Oui, Chef

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!

Pomegranate Pork with Gingered Kale

Happy New Year Everyone!

This recipe was inspired by one I found in a Whole Foods magazine recently.  I was excited to play with it last week not only because of its lovely green and red holiday appearance (the greens look a bit like a Christmas tree, don't you think?), but because kale and pork are always welcome guests at our table.  I love recipes that offer a simple sauce to accompany pork because let's face it, plain pork tenderloin is a yawn.  As for the kale, it is so versatile and SO GOOD for you, it is something I'm trying to incorporate into our diet more and more.  So much so that I'm thinking about a kale based new year's resolution.

Homemade Fennel Salami

Though I didn't do a very good job at keeping pace with my Charcutepalooza brethren, and flat out missed a few posts, I did want to share these lovelies with you because they turned out so well.  They were far superior to all but the best artisinal salamis you'll find around these days, fragrant with just the right amount of chew, and exhibit a great fennel flavor.  I timed them to be fully cured, dried and ready to eat when our guests arrived for Thanksgiving (because quite frankly, we wouldn't have had nearly enough food for everyone otherwise).  Once my nephew's recovered from their shock of finding what appeared to be dismembered penises hanging in my wine closet, these were a huge hit and enjoyed by all.

Rapini with Sausage, Cranberries and Polenta Cakes

I'm a huge fan of rapini (broccoli rabe) and  sausage with pasta, in fact, next to a good carbonara it's probably my favorite pasta dish. It's such a great combination of flavors and textures, bitter, sweet, salty, spicey...you name it, and that dish has it.  The other day I was hankerin' for a big bowl of the stuff, but when I checked the pantry I found we were out of gluten-free pasta, and as I'm trying hard to keep the missus wheat-gluten free, I decided to twist the dish up a bit and make it with  polenta instead.

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.

French Lentil and Sausage Soup

I've been making this soup for years in one form or another, but until now had never written out a recipe for it.  Truth be told, even though this version was quite fantastic, the next time I make it I'll probably tweak it again and come up with a slightly different twist on the bugger.

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.

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.

Bangers and Mash with Guinness Onion Gravy - Charcutepalooza #6

It appears as though I jumped the gun and got a bit ahead of myself for last month's Charcutepalooza challenge when I made "stuffed" sausages.  Marching orders from our lovely High-Preistesses of Pork, Cathy (Mrs. Wheelbarrow) and Kim (The Yummy Mummy) were for us just to "grind" meat into sausage, we were not required at that point to "stuff" said meat into casings, that is THIS month's challenge.  If I were any good at all at following directions I would have caught that subtle detail, saved us a bit of work on this end, and formed our spicy merguez into patties rather than links.  Oh well....I'm not complaining because our merguez-frites sandwich was an unqualified success and the practice we gained by stuffing the casings with our kitchen-aid meant that this month's challenge was that much easier, as we are now well seasoned stuffers.  

As you've no doubt gleaned from the title of this post, this month's challenge takes us to the British Isles and one of the more famous of their silly named dishes.  

What is it with these folks anyway, is it just me, or have they raised the craft of concocting strange names for dishes to a high art?  Let's see there's "Bubble and Squeak", "Toad in the Hole", "Cullen Skink", "Black Pudding", "Bangers and Mash", and the ever popular "Spotted Dick".  Excuse me?

Bacon and Egg Farro Risotto

What is that old saying about dogs and tricks?

Oh yeah...."you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and if by some lucky chance you do, you better be prepared to see him do the same stupid trick over and over and over, until he just about drives you to the nut house".

You see, I AM an old dog, and ever since discovering a new egg poaching trick (first learned here), I'm staying up nights thinking of all the different ways I can use the lovely things.  This dish, the second in as many weeks to highlight the eggs is, I'm afraid, just the start of my old dog doing a stupid new trick routine, ad-nauseum.  

My apologies in advance.