Recipes...

[guenievre]

So politics doesn't get comments, how 'bout food? (I'm posting this mostly so I remember the recipes, but I can vouch that they are all tasty).

harleenquinzell and foklens came over for dinner last night, and since the food turned out nicely, I figured I should post recipes. The main dish was Pomegranate and Spice-Braised Pork - I followed the recipe reasonably closely (for me), with only a few changes:

• Ignore the part where you sear the meat in a separate pan than the dutch oven you use to braise it in - just sear it in the dutch oven, remove it, saute your onions, and add it back in. The added advantage is that the onions get seared in the released pork fat rather than having to add more olive oil. Yum.
• The hoisin sauce is optional, the fish sauce isn't.
• More garlic is always better.

We also had fried polenta with garlic (saute some garlic in a small saucepan, add herbs of your choice, in my case thyme and sage, then make old-fashioned grits according to the package direction (err on the side of less liquid) with chicken broth as the liquid...pour into a cake pan and chill till solid, then cut in squares and fry until crispy, and pan roasted broccoli.
The broccoli recipe is from cook's illustrated, so I can't link, but the basic idea is cut the broccoli into florets, and cut the stems into bias-cut strips - the idea is you want flattish rectangles, more or less, that'll cook evenly.  Mix some salt and pepper (I used szechuan pepper, because I was out of normal pepper. I don't know what that says about my kitchen, but I love this stuff.) with a few tablespoons of water and set aside. Heat a bit of oil in a pan with a lid, put the *stems* in and let them cook without stirring until lightly browned, 1 min or so, then add the florets, stir to toss, and leave to cook for another 2 mins without stirring anymore. Add the water/spices, cover tightly, and steam until the broccoli is bright green. (Apparently it was good, I didn't actually eat it.)

And of course harleenquinzell made lemon cake, and brought wine, and That Was Tasty Too. :)

Earlier in the week, we had beef roast, as it was on sale and I had promised nikulai and lukasbrierley dinner at some point. I tried another Cooks Illustrated technique, which was to roast the beef at a very low temp (225) until it hit 115 degrees internal temp, and then turn the oven off *entirely*, without opening the door, and let it coast up to 135 or so (medium rare). If you like your beef nicely pink all the way through, this is a lovely idea, although it's a little difficult to get the pan sauce made before the beef gets cold. Green beans steamed with tarragon and roasted potatoes-and-carrots were the rest of that meal, along with some sort of nifty weight-watchers friendly chocolate pie which was MUCH better than I would have believed, given the healthiness of it.

Have I mentioned I love the new kitchen?

Comments

[ladyhelwynn.livejournal.com]

That pork dish sounds fabulous! I think I might have to try that one.

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

The only "downside" I found to the recipe is that the pork I had shrank much more than I expected in cooking - it was a fairly fatty piece of boston butt, and most of the fat melted out - so a 3.5 lb raw roast, no bone, was *barely* enough for four people. So if you're having guests and/or want leftovers, you may want a bigger piece of meat if it's not very lean.

[ladyhelwynn.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip!

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

I am always happiest with my roasts in the crock pot. I am a lazy cook.

I bought some fish sauce, but have not found as many uses for it as I expected. I bet I had looked (and not been able to make) at a dozen really-yummy-looking recipes that required it before I purchased it, but since I did actually go out and **buy** the stuff, it has not been in much demand.

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

I actually have found that it adds a pleasant savory note to a *lot* of things - anything that could use a bit more oomph often gets a touch of it. Yay for umami... here's an interesting article on uses for it - http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/09/05/dont-fear-the-fish-sauce/.

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I guess I will need to do some experimenting.

[3-purple-irises.livejournal.com]

The pork sounds awesome. If I ever have time to get by your new house (haha!), I promise I won't cook any cauliflower! :P

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

I was actually thinking I'd love to have you over, if I knew your schedule at all. Do you have any free evenings at all? as if you pick one, I'll make you dinner... ;-)

[3-purple-irises.livejournal.com]

That sounds great! They only evenings I have free are Mondays and Wednesdays. The rest of the time I am working at the pizzeria. Not to worry though, I do plan to take off 2 (yes 2!) Saturdays in November. One day as my mental health day and the other to get baking done before Thanksgiving.

It would be so nice to get out and socialize a bit. I have to admit, working this much is starting to get to me. Yes, I love both jobs but working 7 days in a row like I've been doing is starting to get really tough. I really do need to try and get out more to see people. :)

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

Wednesday night then, say 5:30 or 6 ish?

[3-purple-irises.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, this wednesday I am getting some chores done which absolutely HAVE to get done. I have resolved myself to being busy at home tomorrow which I really do need to do some cleaning.

If it works for you, how about next Wednesday?

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. Going on the calendar now... :)

[valkyr8.livejournal.com]

Yay for new kitchens! I know exactly what you mean.

I'm planning on making saurbraten for the 8th. I'll throw it in the crock pot and let it simmer along while we are at the event. Come home throw some potatoes or spaetzle in a pot and go to town. Need to buy the beef now and start marinating it. Yummy.

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

Oooh, spaetzle. I need to make some spaetzle...

[stringmonkey.livejournal.com]

More garlic is always better.

A woman after my own heart.

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm not sure i've ever only put the recommended amount of garlic in anything

Election and food

[weaverrhi.livejournal.com]

I've given up commenting about the election and the candidates.... it's a personal choice, and we all have our own ideas.

As for the food, it sounds YUMMY

Re: Election and food

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had planned not to comment anymore, until I hit a weird decision spot.

[shesanginfrance.livejournal.com]

the pork sounds yummy. i wonder if it would work to make the sauce in a smaller quantity, reduce it and use it to finish some browned/sauteed chicken (a quicker option for those of us without dutch ovens). hmmmmm.

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

Might work, though honestly the sauce wasn't what stood out, it was the way the flavor permeated the pork. I didn't use a "Dutch Oven" proper either, just my standard large pasta/soup/everything else pot... As long as it has a lid, and is just thick enough not to let it scorch on the bottom, it should be ok, I think.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

The pork sounds great.

I recently made the beef roast, too, and just finished the last leftovers today. YUM. Very close to as good as a fancy roast, but using round- WIN!

[lady-guenievre.livejournal.com]

yeah, things that are both relatively cheap AND tasty are a good thing.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

CI has a stuffed pork loin that is really fabulous, too. Although the next pork loin I get I'll probably turn into canadian bacon.