3 large potatoes, peeled, cubed
1 onion, large diced
4-5 carrots, peeled and cubed
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
Salt/Pepper
2 tsp Oregano, dried
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TB vegetable oil
Broth-chicken or beef or combo

Preheat oven to 350.

Coat the beef with the vegetable oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Sear the beef in a large pot, over medium high heat. You are trying to get a browned crust, not cook the meat through. Remove the beef to a bowl.

Add the onions to the pot and stir. Add the oregano. Stir. Add the tomatoes. Cover with broth and add the beef. Stir. Cover and place in the oven for 1/2 hour.

At the 1/2 hour mark, stir and add the potatoes and carrots. Cover and cook for another 1/2 hour, or until the vegetables are tender.

Serve hot!


Notes: If you want the broth to be thicker, you can stir in a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and cold liquid) to thicken it, or bring to a simmer over the stove, uncovered to allow the broth to reduce.