Red Beans with Spanish Sausage

Mu Shu Pork

Serves six.
ingredients
1/2 lb. lean pork, such as loin or tenderloin
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 cup dried cloud ears
1/2 cup golden needles (also called dried lily buds)
3 Tbs. canola or vegetable oil
1 slice fresh ginger, about 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 lb. Savoy or white cabbage, shredded (about 2 cups)
1 scallion (white and green parts), cut lengthwise and then into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained, and sliced into a 2-inch julienne
1 tsp. salt
Mandarin Pancakes
Mandarin Sauce
how to make

Cut the pork into 1/4-inch slices. Stack the slices and cut them into thin strips. In a medium bowl, mix the soy sauce, cornstarch, and rice wine. Add the sliced pork and toss to coat. In separate small bowls, soak the cloud ears and golden needles in warm water for about 10 min. Drain and rinse well. Cut off the stems from the cloud ears and golden needles. Cut the cloud ears into small pieces and the golden needles in half.

Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the ginger slice, cook it until sizzling and fragrant, and then remove and discard it. Add the eggs and scramble them, breaking them up into small pieces when just set. Remove the eggs from the wok and reserve. Heat another 1 Tbs. oil in the wok until very hot. Add the pork and cook, stirring, until about halfway cooked, about 45 seconds. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring, until transparent, about 1 min. Add the scallion, cloud ears, golden needles, bamboo shoots, and salt; cook, stirring constantly, about 3 min. Return the scrambled eggs to the wok to warm them. Mix well.

To serve, spread some sauce on a pancake, add some stir-fry, and then wrap and eat with your hands.

From Fine Cooking 31, pp. 54-57

photo: Sloan Howard

Pork Meatball Banh Mi

One of Bill's all-time faves.

Carnitas

Burmese Red Pork Stew

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Leave out the onions, but observe the technique...

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Slow Roasted Glazed Pork Shoulder

Really a perfect dish to serve to company.

Arroz Con Pollo

Photo by Brianna Rohlehr

I was very happy with the big steaming pot of arroz con pollo that we surprised James with up in Hastings-on-Hudson last weekend. (Did I mention that we love the Rohlehrs?)

It's a tricky dish, and all kinds of things can go wrong with the timing. I read somewhere that parboiled rice was the key, and it worked out very well, but I'm quite certain I can get it to work with regular rice next time.

Happy Birthday, James!

4 strips of bacon
1 chorizo link, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into thin half moons
8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
Salt, pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, pimenton, ground cumin, olive oil and white vinegar for marinating chicken
Olive oil for frying
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green pepper), chopped
5 cloves garlic mashed
1 (12 oz.) bottle of dark beer
3 1/2 cups rich chicken stock
1 (8-ounce) can of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Bijol or 1 tablespoon annatto oil (for coloring)
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more, to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup pimento-stuffed green olives
3 1/2 cups of parboiled rice (or a slightly smaller quantity of regular long grain white rice)
1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup roasted red peppers, cut into strips

Twelve to twenty-four hours ahead, combine the spices, oil and vinegar in a food processor or a mortar and process into a smooth paste. Rub the mixture all over the chicken and under the skin. Cover and keep refrigerated until about an hour prior to cooking. Let the chicken come to room temperature while prepping all the other ingredients.

Sauté the bacon and chorizo in a large frying pan. Reduce heat to low and let the fat render out -- about 10 minutes. Once the fat is released, remove the bacon and chorizo, increase temperature to medium-high and add the chicken to the hot bacon fat. Remove the chicken when it is browned on both sides.

Add a little olive oil to the same pan you fried the chicken in, and sauté the onion and green pepper until the onion is translucent. Add the mashed garlic and cook an additional minute or two, stirring frequently.

Take the chicken stock and beer and pour into a large covered pot. Add the browned chicken pieces, cooked onions and green pepper, tomato sauce, Bijol, bay leaf, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper, bacon (crumbled, chorizo and olives. Bring everything to a rolling boil, reduce heat, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes.

Add the rice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. When the rice has absorbed some of the liquid, cover and simmer on low for about 30-45 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked. Add the frozen peas and red pepper strips during the last five minutes of cooking.

Char Siu Hum Bao (Chinese Baked Roast Pork Buns)

Were these just as savory as any char siu bao in Chinatown? As addictive as the taboo bao in The Untold Story? As traditional as the bao in Once Upon a Time in China? Well, I'd certainly like to think so, and I believe Bill will back me up on this point. (And really, after eating five bao in two days, he'd better back me up.) The recipe isn't complicated, it just takes a bit of time to complete all the steps. Well worth the effort, if you're far from a ready source of hot hum bao and need a fix.

Sauce Ingredients

2 teaspoons oyster sauce
¾ teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons ketchup
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
Pinch of white pepper
3 tablespoons chicken broth
½ teaspoon sesame oil

Combine the sauce ingredients. Reserve.

For buns:

2 teaspoons peanut oil
1/3 cup onions, cut into ¼-inch dice
½ cup Roast Pork
1 Baked Bun Dough recipe
1 small egg, beaten
2 tablespoons Scallion Oil

Prepare Filling: Heat wok for 30 seconds over high heat. Add peanut oil and coat wok with spatula. When a wisp of white smoke appears, add onions, lower heat to low, and cook, turning occasionally, until onions turn light brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add roast pork, raise heat, and stir-fry to combine the pork with the onions, about 1 minute. Add Shao-Hsing wine and mix well.

Lower heat, stir sauce mixture, and add to pork and onions. Stir until well mixed and sauce thickens and bubbles. Turn heat off. Remove mixture from wok and transfer to a shallow dish. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 4 hours, uncovered, or overnight, covered.

Prepare Buns: Preheat oven to 350F. Cut 8 squares of waxed paper, 3 ½ inch on a side.

Remove dough from bowl, knead several times, then roll it out with your hands into a sausage shape 8 inches long. Divide into 8 one-inch pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping others under a damp cloth.

Roll each piece into a ball, then with your fingers, press to create a dome and a well.
Place 2 teaspoons of pork filling into well. Hold bun in one hand and with the other turn the bun, pinching it closed. Pressh firmly to seal. Place completed bun, sealed side down, on a square of waxed paper. Repeat until all buns are made.

Place all buns on a cookie sheet, at least 2 inches apart, to allow for expansion. Put buns in a warm place for about 1 hour to permit them to rise. Using an atomizer, spray each bun lightly with warm water. With a pastry brush, brush each bun with beaten egg.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Halfway through the baking time reverse the tray in oven. When buns are golden brown, remove them from the oven, and while still warm brush them with Scallion Oil. (As the buns cool, the crust tends to slightly harden. The brushing with Scallion Oil prevents hardening, as well as adding piquancy.) Serve immediately.

Char Shui

(Recipe adapted from Eileen Yin Fei Lo)
2 ¼ pounds moderately fatty pork shoulder or butt
1 ½ tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp. light soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp. honey
1 ½ tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. shao Hsing wine
3 ½ tbsp. hoisin sauce
½ tsp. five spice powder (I like Penzey’s brand)
black pepper to taste
red food coloring (optional)

Cut meat into strips 1 inch thick and seven inches long. Using a fork, tenderize meat by piercing all over. This also allows the sauce to penetrate.

Mix marinade ingredients into a ziplock bag large enough to hold meat.

Place meat in bag, mush it all around in the marinade so it is all covered, then push out all of the air, seal bag and leave it in the refrigerator for twenty four hours.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place roasting rack on rimmed cookie sheet, and drape meat over it. Roast for 20 minutes, until the meat is done. Baste the meat as it cooks a couple of times with some of the marinade. Allow to cool after it is done, then cover and refrigerate until needed.

Spiced Pork Chops

These are the famous spiced chops from Home Restaurant in NY, with only a couple of changes on my part; the most important being the real necessity of brining the chops before cooking them, so they stay moist and juicy under all that high heat. I also added a little brown sugar to the rub. It rounds out the spice mix and makes for good caramelization.
We ate this with sauteed beet greens, sour cream mashed potatoes and a big salad. Happy Memorial Day Weekend, family...

Brine:
1 qt cold water
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 T sugar

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
2 double thick center cut pork chops (12 oz)
Ground black pepper

Spice Mix:
Equal parts toasted ground cumin, coriander and mustard seed.
A couple of teaspoons of brown sugar

Brine the chops for a few hours before cooking them (at least 2, not more than 8)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse the pork chops well, pat them dry, and in a wide shallow bowl, coat them generously with the spice mixture. They will not need additional salt. Add pepper to taste.
In an ovenproof saute pan, brown the chops in olive oil just until nicely browned on all sides. Put the pan with the chops in the oven and bake until done -- approximately 15 minutes, depending on the size of the chops. The best thing to do is check the temperature on an instant read thermometer. Pull it out at 150 degrees and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
Serves 2