November 23, 2009
Posted by Chichi Wang, November 20, 2009 at 1:30 PM
[Photographs: Chichi Wang]
This week concludes our three-part installment of Thai curry pastes. Red, green, and yellow curries are common offerings in restaurants, yet these colors are merely part of the Thai curry range. Two of the lesser-known curry pastes—Penang and Mussaman—are variations on the red and yellow pastes, though with distinctive attributes of their own. Penang curry paste, most similar to red, includes a sizable dose of roasted peanuts. Mussaman curry paste is comprised of the same spices as those of yellow, except the spices must be toasted whole, then freshly ground before being added to the paste.
Just about every guest passing through my apartment this month has been subject to my collection of curry pastes.
"Would you like some red curry with shrimp?" I ask. "No? Well, how about some curry fritters? Curry fried rice? Noodles with curry sauce?"
Eventually the target will succumb to my entreaties. Last night I wooed a friend with pork shoulder stewed in Penang curry. Claiming that eating Thai curry usually leaves her with "stuff pouring from every facial orifice," my friend was pleased to discover that Thai curries don't have to be painfully spicy.
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Posted by Claire Sellers, November 17, 2009 at 12:30 PM
- serves 4 people-
Published with permission from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook.
It's unfortunate that most red-eye gravy recipes call for using the leftover coffee, because freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee—preferably a tasty, mild bean like Sumatra or Ethiopia—makes quite a difference in the flavor of your gravy. When preparing this dish for dinner, we pair it with slightly sweet side dishes to balance the intensely salty and smoky flavors of the ham and gravy. —The Lee Brothers
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Four 12-ounce brined ham shank steaks, 1/2-inch-thick
2 cups Rich Pork Broth (recipe below)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika or Hungarian paprika
1/2 cup freshly brewed coffee
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Procedure
1. Preheat the oven to 250° F and place an ovenproof serving platter or large plate and an ovenproof gravy boat on the middle rack.
2. Place the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet and heat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the ham steaks and fry in 2 batches, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. Turn each steak as it becomes golden brown in patches, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the first 2 steaks to the serving platter and set it back in the oven to warm as you fry the second bath.
3. When all 4 ham steaks are warming in the oven, reduce the heat to medium and add the brother to the skillet. When the sizzling subsides, stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Mix the flour, sugar, and paprika in a small bowl. When the broth comes to a simmer, sprinkle the flour mixture into it with one hand while whisking vigorously with the other, to prevent slumping. Add the coffee and continue to whisk occasionally until the gravy returns to a simmer. Turn the heat to low, and simmer, whisking occasionally, until the gravy has thickened to the consistency of melted ice cream, about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and whisk the butter until it melts.
4. Remove the serving platter and gravy boat from the oven and fill the gravy boat with the gravy. Pass the gravy at the table.
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Posted by Caroline Russock, November 11, 2009 at 12:45 PM
"The final dish is a happy meeting of opposites: hot and cold, sweet and sour, cooked and raw."
This Pork Soffrito with Spicy Peppers and Cabbage is a one-plate meal that combines ingredients I never would have thought to add together. And I have to say, it's one of the most satisfying meals I've had in a while.
Thankfully, Michael Psilakis did all the leg work and laid out the framework for this fantastic winter recipe in How to Roast a Lamb.
The dish is reminiscent of a scaloppine or saltimbocca but the flavors are all Greek. Thinly pounded slices of pork tenderloin are floured, fried, and topped with a sauce made from the pan juices along with white wine, capers, shallots, and the uniquely Greek pickled yellow peppers known as pepperoncini. The pan-fried tenderloin would be a stand-alone dish with the addition of the pan sauce but Psilakis pairs the dish with a salad that's all at once perfect and totally unexpected.
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Posted by Andrea Lynn, November 11, 2009 at 9:45 AM
[Photograph: Bill Milne]
The distinctive red stripes, the mouth-watering aroma, the snapping sizzle from the pan, the crisp texture and, of course, the intense, porky flavor. With a food that pleasures all five of our senses, how can we resist the temptation of sinfully delicious bacon?
In a recent issue of Chile Pepper magazine, we rounded up all things bacon. There's bacon floss, maple-bacon coffee, jalapeno bacon salt, spicy bacon jerky and even bacon pancake mix.
While all were good and certainly unique, nothing trumps the bacon I had at Café Pasqual's in Santa Fe. Sticky, spicy and sugary, this was a step into bacon heaven. And it's easy to create at home.
This recipe highlights bacon at its sweet, spicy best.
Start with applewood-smoked bacon. Dip it into a mixture of chile powder and brown sugar, then slowly cook this in the oven. (Keep a watchful eye for burning.) Personally, I like to bump up the chile powder a notch. This recipe highlights bacon at its sweet, spicy best. And with the oven doing most of the work, this is an easy addition to any brunch during the holiday season.
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Posted by Tara Mataraza Desmond, November 10, 2009 at 11:30 AM
[Photograph: Tara Mataraza Desmond]
A few weeks ago I gave a friend a verbal whupping for calling a concoction he'd made of vegetables and melted cheese atop a piece of naan a pizza. On any given day, this guy is Mr. Italian American, gushing about Sunday "gravy" and salty meat and cheese sandwiches, so I was flabbergasted by his irreverent pizza misnomer.
"Pizza," though, has already been stretched thin by recipe adaptations. There are saag paneer pizzas, ramen pizzas, Pizzaritos, and French pizzas, to name a few. The intent isn't to oust authentic Italian originals (or Italian-American iterations) but to underscore the infallibility that the culinary basics of a pizza--breadlike bottom and toppings, fired in a hot oven--are genius and almost ubiquitously appreciated. My friend's naan creation is another case and point.
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Posted by Chichi Wang, November 10, 2009 at 9:00 AM
[Photographs: Chichi Wang]
Pig's stomach and beef tripe are fairly common finds in ethnic markets, but it's not everyday that I come across lamb tripe. Sitting next to an assortment of livers, the packages of lamb tripe were neatly stacked and as usual, dirt-cheap. Without knowing exactly what I'd make of it, I claimed a pack of the tripe and rushed home in anticipation. Unfurled on my cutting board, the organ was a sight to behold.
Though we often refer to ruminants as possessing four stomachs, each stomach is actually a section of the larger whole. Beef tripe is sold as such: honeycomb and omasum, for instance, are packaged separately. Since lamb is much smaller in size, all the discrete sections of its stomach—the tender, succulent honeycomb tripe, the spongy, furry rumen, and the flatter omasum—appear in one continuous swath.
To celebrate an innard I'd never eaten before, I embarked on a recipe I've never tried. For months now, I've been obsessed with the idea of sealing my pots with dough, an age-old method for low and slow cooking. Molded just to fit the shape of the cooking vessel, a rope of dough provides a formidable seal to preserve the moisture of a stew.
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Posted by Chichi Wang, November 3, 2009 at 9:30 AM
[Photographs: Chichi Wang]
If beef tongue is something of a monstrosity, then pork tongue is the smaller, subtler of the two. Even so, at five or more inches in length, the tongue of a pig is not to be sneezed at. Floppy like the sole of an old shoe, a pork tongue possesses the look and feel of any mammalian tongue. An arched, dorsal base, dotted with papillae, curves slightly into an elongated tip. On the underside, the flesh of the muscle peers out from pockets of gristly fat. As with most mammalian tongues suitable for eating (i.e., beef, lamb, and calves), pork tongues need a lengthy cooking time to become tender.
Confiting the tongues confirmed my unalterable faith in the power of fat. Is there anything that can't be improved with a good stewing in fat? The procedure for confiting the pork tongues was no different than that of duck or goose: an initial salting, following by stewing and storage in fat or lard. Like duck and goose, pork tongue takes on a silky texture when treated with fat; unlike poultry, the entire organ is pure meat without any of those fussy bones to eat around.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, November 2, 2009 at 4:15 PM
[Photograph: fuchsiadunlop.com]
I've been meaning to make this recipe for at least a month. Ever since I laid eyes on Fuchsia Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province, I've been drooling over the recipe on the book's cover: Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork. "Men eat it to build their brains," Chairman Mao's nephew is quoted as saying in the book.
The pork in question is pork belly, which is an added plus. Spiked with dried red chiles and star anise, it's a simple dish, not too spicy or over the top. The whole thing could be completed in under an hour—not bad for what amounted to a very authentic Chinese recipe.
Think of the dish as more of a blank slate for other flavors. Dunlop suggests adding every from water chestnuts, mushrooms, mustard greens, to spare ribs. But really, just about anything would taste good in this broth.
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Posted by Kristen Swensson, November 2, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Editor's note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Take it away, Kristen!
[Photograph: Kristen Swensson]
Sometimes, creating healthy recipes takes quite a bit of planning. There are ingredients to be bought, quantities to be recalculated, and substitutions to be made. Some fail.
Others succeed. Many an evening, I emerge from the kitchen tired but victorious, content that another nutritious meal can be shared with the interweb.
Sometimes, it's raining and pork chops are on sale.
Pork Chops with Green Apple and Tomatillo Sauce, originally from the June 2004 issue of Gourmet is a lovely twist on the American classic. The pork is flavored by a cumin and coriander rub, which melds wonderfully with the tart, slightly spicy apple topping. As center cut pork chops are pretty lean, it's on the lighter side calorie-wise, too.
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Posted by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, October 30, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Note: Read my breakdown of the burger's components to see how I came up with this recipe.
- makes 4 burgers -
Ingredients
8 ounces pork butt, trimmed of gristle, and cut into 1-inch cubes
8 ounces good-quality slab bacon, trimmed of rind, cut into 1-inch cubes
12 slices crisp cooked bacon
4 Bacon Attack! buns (recipe below)
4 tablespoons baconnaise
Procedure
1. Place feed shaft, blade, and 1/4-inch die of meat grinder in freezer until well-chilled. Meanwhile, place meat and bacon chunks on rimmed baking sheet, leaving space between each piece and place in freezer for 10 minutes until meat is firm, but not frozen.
2. Combine meat in large bowl and toss to combine. Pass meat through grinder twice. Form into four patties, about 4-inches wide and 1/2-inch tall. Refrigerate until ready for use.
3. Slice buns. Brush lightly with bacon fat or butter (or leave plain), then place under broiler or in toaster oven until golden brown, about 1 minute. Spread 1 tablespoon baconnaise on top half of each bun, followed by three slices crisp cooked bacon.
4. Cook patties in well-seasoned cast-iron or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until well-browned and crisp on first side, about 2-3 minutes. Flip patties and cook on second side until cooked through, about 2 minutes longer.
5. Transfer patties to burger bun bottoms, close sandwiches, and serve.
Bacon Attack! Buns
- makes 6-8 buns -
Ingredients
1/4 pound bacon, cut into 1/4-inch lardons
1 large egg
2 tablespoon active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Procedure
1. Cook bacon in skillet over low heat, stirring frequently, until well-rendered and crisp. Transfer bacon bits to small bowl, reserving rendered fat separately (you should have about 1/4 cup of rendered bacon fat - if you have more, set aside all but 1/4 cup for another use. If you have less, add vegetable oil to make up the difference)
2. Separate egg, reserving white and yolk separately. In a bowl of standing mixer, combine yeast, water, sugar, egg yolk, salt, rendered bacon, and bacon fat. Whisk to combine. let stand for 5 minutes. Add flour and combine in standing mixer fitted with dough hook attachment. Dough should be soft and sticky (it won't pull away from sides of bowl). Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
3. Preheat oven to 425°F and set oven rack to upper-middle position. On well-floured work surface, divide dough into 6 to 8 even pieces (depending on if you want large or small buns) and shape each into a ball. Place on greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart and flatten slightly with palm of well-floured hand. Spary with non-stick spray, cover with plastic, and let rest 15 minutes until slightly risen. Meanwhile, whisk egg white until slightly frothy.
4. Bake for 4 minutes. remove from oven, brush with egg white, and return to oven until golden brown and well-risen, about 4-8 minutes longer. Set on wire rack to cool.
Posted by Tara Mataraza Desmond, October 27, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by their book, Almost Meatless.
Pork, mushrooms and broth simmer together to make this sauce rich with complex savory flavors. The studs of sweetness from the pears are an unexpected but appetizing partner for the other ingredients. Plus, the pears soften and help thicken the ragu, while keeping their shape and adding texture to the final dish.
Just a quarter-pound of pork forms the foundation of the sauce, creating the fond (better known as "tasty brown bits"), which are deglazed up from the bottom of the pan and into the simmering liquid. Use ground turkey, chicken or veal if you prefer any of them over pork. For a vegetarian version, brown the mushrooms first and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
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Posted by Chichi Wang, October 27, 2009 at 9:15 AM
[Photos: Greg Takayama]
To those who claim there's nothing better than a juicy steak, I offer the stomach as this week's counter-argument. Nose-to-tail eating affords a whole range of enticing textures. We often judge food by its taste, but texture is equally significant.
Chewy, stringy, mushy, spongy: though nothing one would want in a steak, these adjectives take on positive connotations for offal. Consider tripe, which is meant to be chewy and spongy in a tender, slowly-stewed kind of way. Tendon, another underappreciated part, turns soft and mushy after many hours of cooking.
Charred on a cast iron or hot griddle, the different layers of pork stomach become soft, chewy, and crisp all at once. It's the most powerful argument we have for offal: to seek a novel culinary experience, we can turn towards the non-fleshy parts of the animal.
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Posted by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, October 23, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Note: Read about making animal-fat mayonnaise for a full recap on the science behind these recipes. The jarred mayonnaise added to the food processor at the start makes it easier to create a more stable emulsion. If you are an experienced mayonnaise-maker who has no problems with mayonnaise breaking on you, you may omit the jarred mayonnaise. The mayonnaise can also be made in a bowl with a whisk. This mayonnaise can be made with vegetable oil in place of the rendered animal fat - though flavor will suffer.
- makes about 2 cups baconnaise -
Ingredients
3/4 cup rendered bacon fat, melted
3/4 cup canola oil
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
1 tablespoon water, plus more to correct consistency
lemon juice to taste
salt and pepper to taste
4 strips crisp bacon, crumbled
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely sliced (optional)
Procedure
1. Combine bacon fat and canola oil in 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Whisk to combine.
2. Add egg yolks, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, and water to bowl of food processor. Run processor for 5 seconds to combine. Scrape down sides of processor bowl with rubber spatula. With processor running, slowly drizzle fat into bowl in a thin, steady stream, stopping and scraping down sides as necessary. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste, and adjust consistency with water until thick, smooth, and creamy, but not mouth-coatingly waxy. Stir in cumbled bacon bits and sliced scallions, if using. Store in refrigerator in air-tight container for up to two weeks.
Posted by Kerry Saretsky, October 22, 2009 at 5:30 PM
[Photographs: Kerry Saretsky]
When you think of Savoy, think of the Alps. There is something about the chill of a mountain that encourages you to eat your way into a pot-bellied stove, as if eating the food will lend you the experience of baking with it in a very warm and cozy place. Perhaps that is why anything "savoyarde" seems to contain three very comforting ingredients: gooey and smelly Reblochon cheese, potatoes, and ham—like tartiflette. It's hearty and perfect for winter.
Ironically, my first taste of Savoy was in a small seaside town in Provence called Cassis during the height of summer. I parked myself at a little crêpe establishment, and after some consideration, ordered the crêpe savoyarde. The crêpe was stuffed with running Reblochon cheese and potatoes, and on top of the envelope-fold of crêpe was placed a drape of jambon cru, like prosciutto. It was rich and wholesome and far too heavy for summer, so that I staggered back up the hot, hot hill to my house, feeling more like I resembled a snowman than a girl. But the crêpe's flavors worked so well together that I thought to myself instantly, "I want to make this into a pizza."
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Posted by Caroline Russock, October 20, 2009 at 1:30 PM
Like Arthur Schwartz, author of The Southern Italian Table, I grew up in a Jewish household. Schwartz was flanked by Italian neighbors in the apartment building where he grew up, exposing him at a young age to the joys of not only Jewish food but also to Southern Italian cuisine. Not being blessed with Italian friends or neighbors, my experience with Italian food was limited to jarred red sauce and turkey meatballs up until the time I made my first trip to Italy.
I am a bit hesitant to admit that until that point my experience with sausage was limited to a frozen breakfast link or two, eaten with my (non-kosher) grandparents during vacation. As you would likely assume, the first real Italian sausages I ate were mind-blowing. Watching the butchers hand-stuff the casings, detecting the subtle differences from shop to shop, grilling them in a wood-fired stove, I was a quick sausage convert.
This recipe for Sausage Canapés is a great way to showcase especially fresh and well-spiced sausage. In this preparation the pork is just cooked through, and the juices are absorbed by the bread below, rendering it infinitely porky and delicious. The recipe calls for sweet sausage, but I think that the hot version would do just as well, or better yet, mix it up with a link or two of each.
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Posted by Chichi Wang, October 20, 2009 at 12:30 PM
"Stewing the pig's ears affords a precious by-product: a pot of flavorful stock."
[Photographs: Chichi Wang]
The Fergus Henderson meal I shared with my Serious Eats comrades on Friday night had me hankering for more pig. That evening I left the restaurant carrying a giant foil package with the half pig's head we ordered, skull and all. Still, there was one part I wished we'd had in a pair: the ears. Roasted with the rest of the head, the tip of the ear was as hardy as a dog treat; the inner canal offered more chewable cartilage. I'd gnawed contentedly on that singular ear, but it left me craving my favorite preparation for pig's ears: deep-fried, crisp and irresistible.
I use pig's ears like some cooks treat pancetta. Slivers of fried pig ears are the perfect garnish to a bowl of freshly made pasta or dry spaghetti; plopped over poached egg, ears are an unbeatable topping for frisée aux lardon–style salad. Crisp, slightly chewy, and delicately crunchy with a layer of cartilage, this is one nasty bit that has it all.
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Posted by Chichi Wang, October 6, 2009 at 9:30 AM
[Photograph: Chichi Wang]
This week, The Nasty Bits leaves the world of bones and innards and treks to the other side of nasty. Generally, this series chronicles the unconventional parts of conventionally eaten animals, but what if we examined entire animals that are just plain ugly? There are too many to name comprehensively, but a few candidates come to mind: furry guinea pigs, scaly alligators, armored armadillos, slithery snakes and eels, tiny birds like ortolan, twitchy squirrels, wart-covered sea cucumbers, and grasshoppers and other insects.
Whereas we may fondly gaze at the pig and think of bacon, or look at a cow and anticipate a steak, there's nothing ostensibly appetizing about the majority of the meat and seafood we eat. As Jared Diamond has argued, only a few animals on the planet (something like fourteen out of one hundred and forty-eight possible candidates) are suitable creatures for domestication. These are the animals that, over centuries of breeding and manipulation, have come to look like things we'd want to put in our mouths. On the other hand, the rest of what's edible in the animal kingdom is often unseemly and feral in appearance.
Eels are sly, wild creatures that look distinctly out of place in the kitchen. Nevertheless, their delicate meat, akin to a flaky and lean fish, is worth seeking out. I almost never turn down a chance to work with eel, so when I spied a water tank filled with the slithering creatures, I knew that dinner would involve some wrestling.
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Posted by Tara Mataraza Desmond, September 29, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by their book, Almost Meatless.
I love this kind of recipe. It's simple enough but not at all boring. It's cheap, can be made ahead, reheats beautifully and is suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Plus, though I always enthusiastically welcome a pate brisee crust, rich and flaky with butter, this shredded potato crust is a thick, flavorful base that complements the savory filling and crisps around the edges like your favorite hash browns.
Sausage is an excellent ingredient for adding meaty taste and texture in very small amounts. This recipe calls for a single link, just about a quarter pound of sausage. I opted for mild Italian pork sausage, but substitute your own preference (turkey, chicken or breakfast sausages would work well) to change the flavor profile.
If you make the quiche ahead, let it cook nearly completely, cover it well and refrigerate until ready to eat. Reheat in a 350° F oven for 15-20 minutes, until warmed through. Cover with foil to prevent the crust from burning. Alternatively, cut the quiche into wedges and microwave them to reheat.
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Posted by Joshua Bousel, September 25, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Each week Joshua Bousel of The Meatwave drops by with a recipe for you to grill over the weekend. Fire it up, Joshua!
[Photographs: Joshua Bousel]
My favorite sausages in the world are the incredibly juicy and spicy beef links smoked in Elgin, Texas. A few years ago I attempted to reproduce them, only to fail miserably. Traveling about two hours southwest to Houston, there's another sausage I love and thought would be a little easier to tackle: smoked pork with cheddar and jalapeño.
The flavors of this sausage run only as deep as its name, so I started by grinding pork, fat back, and chunks of sharp cheddar together. Then I threw in a bunch of chopped jalapeños, salt, pepper, and more grated cheese, and gave the mixture a whirl in the Kitchen Aid to emulsify the meat and fat a bit before stuffing it into hog casings. Smoked over applewood chips for about two hours, the pale sausage emerged from the smoker, transformed into beautiful orange links.
The flavors were pretty spot-on and cheddar oozed out, which balanced the spiciness of the peppers in a plump and juicy link. The only issue I had was after cooling down, the skins shriveled. This didn't stop anyone from enjoying the sausage, but one eater suggested giving the sausages a bath in ice water as soon as they come out of the smoker to prevent this in the future. I'll give it a try next time, but for now, these sausages were definitely good eats.
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Posted by Joy Manning, September 22, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Editor's note: Philadelphia food writers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond drop by each week with Meat Lite, which celebrates meat in moderation. Meat Lite was inspired by their book, Almost Meatless.
[Photograph: PHIGONGGOI on Flickr]
The story of this recipe begins with me standing in front of the open refrigerator, surveying the unused CSA produce that would need to be tossed if not cooked immediately. My husband was suspicious as I piled the vegetables on the counter and told him I was making dinner.
"You know how I feel about green peppers and eggplant," he complained, one eyebrow way up.
I remembered a leftover link of sausage that might gild the vegetables, so to speak, and I grabbed that, too, thinking, "Hey, maybe I'll come up with something that will work for Meat Lite on Serious Eats!" But about an hour into the project, I realized there were some issues with this recipe. Like the fact that it took me two hours to make it. And also, it basically requires a mandoline or slicing-blade attachment for the food processor. Plus, when I was done, there was a scary, scary mountain of dishes to be done.
As I was cooking, I declared it way too much trouble to turn into a recipe anybody would want to have. But then I tasted it and changed my mind. Even my husband, who hates half of these ingredients, declared it a winner. Also: It feeds an army and freezes very well for future meals.
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