Happy very-belated Easter! And what a beautiful Easter it was here in the Northeast. The temperatures were in the low 70s, there was a lot of sun, and it was breezy. It really was a lovely, pleasant weekend.
Easter has never been a very big deal in my family. We usually gather at my aunt's house for a half-hearted egg hunt in her tiny backyard, chocolate bunnies, and a dinner of meatballs and ham. I think one reason I've never been very keen on Easter is those dreadful spiral-cut hams people have on Easter. A big, pink lump studded with cloves, covered in sweet sauce, and topped with pineapples is not my idea of how to honor a beautiful ham. To me, ham should be salty, because the natural subtle sweetness of the pork will shine through the brine. To cover a ham in sugar AND cloves AND fruit AND syrupy sweet stuff is just a crime. An absolute crime! Putting a bit of sugar on ham is okay by me ONLY if you are also putting savory spices on it, like cumin and paprika, and using the mixture as a nice rub. None of this gooey sweet ham nonsense. Honor your ham and lay off the pineapples! (I despise pineapples, mostly because they make my mouth incredibly itchy, but if they're your thing, go for it. Just don't let me see you putting them on a ham.)
Jeremy and I kept it pretty casual on Easter Sunday, but because I did want to at least do something a bit Eastery, I decided to make penne with asparagus and ham. It includes a lean ham steak, which you cut into tiny bits and add in at the end. This dish is lovely and light, yet lemony and flavorful, and it's also really healthy because it's pretty low in fat. In fact, it's a dish I got from a Weight Watchers cookbook, and Jeremy and I just love it. The best part of this dish is that you can also eat it cold, like a pasta salad, something that came in handy last night when it was freakishly hot (90 degrees!) and we couldn't even muster the energy to heat our leftovers, let alone actually stand in front of the stove to cook anything.
To make this delicious meal vegetarian friendly, swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock and consider adding some tofu stir-fried in a bit of oil and garlic in place of the ham, or else add some nice sliced mushrooms.
Penne with Asparagus and Ham (depending on your portion sizes, this makes about 4-6 servings)
- 2 cups whole wheat penne OR linguini broken into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves
- 1 lb bunch of asparagus, cleaned and cut into 2-inch pieces (snap off and discard woody bottoms of stalks)
- 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 diced lean ham steak
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
Prepare pasta according to package directions and drain.
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomato and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato has softened, about 5 minutes. Inhale the delicious aroma of garlic and tomatoes cooking together and wonder to yourself what you did to deserve such a treat.
Add asparagus, broth, and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until asparagus is tender, about 3 minutes. Use a fork to poke about at the asparagus and make sure it is to your liking.
Add pasta, ham, and basil and toss to combine. Allow everything to heat for a minute or two and then serve.Top each dish with Parmesan. (You remember my rant about fresh Parmesan, right? And you're not cheating by using that stuff that comes in the green tube that shall remain nameless, correct? Okay, good. Just making sure!)
Showing posts with label pork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pork. Show all posts
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Braise the Roof! Beer-braised pork butt
Last night I had a friend to visit from out of town. She used to live in Boston, so this was like a homecoming for her. Like a good Cubana, I decided to celebrate her visit in style and serve up a mouthwatering feast. Traditionally, Cubanos roast a pig in order to celebrate special occasions. Since I live in a shoebox in the middle of a city and don't have a purveyor of whole pigs on speed dial, I decided to use my beloved Dutch oven to braise up some pulled pork. If you can't have the whole pig, have a piece!
I found a great basic recipe on The Kitchn, which is for braising a bone-in pork shoulder. I've never looked for a pork shoulder before, and I was initially sadly disappointed, because neither the local Shaw's nor the butcher shop down the street had bone-in pork shoulder in the 4 to 5 pound range. The butcher shop had boneless pork butt but it was about 8 pounds. I was already trying to wrap my head around the size of a 5-pound piece of meat, so I had to decline. I ended up getting a 4.5 pound bone-in pork butt roast, figuring I'd just make due, but then I realized I did the right thing after all. The butt, I later discovered, is not the butt at all, but the upper part of the pork shoulder. What? The butt is not the butt? Whatever. I'll take it.
The website I linked to above was helpful in instructing me how to remove the excess layers of fat (of course, I left some bits of fat because braising just melts them away and turns everything into a pile of soft scrumptiousness), and it also provided a nice, basic but delicious recipe for braising the pork. I made it in my 5-quart Dutch oven, which fit the pork and veggies quite snuggly. The hardest part of this recipe is honestly the browning, because you have to use tongs and a giant fork to hoist a multi-pound, squiggly piece of meat and flip it around in a pot of hot oil. But it was worth it because this pork was astoundingly delicious.
I love braising! I love it. It is hands-off cooking. I spent four hours doing other things around the apartment, preparing other food, tidying up, showering, while my oven did all the work. The low and slow cooking procedure makes the meat soft as butter and also fills your house with a positively delectable aroma. And there is something immensely satisfying about pulling the pork off the bone. There are honestly very few of the "fatty" bits mentioned in the recipe above, because most of the fat melts and moistens the meat. I'll probably toss the fattier bits into a pan and saute them before adding them into a soup or something.
I made this for dinner and dressed it in the braising juice, served with potato-spinach casserole with individual Nutella bread puddings for dessert. (I'm saving those for another post!) Was it good? Well, considering that everyone got seconds, yes, it was a success. Tonight I'm going to toss some pork with barbecue sauce and serve them with slaw on rolls. NOMS. Yes, this will give you a lot of leftovers, but it is so versatile that it's hard to get sick of. I'll probably also make some carnitas tacos too. Yay, pork!
I found a great basic recipe on The Kitchn, which is for braising a bone-in pork shoulder. I've never looked for a pork shoulder before, and I was initially sadly disappointed, because neither the local Shaw's nor the butcher shop down the street had bone-in pork shoulder in the 4 to 5 pound range. The butcher shop had boneless pork butt but it was about 8 pounds. I was already trying to wrap my head around the size of a 5-pound piece of meat, so I had to decline. I ended up getting a 4.5 pound bone-in pork butt roast, figuring I'd just make due, but then I realized I did the right thing after all. The butt, I later discovered, is not the butt at all, but the upper part of the pork shoulder. What? The butt is not the butt? Whatever. I'll take it.
The website I linked to above was helpful in instructing me how to remove the excess layers of fat (of course, I left some bits of fat because braising just melts them away and turns everything into a pile of soft scrumptiousness), and it also provided a nice, basic but delicious recipe for braising the pork. I made it in my 5-quart Dutch oven, which fit the pork and veggies quite snuggly. The hardest part of this recipe is honestly the browning, because you have to use tongs and a giant fork to hoist a multi-pound, squiggly piece of meat and flip it around in a pot of hot oil. But it was worth it because this pork was astoundingly delicious.
I love braising! I love it. It is hands-off cooking. I spent four hours doing other things around the apartment, preparing other food, tidying up, showering, while my oven did all the work. The low and slow cooking procedure makes the meat soft as butter and also fills your house with a positively delectable aroma. And there is something immensely satisfying about pulling the pork off the bone. There are honestly very few of the "fatty" bits mentioned in the recipe above, because most of the fat melts and moistens the meat. I'll probably toss the fattier bits into a pan and saute them before adding them into a soup or something.
I made this for dinner and dressed it in the braising juice, served with potato-spinach casserole with individual Nutella bread puddings for dessert. (I'm saving those for another post!) Was it good? Well, considering that everyone got seconds, yes, it was a success. Tonight I'm going to toss some pork with barbecue sauce and serve them with slaw on rolls. NOMS. Yes, this will give you a lot of leftovers, but it is so versatile that it's hard to get sick of. I'll probably also make some carnitas tacos too. Yay, pork!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Date night pork chops
Valentine's Day! A perfect excuse to eat extremely decadent food and more chocolate than anyone should consume in a 24-hour period. This Valentine's, I made chocolate chip pancakes using heart-shaped pancake molds, and also some thick-cut bacon. Jeremy took me to the New England Aquarium to visit the penguins. Then we made a lovely dinner of pork chops and braised endive with ham.
Pork chops! When I was growing up, my mother—ordinarily a good cook—absolutely butchered pork chops, turning them into thin, tough, gray things with a greasy brown sauce. So I grew up hating pork chops. Now I realize that it's because the pork she used was too lean, and the chops were too thin, and she probably overcooked the hell out of them, which many people tend to do with pork. In fact, pork is safe to eat when it reaches about 150 degrees F, because any potential bacteria have long been killed off at this point and the meat will still be tender and moist. Mark Bittman does it again with his recipe for sauteed pork chops, which includes 8 variations. We chose the garlic sherry chops and they were scrumptious!
When choosing chops, definitely get thick-cut chops that are about an inch thick. These will cook better and are far more satisfying than thin ones, which get tough and overcooked. Also make sure to select center-cut loin chops; avoid shoulder or blade chops and loin-end chops.
Let the chops come to room temperature (about 20 minutes or so), then trim them of excess fat. You will want to leave a thin layer of the fat around the edges, but sometimes it's a bit thicker in spots, so you can trim that away before cooking. This recipe is for 4 chops, but you can just as easily make two. It's flavorful, delicious, and pretty easy—a perfect meal to impress company or a significant other.
Mark Bittman's garlic-sherry pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (we used some chardonnay)
1 tsp minced garlic or 2 tbsps minced shallot, onion, or scallion (we used scallion)
1/2 cup chicken, beef, or vegetable stock, or water, plus more if needed
For finishing the sauce:
1/2 cup not-too-dry sherry (we used oloroso)
1 tbsp additional olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes, then add 2 tbsps olive oil. As soon as the first wisps of smoke appear, add the chops and turn the heat to high. Be careful, as there will be some splattering. (A splatter screen will come in handy here.) Brown the chops on both sides, moving them around with tongs so they develop good color all over. This whole browning process shouldn't take too long, perhaps 4 minutes but preferably less. (If the pan splatters too much while you're browning, turn the heat down just a bit, but it should remain pretty high.)
Reduce the heat to medium. Carefully add the wine and garlic or onions and cook, turning the chops once or twice, until the wine is mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. (Oh, the smell! Cooking wine with aromatics = scrumptious perfume!) Add 1/2 cup of stock or water, turn the heat to low, give everything a good stir, and cover. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning the chops once or twice, until they are tender but not dry. When they are done, they will be firm to the touch, their juices will run slightly pink, and the interior color will be rosy at first but will turn pale quickly. (Cut into one if you're at all unsure, or use a meat thermometer to make sure they're 150 degrees F. We tried to use mine, but it appears to have broken after just one use. Awesome.)
Remove the chops to a platter and let them rest. Add 1/2 cup of sherry and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced slightly. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp minced garlic and continue to cook until the sauce thickens and becomes a bit syrupy. Add the juice of half a lemon, and a quarter cup of minced parsley (we didn't have this on hand and it was just fine without it). Taste for seasoning and pour some sauce over each chop. Revel in the deliciousness!
I'll add the recipe for endive soon. But definitely try these chops. They are easy and delicious, and we're definitely going to have them again soon, perhaps trying one of the variations in the book.
Here are the pork chops with the braised endive and ham. NOMS.
For dessert, we each had one of Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Brownies. I am not a big fan of baking mixes, but TJ's does have excellent brownies and they're probably the only brownie mix I'd ever use. But I had to get the Reduced Guilt ones because you can make them individually with yogurt. Just add 2 tbsps of mix to 1 tbsp of low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt and stir in a small microwaveable container (RAMEKINS to the rescue) for 45 seconds. For being reduced guilt, they are really quite good! They remind me of those Betty Crocker Warm Delights desserts, only delicious instead of craptastic.
Pork chops! When I was growing up, my mother—ordinarily a good cook—absolutely butchered pork chops, turning them into thin, tough, gray things with a greasy brown sauce. So I grew up hating pork chops. Now I realize that it's because the pork she used was too lean, and the chops were too thin, and she probably overcooked the hell out of them, which many people tend to do with pork. In fact, pork is safe to eat when it reaches about 150 degrees F, because any potential bacteria have long been killed off at this point and the meat will still be tender and moist. Mark Bittman does it again with his recipe for sauteed pork chops, which includes 8 variations. We chose the garlic sherry chops and they were scrumptious!
When choosing chops, definitely get thick-cut chops that are about an inch thick. These will cook better and are far more satisfying than thin ones, which get tough and overcooked. Also make sure to select center-cut loin chops; avoid shoulder or blade chops and loin-end chops.
Let the chops come to room temperature (about 20 minutes or so), then trim them of excess fat. You will want to leave a thin layer of the fat around the edges, but sometimes it's a bit thicker in spots, so you can trim that away before cooking. This recipe is for 4 chops, but you can just as easily make two. It's flavorful, delicious, and pretty easy—a perfect meal to impress company or a significant other.
Mark Bittman's garlic-sherry pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (we used some chardonnay)
1 tsp minced garlic or 2 tbsps minced shallot, onion, or scallion (we used scallion)
1/2 cup chicken, beef, or vegetable stock, or water, plus more if needed
For finishing the sauce:
1/2 cup not-too-dry sherry (we used oloroso)
1 tbsp additional olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes, then add 2 tbsps olive oil. As soon as the first wisps of smoke appear, add the chops and turn the heat to high. Be careful, as there will be some splattering. (A splatter screen will come in handy here.) Brown the chops on both sides, moving them around with tongs so they develop good color all over. This whole browning process shouldn't take too long, perhaps 4 minutes but preferably less. (If the pan splatters too much while you're browning, turn the heat down just a bit, but it should remain pretty high.)
Reduce the heat to medium. Carefully add the wine and garlic or onions and cook, turning the chops once or twice, until the wine is mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. (Oh, the smell! Cooking wine with aromatics = scrumptious perfume!) Add 1/2 cup of stock or water, turn the heat to low, give everything a good stir, and cover. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning the chops once or twice, until they are tender but not dry. When they are done, they will be firm to the touch, their juices will run slightly pink, and the interior color will be rosy at first but will turn pale quickly. (Cut into one if you're at all unsure, or use a meat thermometer to make sure they're 150 degrees F. We tried to use mine, but it appears to have broken after just one use. Awesome.)
Remove the chops to a platter and let them rest. Add 1/2 cup of sherry and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced slightly. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp minced garlic and continue to cook until the sauce thickens and becomes a bit syrupy. Add the juice of half a lemon, and a quarter cup of minced parsley (we didn't have this on hand and it was just fine without it). Taste for seasoning and pour some sauce over each chop. Revel in the deliciousness!
I'll add the recipe for endive soon. But definitely try these chops. They are easy and delicious, and we're definitely going to have them again soon, perhaps trying one of the variations in the book.
For dessert, we each had one of Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Brownies. I am not a big fan of baking mixes, but TJ's does have excellent brownies and they're probably the only brownie mix I'd ever use. But I had to get the Reduced Guilt ones because you can make them individually with yogurt. Just add 2 tbsps of mix to 1 tbsp of low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt and stir in a small microwaveable container (RAMEKINS to the rescue) for 45 seconds. For being reduced guilt, they are really quite good! They remind me of those Betty Crocker Warm Delights desserts, only delicious instead of craptastic.
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