Archive for the ‘Cooking Adventures (with Recipes)’ Category
Pork Shoulder Sandwich and Kimchi Jigae (with pix)
t says: We once tried to make a pork shoulder, but it didn’t turn out right. We tried to braise the sucker, but the meat just ended up being too tough for my taste (which we tried to hide by shredding the bejesus out of it). The thing is, from the beginning, kp told us to forego braising and just roast it: put on the rub, stick it in the oven, and let it go at a ridiculously low heat for a long amount of time. I doubted whether this would actually work because that’s how my grandmom used to make her Thanksgiving turkeys, and although they were made with love, they were just a bit dry.
Well, flash forward a few months … I had the hankering to cook a large piece of meat this past weekend. Why large? Well, I wanted to cook something large in volume that I could slowly eat over a few days – I foresaw that I would have little time to cook. Then I remembered how whenever I go to the Wegman’s meat section, I always end up staring at the pork shoulder. It was my white whale. I’d curse silently under my breath, “why??? but I did everything right!”. Of course, there’s no real reason for me to hold a grudge against the pork, as at $1.30 per pound, what was preventing me from giving it another whirl? The more I thought about it, I realized that I basically owed it to myself to try it again – the meat was so cheap it might as well have been free!
But how would I make it this time? The braise last time was a disaster. I needed a change-up. So I opened up David Chang’s Momofuku Cookbook. He had a recipe for pork shoulder that he uses for his ramen. It was simple, straightforward, no frills … and it was precisely what kp said: put on the rub, stick it in the oven, and go. So it was settled. I was going to roast the pork and make sandwiches out of it. But one cannot live on pork and bread alone! (Ok, scratch that – one can live on pork and bread alone, but not even kp would consider this a healthy diet). I figured that pork is savory and salty, so I wanted some sour and spice to punch it up, some vegetable to keep my doctor happy, and some cheese to both quell the spice and add some mouth-coating texture (aside from straight-up pork fat from the meat). What I eventually decided on was an homage to the South, Korea, and Italy … and pigs.
Ingredients:
__ 4.5 lb pork shoulder (but any size will do – David Chang claims that it won’t change how long you cook the thing for – I don’t know about that, but what the hell do I know?)
__ Sugar
__ Kosher salt
__ Dr. P-I-M-P’s ‘Bama Backyard BBQ Rub <if you can get some>
__ Some wilted spinach (olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, crushed red pepper, toasted sesame seeds <optional>)
__ Some ggakdugi
__ Some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
__ Some sesame-studded sandwich rolls
-2) Let me explain some things here:
A) What the crap is Dr. P-I-M-P’s ‘Bama Backyard BBQ Rub? It’s a secret concoction of herbs and spices that only kp can make. Actually, I’m not even sure he has it written down, as then it might fall into the wrong hands. The only way to get your hands on some is to send us an email and pray that kp will be able to whip you up a batch. Alternatively, you could try mixing your own blend of seasonings (chili, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, etc) – but in actuality, David Chang uses straight up salt-sugar in 1:1, so don’t fret if you can’t get any of Dr. P-I-M-P’s rub. But I will say that I suspect that David Chang uses a far coarser Kosher salt than Morton’s, so stick with 0.5:1 salt:sugar. The sugar makes getting a nice crust easy.
B) WHY ARE THERE NO AMOUNTS? Because everything will change based on how big a shoulder you get. To give you a ballpark, for our 4.5 lb piece, we used less than 1 cup total of the sugar-salt-rub combo. As for the spinach, ggakdugi, cheese, and rolls, how much you need will be based on the proportions you use to build your sandwich – just make it up as you go!
C) About that wilted spinach … Take some [very-meticulously-washed] spinach, put it in frying pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and red hot pepper flakes, and apply medium heat. When the spinach just starts to wilt, turn off heat, add the sesame seeds (if you have them), and keep tossing/turning the spinach. The very moment before the moment before (not a typo) all of the spinach reaches complete doneness, remove it from the warm pan and put it on a cool plate, leaves spread apart so it’ll stop cooking faster.
D) What the crap is ggakdugi? It’s radishes that have been mixed/pickled with/in a red hot chili solution. There’s no way I’d ever make it, myself (it’s an involved process that makes your hands reek for days), but it can be found at a lot of Asian/Korean grocery stores. Kimchi could also do the trick. If you’re afraid of the old Asian people at the market, just bring along one of your Asian friends and you’ll be ok …
-1) The night before you want to roast the pork, mix up the salt, sugar, and spiced rub in a 0.5:1:1 ratio. Rub down your shoulder in it. Stick it in the fridge, covered, for 4-24 hours. Apparently, if you go for more than 24 hours, the pork is too salty – I have no idea if this is true.
0) On the day you want to start roasting (i.e. 6.5 hours from when you want to begin eating), preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
1) Remove the shoulder from the fridge and place on an oven proof tray – something with sides to catch all the fatty goodness.
2) Stick it in the oven. Amuse yourself for 6 hours, taking breaks from your amusement every hour or so to baste the pork in whatever juices have fallen out of it (there won’t be much the first hour or two). I also like to rotate the pan in the oven in case there are any hot/cold spots. Bittman recommends flipping the shoulder over every hour – I forgot – but I’d totally do it next time; just be careful not to squeeze it too hard or you might ring the juices out of it. If you really want, at the one hour mark, pour about a half cup of some kind of aromatic liquid onto the pork (e.g. stock, wine, beer) – it smells nice and gives the shoulder a head start on having some liquid to baste with at the 2 hour mark.
3) Remove the pork from the oven after 6 hours of roasting. Let the pig rest for a half hour, covered with foil. Do NOT cut it. Do NOT prod it. Do NOT test its temperature. If you have faith in your oven reading 250 degrees, then after 6 hours, trust me, it’s fully cooked. Here’s a sneak peek under the foil …
And after it rested, I cut into it …
4) Slice off beautiful pieces and assemble sandwich. Here’s some inspiration:
Bottom to top: bread, ggakdugi, sliced pork, spinach, cheese
5) Leftover pork shoulder can be shredded and refrigerated (don’t forget to add some pan juices – but don’t add too much as there’s a lot of fat and salt in there) to be enjoyed over the next few days in more sandwiches, pastas, eggs, rice, etc. Either reheat it in the oven back to 250-300 degrees or try the microwave (but be careful with the microwave – if it gets too hot, then your pork will be tough!).
6) If you really want to be a Korean bawler (i.e. if you want to make your apartment smell really REALLY bad), take your shredded pork (but don’t shred it too finely – you still want something to bite into) and add it to a pot with some kimchi and a little bit of water, ginger, soy sauce (only a little! the pork is salty as it is!), and some extra firm tofu. Heat on low for a half hour or so (or at least until all of the components are heated through completely – you’re not trying to “cook” anything), stirring occasionally. This is a quick-and-dirty version of kimchi jigae – it’s spicy and stinky, but man is it tasty. And yes, it seriously smells very potent while cooking, so if you have a grill or something, cook it outside.
Oxtail Chili (and Pasta Sauce) (with pics)
t says: g makes a mean chili. She even puts up with my absurd moods when she makes chili, including my desire to minimize ground beef consumption. g often took it one direction and went for a ground turkey and shrimp chili with lots of veggies – it was a lighter, “fitter” chili that tasted very good. But then, one day, I decided that I wanted to bring back the beef … without using ground beef. I wanted chunks of beef! But it’d be weird to just cook up a steak and add it to chili. Plus, when we make chili, we make a whole mess of it and eat it for a couple of meals, so the beef chunks would have to withstand a trip to the fridge and a few minutes in the microwave. I don’t know what your experience is, but steaks in my hands never do well in the microwave. So … chunks of beef that need to stay tender? Time to whip out one of my favorite pieces of cookware … the Dutch oven!
But which piece of meat to braise? I already had a recipe using short rib, so that was out. And I kind of wanted something manlier for a chili – I wanted the kind of meat that would put hair on your chest. I turned to oxtail. That’s right – oxtail – it even sounds manly! It also has a nice strong beef flavor that won’t be easily lost in our mish-mash that we call chili. Actually, when we first made it, we braised the oxtail and then used both the meat and the braising liquid as the foundation for our chili. Yikes! The oxtail easily overpowered everything else in the chili! That was not so great because we actually wanted to taste vegetables or other meats (i.e. we tried shrimp and oxtail … yea … the shrimp didn’t stand a chance). So what I now do is braise the oxtail and then use the meat for one dish (i.e. chili) and the braising liquid for another (i.e. pasta sauce, aka “gravy”). Now, g and her mom both make some pretty mean gravies – there’s no way I can compete with theirs. This is more like a Korean’s attempt at making gravy, so I’m calling it “pasta sauce”.
Note that one could actually braise the meat one day (thus producing the pasta sauce) and then reserve the meat to complete the chili the next day. Alternatively, one could just braise the oxtail and combine the meat and braising liquid to make a REALLY meaty pasta sauce, unlike my recent experience at Melograno. Or you could just make it all a chili. To each his/her own.
Note that this chili would be disqualified from an actual chili competition due to our use of beans and “filler” (i.e. rice), but we’re still gonna call it chili … in your face International Chili Society. Also – we are not spice connoisseurs – so pardon our paltry collection of supermarket spices and feel free to use whatever spices you like to put in chili – we just use what we have. Finally, we do used canned corn and beans for convenience, however, if you have the time/patience, soak some dried beans [for several hours] and roast some corn-on-the-cob – it tastes better and is healthier!
Ingredients:
For the gravy (makes enough for 0.75 lbs of pasta)
1 package (2-3 lbs) of oxtail (short rib probably works, too)
1 can (~28 oz) crushed tomatoes (Tuttoroso is best, Wegman’s is satisfactory, Hunt’s is abysmal)
3 big (or 4 small) cloves of garlic, freshly finely minced
50% of 1 large onion, diced
0.75 cup alcohol (red wine is nice, but I’ve used vodka, vermouth, white wine …)
leftover rind from slab of parmigiana reggiano cheese (or you could just use a half-cup of cheese)
salt, pepper
0.25 tsp baking soda
<0.5 c canola oil
Mis-en-place in place.
For the chili
0.75-1 lb Italian pork sausage, casings removed
1 cans (28 oz ea.) crushed tomatoes
1 can corn, liquid removed
1 can black beans, liquid removed
1 can kidney beans, liquid removed
<1 pint of leftover white rice from the fridge (like “small” size you get at Chinese takeout)
1 jalapeno pepper
50% of 1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, “diced” (are you allowed to call it “diced” if the resultant pieces are not cubes?)
1 red bell pepper, “diced”
Shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, whatever)
Seasoning: salt, pepper, cumin, “chili” powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, srirarcha
Bread: optional
Methods:
0) Remove oxtails from fridge and allow to come to room temp as you cut your vegetables. Preheat oven to 315 degrees. Put Dutch oven on stovetop, and slowly turn up the heat to medium-high.
1) When the Dutch oven is ready, season oxtails with salt and pepper. Add oil to the bottom of the Dutch oven – use just enough to so that an even pool just covers the entire bottom. Sear the oxtails (in batches) until nice and brown on all sides. Set aside. As you sear the last side of the last batch of oxtail, turn the heat down to medium-low.
2) Add 50% of the onion (i.e. all that is designated for the gravy) to the Dutch oven and cook until the onions get a little color and become translucent. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant (but you don’t want the garlic to burn).
3) Add the alcohol and scrape the bottom of the Dutch oven to release those brown bits. As you do so, turn down the heat to low. Cook until the liquid reduces by half. Add half of the can of tomatoes and mix. Add the cheese. Nestle the oxtail and drippings into the pot. Continue adding crushed tomatoes (including some on top of the oxtail) until the liquid reaches half-way up the oxtails. Heat until the liquid just starts bubbling.
4) Cover Dutch oven with lid and place vessel into oven. Check in 20 minutes. If bubbling too vigorously or not at all, reduce or increase the heat by 10 degrees and check again in 20 minutes and repeat until playfully (not vigorously) simmering. Cook for ~3 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender and starts to pull away from the bone, flipping hourly. You know you’re there if as you try to flip the tails, the meat just separates from the bone without much provocation. Don’t worry if during the first 2 hours that the meat seems extremely tough – it’ll get there – I promise.
The braise goes on ...
5) Remove Dutch oven from the oven and let it rest, uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove oxtail and rest it aside in a foil-tented bowl for 20 minutes or until cool enough so that if it touches your finger, you won’t suffer 3rd degree burns. When ready, shred the oxtail into chunks using two forks – it’ll peel away from the bone quite easily. I tend to also look out for excessive cartilage/fat and remove them the best I can. Now, it’s decision time for the meat. Option A: You could save it in the fridge until the next day to complete the recipe. When you take it out of the fridge, the meat will appear very stiff and tough – but it’ll relax and be tender as soon as you heat it – don’t worry! Option B: You could use it in a chili right now!
Shreds in the bowl, bones on the plate.
6) Siphon off the majority of the fat from the braising liquid (or spoon it off or soak it up using a paper towel). Remove the cheese rind if that’s what you used. Add the baking soda and mix. VOILA! You have braising liquid! The decision what to do with it is yours. Option 1: you could just add the oxtail to the gravy right now and have a full-on meat sauce or a hearty chili, but what’s the fun in that? I feel that the gravy will tasty meaty enough without the meat – save the meat for the chili! Option D: you could reserve the braising liquid to serve as a gravy on its own. I like to put the sauce it in the freezer for later use. To thaw frozen sauce, I stick it into a pot under medium-low heat, add a little bit of water just to cover the bottom – this prevents the sauce from burning as it defrosts. When the block of gravy has melted, taste it and see if it needs more cheese. Add your favorite [cooked] pasta shape and enjoy! Now … back to the chili …
7) After removing the braising liquid, wipe down the interior of the Dutch oven – you don’t have to be fastidious – you just don’t want the stuck-on sauce to burn. Heat slowly to medium-high.
8) Put 1 Tbsp canola oil into the Dutch oven. Add the sausage. If you need, you can brown the ground meat in batches – you want to avoid overcrowding, otherwise you’ll be boiling/steaming the meat, not browning it. Set meat aside.
9) Cook onions in the sausage fat in the Dutch oven until onions take on some color and become tender and translucent. Add the peppers and cook only until they just start getting tender (i.e. cook them only half way to where you would cook them if you were going to enjoy a pepper sandwich). Add the second can of crushed tomatoes. Add corn and beans. Add the rice (the way we make it, we don’t like the rice to outnumber the beans, so we use 2-3 spoonfuls total – but add as much as you want!). Bring the chili back to a bubble. Add the meats!
10) In a separate ungreased pan at medium-high heat, roast the jalapeno directly on the pan until soft and black in spots. Cool, then pull the stems from the chiles. Cut into pieces (removing remaining seeds). Add as much of the jalapano as you want to the Dutch oven.
11) Time for the fun – seasoning with all of those powders we mentioned. This is really done to taste. I’d start off with 0.5-1 tsp of each and then fixing from there. Just be patient, mix thoroughly, and enjoy the fun of tasting it!
12) Serve up some chili and sprinkle on some cheese. Enjoy with bread!
Chocolate Taste-off: Vosges vs. the World
t says: Back when I was a wee one, I ate Hershey’s chocolate bars. They were yummy. They had that classic Hershey’s texture where no matter what temperature it was outside, it was soft and flexible – almost like a fudge or really thick ganache. Flash forward 20 years, and I’m still eating Hershey’s chocolate bars … how can you make s’mores without ’em? I guess I don’t consider them to be “fine chocolate”, but I still consider them as tasty … “things”. At a recent Philly food tour, I was introduced to better chocolates and was intrigued … but hadn’t had the chance to really explore these fancier chocolates …
One day a month or so ago, lc sent us some Vosges chocolate, which was flavored with bacon. She thought we’d get a kick out of the concept. I did! My response was “ooooooo, bbaaccoonn …”. But g’s was, “oooooo, Vvoossggeess …”. I had never heard of Vosges, aside from the mountains. g tells me it’s some really nice, really expensive chocolate. I took her word for it. I imagine real choco-philes would probably snub Vosges (much like they snub Max Brenner), instead preferring some kind of chocolate that was had from a certain cocoa plant that was fertilized with a certain type of manure from a sacred cow that fed on a blessed field of grass. Whatever. I was going to judge for myself just how “good” these chocolates were; would they fulfill the ultimate criteria: would I buy it again?
A few weeks passed and I still had not yet tasted the bacon chocolate – I kept holding off until we got more other chocolates to taste with it. Of course, I kept forgetting to pick up other chocolates when I saw them (e.g. at Naked Chocolate Cafe). Then g and I just happened to run into a store in Kennett Square that had a clearance on Vosges – buy one, get one free. I considered it but was not super-convinced it was worth $8 for two bars ($8 each, normally). Then the manager gave me a piece of the Vosges chocolate that featured chiles. I put it in my mouth and was greeted with a nice bitter dark chocolate. As it slowly melted in my mouth, the taste of chocolate increased as the bitterness faded – it was delicious! But then came the heat. Now, I like heat, and I even like heat with my chocolate – but it was a little distracting – it just screamed “I’m hot and I’m here and I killed the chocolate – what are you gonna do about it?”. So I decided that I wanted to try more Vosges but vetoed getting the chile one – we picked up one creole bar (flavored with chicory, espresso, and cocoa nibs) and one naga bar (flavored with curry and coconut milk). The stage was set – we were going to have a four-way taste-off … or so I thought …
Two more weeks passed, and I found myself at the local drug store staring at Cadbury chocolate bars that were on sale for $1. g and I have a thing for Cadbury fruit-and-nut bars (especially the one that kp brought back from England, i.e. not made by Hershey’s), so I was thinking of throwing it in the mix. I was sold when I saw the “2009 Chef’s Choice” or some other meaningless award advertised on the package. Then, a few days later, in Picnic (I needed some eggs and the drug store was too far away), I had to buy some more stuff so that I could use my credit card. They had some other chocolate bars – these were by “Chocolove”! Swayed by the goofy name, I bought one that included crystallized ginger and another that was “cherry and chilie” (I hate spelling it like that). Now, it was going to be a 7-chocolate tasting! A random Thursday night came around and I figured that I should put this tasting to rest or risk buying more chocolate “for the sake of the blog”. I was totally ready for it. g was also psyched … but she fell asleep before I was done opening each of the packages (she’s narcoleptic like that). It was just me and the chocolate (I saved her some) …
That's a lot of chocolate!
The chocolate's ready!
I couldn’t figure out how one should go about properly tasting chocolate. For wine, you normally start with those that have less body/flavor/tannin and increase – so light, herbaceous whites, followed by fruitier, intense whites, followed by light reds, followed by hit-you-in-the-mouth reds. For chocolate, do you go by the bitterness or by the sugar? I was afraid to go for the milk chocolate first because then the dark ones might come off as far too bitter. I was also afraid of getting full if I tried to save the Vosges for last (that’s a LOT of chocolate). So I did the four Vosges at random, had a Cadbury interlude, and then finished with the last two (which I figured would be sweeter than the Vosges).
The creole bar was first. In retrospect, this was very dumb because it was the darkest of the bunch (I think), but random is random – so that’s the way it was. As soon as I put it in my mouth, all I could taste was “yikes, that’s bitter”. It was very bitter. But there was something about this bitter – it didn’t taste like chocolate. It was something else … I remembered the espresso … there we go … that’s what it was – the flavor of bitter coffee was up first … then the chocolate took over as the bitterness faded. Next came a slow building up of coffee flavor that eventually dissipated, returning once again to chocolate, but now it had a very enjoyable sweetness. It was a rollercoaster for my mouth – I enjoyed it very much. There was also something crunchy in there … not sure what it was (?cocoa nibs?), but it was fun to munch on. I did taste this again later, just to make sure the tasting note was consistent … it was.
Next was the Naga bar. Even before I put it into my mouth, my nose caught a whiff of the curry – it was strong, but delightful. I thought I knew what was coming – it was going to be a blissful marriage of savory and sweet … Unfortunately, what I thought was coming was actually better than what came. Yes, there was curry flavor, and yes there was chocolate (more of a milky, sweeter chocolate than the creole – ?coconut milk?), but I just didn’t think the two played well with one another. It reminded me of the Vosges chocolate-chile sample I had in the store – both flavors were there and vivid, but that doesn’t mean it’s a great combo. Would you dip your chocolate in curry?
The bacon bars were next. I had high expectations. Having made bacon-chocolate-chip cookies, I knew this was going to be fun. I bit into the milk chocolate bacon bar, immediately running into something with crunch. It was bacon. I was surprised! I didn’t think that it’d actually have bacon in it – does that mean it should be refrigerated? No idea … In any case, the bacon flavor was profound; the chocolate barely touched the bacon flavor – that was weird (it made me sad). Then a bacon bit got stuck under my tongue (it made me mad). Fortunately, the second bite, which had far fewer bacon bits, had more chocolate-bacon balance – woohoo! I found the chocolate to be very nice (texturally and taste-wise), but it was a little on the sweet side. I looked forward to the dark chocolate …
The flavor of the dark chocolate bacon bar swung the balance in favor of chocolate – the bacon flavor was only there in the presence of a hint of salt – which was nice with the chocolate, but in honesty, the bacon bits tasted more like salted nuts than actual bacon. The bacon flavor only really came on well after I had swallowed the chocolate. It was good, but I want some more bacon up front. In any case, it was very interesting to see what the effect of the chocolate had on the taste of the different bacon bars.
Yeah, Cadbury chocolate bar that was next … dumb idea. It tasted like a sweet, sugary mess. It almost tasted gross which is weird, because it’s normally not a bad chocolate at all – for $1 it was a steal! I guess its cacao percentage just couldn’t stand up to the bolder chocolates I had had up until then … For a split second, I felt like a full-fledged chocolate snob!
The chocolate-cherry-chile bar hit me in the face with cherry from the get-go. And then I bit into something soft – presumably a cherry. Splash! My palate got another dose of sweet cherry. I was caught offguard and regretting that chomp (but I liked the texture – it was the first squishy thing of the evening). But then the chile flavor turned on and saved the day, adding some refreshing spice to my mouth. The only thing – I really didn’t get a whole lot of chocolate – some was there (more up front with the cherry), but it didn’t last. Still – cherry and chile was a fun combo – I think I’d eat it as a 2pm snack for a little fun pick-me-up – like one would eat some sour patch kids or something.
Finally … the last chocolate of the night (well, except for having to go back and re-taste the creole bar). I faced the chocolate and crystallized ginger. I put it in my mouth, not knowing if I could handle the perfume of ginger if it was turned up as high as the cherry was in the bar before. Lo and behold, it was quite tasty! Just the right amount of sweet and tangy ginger to balance the lush and bitter chocolate. Why didn’t I think of this? It’s so simple! While perhaps not as complex an evolution of flavors as the creole bar (ginger and chocolate turned on at the same time and ended at the same time, with the sugar from the ginger buffering the bitter from the chocolate), I was still super-happy. I could totally see a crystallized ginger-dark-chocolate-chip cookie coming out of this. I’m going to have to try it soon.
And I guess that’s it … Summary? The chocolate, itself, in the Vosges bars was great! I think the other flavors that were incorporated ranged from great to ick (*sighs* curry). I think that it’s probably a good idea to sample a variety pack and decide for yourself which of these flavor combos works the best. Nevertheless … I still recommend the bacon for everyone (even though I preferred the Creole one) – if for no other reason than it’s a great conversation starter.
An Ode to Rice Cookers (and white rice!)
t says: Time for number 2 on the list. Meet “Li’l Red” … our rice cooker.
"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that ..."
g and I love starch. If we had to go Atkins, we’d be really really grumpy – our meals need pasta, bread, or rice. Of the three, I’d argue that rice is the most versatile. Bread requires effort to make and gets hard quickly. Pastas might be quicker to make than rice, but are seldom served plain. Rice, on the other hand is very simple to make, cannot be overcooked in a rice cooker (unless you put too much water in it), and goes with nearly every meat and veggie. It also tastes wonderful on its own. Actually, one time, when k was over, we made white rice – she was surprised by its flavor and asked if we doctored it with anything. As you might guess, we go with rice quite frequently. And, using a rice cooker, it doesn’t take up valuable space on our stovetop and is foolproof. g also likes that it’s red …
Li’l Red was cheap (<$20) and makes enough rice for 6 servings. Making 2 cups of rice (which inflates to about 4 finished cups of rice) works out well for me and g to have enough rice for 2 meals, each. So critical is a rice cooker for successful rice cookery that I’ve even added this post to our “recipes”. Some tips and tricks:
1) Prepare the rice according to the rice cooker’s instructions. g made it once following rice’s instructions – yea – it was not good.
2) There are actually different kinds of rice out there. We like short grain rices – our favorite is koshihikari short grain rice (we like Tamaki Gold as pictured, but there are other good ones out there). My mom’s favorite, which is also delicious, is Kokuho Rose (it has a pink emblem on the package).
3) Mom sometimes adds other things to white rice to make it more nutritious. For instance, you could use barley, beans, peas, or even brown rice! Brown rice might change the cooking characteristics – I don’t know – I’ve never tried it. If you want to be a purist, add nothing to rice – no seasoning, vanilla, or even oil.
4) If you’re making white rice, you must wash the rice thoroughly before cooking. Basically you need to rinse the rice in water as many times as it takes for the water to run very-nearly-clear. Basically, do it until you think you’re done, and then rinse it three more times. I’ve done it by hand in the included rice pot or using a fine sieve – the latter works faster. No matter what you do, this super-secret step is super-vital.
5) When the rice is done cooking, fluff it with the included paddle and then replace the lid until ready to eat. To “fluff” the rice, drag the paddle across the surface of the rice (kind of like how you would scrape a water ice with one of those wooden spoons) and lift up gently. Keep doing so to get a nice fluffy pile. When fluffing the rice, you want to avoid packing it together (e.g. you don’t want to do what they do with Chinese takeout white rice).
Bacon Bacon Bacon!
t says: This past weekend, g said, “I want some mac and cheese.” A quick trip to google led me to Ina Garten’s recipe. I was psyched to use bacon – but the same ‘ol “problem” came up: the recipe called for far less bacon than one can purchase in a package at the supermarket. So what should I do with the rest? I made it my mission to use the entirety of the bacon to complete the meal. This is what I did …
Step 1 was to cook nearly all of the bacon (I’m saving some for some eggs this weekend) in the oven as per Ina’s recipe.
9 went into the oven - only 8 made it to the picture ...
3 of the strips of the bacon would serve as the 4-oz required by Ina’s recipe (which I also modified a little – upped the cheddar by an ounce and lowered the blue cheese by an ounce – a good thing, too cuz that blue cheese I got was kickin’ – g thinks it still has too much oomph!).
What next? Well, I figured that I needed a side dish. But what could I make that incorporates bacon? As I sat there looking at the dirtied pan, something shiny caught my eye … I knew what I had to do …
The grease says: "Don't forget about me!"
Through some crafty aluminum foil bending, I reserved the liquid gold ...
Inspired by Tyler Florence’s “Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprouts” that I must have seen 57 times around the holidays, I used the bacon grease to coat some halved Brussels sprouts, which I then seasoned with salt, pepper, Cayenne powder, and garlic powder before roasting in the oven at 400 degrees (turning every 5-10 mins). The end result was one appetizer and one side.
Main and Side ... both with bacon!
I didn’t originally intend to use bacon grease for the Brussels sprouts, but when I realized I used the last of the oil in the house for our eggplant parmigiana-lasagna, I had little choice. I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the color of the Brussels sprouts – I got a bad bunch so I had to prune way a lot of the dark green outer leaves – so what I used looked a little pale. They were also kind of small – so they were tender before their leaves got nice and brown – I guess a frying pan would have given me the char that I wanted, but I didn’t want to deal with high heat frying tonight – I was having a lazy day).
Ok, so you probably see where this is going … I have several strips of cooked bacon … and a need for dessert … I had the perfect solution …
A while ago, a friend of mine and I attempted bacon-chocolate-chip cookies. They were phenomenal – but quite annoying to make (you had to make the bacon ahead of time and incorporate it into the dough). I wanted to do something similar, but all of my cookie dough was already made and sitting ready-to-go in the freezer; incorporating bacon pieces wouldn’t be easy. The solution? Well – one time at Talula’s Table, a component in the dish called “Asparagus, Asparagus, Asparagus” featured bacon “powder” (which was genius). And there I had it – I’d dust the cookies with some bacon powder (or very tiny bits – I didn’t want to bring out a food processor to actually get a powder).
Bacon bits in a baggie - ready for cookies!
Pig and chocolate - before the oven ...
Savory and sweet, in one luscious package ...
Ta-dah!
So, I obviously still have bacon bits left over, but I’m going to rim the drink of a margarita glass like I saw on Iron Chef America recently. Can’t wait to see how that’ll taste (I’m hoping for a melon-based mixed drink so it’s like prosciutto-wrapped melon).
And … there we go! Three courses and a drink incorporating bacon! I must confess that I didn’t make the cookies the same night as the sprouts and the mac-n-cheese – I was just too full! But I could have! And isn’t that what really matters?
Oh … and a complete freak coincidence … a day or so after I thought of dusting my cookies with bacon (and didn’t tell anyone!) – look what lc sent us in the mail:
Pig and chocolate ... in bar form!
Can’t wait to try it!
Eggplant Parmigiana-Lasagna
t says: This weekend, like every weekend, I wanted to make something that would last us a few meals. I had a hankering for eggplant parmigiana, but I find that I get tired of eggplant parm really quickly. For me, there’s just too much eggplant flavor so that I’m usually eggplanted out by the end of my meal – who knows how I’d feel by the third time I’ve had it in the same week! Also, the texture of plain ol’ eggplant also gets boring when it’s reheated (you lose the crunch of the breading). But I got to thinking – what if I jazz it up with some meat? And use some different cheeses? And some pasta? It didn’t take me long to realize that I was no longer playing around with an eggplant parm recipe, rather, adding eggplant to a lasagna recipe! There we have it – a lasagna and eggplant parm hybrid! The recipe that follows is the love-child of Alton Brown’s eggplant parm recipe and Ina Garten’s turkey lasagna recipe.
When all the cooking was done, I think it was pretty good, and it’s definitely something I’ll make again. This is NOT a very gravy-full recipe – if you like tomato sauce, you can up the quantity. It’s also NOT a big puddle of oozy cheese. Everything is balanced (in my opinion), so I don’t think I’m going to make straight-up eggplant parm anymore (this way is just more fun). Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients or steps – it can be made easier by using oven-ready pastas or ready-made gravy (although the latter is sometimes a little yuck – but Barilla makes some decent sauces)! You could also omit the meat (but what’s the fun in that?), or swap out the veal for more turkey if you’re not a fan of red meat. g had the idea to add a layer or two of sauteed spinach … but I forgot … oops! In any case – you get the idea – it’s a pretty versatile recipe. You don’t even have to use this one – but try adding eggplant parm to your favorite lasagna recipe and see what happens!
Ingredients:
for the eggplant …
1 eggplant
all-purpose flour, panko bread crumbs, Progresso “Italian style” bread crumbs, Parmesan/Romano grated cheese (the cheap kind)
4 eggs
canola oil and olive oil in a 50:50 mix – although if you only want to use one, go for canola – higher smoke point
2 baking sheets (optional)
for the pasta of the lasagna …
use whatever you want – oven ready is probably the easiest so you have less to think about or do …
for the cheeses of the lasagna …
1 lb fresh mozzarella, cut into slices
16 oz ricotta (we like part-skim)
4 oz goat cheese (doesn’t have to be fancy goat cheese – we used the cheap President brand)
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1 egg
2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
0.5 tsp kosher salt
0.25 tsp black pepper
for the tomato sauce of the lasagna … (you can substitute the sauce-relevant ingredients for at least 28-oz of whatever pre-made tomato sauce you want – you’ll still want the meat)
0.5 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes (we <3 Tuttorosso brand “with basil” – Wegman’s brand is ok – Hunt’s is awful)
basil (if your tomatoes don’t have some in it)
0.25 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp grated cheese
0.5 lb ground veal
0.5 lb ground turkey
Methods:
-1) The point is to try and remove some of the excess liquid from the eggplant. Maybe this step is completely unnecessary – it might just be something Alton Brown does. Personally, I didn’t mind this step because it gave me the chance to take care of other prep work like making gravy, etc. Slice eggplant lengthwise (i.e. the cutting stroke starts from the top and goes to the bottom) into 10 super-long slices. I use 10 slices because I like 2 layers of four slices in the lasagna, and the two outside-most slices have a lot of “skin” on them, which isn’t that pleasant to eat through, are thrown away. Cut the green part off. Line baking sheet with foil. Line the sheet with paper towels. Lightly sprinkle the baking sheet with kosher salt. Arrange eggplant into a single layer (you may have to use two layers separated with paper towels). Sprinkle with kosher salt. Cover with paper towels. Do a second layer if you need to. Place a second baking sheet on top of the paper towel and eggplant layers. Put something heavy on top of the second baking sheet. Go do some other steps while the moisture gets pressed out.
0) Start a pot on the stovetop with ample salted water for preparing noodles (but don’t make it yet). If you have oven-ready sheets, then nevermind. Set aside the number of noodles you’ll need to make two single-sheet-thick layers (with a little overlap) in the baking dish of your choice (I used 9″ x 13″).
1) Make the ricotta cheese mixture … Combine the ricotta, goat cheese, parmigiano reggiano, egg, parsley, salt and black pepper (i.e. everything but the mozzarella). Set aside in fridge.
2) Make the meat gravy … In whatever pot you intend to make the gravy in, brown the two meats in a tablespoon of oil. You may have to do this in batches so you can get a nice color on the meat (otherwise, you’ll essentially boil or steam the meat, which isn’t as flavorful). Set meat aside (leave the fat in the pot). Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic. When fragrant, add tomatoes and return meat to pot. Add the grated cheese and baking soda. Let the pot cook down for a while under a very low heat.
3) Prep the eggplant … Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Set some kind of frying vessel on medium heat (or just a smidge above medium – I used a setting of “6” on a scale of 1-10). You don’t want it to smoke when you add the oil (which you should add later, right before you start frying). As far as what kind of vessel – I like a 4 quart pot – the tall sides prevent too much splashing. Set up a 3-stage dredging system: 1 bowl of flour, 1 bowl of beaten eggs, 1 bowl of bread crumb mix. For the bread crumb mix, I like using panko (for the crunch), Italian-style bread crumbs (for the flavor), and cheapo grated cheese (also for the flavor) in a 2:1:1 ratio. Feel free to use whatever bread crumbs or ratio you want. Free the eggplant from the baking sheet sandwich you made. Wipe them with paper towels to remove excess salt and liquid. Dredge with flour, then egg, then breadcrumb mixture. Set slices aside until done dredging.
4) Fry the eggplant … Add oil to your heated frying vessel on the stovetop (I like a half-inch deep pool of oil). Fry the eggplant slices until they get to a pretty color (I go two at a time b/c that’s what fits in my pot) and set them aside on some paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
5) Make the pasta … Cook the noodles according to instructions on package. If you have oven-ready sheets, then double-check and make sure you don’t have to do anything to them except stick them in the oven (I’ve never used them, myself, so I leave that up to you).
6) Layer the lasagna … Place 1/3 of the gravy on the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Layer as follows: 1 layer of lasagna noodles, nearly half of the mozzarella slices, 4 slices of eggplant, half of the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the gravy, 1 layer of lasagna noodles, nearly half of the mozzarella slices, 4 slices of eggplant, half of the ricotta mixture, the remaining gravy, and the remaining mozzarella (broken apart into small chunks and scattered on top).
7) Cook the lasagna … Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, until you see bubbling throughout the baking dish (the egg in the cheese mixture is the only raw ingredient in the lasagna), and a nice browning of the mozzarella on top. Cool and enjoy!
Tofu Brownie-Cakes
t says: Why on earth would I make these? I have no dietary restrictions. Tofu shouldn’t be in desserts. So why? I’m a prankster.
g’s older sister lc frowns upon tofu. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard her swear that she will not eat it. Because of this (or because I imagined this – she may have actually eaten tofu before – I have no idea), I made it my mission to make her eat tofu. But how? Surely she has eyes, so it’d have to be concealed. Surely she has a tongue, so it’d have to be texturally masked. I then read online that someone said you could add tofu to boxed cake mix. That person was a genius.
Now, really, there’s no reason to add tofu to boxed cake mix – you still have to add eggs (well, I still do – some people say you don’t – I think they’re lying). Also, it doesn’t “do” anything for the cake – it just comes out a little thicker than normal (which is why I made them in a cupcake pan and called them “brownie-cakes” – sinister, right?), but otherwise imparts no flavor to the brownie (especially if you use dark chocolate chips – their flavor’s fairly strong). So I want to restate: there really is absolutely no reason one should add tofu to cake mix … unless you want someone to eat tofu … without him/her knowing until it’s too late …
Ingredients:
__ 1 package of silken tofu, excess liquid removed
__ 1 boxed cake mix
__ some chocolate chips (optional)
__ all the ingredients the box calls for (# of eggs cut in half)
Methods:
0) Preheat the oven as per the box’s directions for cupcakes. I greased the cupcake pan because I did NOT use cupcake wrappers – brownies don’t have wrappers.
1) Mix together all ingredients and beat VERY well. If there are chunks of tofu, your eater will be suspicious. Add chocolate chips to give the cupcakes some textural contrasts (and to hide the texture of any tofu chunks you might have missed – still pretty sinister, right?)
2) Bake as per the box’s directions.
3) Serve to unsuspecting eaters. Why? Because you’re a sinister mastermind …
PS I don’t know if there is such a thing as a soy allergy, but if someone avoids tofu for some sort of medical reason, don’t serve them these – that’s not sinister – that’s stupid (and likely criminal).
PPS Yes, it worked. She ate them.
after dinner sneeze 