Oui, Chef

Love Your Heart and Cook These Herb Stuffed Pork Chops with Blueberry Gastrique

My how time flies.  It hardly seems a year since Jess @ Sodium Girl invited me to participate in her 2011 "Love Your Heart Recipe Rally", and I contributed this low salt re-work of a Ming Tsai pork dish.  Well, it’s that time again.  Time to head back into the kitchen and take a dish that I normally make without regard to sodium content, and re-invent it as a dish that I’d be happy to serve to Jess herself if she were ever to grace our table with her presence....you're always welcome, you know.

An Impromptu Chili

 

The pork shoulder roast used to make this chili was originally scheduled for a little "low and slow" oven love before being served up to the gang as a Sunday roast.  However, mid-way through prepping it for this purpose I had a change of heart, prompted by my need to get our fridge and pantry inventory below the level that would feed a small country (you think I'm kidding?).  Turns out this lovely chili allowed me to use up not only the shoulder roast, but also a box of baby spinach, all the carrots, onions, shallots, celery and cilantro left in the fridge, a can of crushed tomatoes and a bag of flageolet beans from the pantry, and a cooked bag of bacon shards in the freezer.  

How's that for a kitchen sink recipe!

Pork Tenderloin with Coconut Cranberry Sauce

 

 We are huge fans of Ming Tsai in this household, so when I found his latest cookbook at a deep discount at our local (and sadly, closing) Borders Books, I grabbed it.  The book, Simply Ming One-Pot Meals  is chock full of Ming's trademark East-West recipes that are simple enough to cook on any given weeknight...huzzah.

Carnitas Tacos

I have discovered homemade carnitas, and I am in love.

Not sure why it took me so long to make carnitas on my own, I mean I've loved them in great Mexican take-out joints for years, but for some reason never thought to make them myself.  As you all know, I am a big fan of braising, and my favorite dish of all time is duck confit (another dish I've never made....doh!), so it should come as no surprise that carnitas and I are made for each other.

Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots

I found this recipe in the latest Bon Appétit and knew immediately that we had to make it.  As the weather turns cooler here in the Northeast, braises like this tagine come screaming back into fashion.  With the exception of freshly baked bread, there is nothing to compete with a delicious braise in the way it fills a home with hearty aromas and warmth.  As it had been some time since we've had lamb around here, this dish was a perfect way to hop back into cool weather cuisine.

Nathan's Hot Dogs

No, this is not a picture of a "Nathan's" hot dog from the world renowned "Nathan's Famous" on Coney Island, NY.  

This is even better!

Hey, I've got nothing against "Nathan's Famous" dogs, in fact of all the commercially made franks I've tried, they are my favorites, but these homemade beauties leave even Coney Islands' famed meat tube in the dust.

We were originally going to make these hot dogs for a Charcutapalooza challenge a few months back, but weren't able to schedule all the right folks in the kitchen to meet the deadline and so let the challenge pass.  In the meantime, we've had the pleasure to meet the son of a friend, Nathan, who as a high school freshman, is already an accomplished cook.  When he heard we were trying to find time to make hot dogs, he expressed an interest in joining in the fun.  

We were happy to have him join us in the kitchen that day, plus let's face it, with a name like Nathan, this kid was born to make hot dogs!

Ad Hoc Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Many of you may recall that when I posted David Chang's "Momofuku's Fried Chicken" a while back I said I'd be back soon with an honest to goodness buttermilk fried chicken recipe.  Well here it is, thought it comes to us not from America's deep south, but rather by way of one of my favorite chefs, Thomas Keller, and the gang at his Ad Hoc Restaurant in the Napa Valley.

While I have been a fan of traditional, batter coated fried chicken for years, I never endeavored to make it myself until now.  

Why?  

Sloppy Joes

It takes a while, but every summer by about this time we all start suffering from burger fatigue.  I don’t know about you, but we definitely get our fill of burgers and dogs around here during grilling season, so much so that by mid-August I start thinking about how to take the idea of a burger in new directions.

One of our favorite alternatives is this Sloppy Joe. 

Please don’t tell me you reach for a can of Manwich, or just dump a jar of Ragu in ground beef when you fell the urge, you don’t do you?  For years the Sloppy Joe has been sold as just that kind of meal, much like that old chestnut, Tuna Helper, a desperation meal in a can that you keep hidden in the back of the pantry.  If that IS the only kind of Joe you’ve ever had, then please keep reading, as you are in for a treat.

Vanilla Brined Pork Chops

With grilling season in full swing, I wanted to toss out a quick-brine, dry rub combo to keep you and your grill on your toes.  This dish was inspired by a recipe I saw recently in Fine Cooking magazine, and with just a few tweaks to the brine and rub, we've come up with a dish that we've made twice already in the last few weeks.

Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara

Are your taste buds tired of the same old same old?

Looking to spice up your dinner menu a bit this week?

Good, because this dish is gonna transport you to a brave new culinary world, and will totally rock those bored buds of yours.

I stumbled across this recipe in Bon Appetit some time ago and it immediately caught my eye.  It also made me think of my friend Joumana and her awesome blog, Taste of Beirut, because I couldn't help but think that this was the kind of food she grew up on.....lucky girl.  Sadly, I never got around to making the dish and sort of forgot about it until Joumana recently posted her own recipe for muhammara, a Syrian red pepper sauce.  Hers looked so good that I knew I had to go back and find this recipe and finally give it a try...I am SO GLAD I did.