Tonight’s dinner is a simple and delicious pasta dish – pasta all’amatriciana. Basically this centruries old dish is a peasant meal of guanciale (cured pork jowl), tomatoes, chile, pasta and pecorino cheese from the Italian village of Amatrice. I researched numerous recipes for this dish and interestingly enough settled on the simplest and most authentic version according to the Food52 blog. The smoky flavor of the cured pork jowl, combined with the spiciness from the hint of chile, the sweetness from tomato and the nutty saltiness of Romano intermingle so well that this pasta dish is perfection. No onions, no garlic, no basil, oregano or fennel is needed, that is just how good this dish is. Traditionally made with bucatini, I opted for thin…
Remember the sous vide Char Siu pork shoulder I recently made? Remember how I said it makes more then enough for several meals? Remember when I mentioned Singapore Noodles was one of the tasty dishes you can make with leftover Char Siu? Well, here is my take on Singapore Noodles! With a little bit of prep and a little bit of staged stir frying, you will be savoring this dish in no time at all. By performing the preparation for all elements first, the rest of this dish is simply stir frying different ingredients and setting them aside until the final step. Check out the recipe below for how I made this unique meal – Singapore Noodles! Save Print Singapore Noodles Prep time: 20 mins Cook time…
Tonight’s dinner is my take on that ever popular Chinese restaurant appetizer and staple in different dishes – char siu pork. I decided to make it with a pork shoulder using sous vide. After marinating the pork shoulder overnight, using sous vide will create a moist and tender result after 8 hours in the water bath. To finish, I hot smoked the meat over apple wood to create the delicious, smoky crust that makes this dish special. This recipe yields more than 1 meal so be sure to check out the serving options – traditional appetizer of sliced char siu with mustard, ketchup, and sesame seeds; pulled as a different take on pulled pork sandwiches; or diced/julienned for use in fried rice or noodle dishes…
Tonight’s dinner is based on Suzy’s recipe for Farro and Mushrooms with Peas from her blog, The Mediterranean Dish. Her recipe is delicious as a vegetarian side dish, but I decided to make it into a full meal for one by pairing the farro with a pork loin chop. Farro is one of the ancient grains that is chock full of nutrients and has a wonderfully nutty taste. Like Suzy, I kept the seasoning simple to allow the farro to be the star of this show and cooked it all using one pan. The results are a tasty, chewy risotto-like platform for the juicy pork loin chop. Fairly simple yet slightly elegant… yep, that is how I would describe this meal. Give…
Have a hankering for carnitas? Well, let me tell you that cooking it sous vide style will blow your mind! When cooking for one, portion control is the toughest aspect. If you make too much, you either fall prey to over-eating or having to ‘enjoy’ that same dish numerous days in a row or eventually you end up throwing the extras out as waste. Carnitas is a dish that I have not typically made since it involves cooking a pork shoulder for a long time over moderate heat. The results are wonderful, but it makes too much for one person in my opinion. Today, I used sous vide to help me overcome that issue while using a lean cut of pork. And the results were…
Let’s start the week with everyone’s favorite Chinese soup – wonton soup. I am going to prepare this soup using my new Uno sous vide device from Creative Cuisine by Grant. This nifty device allows you to use an analog rice cooker or crock pot as the water bath while it controls the temperature for you. In talking with Bob Lamson of Creative Cuisine about sous vide cooking and how their device changes the paradigm, he challenged me to to use sous vide precision to prepare a soup. I was intrigued by the concept and of course, I accepted the challenge. So here we have a fairly simple dish that benefits from gentle cooking to meld the flavors of the broth, but needs an…
Leftovers… they are going to occur sometime, especially around the holidays or other large group meals. Well, I had mashed potatoes left from the duchess potatoes I made for Christmas dinner, so I was challenged with what to make with them. In contemplating what dish to cook that would use up these delicious mashed potatoes, one thing came to mind… shepherd’s pie. Easy to make and oh so delicious, now I am eager for dinner. Using frozen vegetables like petite corn and a pea and carrot mix just enhances the simplicity of this dish. Of course I had some of my ground beef, pork, and lamb mix in the freezer as well, so all that was left was to put it together. Shall we…
Here is another recipe I used to cook for the family when the girls were little. It is a great recipe to put together quickly, then eat later after the chops have cooked in the gravy for a bit. Even the gravy has a super simple shortcut, which I will provide in the Notes below. I paired this dish with White Rice and Sauteed Garlic Green Beans as a complete meal. Season each side of the pork loin chops with salt and pepper. Add the onion and garlic powder to the flour and stir to incorporate. Flour each side of the chops and shake off the excess. Save the flour for a later step. Heat a medium frying pan or skillet over medium medium high heat. Add the…
Yesterday, I made one of my daughters’ favorite meals. Tonight, I honor my Austrian heritage with a family favorite and give thanks to my mom for making sure I knew how to cook (and clean and do laundry and manage money and…). Well, I’m hungry so let’s get started! Schnitzel Ingredients: 2 boneless pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick 2 medium eggs (or 1 jumbo) 1/2 – 1 cup of all purpose flour 1 1/2 – 2 cups of bread crumbs 2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp shortening salt cracked black pepper Lemon wedges (optional) Horseradish (optional) Preparation: Pound the loin chops to 1/4 inch thick using a pan or mallet using a downward and slide outward motion. Season…
Back in the What? Prepare a weekly menu! Are you crazy? post, I mentioned using pulled pork and kimchi leftovers for a pork kimchi fried rice. For those of you that have been waiting (or wondering if I would make that dish!), your wait is over. Today I made this recipe for lunch – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Pulled Pork and Kimchi Fried Rice 1 1/2 cups of pulled pork, cut as desired 1 cup of kimchi, cut (using scissors in a glass bowl to save your cutting boards!) 1 egg, whisked 2 dashes Ichimi togarishi 1/2 red pepper, diced 1 stalk celery, sliced 1 tsp garlic, minced 1 tbsp peanut oil 1 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp Tabasco spicy…