Posts Tagged ‘pork’

CHINESE STYLE HONEY RIBS

Posted: October 1, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
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You don’t have to stand by your smoker and cook for hours to have amazing ribs. As the glaze cooks down, it gets sticky, gooey and delicious…but use a non-stick pot if you can or you’ll be scrubbing when you should be eating!
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 Ingredients:
Marinade: ¾ cup light soy sauce
                     6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 lbs pork ribs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
Mix marinade ingredients. Set aside.
If the ribs are large, cut them into pieces. If smaller, cluster 2 or 3 ribs together. Place in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place ribs on a sheet pan with a rack and coat with marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake ribs in sheet pan with rack for 30 minutes.
While the ribs are baking, start sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
When ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until rib meat is tender.
Turn heat on high, uncover pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce heat as sauce thickens to avoid sugars in honey from burning. When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they are ready!

 

BOTIN, MADRID: THE OLDEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD

Posted: September 22, 2014 in Carnivore!, Food, pork, restaurants, Spain, travel, Uncategorized
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Restaurante Botin, in the great old city of Madrid, Spain, is a must-visit. At first, I thought it might be more of a tourist trap. But this establishment, which holds the Guinness Book of world records for oldest restaurant (it opened in 1725), has some fantastic dishes that you just can’t get anywhere else.

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The suckling pig at Botin is world-famous. If you’re a vegetarian, you’ll probably be freaked out to see the row of little pigs on plates, waiting to be placed in the almost-300-year-old wood burning oven. These suckling pigs were only 20-something days old when they became dinner, and the slow-roasted flavor of this pork is like nothing you’ve ever had before. The roasted baby lamb, a gamier lamb than most Americans are used to, thanks to its grass-fed upbringing, was also exquisite.

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imageCroquettes are big in Spain, as popular with the kids as nuggets are here in the states. And the croquettes at Botin, breaded and fried to a perfect crisp on the outside, with an oozy, creamy cheesy center, are addictive.

The servers, handling three levels of dining rooms, are fast and efficient, but also have time for a sense of humor.

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Just around the corner from the Plaza de Mayor, the city’s best people-watching location, Botin is my kind of attraction: a food museum where they still create many dishes like they did hundreds of years ago. In fact, the famous artist Goya was a dishwasher here in his youth, back in 1765.

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Walk around the restaurant, and check out the different rooms that have been renovated over time…and the ones that have been there all these years. It’s a fascinating trip through history.

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ASIAN BACON

Posted: September 17, 2014 in bacon, Carnivore!, Food, frying, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Well, that’s what I call it. Sometimes the most interesting creations happen by accident, and this is one of them.

My plan was to make my Chinese Style Honey Ribs (http://wp.me/p1c1Nl-i7) for dinner. But I accidentally took a slab of pork belly out of the freezer instead. I only realized my mistake when I thawed it and started cooking it, so I decided to continue the process with the pork belly instead. The results were pretty damn tasty.

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 Ingredients:
Marinade: ¾ cup light soy sauce
                     6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 lbs pork belly
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
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Mix marinade ingredients. Set aside.
Cut the pork belly into pieces that are about 3 inches square. Place in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place pork belly on a sheet pan with a rack and coat with marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pork belly pieces on foil-lined sheet pan for 30 minutes.
While the pork belly is baking, start sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
When the pork belly pieces have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until meat is tender.
Turn heat on high, uncover pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce heat as sauce thickens to avoid sugars in honey from burning. When the pieces are sticky and gooey, they are ready!
Let a piece of pork belly cool…then slice to desired thickness and fry like regular bacon. Makes an amazing omelet!
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HONEY-BOURBON RIBS

Posted: July 11, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, grilling, pork, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
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Since I’m busy tasting many bourbons these days, I’ve got some leftovers that may not make a great cocktail but would work great for a sauce. I had Maker’s Mark sitting around, so I came up with this sauce to use it up!

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 Ingredients:

5 lbs St Louis style pork ribs

salt and pepper

 

For the sauce: 

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup bourbon

zest and juice of 1 lime

zest and juice of 1 lemon

zest and juice of 1 orange

2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I use Maille)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon chili oil

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Season the ribs well with salt and pepper and cook in a smoker for 3 hours at 25o degrees, using hickory chips.

While ribs are smoking, combine sauce ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat and reduce the sauce by half until it thickens. Stir often, and don’t let the honey foam up and spill over the top.

Pre-heat oven at 250 degrees.

Remove ribs from the smoker and place in a sheet pan that is lined with aluminum foil, with enough foil to wrap around the ribs. Brush the ribs on all sides with the sauce, stacking no more than 2 sets of ribs on top of each other, and then wrap with foil.

Cook in the foil for 2 more hours, until tender.

 

 

 

 

PORK CHOPS AND APPLESAUCE REVISITED

Posted: June 15, 2014 in Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Inspired by the classic “Pork Chops and Applesauce” Brady Bunch episode, I came up with a recipe for pork chops that uses applesauce in an herb-infused applesauce marinade that later cooks into the meat. I took it one step further this time, using a pork loin, and adding bread crumbs to the applesauce mix to add a crunchy crust to the pork.

Pork loin applesauce

 

Ingredients:

1 pastured pork loin, about 5 lbs.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

about 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs

2 small tubs (8 oz) organic unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped

6 sprigs fresh thyme–leaves only–finely chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 fresh cracked black pepper

 

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the pork chops, olive oil, and breadcrumbs.

Place pork loin on cutting board fat-side up, and make diamond-like slices into the fat. Place the pork loin in a non-reactive container and smear about a quarter of the applesauce and herb mixture all over the loin. Place the container in the fridge overnight. Cover the applesauce and herb mixture and place in fridge as well.

The next day, pre-heat the oven to 350.

Remove the applesauce and herb mixture from the fridge, and slowly add breadcrumbs to it until it reaches the consistency of wet sand.

Heat an oven-proof pan. Using a little olive oil, sear the pork loin on all sides until brown. The  turn loin with fat side up and smear the applesauce/breadcrumb mixture over the top to form a crust.

Cook until meat temperature reaches 160 and crust is crunchy and brown on top. Let the pork loin rest before slicing.

 

 

RIBS WITH ATTITUDE

Posted: June 5, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, grilling, pork, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
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Sometimes you take a couple of recipes you have in your file and you combine them to get delicious results. That’s what happened when I took my basic pork dry rub and then added my version of the Franklin barbecue sauce, as featured in a previous blog.

The ribs were intense, delicious, and did not require a smoker to reach fall-off-the-bone amazingness…

 

Intense ribs LTL

 

Alz Pork Rub

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon paprika

 

Combine ingredients and sprinkle liberally onto meat, rubbing it in well.

 

The Barbecue Sauce

 

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup water

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

6 tablespoons white vinegar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

 

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll stay good for a few months.

 

To cook the ribs…

 

Rub the ribs with the dry rub on all sides and wrap in aluminum foil. If you have a lot of ribs, it’s okay to stack them on each other for now. Place the wrapped ribs on a sheet pan and cook in a 250-degree oven for about 4 hours.

After 4 hours, unwrap the ribs and pour off any fat. Lay the ribs flat in one layer, uncovered, on the sheet pan and brush on all sides with the barbecue sauce. Cook for 1 hour more.

 

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND SAUSAGE

Posted: May 14, 2014 in asparagus, Carnivore!, cheese, Food, Italian, pork, Recipes, sausage
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asparagus pastaAsparagus season has arrived in my garden. This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy it.
Ingredients:
4 mild Italian sausages, sliced into pieces 1/2″ thick
1 lb penne pasta
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 cup chopped fresh trumpet mushrooms (white button mushrooms work, too)
2 cups fresh asparagus, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, passed through a garlic press
1 cup homemade chicken broth
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Have the pasta water boiling, and add pasta, cooking until just a bit more undercooked than al dente.
Heat a large pan, and drizzle in some olive oil. Sautee sausage pieces until browned and cooked through, but not over cooked. Remove sausages from the pan and place in a separate bowl. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat left behind in the pan.
Place pan back on stove and saute onions until translucent. Add garlic, and saute for 10 seconds. Add sage, and saute for 10 seconds, stirring. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for a few minutes, then add chicken broth, and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Pour contents of the pan into the bowl with the sausages.
Return pan to the stove, add a little more olive oil, and on medium heat, saute the asparagus pieces. Cook until they are al dente, not too soft. Once the asparagus has reached this stage, return all the contents of the sausage/mushroom bowl to the pan to heat through. Drain the pasta, and add it to the pan as well, combining all the ingredients. If it looks too dry, add a little pasta water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Make sure you serve this hot, with grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top, and drizzle lightly over the top with extra virgin olive oil.

 

NOT MY MOM’S PORK CHOP

Posted: April 13, 2014 in Carnivore!, Food, frying, pork, Recipes
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Pork chops were a favorite of mine growing up, but my Mom cooked them only one way: breaded and fried in a pan full of oil. They were good, but they were greasy, and my Mom was not big on seasonings. It was time to improve on the original.

chop 1

 

Ingredients:

2 Berkshire pork chops

1 egg

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

olive oil

 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Set up 2 bowls. In one, crack and scramble the egg. In the other, combine salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, granulated garlic and onion powder.

Place an oven-proof pan on medium-high heat and add a little olive oil. Once the oil is hot, cover the pork chops in the egg wash and then coat with the bread crumb mixture. Place in the hot pan to brown and sear. Do this with both chops.

After a few minutes, flip the chops over in the pan and place the pan in the oven to finish cooking.

chop 2

Remember, good pork does not need to be cooked until well done!

 

 

 

CITRUS MARINATED PORK LOIN

Posted: March 10, 2014 in Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
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Many of my recipes come from the fact that I live just a little too far from the nearest supermarket to simply jump in the car when I’m out of a certain ingredient. OK…actually, I’m too damn lazy. So I stand in front of the refrigerator, doors open, looking at my inventory, and when the fridge alarm sounds telling me to shut the freakin’ door, I’ve usually decided on what I’m going to do.

This is one such recipe. It works with whatever cut of pork you like, and with whatever citrus you have on hand. I’ve used blood oranges, grapefruit, you name it.

citrus pork

Ingredients:

1 5-lb. pork loin

2 garlic cloves, through a garlic press

3 cloves, crushed

1 large lemon, juice and zest

1 orange, juice and zest

1 8″ sprig fresh rosemary, cut into pieces

2 teaspoons fennel seed, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon juniper berries, coarsely chopped

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

To make the marinade, combine garlic, cloves, lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, rosemary, fennel, juniper berries, bay leaves, and some salt and pepper in a bowl.

Place pork loin, fat side up, on cutting board and gently slash diagonally through the fat, creating a diamond pattern.

Place pork loin in a non-reactive bowl and massage well with marinade mixture. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, let the pork loin come to room temperature. Wipe off the marinade, especially the larger chunks. Season again with salt and pepper.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

On the stove top, heat an ovenproof pan. Place pork loin fat side down and sear. Flip the loin over so that all sides sear nicely, then place in the oven. Cook with fat side up. Cook until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.

REVEALING MY SOURCES

Posted: February 17, 2014 in bacon, beef, Carnivore!, chicken, Food, lamb, pork, potatoes, scallops, seafood, shrimp, wine
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I’ve been asked to list my sources for the organic, pastured, wild-caught or grass-fed foods I use in my recipes. I’ve had many successes as well as many failures with purveyors of foods over the years, but I’ve been able to find a handful of websites that deliver what they promise.

Of course, I support my local farmers. And if they’ve got the product I’m looking for, I will buy from them first. But the convenience of ordering from home is unbeatable…and sometimes you don’t live anywhere near a farm that can supply you with what you’re looking for.

My philosophy is simple: I will pay top dollar if the quality is there. I would rather eat exceptional quality meat and seafood rarely than antibiotic-laced, hormone-injected crap every day.

When it comes to seafood, I buy wild-caught (line-caught in the case of fish) American products. I’m OK with some farmed fish, like USA catfish and trout, which are of high quality. I buy Pacific cod, not Atlantic cod, which has been depleted in its numbers. I don’t buy orange roughy or Chilean sea bass because of overfishing. Same with swordfish unless it’s local and line-caught. I never buy farmed shrimp from Asia or South America, where there are no rules about what they feed them and how badly they crowd them in nets. I don’t buy Atlantic salmon, which is farmed and comes from Norway, Canada or South America. I buy wild-caught Alaskan salmon and halibut. Farmed oysters and mussels are fine, because their habitat is about the same as in the wild, and we have great sources for them here in Rhode Island.

It’s expensive to eat well. My family is worth it. I cut corners elsewhere.

TALLGRASS

www.tallgrassbeef.com: Owned by TV journalist Bill Curtis, they sell a variety of 100% grass-fed beef steaks, burgers and dogs. Just recently, they started selling my favorite cut: the porterhouse. But more than anything, this is my go-to website for grass-fed hamburger. They sell them in 1 lb. bricks, and I’ll buy about 24 lbs. at a time. I prefer the bricks over the pre-formed burger patties, because I use them for meatballs and tacos…not just burgers. Best burger I’ve had.

pork

www.heritagepork.com: A great website for Berkshire heritage pork. This is not the pale, flavorless stuff you get in a supermarket. Berkshire pork is known in Japan as Kurobuta pork, and is considered the “Kobe” of pork. Excellent quality, beautifully marbled fat, and delicious. I’ve bought the pork chops, the ribs, pork loin and the pork belly, and none of them has disappointed. Excellent service.

salmon

www.vitalchoice.com: If you’re looking for incredible wild-caught Alaskan seafood, this is the site. Wild salmon, tuna and shellfish. Frozen right after it’s caught. Rare treats like wild Pacific spot prawns, some of the tastiest shrimp you’ll ever eat. Hard-to-find organic grass-fed Wagyu beef. (Wagyu is American Kobe beef.)

 

www.westwindfarms.com: Without a doubt, some of the best chicken I have ever had in my life comes from this family run farm in Tennessee. Delicious not-too-big (about 4 lb.) birds. And their chicken wings are the best ever–period. No scrawny wings here: they come with breast meat attached, making them a real treat. They also sell grass-fed beef, lamb, pork, organic products and more. I’ve tried their other products, but for me, it’s all about the chicken. If you’re in Tennessee or Georgia, they have many pick-up locations to choose from. I go the mail-order route, and I think I might be their only online customer! But their service is top-notch.

 

www.cajungrocer.com: My trusted go-to place for any Cajun food you could want, from Turduckens (excellent quality) to alligator sausage, to live crawfish (in season.) This is where I get all of my wild-caught American gulf shrimp. Even with shipping costs, their prices are so much better than any local seafood store. Excellent service.

Burgerssswww.smokehouse.com Burgers’ Smokehouse has been around since 1952 and they’ve got it down to a science. You won’t find grass-fed or organic products here, but you will find great bacon, ham, turkey and other smoked products. Their Thick Original Country Bacon Steak is what I always buy…12 lbs. at a time. Their cooked and spiral sliced country ham is a real treat. Not only is their service awesome, but unlike other websites that surprise you with crazy shipping costs after you’ve spent an hour getting your order together, all of Burger’s price include shipping. That rocks!

http://www.mcallenranchbeef.com: Beef of the highest quality and outstanding flavor, although not grass-fed. This historic Texas ranch, established in 1791, has been dealing with droughts which have limited their supply of beef, and their website says their beef supplies will be back to full speed by June of this year.

www.grassfedbeef.org: This is the website of Tendergrass Farms, a supplier of grass-fed beef, pastured pork, and organic meats. We’ve had some success with the beef, and we also purchased a very tasty turkey from them for Thanksgiving last year.

www.drinkupny.com: It’s time for as drink! And these guys, based in Brooklyn, NY, have just about anything you could want. It may seem silly to order your spirits online instead of going to your local liquor store, but these guys have the high-end things my local guy doesn’t…and they’ve got better prices on the stuff he does have. Shipping is fast and reasonably priced.

www.empirewine.com: Need wine? These guys are based in upstate NY and they’ve got a huge choice of excellent wines at great prices. Shipping is FAST, but make sure they ship to your state to avoid disappointment.

Coming in a future blog: my sources for the gardening season: seeds, plants and more.

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