The whole idea of biscuits and gravy used to repulse me. Of course, as a lactose-intolerant kid, I used to loathe any cream-based sauce of any kind. I remember going over to the Andrews' house and being served Chicken A La King and thinking that I was going to die if they made me eat it. Heck--I wouldn't even eat Mac and Cheese. How un-American was I? Given those things, it's probably understandable that I wouldn't go for a milk-based sauce served over soggy bread.
Then college came. You learn so many things when you're in college, don't you? How not to kill your messy roommate, how to sneak food out of the dining commons, how to write a senior thesis in under 72 hours...and, most importantly for this post, how to appreciate the beauty of gloppy white sauce.
I remember the first time I had sausage gravy: we'd gone to visit a friend of ours who had recently started waiting tables at Bob Evans. We went at breakfast, because that's when you eat at Bob Evans, and Nate, our friend, recommended the Sunshine Skillet. It consisted of an open-faced omelet topped with hash browns, sausage, country gravy, and cheddar cheese, and was served with one of their fantastic buttermilk biscuits. Hello--he had me at hash browns and cheese. I ordered it.
Sweet fancy Moses, it was good.
I thought I might die of heart disease right there, but my, my, it was good.
My affection only deepened when I sopped up the extra gravy on my plate with the biscuit. Suddenly, my eyes were opened to the glory of biscuits and gravy.
For years, unless I went to Bob Evans, I stayed away from that sausage gravy in particular. It just didn't seem prudent for my waistline to eat too much of it. But a couple of months ago, we went out for breakfast as a family and I revisited it at long last. The doctor had recommended that we feed Ruby all sorts of high-fat stuff, so I decided to take one for the team and order biscuits and gravy to share with my daughter. It was the least I could do.
Well, Biscuits and Gravy has since become a staple of my Saturday-morning eating-out experience. Thankfully, we don't do it that often. It has been a few weeks since I've had it, though, and I was getting a taste for it, so last night, I made it for dinner.
Sweet fancy Moses, it was good.
So I thought I'd share it with you.
Biscuits and Gravy
Biscuits (from The Complete Guide to Country Cooking)
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening (sometimes I use margarine)
3/4 c. buttermilk (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM)
Gravy
1 lb. bulk sausage
1/4 c. flour
approx 2 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. thyme (optional)
For the biscuits:
Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the shortening or margarine with a pastry blender or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times, just so it isn't too sticky. Roll to 1/2-3/4 in. thickness and cut out with a biscuit cutter (I used a thin-edged cup). Place 1-inch apart on a lightly greased baking sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Notes on successful biscuit making:
1) Don't overwork the dough. Use a very light hand.
2) Brush the tops with a little melted butter before baking to achieve a really beautiful brown crust.
3) If you don't have a suitable cutter or cup to cut the biscuits with, you can always just use a knife and cut the dough into uniform squares. Who cares what shape the biscuits are?
4) Buttermilk: I don't keep it on hand, but you can imitate it with 1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice, and enough milk to make a cup. Let sit for five minutes, then use as the recipe requires.
Gravy:
Brown the sausage to a deep, caramelized brown. Remove the sausage, leaving behind the drippings in the pan. (If you don't end up with about 1/4 c. of drippings, add a bit of butter to the mix to equal about 1/4 c. total, when combined with the drippings.) Add flour to drippings, and whisk over medium heat for about a minute, or until the roux is the color of straw. Add milk 1/2-cup at a time, whisking continually over that same medium heat so the gravy thickens nicely, without lumps. Add the sausage to the white sauce, then season with salt and pepper to taste. I recommend lots of pepper. You can also add thyme here, if you wish to have a more savory sauce. And if the gravy gets too thick, just add a bit more milk. Serve over warm, split biscuits, then swoon.
Showing posts with label Pork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pork. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Best Pork Roast I've Ever Made
A while back, there was an amazing sale on center-cut pork loin (Beth C., if you're reading this, I apologize for the use of the words pork and loin), so I snapped up a big one and portioned it off, and froze the portions for future use. I had planned to use one piece of it this past Friday for pork chops, but we invited Abe's sister's family over for a dinner/tile laying party, so I wound up doing pork roast instead.
Before I continue, let me say that I'm hardly ever excited about eating pork roast. I didn't eat it growing up, and I usually like some sort of glaze that covers it all, as with pork chops, and pork roast doesn't really jive with those things. But after Friday's Pork Roasts, I'm rethinking pork. With this recipe, I think I'll love pork roast from now on.
I started with a recipe from allrecipes.com, and modified, modified, modified, and this is what I came up with.
Glazed Herb Pork Roast
Roast and brine:
approx. 5 lb. pork loin
1/3 c. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 c. hot water
Rub:
1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
Glaze:
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. apricot or peach jam
In a large bowl, dissolve the salt and sugar in the hot water to make the brine. Submerge pork loin, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours. While the roast brines, combine the sage, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for the rub.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine, and discard brine. Pat pork dry with paper towels, and rub all over with garlic/sage mixture. Place roast fat side up on a wire rack above a cookie sheet lined with foil or a silicone mat (trust me on this one). I used a cooling rack sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, but you could also use a v-rack if you have one. Place pork in oven, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. (*NOTE: I used two smaller pieces of pork, and the total cooking time was around 1:15, but a whole 5-lb. roast will take longer.)
Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan, then cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens slightly. Brush this glaze over the pork 3-4 times toward the end of the cooking time.
After removing pork from the oven, allow it to rest for ten minutes before carving. Pour any remining glaze over the sliced roast, or serve glaze alongside.
Serves 6-8.
Before I continue, let me say that I'm hardly ever excited about eating pork roast. I didn't eat it growing up, and I usually like some sort of glaze that covers it all, as with pork chops, and pork roast doesn't really jive with those things. But after Friday's Pork Roasts, I'm rethinking pork. With this recipe, I think I'll love pork roast from now on.
I started with a recipe from allrecipes.com, and modified, modified, modified, and this is what I came up with.
Glazed Herb Pork Roast
Roast and brine:
approx. 5 lb. pork loin
1/3 c. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 c. hot water
Rub:
1 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
Glaze:
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. apricot or peach jam
In a large bowl, dissolve the salt and sugar in the hot water to make the brine. Submerge pork loin, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours. While the roast brines, combine the sage, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for the rub.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine, and discard brine. Pat pork dry with paper towels, and rub all over with garlic/sage mixture. Place roast fat side up on a wire rack above a cookie sheet lined with foil or a silicone mat (trust me on this one). I used a cooling rack sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, but you could also use a v-rack if you have one. Place pork in oven, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. (*NOTE: I used two smaller pieces of pork, and the total cooking time was around 1:15, but a whole 5-lb. roast will take longer.)
Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan, then cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens slightly. Brush this glaze over the pork 3-4 times toward the end of the cooking time.
After removing pork from the oven, allow it to rest for ten minutes before carving. Pour any remining glaze over the sliced roast, or serve glaze alongside.
Serves 6-8.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Scalloped Potatoes
My sister-in-law called me one day, asking for my scalloped potato recipe.
"I don't really have one," I replied.
"What? But you make them all the time!" she said.
"Yes, but hardly ever with a recipe, and never the same way twice. I've just never hit upon the recipe that I like best, so I just continue the hunt every time I make them."
"Oh. Well. Never mind, then, I guess."
As I'm sure you've noticed if you've flipped through this blog at all, I have a love affair with potatoes. I will eat them in a house, and I will eat them with a mouse, I will eat them here or there, yes, I will eat them anywhere. And over the years, I've been fortunate enough to find or concoct recipes for potatoes that I've really loved in every category of preparation.
Except scalloped.
I first had scalloped potatoes as a child, when my family was dining with some friends. They were a potato lover's dream: wonderful flavor, simple, tender... I longed for those potatoes in my adult years, and thinking back to that first dish and how it must have been prepared, I reckon it involved potatoes, milk, flour, butter, and salt and pepper, and that's it. I must have tried every possible combination of those ingredients, but I never made scalloped potatoes that comforted me as much as those first scalloped potatoes. In fact, my sauce either turned out too thick and gloppy, or a more simple pour-the-milk-over preparation favored by many old-fashioned cookbooks yielded a curdled, tasteless mess.
But there's this marvelous magazine called Cooks Illustrated. The idea behind this particular publication is that they test and dissect recipes until they are perfect and foolproof, and they're very often successful. So when I had reached an impasse in my scalloped potato recipe search, I remembered them. They have one of those websites that you have to pay a monthly fee to use, and I wasn't quite desperate enough to pay for the recipe--yet. Frequently, bloggers and other miscellaneous recipe-posters will post notable Cooks Illustrated recipes on other sites, so I went a-Googlin' in hopes of finding it for free, and lo and behold, up popped this recipe.
So I tried it, and I loved it. It is now my scalloped potato recipe, so if Beth ever calls again looking for one, I will give this to her. Actually, come to think about it, I think I already gave it to her, knowing that she'd love it as much as we do. It's a little more detailed of an ingredient list than the flour-butter-milk-salt and pepper recipes I'd been using, but it still wasn't difficult, I usually have everything on the list on hand, and it actually comes together much more quickly than standard scalloped potato recipes, and with infinitely better flavor and texture. If you love potatoes like I do, or even just kind of like them, give this one a try!
Cooks Illustrated Scalloped Potatoes with Thyme and Bay
2 Tbsp. butter
1 med. onion, minced
2 med. garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, minced (or 1 tsp. dried thyme--that's what I use)
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. (about 5 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 in. thick (*note: I don't peel, I just scrub. I like the skins and the flavor and nutrients they add. And to slice, I just run the spuds through the food processor with the slicing blade)
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. heavy cream (or, if you're like me, you use 2% milk, because that's what you have)
2 bay leaves
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup loosely-packed shredded cheese)
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Melt the butter, and sauté the onion over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook for about 30 seconds or so. Add the potatoes, broth, cream (or milk), and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and discard.
Transfer the mixture to a 8x8 baking dish (or whatever casserole dish you'd like). Sprinkle the top with the cheese and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Cool for about 10 minutes before serving (or not, if you're impatient like me).
NOW, if you want to turn this into a main dish casserole, prepare as directed, except that, before you dump the potato mixture into the baking dish, add some cubed ham or chicken. I'd say about 1 1/2 cups should do it, but it's ultimately up to you. And if you really want to go crazy and make it a one-dish meal, you could add some thawed (but not cooked) frozen peas, too, about 3/4 to 1 cup.
"I don't really have one," I replied.
"What? But you make them all the time!" she said.
"Yes, but hardly ever with a recipe, and never the same way twice. I've just never hit upon the recipe that I like best, so I just continue the hunt every time I make them."
"Oh. Well. Never mind, then, I guess."
As I'm sure you've noticed if you've flipped through this blog at all, I have a love affair with potatoes. I will eat them in a house, and I will eat them with a mouse, I will eat them here or there, yes, I will eat them anywhere. And over the years, I've been fortunate enough to find or concoct recipes for potatoes that I've really loved in every category of preparation.
Except scalloped.
I first had scalloped potatoes as a child, when my family was dining with some friends. They were a potato lover's dream: wonderful flavor, simple, tender... I longed for those potatoes in my adult years, and thinking back to that first dish and how it must have been prepared, I reckon it involved potatoes, milk, flour, butter, and salt and pepper, and that's it. I must have tried every possible combination of those ingredients, but I never made scalloped potatoes that comforted me as much as those first scalloped potatoes. In fact, my sauce either turned out too thick and gloppy, or a more simple pour-the-milk-over preparation favored by many old-fashioned cookbooks yielded a curdled, tasteless mess.
But there's this marvelous magazine called Cooks Illustrated. The idea behind this particular publication is that they test and dissect recipes until they are perfect and foolproof, and they're very often successful. So when I had reached an impasse in my scalloped potato recipe search, I remembered them. They have one of those websites that you have to pay a monthly fee to use, and I wasn't quite desperate enough to pay for the recipe--yet. Frequently, bloggers and other miscellaneous recipe-posters will post notable Cooks Illustrated recipes on other sites, so I went a-Googlin' in hopes of finding it for free, and lo and behold, up popped this recipe.
So I tried it, and I loved it. It is now my scalloped potato recipe, so if Beth ever calls again looking for one, I will give this to her. Actually, come to think about it, I think I already gave it to her, knowing that she'd love it as much as we do. It's a little more detailed of an ingredient list than the flour-butter-milk-salt and pepper recipes I'd been using, but it still wasn't difficult, I usually have everything on the list on hand, and it actually comes together much more quickly than standard scalloped potato recipes, and with infinitely better flavor and texture. If you love potatoes like I do, or even just kind of like them, give this one a try!
Cooks Illustrated Scalloped Potatoes with Thyme and Bay
2 Tbsp. butter
1 med. onion, minced
2 med. garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, minced (or 1 tsp. dried thyme--that's what I use)
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. (about 5 medium) russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 in. thick (*note: I don't peel, I just scrub. I like the skins and the flavor and nutrients they add. And to slice, I just run the spuds through the food processor with the slicing blade)
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. heavy cream (or, if you're like me, you use 2% milk, because that's what you have)
2 bay leaves
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup loosely-packed shredded cheese)
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Melt the butter, and sauté the onion over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook for about 30 seconds or so. Add the potatoes, broth, cream (or milk), and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender, about 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and discard.
Transfer the mixture to a 8x8 baking dish (or whatever casserole dish you'd like). Sprinkle the top with the cheese and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Cool for about 10 minutes before serving (or not, if you're impatient like me).
NOW, if you want to turn this into a main dish casserole, prepare as directed, except that, before you dump the potato mixture into the baking dish, add some cubed ham or chicken. I'd say about 1 1/2 cups should do it, but it's ultimately up to you. And if you really want to go crazy and make it a one-dish meal, you could add some thawed (but not cooked) frozen peas, too, about 3/4 to 1 cup.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese
Thank you, good night. The title pretty much sums up the whole recipe, doesn't it? I'll still elaborate, because I'm me and can't leave well enough alone.
We had a birthday party this weekend for Judah and his cousin. It was strictly nothing-fancy fare (these are kids we're talking about); burgers, hot dogs, corn dish, potatoes, cake, ice cream, and finger jello. My contribution was the potato portion. I toyed with the idea of doing potato wedges, but good grief--we were feeding 12 humans. That's a lot of potato wedges. I had just read through the new Food and Family magazine from Kraft foods, though, and noticed this recipe. It sounded tasty, easy, and (most importantly for our purposes) kid-friendly. I was very pleasantly surprised--and so was everyone else! Here's the recipe as is from the Kraft Kitchens.
Now, here's how I modified its preparation. Enjoy!
Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese
3 lb. potatoes, well-scrubbed and cut into 1-in cubes (more or less)
1/2 c. ranch dressing
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss potatoes with ranch dressing. Place potatoes on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or in a large non-stick roasting pan, and toss 'em in the oven. After about 35 minutes, give 'em a good stir, then toss in the cheddar and bacon, and stir to combine. Return to oven until potatoes are tender and as golden brown as you prefer. (I actually let mine go a bit longer than I meant to, and the bottoms of the potatoes had gotten a bit crunchy and golden, and they were great!) Total cooking time: approximately 45-55 minutes. Feeds a bunch!
We had a birthday party this weekend for Judah and his cousin. It was strictly nothing-fancy fare (these are kids we're talking about); burgers, hot dogs, corn dish, potatoes, cake, ice cream, and finger jello. My contribution was the potato portion. I toyed with the idea of doing potato wedges, but good grief--we were feeding 12 humans. That's a lot of potato wedges. I had just read through the new Food and Family magazine from Kraft foods, though, and noticed this recipe. It sounded tasty, easy, and (most importantly for our purposes) kid-friendly. I was very pleasantly surprised--and so was everyone else! Here's the recipe as is from the Kraft Kitchens.
Now, here's how I modified its preparation. Enjoy!
Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese
3 lb. potatoes, well-scrubbed and cut into 1-in cubes (more or less)
1/2 c. ranch dressing
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss potatoes with ranch dressing. Place potatoes on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or in a large non-stick roasting pan, and toss 'em in the oven. After about 35 minutes, give 'em a good stir, then toss in the cheddar and bacon, and stir to combine. Return to oven until potatoes are tender and as golden brown as you prefer. (I actually let mine go a bit longer than I meant to, and the bottoms of the potatoes had gotten a bit crunchy and golden, and they were great!) Total cooking time: approximately 45-55 minutes. Feeds a bunch!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
BBQ Cola Smokies
Yay, April! As the first (and only) to respond, you have earned yourself a prize! Email me with your mailing address, and I'll get it out to you right away!
Okay, so April suggested I post the recipe for BBQ Cola Smokies, which I'll be making for Super Bowl Sunday. I first came upon this recipe when looking for family-friendly appetizers to serve at Judah's First Birthday party. The original recipe was actually for BBQ Cola meatballs, and included a recipe for those as well. Opting for ease, I used pre-made frozen meatballs instead. Let me tell you--these little babies, which simmered away unattended all morning in the crock pot, were by far the biggest hit of the party. People were practically drinking the sauce on its own.
Of course, tomorrow's appetizer will be a bit different; I'll be using Hillshire Farms Li'l Smokies, because they were BOGO this week at the grocery store. And I am out of regular cola, so I'll be using cherry cola instead. I'm sure they'll still turn out to be yummy. Even so, here's the original recipe for you, including the from-scratch meatballs.
BBQ Cola Meatballs
adapted from allrecipes.com
Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/4 c. dry bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp. grated onion
1 (1 oz.) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
Sauce
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 Tbsp. butter
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup cola
1 tsp. seasoning salt (such as Lawry's)
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, grated onion, and ranch dressing mix. Shape into 1-in. meatballs, and place on a pan with sides. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce: saute the onion in the butter until translucent. In the bowl of a slow cooker, combine the ketchup, vinegar, cola, seasoning salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the onions, and stir to combine.
Add meatballs to sauce, stirring gently to coat all of the meatballs. Cover and cook on Low for 3 hours. Remove the lid, and allow to cook for a while longer (30 min-however long you'll be serving them) so the sauce can thicken a bit.
Okay, so April suggested I post the recipe for BBQ Cola Smokies, which I'll be making for Super Bowl Sunday. I first came upon this recipe when looking for family-friendly appetizers to serve at Judah's First Birthday party. The original recipe was actually for BBQ Cola meatballs, and included a recipe for those as well. Opting for ease, I used pre-made frozen meatballs instead. Let me tell you--these little babies, which simmered away unattended all morning in the crock pot, were by far the biggest hit of the party. People were practically drinking the sauce on its own.
Of course, tomorrow's appetizer will be a bit different; I'll be using Hillshire Farms Li'l Smokies, because they were BOGO this week at the grocery store. And I am out of regular cola, so I'll be using cherry cola instead. I'm sure they'll still turn out to be yummy. Even so, here's the original recipe for you, including the from-scratch meatballs.
BBQ Cola Meatballs
adapted from allrecipes.com
Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/4 c. dry bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp. grated onion
1 (1 oz.) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
Sauce
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 Tbsp. butter
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup cola
1 tsp. seasoning salt (such as Lawry's)
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, grated onion, and ranch dressing mix. Shape into 1-in. meatballs, and place on a pan with sides. Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce: saute the onion in the butter until translucent. In the bowl of a slow cooker, combine the ketchup, vinegar, cola, seasoning salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the onions, and stir to combine.
Add meatballs to sauce, stirring gently to coat all of the meatballs. Cover and cook on Low for 3 hours. Remove the lid, and allow to cook for a while longer (30 min-however long you'll be serving them) so the sauce can thicken a bit.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
"Hawaiian" Ham Steak
There are certain things you can be sure of, when you're approaching a new dish: Whenever you see the phrase "French" vanilla on your ice cream, you know that it has eggs in it. Likewise, call anything "Florentine," and it will undoubtedly include spinach. That's the way it is with "Hawaiian"--its inclusion in the name of anything usually means that there's pineapple in it somewhere. Do Hawaiians have a corner on pineapple? So Florence-ians (or whatever they're called) have a corner on spinach? Are the French the only ones who use eggs in ice cream? Hardly. These are culinary stereotypes, people. Culinary stereotypes I will now perpetuate.
My apologies to any Hawaiians I might offend in the process.
One rainy, fall day, I was trying to think of what to make for dinner when our house was STRUCK BY LIGHTNING! The house was fine, but when the bolt struck, I was touching ham with one hand and a can of pineapple chunks with the other. The jolt ran a current through me from the ham to the pineapple, I had a moment of supreme clarity, and this dish was born!
Not really. There isn't much back story to this dish; I don't even remember when I started making it. But it's so (embarrassingly) easy and so (surprisingly) good, I have to share it with you. So here's all the back story I've got: I thought ham and pineapple with a brown sugar glaze sounded tasty, and slightly tropical, but didn't want to prepare an entire ham, so I found these Ham Steaks and hawaiianized them.
Sorry, Hawaii, if this really has nothing to do with you, but it was a tasty dish and needed a name, and besides, it had pineapple in it, so my hands were tied. Here's my simple recipe for
Hawaiian Ham Steak
approximate time: 10 minutes
1 lg (1lb. or greater) bone-in ham steak
1 lg. can pineapple chunks, drained, divided, juice reserved
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly score the fat around the ham steak to prevent curling, and place in the pan. Brown on each side, about 1-2 minutes.
Drain the pineapple chunks, reserving the juice, and quarter the chunks (or, alternately, you could buy the giant can of Dole Pineapple Tidbits and skip the quartering.). Toss half of the pineapple bits into the pan, still over medium-high heat, until they start to brown and caramelize a bit. Then add all of the juice and the brown sugar to deglaze the pan, and whisk to combine. Allow mixture to come to a boil and reduce slightly, then add the ham back into the pan until it is warmed through. (Save the other half of the pineapple bits to make Pineapple-Almond Rice Pilaf, a great accompaniment)
Cut the ham into sections (removing the bone) and serve with the caramelized pineapple. Drizzle with the sauce, and say Aloha to great flavor!
Serves 2-3.
My apologies to any Hawaiians I might offend in the process.
One rainy, fall day, I was trying to think of what to make for dinner when our house was STRUCK BY LIGHTNING! The house was fine, but when the bolt struck, I was touching ham with one hand and a can of pineapple chunks with the other. The jolt ran a current through me from the ham to the pineapple, I had a moment of supreme clarity, and this dish was born!
Not really. There isn't much back story to this dish; I don't even remember when I started making it. But it's so (embarrassingly) easy and so (surprisingly) good, I have to share it with you. So here's all the back story I've got: I thought ham and pineapple with a brown sugar glaze sounded tasty, and slightly tropical, but didn't want to prepare an entire ham, so I found these Ham Steaks and hawaiianized them.
Sorry, Hawaii, if this really has nothing to do with you, but it was a tasty dish and needed a name, and besides, it had pineapple in it, so my hands were tied. Here's my simple recipe for
Hawaiian Ham Steak
approximate time: 10 minutes
1 lg (1lb. or greater) bone-in ham steak
1 lg. can pineapple chunks, drained, divided, juice reserved
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly score the fat around the ham steak to prevent curling, and place in the pan. Brown on each side, about 1-2 minutes.
Drain the pineapple chunks, reserving the juice, and quarter the chunks (or, alternately, you could buy the giant can of Dole Pineapple Tidbits and skip the quartering.). Toss half of the pineapple bits into the pan, still over medium-high heat, until they start to brown and caramelize a bit. Then add all of the juice and the brown sugar to deglaze the pan, and whisk to combine. Allow mixture to come to a boil and reduce slightly, then add the ham back into the pan until it is warmed through. (Save the other half of the pineapple bits to make Pineapple-Almond Rice Pilaf, a great accompaniment)
Cut the ham into sections (removing the bone) and serve with the caramelized pineapple. Drizzle with the sauce, and say Aloha to great flavor!
Serves 2-3.
Maple-Sesame Bacon Fried Rice
I hate to say it. I really do. But at the risk of sounding like a cheesy broken record, I was sure I'd hate this dish when I first heard about it. It's fried rice, but it sounds like breakfast: eggs, bacon, maple syrup. When I think of fried rice, I don't think of waffles. I was sure this would just be strange.
Sigh. But if you've read posts of mine before, you know the ending: I loved it. Of course. How predictable. One of these days (maybe even later today) I'll post a recipe that I was sure I'd love . . . and did.
This recipe originated (in my life, anyway) with my mother-in-law. For years, my in-laws tapped sugar maple trees and had the sap boiled down into syrup, which they then sold. It was quite an operation: they would work out a system with their neighbors wherein they'd tap their trees, and in exchange for this privilege, they'd give the homeowners a share of the syrup. Each tree would be drilled several times and have surgical tubing inserted for the sap to run through, then the tubing would run over to a central barrel which would collect the sap. Then, every day or so, someone in Abe's family would come along with a truck with a massive collection tank on it, and use a pump to empty out the barrels. Then, the sap would be delivered to a man who ran a syrup-making operation. He'd process and bottle the syrup for them, then they'd collect it and sell to others. In fact, one of my first dates with their son was an afternoon of collecting sap from all the trees in the neighborhood and taking a tour of the syrup-making building. It was a grown-up field trip.
So as you can imagine, they're all about maple syrup in their household. His dad will pour it over ice cream, drink it in coffee, even use it to sweeten water for drinking. Still, I thought using it in Chinese food was a stretch. When I saw Nancy pouring it over rice and celery, I thought she was nuts. But then I ate it . . . and ate some more. And, man--it was different, but in a really good way. Really good.
I've made a few modifications to her original recipe to (marginally) up the nutrition- and Asian-quotient. I know it will still sound strange when you read the list of ingredients, but it's delicious! Give it a try!
Maple-Sesame Bacon Fried Rice
4-5 c. cooked rice (preferably made the day before)
4 eggs, scrambled
3 ribs celery, diced finely
1 c. minced onion
9 strips of bacon (but I've used more on occasion), 3 Tbsp. rendered fat reserved
1/2-2/3 c. frozen peas
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/2-2 tsp. soy sauce
Fry up bacon in large frying pan until almost crisp and fat is mostly rendered. Remove bacon from pan to drain and cool, and reserve 3 Tbsp. of the rendered fat. (if it hasn't rendered that much, add a little vegetable oil to the pan to make approx. 3 Tbsp. of fat to fry in.) When the bacon is cool, chop it up into pretty small pieces--larger than bacon bits, smaller than slices. Simultaneously, scramble the eggs (I do this in a separate pan, but you could also do it in the hot pan with the other stuff--that's up to you.).
To the pan (and the 3 Tbsp. fat), add the celery and onion, and saute over medium heat until the celery is beginning to get tender. Then add the rice, bacon, scrambled eggs, and peas. Up the heat to medium high, and start stirring.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, maple syrup, and soy sauce. Drizzle over the warm rice mixture and stir to combine.
You can be the judge of when it's done--make it piping hot and a bit crispy, or just warm it all the way through. Either way, just make sure the peas are thawed and warm. Then enjoy!
Serves 4-6.
Sigh. But if you've read posts of mine before, you know the ending: I loved it. Of course. How predictable. One of these days (maybe even later today) I'll post a recipe that I was sure I'd love . . . and did.
This recipe originated (in my life, anyway) with my mother-in-law. For years, my in-laws tapped sugar maple trees and had the sap boiled down into syrup, which they then sold. It was quite an operation: they would work out a system with their neighbors wherein they'd tap their trees, and in exchange for this privilege, they'd give the homeowners a share of the syrup. Each tree would be drilled several times and have surgical tubing inserted for the sap to run through, then the tubing would run over to a central barrel which would collect the sap. Then, every day or so, someone in Abe's family would come along with a truck with a massive collection tank on it, and use a pump to empty out the barrels. Then, the sap would be delivered to a man who ran a syrup-making operation. He'd process and bottle the syrup for them, then they'd collect it and sell to others. In fact, one of my first dates with their son was an afternoon of collecting sap from all the trees in the neighborhood and taking a tour of the syrup-making building. It was a grown-up field trip.
So as you can imagine, they're all about maple syrup in their household. His dad will pour it over ice cream, drink it in coffee, even use it to sweeten water for drinking. Still, I thought using it in Chinese food was a stretch. When I saw Nancy pouring it over rice and celery, I thought she was nuts. But then I ate it . . . and ate some more. And, man--it was different, but in a really good way. Really good.
I've made a few modifications to her original recipe to (marginally) up the nutrition- and Asian-quotient. I know it will still sound strange when you read the list of ingredients, but it's delicious! Give it a try!
Maple-Sesame Bacon Fried Rice
4-5 c. cooked rice (preferably made the day before)
4 eggs, scrambled
3 ribs celery, diced finely
1 c. minced onion
9 strips of bacon (but I've used more on occasion), 3 Tbsp. rendered fat reserved
1/2-2/3 c. frozen peas
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/2-2 tsp. soy sauce
Fry up bacon in large frying pan until almost crisp and fat is mostly rendered. Remove bacon from pan to drain and cool, and reserve 3 Tbsp. of the rendered fat. (if it hasn't rendered that much, add a little vegetable oil to the pan to make approx. 3 Tbsp. of fat to fry in.) When the bacon is cool, chop it up into pretty small pieces--larger than bacon bits, smaller than slices. Simultaneously, scramble the eggs (I do this in a separate pan, but you could also do it in the hot pan with the other stuff--that's up to you.).
To the pan (and the 3 Tbsp. fat), add the celery and onion, and saute over medium heat until the celery is beginning to get tender. Then add the rice, bacon, scrambled eggs, and peas. Up the heat to medium high, and start stirring.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, maple syrup, and soy sauce. Drizzle over the warm rice mixture and stir to combine.
You can be the judge of when it's done--make it piping hot and a bit crispy, or just warm it all the way through. Either way, just make sure the peas are thawed and warm. Then enjoy!
Serves 4-6.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops
They say opposites attract, and I'm inclined to believe it's true. My husband grew up on a 5-acre farm; I grew up on a (roughly speaking) .05-acre city plot. His family raised beef cattle, chickens, and turkeys; mine raised dogs and cats (indoor only). He loves his country music; I love it when he turns off his country music. And most significantly for this post, he grew up eating pork; I did not.
No, we were a chicken-and-beef sort of family. Thanks to my mom, I can cook chicken eight ways to Sunday. (What does that mean?) Or give me a pound of ground beef, and I'll sling it into a delectable melange of flavors and colors the likes of which you have never seen (because I just made it up). Chicken! and Beef! How much more versatile can you get?
But pork...pork is...hmmmm. I grew up believing that pork is the other white meat. And I mean other in a pejorative sense, as in: "That pork is from the other side of the tracks." No good. Risky. Definitely Not To Be Associated With. You know the type.
My dear pork-eating husband revealed to me some time ago that his favorite animal to eat (doesn't that sound lovely?) is pig: "Think about it," he said. "Ham. Bacon. Sausage. Pork chops. Pork roast. I love all of those things!" Inwardly, I cringed. I like ham, bacon, and sausage as much as the next girl, but I don't want to cook pork chops or roasts, I thought. Pork is evil, isn't it? Bland? Dry?
But I love him, and I want him to be happy. (He also likes mushrooms, and I won't cook them for him anymore, but that's a story for another post.) So I buy pork and cook it. I know it's all psychological, but I don't love the flavor of it, so my favorite pork to cook is pork smothered in sauce or covered in spices, and he doesn't seem to mind that. Heck, a few weeks ago I even overcooked some pork chops, and my, my, were they dry. But I covered them in a tasty sauce, and my hubby ate them all with gusto and delight, none the wiser.
At any rate, every time I prepare pork chops or pork medallions, as I plan to do tonight, I search allrecipes.com or myrecipes.com for a "glazed pork chop" recipe that looks appetizing to me. Inevitably, I wade through many in search of something that doesn't have "balsamic" in the title, and wouldn't you know it? I've selected this recipe on more than one occasion. So it must be good.
Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick) (or you can use a pork tenderloin cut into 1/2-in.-thick medallions)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup Riesling or other slightly sweet white wine
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pork. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove pork from pan, and keep warm. Season with salt and pepper.
Warm preserves in microwave (approx. 20 seconds on high) to thin. Combine preserves, wine, and ginger in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add preserves mixture to pan; simmer 4 minutes or until mixture thickens. Return pork to pan; cook 1 minute, turning to coat.
Serves 4.
adapted from Cooking Light, APRIL 2005
No, we were a chicken-and-beef sort of family. Thanks to my mom, I can cook chicken eight ways to Sunday. (What does that mean?) Or give me a pound of ground beef, and I'll sling it into a delectable melange of flavors and colors the likes of which you have never seen (because I just made it up). Chicken! and Beef! How much more versatile can you get?
But pork...pork is...hmmmm. I grew up believing that pork is the other white meat. And I mean other in a pejorative sense, as in: "That pork is from the other side of the tracks." No good. Risky. Definitely Not To Be Associated With. You know the type.
My dear pork-eating husband revealed to me some time ago that his favorite animal to eat (doesn't that sound lovely?) is pig: "Think about it," he said. "Ham. Bacon. Sausage. Pork chops. Pork roast. I love all of those things!" Inwardly, I cringed. I like ham, bacon, and sausage as much as the next girl, but I don't want to cook pork chops or roasts, I thought. Pork is evil, isn't it? Bland? Dry?
But I love him, and I want him to be happy. (He also likes mushrooms, and I won't cook them for him anymore, but that's a story for another post.) So I buy pork and cook it. I know it's all psychological, but I don't love the flavor of it, so my favorite pork to cook is pork smothered in sauce or covered in spices, and he doesn't seem to mind that. Heck, a few weeks ago I even overcooked some pork chops, and my, my, were they dry. But I covered them in a tasty sauce, and my hubby ate them all with gusto and delight, none the wiser.
At any rate, every time I prepare pork chops or pork medallions, as I plan to do tonight, I search allrecipes.com or myrecipes.com for a "glazed pork chop" recipe that looks appetizing to me. Inevitably, I wade through many in search of something that doesn't have "balsamic" in the title, and wouldn't you know it? I've selected this recipe on more than one occasion. So it must be good.
Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick) (or you can use a pork tenderloin cut into 1/2-in.-thick medallions)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup Riesling or other slightly sweet white wine
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pork. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove pork from pan, and keep warm. Season with salt and pepper.
Warm preserves in microwave (approx. 20 seconds on high) to thin. Combine preserves, wine, and ginger in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add preserves mixture to pan; simmer 4 minutes or until mixture thickens. Return pork to pan; cook 1 minute, turning to coat.
Serves 4.
adapted from Cooking Light, APRIL 2005
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