Nicaraguan Pork Chops

My husband has been craving Nicaraguan food for a while now. Particularly nacatamales - these elaborate concoction with potatoes, meat, olives and a whole buch of other things stuffed in a corn meal base wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. I helped his mom make these once - and it took 4 people 3 days to make a batch. There was no way I was going to even begin to attempt making a nacatamal. I promised we'll find some when we go to Miami. We had plans for Miami coming up but I couldn't find a Nicaraguan restaurant around where we were going to be. When we got there we decided to "wing-it" and walked around Calle Ocho looking for a Cuban place (as a compromise). Serendipitously got caught in the rain - across the street from a Nicaraguan restaurant! Imagine that. When you want something really badly, the universe makes it happen. (I'm reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, it has definitely had an affect on me!)

My husband got his nacatamal and it was glorious. He also ordered the Nicaraguan style pork chops. This plate was massive. We could have easily done with just one entree. 2 giant, tender, juicy pork chops smothered in sauteed onions with a side of rice and beans, tostones (fried plantains) and salad. Yuma-dum-dum! I wanted to put aside my own entree and eat his. I just had to taste it so I could reproduce it again in my own kitchen. The onions were key. So here I am, a month later, trying to figure out this chop.

I have a very unique ability to take an awesome piece of steak - and ruin it. I either over cook it, or under cook it. So its either dry or raw. Which is why I like the slow cooked pork recipes. They're hard to mess up. So cooking a chop is always challenge for me. I figured I needed more than intuition on this one - I need a meat thermometer!

I went with a bone-in pork shoulder steak, instead of a pork chop. It looked bigger and thinner (and more do-able) than the bone-in chops. And I definitely wanted the bone, to add to the juicyness.

Wash, pat dry and salt and pepper the steak liberally. Meanwhile heat a pan on high (make sure your exhaust is on!) Lightly oil the pan, and place the steaks in the hot pan. Let them sear on each side - do not move them for at least 4-5 mins. Flip over and sear the other side. I checked the temperature and they were at about 130º - not safe to eat! Pork needs to be at least 160º. Once seared the pork goes into the oven at 375º for about 20 mins. Keep checking the temp, and remove from the oven when it reads 155º and loosely cover with foil. The residual heat will carry over to 160º.  (BTW - I don't know why I never owned a meat thermometer before! Those things are steak-savers!)

Meanwhile slice onions, lots and lots of onions. Start caramelizing them on slow heat. I added a thinly sliced jalapeno into the onions for an extra kick. Add a little salt to draw out the moisture. You want the onions to be a golden brown - not dark brown.

For sides, I made rice and beans. Warmed up some frozen tostones in the oven - not the best, but better than none. Also chopped yup some heirloom tomatoes to cool it all down.

Top the steaks with the onions. Serve with the rice and tostones and salad. Then imagine yourself in Nicaragua as you slice into your tender and perfectly done pork. The onions bring a sweetness to the pork, while the pepper gives it a bite. Enjoy!

Drunken Spaghetti

I've had a half open bottle of Shiraz sitting on my counter for a few days (weeks?) There is no way I was going to drink it. But I felt like it would be a waste to throw it out. I mean, its from the vineyards of Mr. Coppola! So lets cook with it. Watching Food Network all day long has definitely introduced me to a lot of different foods, cooking techniques and ingredients. Cooking pasta in wine is one of them. I've never been a huge fan of pasta. It just seems like something to make when I have nothing else at home. But after last week's spaghetti and meatballs - I might have to change my outlook.

So tonight's "drunken pasta" is a pretty simple. Not a lot of ingredients, but full of flavor. I started out with emptying my wine in a pot. I added a bit more water to make sure I had enough liquid to boil pasta. Salt and bring to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook to desired doneness. 

Meanwhile, chop garlic. A lot of garlic. Saute in butter and olive oil. Add red pepper flakes. 

Drain pasta and reserve about a cup of cooking liquid. Add pasta and liquid to garlic/pepper. Mix. Top with fresh basil and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!  

That's pretty easy, isn't it? And delicious! I love the color of the pasta, and the taste is slightly like red wine vinegar. Acidic, garlicky and filling. Yum! 

Persian "Tahdeeg" Rice and Lamb Kebabs

I found about this Persian rice by mistake a few years back. I was talking to my friend Aida about these awesome "persian potatoes" I had in Chicago. Aida told me these potatoes are cooked under the rice. What? How? I looked it up then, and then completely forgot about it. Fast forward to last week, and I think about these potatoes again. I figured this definitely needed some re-visiting. 

From my research online I found out that a golden rice crust is created at the bottom of the pot called Tah-deeg (literally "bottom of the pot"). This can be made with the rice alone; or pita, lavash or potatoes on the bottom. I'm interested in the potato version. The potatoes are thinly sliced and layered in a heavy bottomed pan with rice on top. The potatoes get crispy on the bottom, while the rice cooks.

I started out by partially cooking my rice in a bit pot of water. Like pasta. Cook for about 12 mins and drain. A lot of the recipes called for saffron, so I busted out my stash. Saffron, ounce for ounce is the most expensive spice. This tiny container of about 1 gram (.035 oz) cost about $10. 

But little bit goes a long way. I used about a pinch. Soak it in a few teaspoons of hot water and let it steep for about 20 mins. Pour into the drained, half-cooked rice. I also added a handful of slivered toasted almonds for a crunch. Mix well and set aside. 

Thinly slice potatoes on a mandoline. I used the red potatoes I got from my CSA. Any variety should do well here. Liberally oil the pan. I picked my largest non-stick pan for this. Now layer the bottom of the pan in a concentric circles of potato slices. 

Season with salt and another quick drizzle of oil. Then pile on the rice. Make holes in the rice with the back-end of a ladle, and drizzle in a bit more oil. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of water over the rice, cover and set on low. 

I kept checking on the rice and potatoes, and for some reason kept drizzling more oil, just to make sure it doesn't turn into a burnt mess. This turned out to be unnecessary. My rice ended up a bit too oily (but still tasty). The oil in the beginning and the non-stick pan would have sufficed. 

While the rice cooked, I worked on a few things to eat with this. Lamb kebab, sauteed green beans and a simple tomato salad. 

Lamb Kebabs: ground lamb + salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, cumin, chili powder, cilantro. Mix, form oblong kebabs and pan fry. 

Sauteed green beans: String beans. Sautee garlic, add beans and salt. Cook till beans are still crisp. 

Tomato salad: Chop tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt. 

The rice cooks in about 20-30 mins, covered on low heat. You're supposed to flip over the entire pan to have an intact bottom crust. I wasn't confident enough for that yet. We just dug in and made sure we got a piece of the lovely crisped potato crust. The rice was amazing. That tiny pinch of saffron gave the entire pot of rice a wonderful floral aroma. The nuts added texture and the potatoes were delicious. 

For next time, I'll definitely cut down on my oil. Cooking the rice a la pasta, made it very fluffy. This kind of rice would taste great with marinated chicken layered in the rice. Almost like an Indian Biryani. Lots of variations come to mind. I'll try it again soon. 

Garden Gazpacho

I've been meaning to attempt to make a gazpacho all summer long. Considering summer is slowly slipping away, now is the time. I read up on a few recipes at epicurious and got a general idea of what should go in it. Tomatoes, cucumbers, tomato juice. But I can do better than that! Especially with this never-ending supply of vegetable that just keep coming at me. 

These are all the veggies that went in:

Fennel

Celery

White Onion

Garlic

Cucumber

Red Pepper

Hot Pepper

Heirloom Tomatoes

(We get the most amazing heiroom tomatoes from our CSA. This year is the first time I've ever tried a heirloom and I think I've wasted 29 years eating regular tomatoes. They're juicy, sweet and just the right amount of acidity. Tastes great just sliced with a sprinkle of kosher salt. Also great in this gazpacho.)

I chopped all the veggies (individually) in my food processor to a chunky consistency. Mix together and add the rest of the flavorings - salt, pepper, a dash of tabasco, red wine vinegar and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Chill for a few hours and grab a bowl.

The consistency of my gazpacho was between a salsa and a soup. I didn't add any tomato juice- it seemed silly when I had so many fresh tomatoes at hand. But maybe that would help it get a bit more soupy. It was pretty tasty regardless. Maybe I'll be able to squeeze out another batch before summer is gone for good!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

After making all that sauce from my tomatoes, I just had to test it out. Spaghetti and meatballs came to mind - especially since its been a while since I've had it. I've always thought of spaghetti as the red headed step child of pasta. I buy rotini or ziti or macaroni - but hardly ever spaghetti. Plus we never go out to eat Italian food. It feels like a waste to go out and eat pasta!

I might have to give it another chance after tonight's meal though. It was delicious. The meatballs were made of ground pork. Mixed with garlic, basil, salt, pepper, some parmesan, an egg to bind and a handful of panko bread crumbs. Mix, form balls and pan fry. Once browned on all sides, add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti to desired doneness. I don't care for al dente pasta. I like mine cooked all the way through. Not mush though. 10 mins cooks it to perfection. Drain, top with meatballs and sauce. A bit more cheese and basil over the top and you're ready to dig in.

The panko and cheese made the meatballs very soft and pillowy on the inside. The sauce was delicious and very flavorful. I could taste all my efforts from planting these tomatoes in May till reaping the fruits of our labor! Sweet success.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

We spent a week in the Bahamas last week and come back to find that all our tomatoes decided that it was time to ripen! Their timing couldn't have been worse. I'd been waiting for them to turn red for over 3 weeks now. A lot of them were rotten by the time I got to them. Its a shame. These are the ones I brought home, I threw out just as many rotten ones. Most of the ones I bought home were overly ripe. There was no way I could hold on to these longer than a day. Turning these into something preservable was crucial.

Tomato sauce. I had home grown tomatoes, onions and herbs. The only store-bought item that went in was garlic. I sauteed loads of finely minced onions and garlic. Meanwhile, the tomatoes went into a boiling water bath for 1 minute, just to loosen up the skin. I honestly got tired of this step and eventually just minced the tomatoes skin-on. So half were skinless, half with skin. It didn't seem to make much of a difference in the taste. All the tomatoes got a whirl in the food processor to a fine mince. Once the onion/garlic was browned, in went the tomatoes, some salt and a bit of sugar. I also added a mix of fresh herbs from my patio - oregano, rosemary, thyme and lots of basil. Bring to a boil and let it cool down before filling up your containers.

I'm not into canning, but I figured freezing the sauce was an easier alternative. I got ziploc freezer safe containers and loaded them up. 6 lbs worth of tomato sauce. This will last a while!

Summer rolls

Looking for a healthy but tasty summer meal? Vietnamese summer rolls is the way to go. Easy to make, very little time spent over the stove and delectable! There is quite a few steps and assembly required, but its fun.

First, gather all the things you need for these summer rolls. The rice paper and cellophane noodles are the 2 most important ingredients. The rice paper comes in a pack of rounds that look like plastic discs. These will keep in your pantry forever. The noodles also go by bun tau or mung bean noodles.

As for the rest of the fillings, you can put what ever you feel like. Fresh vegetables like cabbage, lettuce, carrots, green beans, cucumbers, daikon, radish, spring onions. Also duck, shrimp, tofu or pork. Anything you desire or happen to have at hand.

I used red cabbage, carrots, cucumber and chili pepper. Slice everything into thin sticks. Toss gently with some fish sauce (nam pla) and set aside.

On to the noodles. These need to soak in boiling water for about 15 mins. Drain and mix with the veggies. Add fresh basil.

I found this can of mock roast duck in the Asian aisle a while back.

I had no idea what to do with it. These summer rolls seemed like a perfect opportunity to try it out. I drained out the can and looked at the contents. I don't know if they are trying to make it look like a plucked duck, or its just the impression left from their strainer. It tasted kinda like soy nuggets. Not bad, but not like duck. Nothing like duck at all.

What else can I put in there? Shrimp! I poached them and then chopped them up into pieces. You can leave them whole too, but I figured chopping it up means I'll get a piece in every bite. 

I think I got all my ingredients ready. Now for the assembly line. I moved to the dining table for this one. Get all the fillings, the paper, a cutting board and a wide, flat, deep dish filled with warm water. Something wider than the rice paper. This you'll use to soften up the paper discs to make them soft and pliable. A few min in warm water will do it. Slip the paper in one at a time. Once its soft, pull it on to your cutting board.

It will be very delicate and might rip, so be gentle. Lay flat and pile on the fillings of choice. A bit of noodles, some veggies and a spoonful of shrimp. To wrap it up, it goes kinda like a burrito. Left flap, right flap and roll to the end. The paper with stick to itself when its wet. Keep this in mind when you pile them up!

Keep going on these till you finish up the fillings. I did a few with shrimp and a few with duck. Towards the end there were a couple of mixed ones too. To dip these beauties, I made an asian peanut sauce. Mix peanut butter with fish sauce, soy sauce, sriracha, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and oyster sauce. Mix, mix, mix. Grab a roll, dip and eat. Its cool, its crunchy and sauce brings in an extra kick. These rolls make a great summer meal. Great for picnics too.

Huitlacoche

Huitlacoche. Corn smut. Or better yet - Mexican truffles. I'll go with that one. Its technically a disease or fungus living on a corn cob. I rather think of it as a corn mushroom. It is a highly regarded delicacy in Mexico. 

I'd heard of this a long time ago. It was in a hilarious article about weird foods like natto (fermented soy beans - nasty, slimy little buggers), pickled pork rinds and silkworm pupas. I wondered about it, but never thought I would actually be holding it one day. 

Fast forward to a few years later and here I am on a warm summer day in Wisconsin at our CSA owner's farm taking a tour of their corn fields, and I hear Mike talk about huitlacoche. I jumped on the opportunity and asked if I could have one of those fine fungus laden cobs. Quite a looker.

I read up on it once we got home. Seemed like quesadillas were the most commonly traditional dish to make with this.

I "shucked" the fungus off the cob and chopped it up. Sauteed onions and jalapenos in a wee bit of oil. And in goes the...umm stuff. I sauteed it for about 10 mins, adding a bit of salt.

Unfortunately I only had whole wheat tortillas at home. And cheese choices were asiago and cheddar. So I made one with one, one with the other. It goes tortilla-cheese-sauteed fungus mix-cheese-tortilla. Brown on both sides, quarter, serve.

I made a guacamole to go along with my creation.

And now the taste verdict. I thought it was delicious. It tasted like a very rich and flavorful mushroom. But better. I could have easily devoured another one of these. As for the cheese, I liked the cheddar version at first, but the asiago had a nuttier flavor which went great with the corny-mushroomy flavor.

If you have the means, I highly recommend you picking some up. 

Indian Cucumber Salad with Peanuts

We can't take it anymore. Make the cucumbers stop!

I decided a great way to finish them off was to make a giant batch of cucumber salad for our pot luck today. Just to put a twist on it, I reverted to an Indian styled "koshimbir" - minced cucumbers with peanuts and a hot cumin oil dressing of sorts. I never cared much for it as a kid, but it seems like most of the stuff I hated as a kid actually tastes great now - like eggplants and green beans. I figured its the minced part I didn't like so much. So I peeled, quartered and seeded the cucumbers but sliced it rather thick on my mandoline. Add salt and leave in a colander to drain out the excess moisture.

The "dressing" is tempered oil, known as phodani. Heat up a few tablespoons of oil in a thick bottomed pan, add cumin and simmer till toasted. Remove off the heat and add minced chili peppers and a pinch of asafetida. This is available in Indian stores, but if you don't have any, feel free to leave it out.
Once the oil was cooled down, I added a pinch of sugar, finely chopped onion and lime juice. Mix well and set aside. Meanwhile, throw a handful of roasted peanuts in the food processor and turn into coarse crumbs.

Squeeze out the cucumbers and toss with the dressing and peanuts. Taste and adjust salt. Top off with finely chopped cilantro and basil. Eat immediately. The longer you keep it the soggier it gets. The cucumbers are cooling, cumin is smoky and the peanuts are crunchy. The lime and sugar makes it sweet and sour, while the chilies gives it a kick. Its quite simple, but very flavorful. Dig in!

Guest Series: Jisoon's Korean Bibimbap

Our friend Jisoon offered to make us bibimbap - a popular Korean mixed rice dish. I've had bibimbap in K-town before, but never attempted to make it myself. Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sautéd and seasoned vegetables and gochujang (Korean red chili paste). An egg and meat on top is traditional. We swapped the meat for tofu. And for the vegetables used zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, carrots, shitake mushrooms, kale (instead of spinach) and gosari (Korean fern stems) 

Jisoon was kind enough to bring a jar of kimchi as well. Although it technically doesn't belong in the bibimbap, we devoured it as an appetizer. Crunchy cabbage and radish pickled and fermented in red chilies and fishy stuff - yum! 

Here is a play-by-play of Jisoon's culinary creation.

First he sauteed all the vegetables individually with garlic, scallions, red chili powder and pepper. Drizzle in a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil in the end. The zucchini/squash, mushrooms, blanched kale, the fern and the tofu were all done in this manner.

Julienne carrots remain raw. The cucumbers got sliced, salted, drained and then marinated in sugar and cider vinegar.

The rice (sushi grade) made in Jisoon's rice cooker, came out perfectly sticky. This does not happen when I cook it on the stove top. I guess need to get me a rice-cooker.

The veggies got arranged around a heaping pile of rice. Then topped off with an sunny-side-up egg.

 

 A spoonful of gochujang and an extra drizzle of sesame oil goes in.

This red chili paste is quite potent. It has a sweet yet spicy kick to it.

And then we mix. Apparently, this is quite a skill. Mine started to look like a mess. Jisoon demonstrated the right way to do it - spoon down the middle, scoop and flip. Fold it in. Kinda like egg whites. Here he is in action.

 

This is what the end product looked like. All the veggies, tofu and especially the chili paste made this rice extra delicious. Transported us all directly to K-town.
Thanks Jisoon! What will you make for us next?