02.04.10
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Leftovers, Meats, Mexican, Pork and Ham, Sides at 7:42 pm by julie
You know, I’ve never been able to buy pork shoulder from my regular grocery store, which is such a shame because there is such a proliferation of braising recipes I want to try that call for it. Costco carries whole ones, but I’ve never been able to bring myself to purchase quite such a large chunk of meat for our little family, considering our limited freezer space, and the same goes for many of their enormous cuts of beef. However, we’ve had pretty good luck cooking their boneless country rib options in both the pork and beef. I seem to be accumulating quite a few recipes for dealing with these cuts, so look for quite a few posts discussing them in days to come.
My go-to recipe for dealing with these pork ribs in the past few years has been braising it Hawaiian style. But I think one of my new favorite applications is making carnitas. The recipe couldn’t be simpler. Essentially you braise the meat until it is meltingly tender and all the liquid has evaporated, then you sear it a little bit in the fat that is left behind, to give it even more flavor and texture. I served with homemade flour tortillas, jack cheese and a simple rice salad with corn and black beans, but you could take the toppings in any direction you like, or use the meat for quesadillas, burritos or what you will. Frankly, thinking back on this pork is making me hungry, so I won’t drag out the post any longer… dinner time!
Pork Carnitas
3 lb boneless pork shoulder or country ribs, lightly trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes (leave some fat on)
Olive oil
Water
1 T salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white onion, diced
2 tsp ancho chile powder
Salt and pepper
Drizzle a heavy wide pan (I used my big red Le Creuset) with olive oil, season the pork with salt, pepper and ancho, and sear on all sides. Pour in just enough water to cover the meat, add the garlic and onion, and bring to a boil, uncovered. When the liquid reaches a boil, lower the heat, and continue to cook at a gentle simmer until all the liquid has evaporated, about two hours. At this point, the meat should be cooked through but not falling apart. Lower the heat a little more and continue cooking the meat until all the fat has rendered out of it. Keep turning the meat until it is lightly browned all over, about 15 more minutes. Makes a lot, but the leftovers are possibly even tastier than the first day.
Source: Slightly adapted from Food Network.
Permalink
04.14.09
Posted in Baby Food, Cuisines, Dinner, Leftovers, Meats, Mexican, Pork and Ham, Sides, Veggies at 3:11 pm by julie
I owe Molly Stevens big-time. Not only did she write a great book about braising, which is one of my very favorite ways to deal with meat, but the woman knows how to make cooked carrots taste great. I myself am no friend of cooked carrots: they get mushy and overly sweet with that same flavor that I dislike in sweet potatoes and squash. The thought of carrots cooked with brown sugar or ginger gives me the shivers, just a little bit. But I trust Molly with carrots because the glazed ones that accompany her Zinfandel-braised pot roast were a revelation to me: very savory with only a trace of sweetness, cooked to the perfect degree of doneness between crunch and mush. So I decided to break into a fresh jar of ground ancho from Penzey’s, and give this recipe a try. It came together quickly, even though I used full-sized carrots split down to baby carrot size, and the honey and spices hit just the right balance with the natural sweetness of the carrots. I do admit that I left out the jalapeño, and my tongue thanks me.
To go along with this vaguely Tex-mex recipe, I decided a batch of scallion-sour cream corn muffins was in order. Turned out I didn’t have quite enough sour cream, so I snuck some of Nolan’s cream-top plain yogurt in to make up the difference. These were pretty good basic muffins, though I personally prefer to slather my warm cornbread with butter and honey, and couldn’t bring myself to do it thanks to the green onions. Nolan was a big fan of the entire meal, but he particularly liked the muffins. The next day I started breaking one up into bite-sized pieces for him at lunchtime and had to run out of the room for a moment to help Jeremy; when I came back not 30 seconds later, Nolan had ditched the little bites and was happily noshing on the entire muffin like a big boy, buried in crumbs. Now I just break them into halves or quarters for him instead.
We also got some pretty fantastic leftovers out of the pork, which was good because there was just over a whole tenderloin left. I made my homemade tortillas, upping the quantity slightly because we go through them pretty quickly; sauteed some peppers and onions; and added thin slices of pork just to heat it through. Add some cheese, sour cream, what have you, and you’ve got some darn good pork fajitas. I should also note that Penzey’s is really onto something with those little samples they send along with their online orders. It can be a little hard to imagine how a particular spice blend will smell and taste over the internet, and those samples really help. I find myself reaching for the sample jar of southwestern spices almost every time I make Mexican food now, and I strongly suspect that when I run out, I will be adding it to the next order.
Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Carrots
Please note that I adjusted the cooking method on the carrots here, due to timing and a few cautionary reviews about mushy carrots.
1 pound carrots, peeled, halved or quartered, cut into 5″ sections
2 T water
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T butter, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp coarse kosher salt
2 1-to 1 1/4-pound pork tenderloins
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
For carrots: Arrange carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet. Whisk water and all remaining ingredients in small bowl; pour over carrots and toss to coat. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Toss to coat before continuing.
For pork: Preheat oven to 400°F. Roast carrot mixture for about 10 minutes while cooking off the pork. Meanwhile, stir oregano, cumin, chile powder, smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt in small bowl; rub mixture all over tenderloins. Heat oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork to skillet and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Remove tray from oven and place pork with the carrots in a single layer around it. Roast uncovered until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 145°F, stirring carrots occasionally if beginning to caramelize, about 18 minutes. Remove pork from the oven and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes; meanwhile, check carrots for doneness and return to the oven while the meat rests if not yet tender.
Transfer pork to work surface. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange carrots on platter. Top with pork slices, drizzling any pan juices over.
Source: Slightly adapted from Epicurious.
Permalink
11.11.08
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Leftovers, Meats, Mexican, Poultry, Soups at 10:45 am by julie
No, I’m not dead. I just have a child who doesn’t want to nap or play by himself, and therefore little time to cook and even less to write about it. I haven’t even had time to make desserts, which, considering my sweet tooth, is a shocking turn of events. I had all the ingredients for my Daring Bakers challenge too, but the deadline flew by before I had a chance to make it, a huge disappointment for me because I was really excited to try making homemade pizza for the first time. I’ll still have to undertake it on my own one day soon.
I think for the time being I’ll try to keep posts short and sweet. I’ve had a bunch of photos waiting for exposition for what seems like months, so I’m just hoping I can recognize them. 
Here was a good one from the end of September (really?): arroz con pollo. The recipe, for which I subbed available boneless breasts at a slightly later point in the cooking process, made a huge amount of food and was pretty tasty. Probably not the best, and certainly not the most authentic recipe, so I’ll keep poking around, but the leftovers kept us fed for a week in various iterations.
After we tired of eating it plain, I made homemade flour tortillas for the first time. Reheated the rice and topped it with some scrambled eggs and cheese and called it a breakfast burrito. The tortillas were so wonderful and easy to make, that I’ve refused to buy tortillas ever since, even though Nolan thinks it takes me too long to roll out and griddle the dough. Guess I just need more practice!
Flour Tortillas
Makes about 8 8-inch tortillas, and takes about an hour from start to finish, including resting time
2 C AP flour
1/4 C shortening
2/3 C warm water
1 tsp salt
Cut shortening into flour. Dissolve salt in warm water, then add gradually to flour mixture. Mix until dough begins to form. Turn onto floured surface and knead about 3 minutes. Divide into 8 balls, and cover with plastic wrap to rest at least 30 minutes.
Heat a large cast iron pan over medium/medium-high heat. Preheat oven on low (~200 degrees). On floured surface, roll out ball until about 8 inches in diameter, or as thin as possible. Grill in dry pan, about 30 seconds on each side. Hold the tortillas in the oven under a towel while you finish cooking the rest, so they don’t stiffen up.
Update 4/6/09: To make a dozen tortillas, use these adjusted proprotions:
3 C flour (I use 2 C AP flour and 1 C white whole wheat)
6 T shortening
1 C warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
We had three tortillas and a ton of arroz con pollo still leftover after the breakfast burritos, so the next night I improvised a sort of tortilla soup that came out really well. Fortunately, I jotted down some notes for it, because otherwise now I would have no clue what I did. I didn’t measure, but you can adjust it to your own tastes.
Tortilla Soup
Half a sweet onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Dried oregano
Chipotle powder
Alder smoked salt
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained
2 1/2 C chicken broth
1 1/2 C leftover cooked rice from arroz con pollo
1 cooked chicken breast from arroz con pollo, shredded
1/2 C frozen corn
1/3 C sour cream
3 homemade tortillas cut into 1/2″ strips, fried until golden brown, drained and salted
Saute the onion and garlic with olive oil in a large pot until onion is translucent. Season to taste with dried oregano, chipotle powder, and alder smoked salt. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, and half a cup of leftover rice; bring to a simmer and then puree until fairly smooth with a stick blender. Next add the shredded chicken, corn, and about a cup more rice; heat through and stir in sour cream at the end. Serve topped with a pile of tortillas and some cheddar cheese.
Permalink
07.05.07
Posted in Breakfast, Cuisines, Eggs, Lunch, Mexican at 3:16 pm by julie
Lunch has never been an easy subject for me. I’m not a huge fan of sandwiches or salads; leftover soup is ideal, but not in this heat. And now that we’re going home for lunch every day to let the pup out for a stretch, I’ve also had to consider what Jeremy wants for lunches. So from time to time here, you’ll see posts about things that worked out well for lunches, as either a quick meal, one that can be prepped ahead of time, or one that can be reheated without much detriment. For today, the subject is migas.
I don’t want any grief about the definition of migas, which apparently is up for debate as either an egg dish or a soup, depending on what part of Texas or Mexico you live in. For my purposes here, it’s an egg and tortilla dish, but I didn’t use any sort of traditional recipe, just going on the general idea and fitting it to my tastes. All I cared about is that it was quick, filling, tasty, and used up the stale corn tortillas I had hanging around the fridge from making chicken enchiladas. The recipe below is generally what I did, but feel free to adjust on the fly, as I did. Also, I don’t tolerate spicy foods very well, so I kept this on the mild side.
Migas
2 corn tortillas, rather stale
2 T olive oil
1 T bacon fat (optional)
6 eggs
1/4 C mild chunky salsa, or to taste
3 green onions, sliced and whites kept separate from greens
1 clove garlic, minced
Sharp cheddar cheese for grating
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Meanwhile, cut the tortillas in half, then into triangles (I got 16 triangles from each tortilla). Drop the tortillas in the oil and fry them quickly until they begin to crisp up. Add the white parts of the green onions, the garlic and the bacon fat, and saute until they are tender.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and salsa together until combined. Pour into the skillet and stir briskly to scramble, lowering heat somewhat if necessary. Add sliced green onion tops, reserving a few for garnish, and season to taste with salt and pepper. When eggs are cooked to desired degree, remove to plates and top with grated cheese and a sprinkle of green onion. Serves two.
Update 7/6/07: We made migas for the second time for lunch today (the first being sometime in the last week or so). I had run out of green onions, so I just subbed in some chopped sweet onion instead, and it was still very tasty. That was the last of our corn tortillas, though, so unless we start buying them just to make this dish (and maybe we should!), it may be a while before we get to make it again.
Update 8/17/07: We rarely have leftover—or for that matter, fresh—corn tortillas in our house, but I’ve been wanting more migas, so today for lunch I went ahead and made migas-less migas, basically salsified scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese. Frankly, it was almost as yummy as the tortilla-filled kind, so this variant will definitely find its way on the menu again.
Update 1/1/08: I made migas for lunch today with a stale multigrain wheat tortilla, and they did just fine in place of corn ones. Good to know.
Permalink
06.13.07
Posted in Cuisines, Dinner, Eggs, Italian, Leftovers, Mexican, Pastas at 5:26 pm by julie
I know it’s been a few days since my last posting, and for those of you who may have been concerned—yes, we have still been eating. I made a few recipes I’ve already posted about, and a few that were new and fantastic but less than photogenic.
For instance, this weekend I made chicken enchiladas with the leftover roasted chicken. I’ve made it before, a few years ago, and we both really liked it. This time it just didn’t work out. I’m tempted to think that my oven is having temperature problems again, because it took much longer than expected to heat up, and the onions in the filling were still crunchy. Disappointing… guess I should have made another batch of white chicken chili.
I made some fantastic (but visually unappealing) omelets for lunch one day this weekend, using a recipe from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
that I’ve had my eye on for a while: Madeleine’s omelet with mustard croutons. Jeremy is usually quite specific about what he wants in his omelets, but this time he gave me carte blanche, so I ran right to that recipe and got to it. Judy Rodgers’ technique is of the fold-and-roll variety, which I’ve never used before. This particular recipe also called for 12 eggs, with the finished omelet divided between 4 plates. I didn’t have a pan large enough even for a half size, so I made 2 2-egg omelets in my little non-stick skillet, and that was good practice for the technique. I saved myself some angst and just garnished the finished omelets with grated cheese (good aged Gruyere to sub in for the recommended Beaufort) instead of trying to put it inside with the croutons. The latter were just fantastic: full of flavor and balanced between crisp and soft bits. We had a few extras that wouldn’t fit in the omelets, and they vanished off the baking sheet moments after Jeremy took his plate back to the kitchen. All in all, a delicious and unusual omelet. We’ll definitely be having them again whenever there are leftover chunks of bread floating around, so I’ll try and get a photo one of these days.
On Monday we had our favorite fusilli salsa di noci. (I was still working on using up that half-gallon of cream.) Very tasty as always, if a bit too garlicky… aged garlic cloves pack can quite a punch! We had our house salad to go with it, using toasted walnuts, apple slices, some Silver Falls goat cheese, and a cherry-white balsamic vinaigrette.
Yesterday, I made some linguine primavera in an effort to use up some asparagus and yet more cream. I didn’t really use a recipe, but threw in what I had on hand: sweet onion, carrots, garlic, celery hearts, rehydrated porcini mushrooms, that asparagus, and some frozen peas. I sauteed the first 5 elements with some olive oil, and the latter two went in with the pasta water at strategic points as the pasta cooked. When it was nearly ready, I reduced the mushroom soaking liquid with some white wine in the saute pan, and stirred in some cream and grana padano, then tossed the pasta and blanched veggies in with the rest, and that was that. Tasty, in a clean-the-fridge sort of way.
Tonight, Jeremy wasn’t feeling well, so he requested poached eggs on buttered toast. I tried to talk him into something more interesting, but he wouldn’t budge. Good thing I’m getting better at egg poaching. At least the toast was new: a local loaf of fragrant amaranth bread from LifeSource that we had pulled out of the freezer this morning.
The fridge is starting to look empty, though I still haven’t managed to use up all of the asparagus I got yet. Good thing it holds up so nicely in a glass of water… I hadn’t realized the bundle I picked up was some 2.5 lbs of asparagus! I’ve been holding off going back to the grocery store because we are supposed to be getting our new car any day now, but apparently I shouldn’t have been holding my breath. As long as it arrives in time for our anniversary, all will be well.
Permalink