Category Archives: Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears

Bacon is always awesome, Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Pork-a-licious, Soup

Recipe Retry of an All-Time Favorite

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Milk Braised Pork Shoulder with Semolina Gnocchi (Photo by Elinor Carucci)

I can’t even begin to tell you the love I feel for this Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder with Semolina Gnochhi from Olivia restaurant right here in Austin. I made this dish exactly as directed some time ago and it is still one of my favorites. In fact, when someone ask me the one recipe they should make that I’ve tested, this one is always my first recommendation.

We are in full kitchen remodel mode and as anyone knows who’s been through one, an 1/8 of an inch off of one thing can derail you for days. We had plans to have our Wolf oven hooked up and ready to go – it’s a gas stove I can’t wait – but alas the cabinets threw us off. Thanks company-that-shall-not-be-named, thanks ever so much for making cabinets that require you to alter with a chainsaw, fairy dust and some Vaseline. I kid but only a little.

Since I already had the pork sitting in the nice combo of salt and cinnamon and didn’t want to waste it, I chunked cooking inside the lines out the door and threw all  of the ingredients from the butter to the tomatoes (I didn’t add the flour since I wasn’t making a roux but could not skimp on the butter, do you blame me?) into a large Dutch oven. I cooked this bad boy for 2 hours in our convection microwave and then let cool and sit overnight in the fridge. The verdict? AWESOME. DELICIOUS. PORK.

Sure, the depth of flavor was slightly better in the original but hey, in a pinch and less time in the kitchen this worked! I couldn’t make the semolina gnocchi so I served this as a stew with a Caesar side salad. David mentioned this has been his favorite dish that I’ve made so far…with that poodles make this, make this right now. Try the slow version (it’s seriously not that much trouble) or go rogue and try it my way. Either way, for the love, make this. Now if I could actually go eat at Olivia…

Bacon is always awesome, Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Salad

Hot and Hot Tomato Salad – Just skip this review and make this dish immediately

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Ok, you can read the review if you want, but I will make it quick so you can head to the farmer’s market ASAP. Here’s what Cooking Light’s Vanessa T. Pruett has to say about this dish: Hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, Hot and Hot Fish Club’s signature summer staple is adapted here, combining crisp fried whole baby okra and delicate lady peas served over fresh heirloom tomato slices and topped with smoky bacon and a creamy herbed dressing. “With fried, okra, fresh peas, and tomatoes, this would be hard to beat as the perfect summer meal,” praises Test Kitchen Director, Vanessa T. Pruett.
 
Agreed and then some. There’s a reason this Hot and Hot Tomato Salad recipe was chosen as the Cooking Light staff favorite for the month of August. First of all, there’s a hamhock mixed with peas and onions. I do love me some hamhock in anything, collard greens, beans, cereal, you name it. I couldn’t find lady peas so I went with frozen peas – not farmer’s market I know but hey they were still delicious. We did find some gorgeous red and yellow heirloom tomatoes which are always to die for in any dish. For the fried okra, I grew up eating my Mom’s version as a kid and I’ve never found a better way to make it than she does. So, I followed my Mom’s method for fried okra and, of course, it turned out perfect. The dressing complemented the entire salad perfectly and let’s not forget there is BACON on this bad boy to make it the perfect salad. All I have to say is go make this right now and if you do, please let me know your thoughts. Here is our version! It aint as purdy but it sure did taste good.

Asian, Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Sandwich

The Search for Padan Leaves and Other Tales

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Let’s go back a few weeks to a lovely night David and I spent at Susan Feniger’s new-ish restaurant Street. When I lived in Los Angeles I loved visiting Susan and her partner Mary Sue Miliken’s fantastic restaurants Ciudad and Border Grill. Knowing the fantastic food Susan can put out, plus I think she is such a gentle lamb, I was stoked to eat at Street.

As you may recall, Susan left Top Chef Masters because the judges disliked that she made a “sandwich” at such a crucial point in the game. After eating her exact Kaya Toast creation from the show at Street all I have to say is the judges were waaaaaaaaaaay wrong. We ate a lot that night but this was my favorite. So much so, we kept talking about how awesome it was and we bet we could make it too. A little searching later and voila here was the recipe! The only difference in this recipe than the restaurant version is that Feniger served it with a fried egg instead of soft-boiled.Yesterday I had the day off and was determined to make this for us to try. The only hitch? Padan leaves. What are those you ask? I turn to the Thai Food section on About.com to let you do a little light reading. I searched for specialty Asian markets here in Austin and the first one I called said they had them…YAY! I drove to MT Supermarket and walked straight down to aisle five and there they were, frozen Pandan leaves. After dethawing, as I opened the package I let out a big “Oh! That’s it!” What was it? This dear readers was the smell i.e. the flavor that made Susan’s jam just so delicious.

I followed the instructions listed in the recipe and though it’s tedious, dude it is like a custard, it came together pretty quickly. We let the jam sit overnight and then for lunch assembled the dish. People, I SNORTED this, not kidding. It was almost as good as the restaurant and the butter on the jam on the toasted bread was absolutely fantastic. I also served with some fresh arugula, low-sodium soy sauce (hey you’ve got to cut back somewhere right?) and a fried egg. David was quite impressed as well – for the win! I’m quite concerned because I have a vat of the jam in my fridge and it’s calling my name as I type this. Maybe just one more to make sure it’s really that delicious? Please give this a try if you (a) can find Pandan leaves (b) want to commit yourself to devouring a vat of coconut jam for the next week. Here is our completed dish!

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Vegetarian

“Shut-Your-Piehole Puppies”

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While I was thumbing through Food and Wine’s July 2010 issue featuring their Best New Chefs of 2010, I was intrigued by more than half of the chef’s recipes. One, because I love trying restaurant recipes and two, these are super simple, even for a novice like me. I’ve got a few on my radar this week but one that I had to try first was this Hush Puppies with Green Zebra Tomato Jam from Trummer’s on Main in Clifton, VA by Chef Clayton Miller. Let’s see what Food and Wine has to say:

Clayton Miller makes a highly seasoned, Indian-inflected tomato jam with ginger, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne. It’s a terrific accompaniment to his hush puppies—cheekily nicknamed “shut-your-piehole puppies” by the cooks in his kitchen.
 
Love it.

Trying to find Green Zebras late on a Sunday evening was just not going to happen. But hey, you all know me lambs, nothing gets in my way when I want to try a recipe even if it means tweaking it a bit. Having tasted a mountain of these beauts in my office (since I help out with the public relations side a bit) I grabbed a container of Sunbursts tomatoes, which are sweeter and have a heirloom flavor to them, and a container of sweet cherry tomatoes to pack a one-two tomato punch.The jam was really easy to put together and you simply let is simmer for 40 minutes until it’s well, jammy. The hush puppy batter I made in the morning and let sit in the fridge until it was time to fry these little bad boys up. We really, really, liked this recipe. The hush puppies were pretty standard in their taste and texture, maybe I’ll try it with the bacon fat next time (?), but the jam was excellent. Something about the honey, ginger, cumin and cinnamon with the tomatoes made me wish I had made two more batches so I could spread it on everything for the next few days. Key learnings for next time. Make these and shut-your-piehole!

Beefy McBeefy, Cheesy Cheese, Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese…No, Like Really

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 So this week I came down with what we will call “the death” or an upper respiratory infection that hit my like a ton of bricks Monday morning and kept me down until Thursday morning. But dear readers, what deliciousness did we have planned for Tuesday and staying true to my menu plan we still made? That’s right this tasty looking beaut from Bon Appétit. Behold the ultimate grilled cheese lambs…

 
Yes, this Grilled Cheese and Short Rib Sandwiches with Pickled Caramelized Onions recipe from Joan’s on Third in Los Angeles (side note – if you are in LA stop what you are doing right now and go to Joan’s – well unless you are reading this blog!) was THAT good even with a lack o’tastebuds, a 102 fever and a slew of medications keeping me quite light-headed.
 
I was still semi-functional on Monday and managed to make the short ribs which were really, really easy. We let them cool and chilled in the fridge until Tuesday. Poor Alex not only had to deal with a sickly Emily but then completed the rest of the meal including the caramelized onions and assembly of sandwiches which she said was easy, peasy. To go with the sandwiches Alex also made an Orange, Fennel, Avocado and Arugula Salad with Orange Vinaigrette which was her own creation and was amazing (maybe she will give me the recipe -wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
 
Since I didn’t do this recipe from stem to stern I can’t attest to its ease of assembly or that everything flowed perfectly, but I can tell you that it was a glorious, cheesy, beefy, awesome sandwich that shined down from the heavens during my bout of sickly ugliness. I’m going to have to test these one more time just to make sure I was not hallucinating – something tells me I wasn’t.
Bacon is always awesome, Beefy McBeefy, Emily Favorite, Italian, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears

Me With a Chance of Meatballs

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Being given the honor of The Best Dish of the Year 2010 by Bon Appétit is not something to be taken lightly friends. But yes, the humble yet comforting and delicious meatball has been given this honor and if you think about, with its versatility, many uses in many cultures and plain awesomeness it’s no surprise. Let’s hear what the magazine has to say for itself.

“With a return to homey, comforting cooking this year, meatballs made it big, appearing on restaurant menus and kitchen tables everywhere. They’re affordable, easy to make and absolutely delicious – and have inspired cooks from all over the world. Discover just how good (and versatile) meatballs can be with these five wonderful recipes.”


As mentioned, I’m testing and tasting three cover recipes for an all-out recipe smackdown and this Spaghetti and Meatballs Alla’Amatriciana might have already won without me trying the other two (although the other two look lovely thank you very much). THIS WAS THE BOMB. First, take a look at step one to make the meatballs…you make a bacon paste. Bacon paste. I think I said “this is so awesome, I’m making BACON PASTE” about three times as the delicious applewood smoked bacon spun around in the food processor. Bacon paste.
One would think that with so much bacon, about 12 slices in all, you would just taste bacon. No, no people. This sucker was layers of lovely delicious flavor upon delicious flavor upon delicious flavor. I tested this recipe to its full potential and will have leftovers for days, lucky me huh? I would also like to point out the Pork Meatball Bahn Mi (I love Bahn Mis!) looks awesome and I’m going to have to try that next.
This recipe flowed nicely but note it is a lot of steps and lengthy in its process (hence why I was eating dinner at 8:00 p.m.) so I would recommend making this on a Sunday so you can eat the leftovers all week. The bit o’labor is worth it so seriously give this dish a try.
This might be my last post for a week and half or so since I’ve got an intense period of time coming up and won’t have the opportunity to cook. With that I leave you with two things. One: TEXAS FIGHT! Can you believe the game is tomorrow night? Let’s all focus our energy on super happy, positive burnt orange thoughts towards a Texas win in Pasadena. Ready….do it now! Second, if you got this far, you must love meatballs so what is your favorite meatball dish? Let’s vote (up to your right on this page 😉

Asian, Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Global Flavor, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Seafood, Soup, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

My Super Slow-Roasted Sunday

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Austin’s weather today was soupy, cold and gray or the perfect weather to slow-roast the heck out of my entire dinner! Cooking Light did a whole slow-roasting recipe smorgasbord and you can just tell the test kitchen staff had fun with these recipes. It makes me wonder if they slow-roasted a lot of things and if so what didn’t make it to the magazine pages? I have to say whatever fun they were having translated into some amazingly delicious recipes. Let’s go through this slowly shall we lambs?

Now it has been written on Cooking Inside the Lines before that I hate salmon. Not dislike or despise, hate, so what compelled me to try this Slow-Roasted Brown Sugar and Dill Cured Salmon recipe? Well, it is in an instant favorite amongst Cooking Light staff, which I always trust, and the flavors of dill and brown sugar made me think it would cover up the salmony flavor that I’m not a fan of. Also, it mentioned that slow-roasting the fish gives it a velvety texture which is definitely what I need if I’m going to try salmon. The result? We have a winner! Now I’m not going to join the salmon cha-cha line but I might be intrigued to shake my hips with this recipe. The brown sugar and dill lended a beautiful flavor to the salmon and they were right, the texture was velvety and made it so much more enjoyable.

To accompany the salmon, I also made the Aromatic Slow-Roasted Tomatoes which, as they mention, brings out the natural sweetness of the plum tomatoes. As I was eating these on top of fresh watercress I thought these would be amazing on top of a pizza or food processed and used for a tomato sauce on top of pasta with Parmesan. I ate them on top of salad and they were delicious, delicious, delicous.

Finally, for dessert, I made the Slow-Roasted Grape and Yogurt Parfaits. Through roasting, the grapes still retained their burst-y (yes that’s a word) texture and it does sweeten them overall. With this recipe they had me at Greek yogurt and honey which is one of my favorite combinations. With the crunchy, toasted walnuts in the layers of parfait you’ve got a perfect, crunchy, creamy, sweet, good-for-you dessert.

On a cooking note if you should desire to recreate this entire meal, I started curing the salmon this morning and then cooked the grapes and tomatoes at the same time and then simply removed when they were complete. Once the salmon was ready I cooked per the time instructed and placed the tomatoes and grapes in around 20 minutes or so at the end with the salmon to warm them up.
As a final side note (sorry for the long post but hey at least it’s about food and not calculus right?), I made a delicious Thai Coconut Lime-Soup with Chicken from Bon Appetit. Now I didn’t have kaffir lime leaves (who does?) or sake (gosh, but I should have that on standby always – tee hee hee) but I made this soup anyway to enjoy for lunch today and tomorrow and it was still awesome. I couldn’t find the recipe online so here you go. Enjoy!
Thai Coconut-Lime Soup with Chicken
Bon Appetit, December 2009
8 First-Course Servings
2 stalks fresh lemongrass
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 red Thai chilis or 2 red jalapeno chiles, thinly sliced into rings, seeded (I used jalapenos)
3 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup sake
4 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used the low-fat version)
8 kaffir lime leaves
3 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves plus sprigs for garnish
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast halves cut crosswise into thin strips (y’all I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken)
Chopped green onions
Discard all but bottom 4 inches of lemongrass stalks. Peel off tough outer layers. Mince lemongrass. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and ginger; cook until onion beings to soften, about 3 minutes. Add chilis and lemongrass; stir 1 minute. Add broth and sake; simmer 5 minutes. Add coconut milk, lime leaves, fish sauce, cilantro leaves, lime juice and sugar; simmer 30 minutes. Add chicken and simmer just until cooked through about 4 minutes.

Divide soup among bowls. Garnish with green onions and cilantro sprigs.

Chicken, Fruit, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears

Dark Meatlove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dark Meat

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I’ll admit it. I have avoided dark meat. Like that pile of laundry you continue to walk by and starts to overflow out of the basket, you finally throw your hands in the air and say “OK, I’ll do it!” Magazines have been giving these cuts of meat a new life recently and well, if you think about it, it makes sense. Dark meat can require long-cooking times in the oven – perfect for fall – and are wallet friendly – perfect for the economy – so it’s a win/win folks. Plus, if you avoid the skin of dark meat you are actually consuming almost the same amount of calories and fat but could be getting more nutritional benefits, like zinc and iron, than their white meat counterparts. I’m serious! See here and here.

Now all of this is coming to you from a person who claimed to not like dark meat because I had heard the fat rumors and I don’t know, something about it just didn’t appeal to me. Well, it just goes to show that as usual, I was wrong lambs. I just made two dark meat dishes back-to-back for dinner this weekend and am currently swooning over the flavors. The Apple-Braised Turkey Thighs recipe from Everyday Food and Chicken Smothered in Gravy recipe from Food & Wine are two prime and lip-smacking examples of dark meat goodness.

Give these two a try, although if I had to choose just one give the turkey thighs a chance. Of course I would choose the one that doesn’t have a Web link.
Also, I just noticed that this is my 98th post, wow how time flies. I want to do something special for my 100th post. What should I do, what should I do?!
Everyday Food
Apple-Braised Turkey Thighs
Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 MIN
Total time 2 1/2 HR
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 turkey thighs (about 2 pounds total)
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
4 Cortland or Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, and cored
2 cups of apple cider
14.5 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season turkey on both sides with salt and pepper and add to pot, skin side down. Cook until skin is golden and crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer turkey to a plate and add shallots to pot. Cook until shallots soften, about 5 minutes. Add apples and cook until slightly softened, about five minutes.

2. Return turkey, skin side up, to pot; add cider and broth. Bring to a boil, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook 1 1/2 hours. Uncover, cook 30 minutes more.
3. Remove pot from oven and transfer turkey to plate. Skim fat from cooking liquid and stir in vinegar. Slice meat off bones (discard bones) and server turkey with apples and pan sauce.
Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Seafood, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

I Heart Portland (Maine that is)

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Can I share a vision in my mind with you? I envision Portland, Maine as this super duper gentle place full of delicious food and chilly, fall days with beautiful coastlines. I know they have summer but shushie we are in my vision. Maybe something like this…

Now, I have never been to Maine, let alone Portland (someday lambs, someday), but I am still quite happy for the city to receive the honor of America’s Foodiest Small Town 2009 from Bon Appetit. I kind of hate that word foodie or foodiest but that’s another story, because I would go there in a heartbeat after reading about the food.

Wanna hear why? An excerpt from the magazine article to tickle your tastebuds:

First, it’s got great product, from oysters to fiddlehead ferns. Second, the town has attracted stellar chefs who know how to turn these resources into great food. Third, it even has a signature meal, breakfast, that turns the first fare of the day into a celebration of all this bounty. And finally, it has citizens who expect a lot, and get even more.

They had me at breakfast.

The magazine featured this absolutely bonkers recipe from a local restaurant in Maine called Cod with Mussels, Chorizo, Fried Croutons and Saffron Mayonnaise. I say bonkers because wow you guys did I pick a lengthy recipe for the week night or what? What was I thinking? I’ll tell you exactly what I was thinking, I had to try this now and nothing was going to stop me. I also use the word bonkers because the combination of these ingredients was intense, just look at the title of the recipe to paint your own mental picture.

Yes, there was a lot going on here but it all really came together for me to truly love it. From the creamy, saffron mayonnaise and delicious, moist cod that has been roasted in clam juice (hold on it’s not bad) and white wine (see I told you) to the spicy chorizo and succulent mussels with their delicious broth plus the fried sourdough croutons that soaked up said broth to absolute perfection. Wow.

Wow.

I’ll pack the bags you go start the car.

(Recipe photo from Bon Appetit.com)

Emily Favorite, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Pork-a-licious

Amazing Dish from Austin’s Own Olivia Restaurant

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So, I know for certain there is some sort of God or higher power because he or she has bestowed this Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder with Semolina Gnocchi recipe to us humans here on earth. This recipe, from Austin’s own Olivia Restaurant, is featured in Bon Appetit’s Top Ten Best New Restaurants. Go Austin! I have never been to Olivia, but if this recipe that can be made at home is any testament to what can be enjoyed at the restaurant…table for one please? (Picture from Olivia Restaurant ‘s Web site)

Just to note, this dish from start to finish takes two days – yes, a whole 48 hours – to make but I have to say even for someone who likes to take on challenging recipes, this one was long in time but not too labor intensive. In fact, a lot of it is sitting time to give the pork shoulder time to break down in the DELICIOUS milky, tomato sauce that kind of reminded me of tomato bisque soup but better. Plus, the semolina gnocchi was super easy to make. I found the semolina flour in the bulk section of Central Market so I wasn’t spending too much money for a specific flour. Thank you to Lindsay from Apron Adventures for pointing out the bulk section which I tend to pass by in the grocery store each time never knowing the gems and jewels hiding inside like spices, flours, nuts and even chocolate. Please go explore your store’s bulk section if you haven’t had a chance, I feel like such a moron for not doing so before!
I finished the semolina in the oven and warmed the pork shoulder deliciousness on the stove. As I poured the pork shoulder and sauce on the gentle semolina square I shivered with excitement from the intoxicating aromas. I took my first bite and…whimpered. Yes lambs, I whimpered and then clapped my hands with glee. This is the best dish I’ve tested so far on Cooking Inside the Lines.

When you think of a snugly blanket, a fireplace and something warm to eat to continue the snuggle factor, THIS IS IT PEOPLE. Yes, this recipe takes time and I know it has some special ingredients, but I’m ordering you to try this now. :) Heck, even just make the pork shoulder and sauce and you could be set, but I’m telling you with the tomato bisque-ish sauce with the tender, cinnamon infused pork that’s mixed with the soft, polenta-style cakes filled with Parmesan and nutmeg flavors, this is the epitome of “comfort” in a bowl.
This is a 10 out of 10 for me. Loved it and I’m going to Olivia soon!

Picture from Bon Appetit Web Site