Slow-cooker carnitas

When I mentioned this recipe on Facebook, I wrote it as "carnitas," with the quote marks.
That was because it is not made in a traditional way of braising then frying the meat, instead it cooks all day in the slow cooker.
But now that I have had it as leftovers (and it was even better than the delicious first meal), I dropped the quote marks.
I know purists may argue with me, but this recipe is worthy of no quote-mark innuendo.
And it is so easy. Seriously. Just about the easiest thing I have made in the slow cooker.
Even easier than the oh-so-simple braised short ribs.
And I was skeptical of the results since I like my carnitas to have a bit of crispness to the edges. But I think that using such a small amount of liquid is the key. The juice/broth barely covered the meat when I started it. By the time I got home, most of it had cooked off.
Not all of it. It was not dry. But enough had cooked off so that the top edges were above the liquid and and developed a sort of dry (in a good way) edge.

Slow-cooker carnitas

2 pounds pork shoulder
Freshly squeezed juice of a large orange (about 1/2 cup)
Freshly squeezed juice of two limes (about 1/2 cup)
9 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup beef broth

Trim pork of excess fat (it's OK to leave some, it will help keep the pork moist and flavorful. I just don't like big pieces of fat).
Cut into 3-4 inch pieces and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Sprinkle with salt and cumin, then toss to coat.
Add orange and lime juices and the smashed garlic cloves to the pork.
Add broth.

Cook on the lowest setting for 8-10 hours (I set mine for 10 hours since I was going to be gone for work.)When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot with the garlic, leaving any excess juice. Roughly chop the meat and garlic.
Serve in warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.For dinner I served these with warmed corn tortillas and several garnishes so we could customize our tacos. (avocado chunks, chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, salsa)
Since I wanted to have a more complete meal, I made some sauteed yellow squash with shallot and garlic and then mixed in a can of (drained) black beans.

Today for lunch we had the leftover meat, once again in tacos. The citrus flavors were even more present than the prior night. I reheated the meat in a skillet on the stove to crisp it up a bit.

When I think about making this, I think I spent more time getting the garnishes ready than I did prepping the meat and then chopping it at the end.
We loved it, the kid loved it and it was easy.
This will definitely become part of the regular rotation.

Lovely, lovely laksa

I apologize for the smartphone photo. I had not planned on blogging this,
but it just came out so tasty, I could not help myself.

Red curry laksa with shrimp

(Malaysian-style rice noodle soup)

This is a dinner that was planned for another day. But with a head cold setting in, I needed something with spice and flavor, but not a lot of heat.

This soup, a Malaysian style dish, has plenty of aromatics in the lemongrass, garlic and ginger. There is turmeric, which adds flavor and gives it a lovely golden-orange color.

And, one of my favorites is in here: red curry paste.

There is so much going on here, yet it all works perfectly together. And perfectly with the base of broth and coconut milk.

Thinly sliced onion and red pepper swirl around the bowl with light, thin rice noodles, and shrimp add some meatiness.

To finish the soup, I wanted more fragrant goodies, so I topped it all with little tears of fresh mint and basil.

The smartphone picture does not do justice to the beauty of the dish, but it was getting late. And I really just wanted to eat.

But first, to give it a sniff. It was all there. Fragrant perfection.

And the more I ate of it, the more my head cleared. At least for the moment.

I can only that if it smelled and tasted this good with my impaired senses, it would really sing when things are firing on all cylinders.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 4-inch lengths then split

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1-2 tablespoons red curry paste (add 1 tablespoon first, then adjust to taste)

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated finely with a microplane or chopped as fine as possible

 1 large red bell pepper, quartered, seeded and thinly sliced

3/4 pound peeled and deveined shrimp

3-4 ounces thin rice noodles (called rice vermicelli or rice sticks)

fresh mint and/or basil for garnish

Directions

Heat canola oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Add onion, garlic and lemongrass. Cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft, but not browned.

Add the coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, red curry paste, honey, coriander, turmeric and ginger. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add red bell peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Use tongs to carefully remove lemongrass pieces, or, if you leave them in, be careful when serving to leave them out of the bowl.

Add shrimp and rice noodles and continue to simmer about 3-4 minutes, until shrimp are cooked and noodles are soft.

Serve immediately. Sprinkle with fresh mint and/or basil.

Slow-cooker carnitas

When I mentioned this recipe on Facebook, I wrote it as "carnitas," with the quote marks.
That was because it is not made in a traditional way of braising then frying the meat, instead it cooks all day in the slow cooker.
But now that I have had it as leftovers (and it was even better than the delicious first meal), I dropped the quote marks.
I know purists may argue with me, but this recipe is worthy of no quote-mark innuendo.
And it is so easy. Seriously. Just about the easiest thing I have made in the slow cooker.
Even easier than the oh-so-simple braised short ribs.
And I was skeptical of the results since I like my carnitas to have a bit of crispness to the edges. But I think that using such a small amount of liquid is the key. The juice/broth barely covered the meat when I started it. By the time I got home, most of it had cooked off.
Not all of it. It was not dry. But enough had cooked off so that the top edges were above the liquid and and developed a sort of dry (in a good way) edge.

Slow-cooker carnitas

2 pounds pork tenderloin (This is what I used since it is what I had. Shoulder would work, too.)
Freshly squeezed juice of a large orange (about 1/2 cup)
Freshly squeezed juice of two limes (about 1/2 cup)
9 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup beef broth

Trim pork of excess fat.
If using tenderloins, cut each into four pieces and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Sprinkle with salt and cumin, then toss to coat.
Add orange and lime juices and the smashed garlic cloves to the pork.
Add broth.

Cook on the lowest setting for 8-10 hours (I set mine for 10 hours since I was going to be gone for work.)
When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot with the garlic, leaving any excess juice. Roughly chop the meat and garlic.
Serve in warm tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

For dinner I served these with warmed corn tortillas and several garnishes so we could customize our tacos. (avocado chunks, chopped white onion, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, salsa)
Since I wanted to have a more complete meal, I made some sauteed yellow squash with shallot and garlic and then mixed in a can of (drained) black beans.

Today for lunch we had the leftover meat, once again in tacos. The citrus flavors were even more present than the prior night. I reheated the meat in a skillet on the stove to crisp it up a bit.

When I think about making this, I think I spent more time getting the garnishes ready than I did prepping the meat and then chopping it at the end.
We loved it, the kid loved it and it was easy.
This will definitely become part of the regular rotation.

cool cous cous and edamame

This came to me in a moment of laziness.
I was ready to make dinner Monday night, but did not have the gumption to get myself to the market.
A quick tour of the pantry yielded a box of cous cous. In the freezer I found some precooked soybeans in the pods and a pork tenderloin.
Hmmmm...
Yeah, I can work with these.
I set the pork to thaw in a sink full of cool water then got to thinking about how to make it all work together.

My inspiration was two yummy salad options from the Corner Bakery. At my branch of this chain they have an option of getting a trio sampler of some of the salads. Two that I really like are the ginger and asparagus cous cous with dried cranberries and almonds, as well as a mixture of edamame with asparagus and tomatoes in a tangy Asian-inspired dressing.

Somehow toward the end of my meal they are commingling on the plate so that I get cous cous and edamame together. Which is fine. It tastes pretty good.

So I decided to take what I liked about those salads and combine them, being limited to what I had at home.

Here you have it:

Cool cous cous and edamame
(with toasted almonds)

3 cups cooked plain cous cous, cooled
(for me this was 1 1/3 cup dry cous cous cooked to package directions)

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted in a saute pan until golden brown

1 lb frozen edamame in the pods, cooked and shelled
(should yield about 1 1/4 cups beans)

3 tbsp minced shallot

combine all of the above, stirring or tossing gently to mix

for the dressing

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp ponzu sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red chili paste, such as Sriracha

combine all of the dressing ingredients, stirring until sugar has dissolved

Pour dressing over cous cous mixture and gently stir or toss to coat.

Enjoy!

If there had been a red pepper in the fridge, I would have diced some of that up and added it for a little more color and flavor. But this was pretty good as is.

I served this on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce.
To make it more of a dinner for the manfriend and me, I added some slices of grilled pork tenderloin.
Since the cous cous dressing had some tang and spice to it already, I kept the meat simple, just marinating it in a mixture of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tbsp sesame oil.
Then I grilled it.

This was awesome. I like a combination of cool and hot like this.
And the lettuce underneath gave it an extra layer of crunch.

I had leftover cous cous over more lettuce for lunch today. Still good.
And so, so, so easy to make.

Garlic roasted in olive oil

This is the garlic, before cooking.
After cooking it will be golden brown.

I like to use roasted garlic in a lot of things.
It is great in pasta dishes and potato dishes.
It's also great on the side with baked brie and bread.
Or just with the bread.

Once at an Italian restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach, they put out a little bowl of what they called "Italian candy."

It was just plump cloves of garlic roasted in olive oil.

Roasting garlic turns the sharp taste into a mild, nutty flavor.

This is quite a simple method.

Garlic roasted in olive oil

garlic cloves, as many as you want or need
olive oil
sea salt

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel the garlic cloves, but leave them whole.
Put garlic cloves in a small, oven safe dish. I like to use glass or ceramic. I worry metal might react with the garlic and change the flavor. Who knows? I just play it safe.
Pour just enough olive oil over garlic to cover it about half way.
Season lightly with sea salt.

Place dish of garlic in oven and cook for 30 minutes. Stir and cook for no more than 30 minutes more, keeping an eye on it.
You want the garlic to get soft and a little bit golden brown. You don't want it to get too dark and brown. If you cook it too long, it turns from nutty to bitter.
If it looks done before the full hour is up, take it out.

Remove garlic from oil, setting oil aside.

The garlic can now be used in any number of ways.
Oh, and the oil is now infused with roasted garlic. It's great as a bread dipper.

Caprese salad - or tomatoes with mozzarella cheese

One of my favorite easy salads is a simple concoction of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

I have had this in various forms: thick slices of large tomato layered with slabs of mozzarella cheese; tiny tomatoes with creamy white pearls of mozzarella; chunks of juicy romas with long shreds of cheese on top.

All are were slightly different, but all were good.

I even had one at a great restaurant in Sonoma wine country that used a mild sheep's milk feta instead of the mozzarella.

I have not had a Caprese salad in quite a while. I used to order it at restaurants a lot, but once I started making it at home, I sort of stopped that. I like how easy it is to customize this to what I am craving.

Yesterday while I was at Whole Foods picking up a couple things for dinner, I saw this little basket of mixed tomatoes.

Red, orange and yellow... all beautiful and bite-size.

It was too pretty not to buy.

And the idea of sweet little tomatoes with creamy fresh mozzarella began to sound lovely.

I used white balsamic vinegar. Regular balsamic works in this, too. It will just be a little darker and a slightly heavier flavor. You also can just use a bit of your favorite Italian dressing or vinaigrette.

Also, the herb I use depends on what looks best or what flavor I want. Sometimes I use basil. This time I used oregano.

Sometimes I use a little garlic. This time I did not. Again, it is all what the mood calls for.

In the past, when I have made this with large tomatoes, I have used the drier type of mozzarella, cut into slices to place atop the tomato slices, then top it with the dressing.


More often when I make this I use the mozzarella that comes packed in water. I like the texture better, and the flavor. This time I bought mozzarella pieces the size of cherry tomatoes.

Here is the simple version I made last night. I did not really measure this stuff. It's a taste thing for me. The sweetness of the tomatoes will determine how much or little salt and pepper and herbs I add.

Let your taste buds and the number of people you want to serve be your guide here and make it to your liking.





Jill's late-summer Caprese salad

Red, orange and yellow grape/cherry tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
olive oil
white balsamic vinegar
sea salt flakes and fresh black pepper to taste
fresh mozzarella cheese

Wash tomatoes, remove any stems then cut each in half and place in a bowl. You want the juices here. They combine with the oil and vinegar to make the dressing.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add a splash of the oil and vinegar and toss gently.
Then try it, and adjust to your taste.
Add the oregano.
Taste it again. Adjust the seasoning and oil and vinegar as needed.

You can serve this immediately or let it sit a while. I put mine in the fridge for about an hour.
I also made a little extra to have for lunch the next day. It will keep overnight just fine.

To serve I cut the mozzarella pieces in half and put them on a small plate.
Then I spooned tomatoes on top of that and drizzled some of the oil/vinegar mixture over that.

The oil and vinegar mixed with the juice from the tomatoes makes a good amount of dressing for this.

I added a piece of a good crusty bread to the plate and used that to mop up some of that dressing.

It was an excellent starter to dinner. It's light, but substantial with the cheese in there. The flavors are so fresh and so bright and clean. It's a perfect, beautiful late-summer plate.

Chicken Marsala

I love chicken. It's just so easy.

But it can get boring to have it the same way over and over.

So I like to mix it up.

And really, it's not that tough.

Last night I made a dish I have had several times at different restaurants, but had never made at home: Chicken Marsala.

Basically this is sauteed chicken breast cutlets in a mushroom sauce flavored with Marsala wine.

I served this with some capellini pasta and simple steamed baby green beans.

It was a very easy meal to make. Restaurant food at home!

Why do I eat out again?

Oh yeah... Then I don't have to do the dishes.

I planned on one piece of chicken for each of us and then a couple extra for leftovers for lunch today.

Chicken Marsala

(4 servings)

4 chicken breast steaks or boneless, skinless breast pieces pounded to about 1/4 inch thick

salt and pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large shallot, finely chopped

6-8 ounces mushrooms, sliced or quartered

(I used 6 baby portabellas and the rest were small Italian brown mushrooms. I cut the baby portabellas into eighths and the small brown mushrooms in half. White mushrooms would work fine for this, too.)

1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine

1 fresh rosemary sprig

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoon of the butter with the olive oil on medium-high heat.

Cook the chicken until golden brown on each side, mine took about 2 minutes on each side.

Transfer to another dish and cover. Set aside.

In the same pan, melt 1 more tablespoon of the butter and add the garlic and shallots.

Cook about 30 seconds.

Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper and cook about 3 minutes.

Mushrooms should be tender and the juice should be cooked off.

Add the Marsala wine and the sprig of rosemary.

Cook until wine reduces by about half, 2-3 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and cook about 5 more minutes or until broth is reduced by about half.

Stir in parsley.

Add chicken and any juices back into pan and cook about 1 minute, until heated through.

Remove and discard rosemary sprig.

Stir the last tablespoon of butter into the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Top: Baby portabellas

Middle: small Italian brown

Bottom: portabellas,
cut into eight pieces each

Pizza on the grill

I will grill pretty much anything.
Especially when it starts to get warm and I don't want to turn on the oven.
Plus some things just taste better from the grill.

For me, pizza is one of these things.

I don't have the money to build a beautiful stone pizza oven in my back yard.
So I improvise. I make pizza on the gas barbecue.


There is no real recipe for this. Just add what you like.

I have made it right on the grill which works fine. You just have to watch it more to make sure the fireis not too high and the crust is not burning.

I recently got a cast iron grill pan (Emeril brand, bought at Bed Bath and Beyond, in case you are looking for one).
One side is ridged to give meats and veggies great grill marks, but solid so small stuff cannot slip through the grate. One side is solid, like a griddle.
I used the solid side for the pizza.
I made pizza last night. Here's what I used and what I did.

Pizza from the grill

1 package of your favorite pizza dough (if you have Trader Joe's near you, they have great
dough in the refrigerator section near the dips and dressings.)

whatever sauce you like, for this one I chose marinara. (again, I used Trader Joe's.)

I also have made pizza with no sauce and with white sauce, such as alfredo.

toppings: use what you like. What did I use last night?

red onion, thinly sliced

brown Italian mushrooms, sliced

pepperoni

shredded mozzarella cheese

dried oregano

grated Parmesan cheese

OK. The pizza cooks fast.

The trick is to have everything ready to go before you start the crust.

Heat the grill to high and let it warm up.

On a lightly floured surface, work the dough by handto stretch it to the size and shape that works for you.

You can stretch it fairly thin, it will contract a bit when cooking.

Mine are oblong since that is the shape of the griddle pan I have.

Get all your ingredients set up near the grill so assembly is quick and easy.

Put dough on griddle pan or grill (if cooking directly on grill, lower heat to medium).
Close the grill and let crust cook, checking every couple minutes.
Cook until crust is as done as you like it.
Remember, this is all about making the perfect pizza for you.

Flip the crust.

Begin adding your toppings.
I layered in this order:
sauce

a small amount of cheese
(to give toppings something to stick to)
onion
mushrooms

pepperoni
remaining cheese

Close the lid and cook until cheese is melted and bottom crust is as done as you like it.

Once the pizza is done, remove it to a cutting board and let sit for a couple minutes.

Slice and enjoy.

I added a touch of Parmesan and dried oregano to mine.

Some other tips for making pizza on the grill:

Slice the veggies super thin.

I use a ceramic blade slicer to make paper-thin slices.

If you want chunkier veggies but are worried they won't cook quickly, because the pizza does come together in about 10-15 minutes from start to finish, give the veggies a quick sautee to start them softening.

I do prefer the thinly sliced veggies. They keep their freshness and cook just fine in only a few minutes.

Keep everything close at hand. I had the mushrooms, onion, pepperoni and cheese on my cutting board in little piles and the sauce in a little bowl.

I used the same board to stretch and form the dough before cooking and then to remove the pizza when it was done.

The easiest way to get the pizza off the grill and onto the board is to slide it off onto the board using a big spatula.

If you have an extra set of hands to hold the board, even better.

Experiment. Customize. Mostly, have fun.

mushroom-sage bread pudding

I love the sage bread pudding that Restaurant Christine serves as a side dish to their prosciutto wrapped filet mignon medallions.

So I wanted to try making my own version, with the addition of some mushrooms.

heat oven to 375

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped brown mushrooms
1 chopped maui onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt
4 cups sourdough bread cut into small cubes
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or whole milk
1/4 cup chopped, fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 ounces grated Swiss cheese

Melt butter in sautee pan.

Add mushrooms and maui onion. Season lightly with salt.

Cook for about 3 minutes, then add white wine.

Cook until wine is reduced and mushrooms and onions just start to brown.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk, sage and black pepper until blended.

Fold bread cubes into egg mixture to coat.

Gently mix in cheese.

Press bread-egg mixture into 8x8 inch baking pan so that all bread is submerged in egg mixture.
Let sit for 15 minutes so bread can absorb egg mixture.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating once, until egg is set.

Place under broiler for 3-4 minutes until top starts to get brown and toasty.

Serve immediately.

My thoughts on this dish: Wow. I wanted an alternative to a potato or rice or pasta as a starchy side dish and this was a good one.

It was hearty and cheesy and the mushrooms and sage gave it a nice earthy flavor. I probably could have skipped the rest of the meal and just had the bread pudding for dinner.

Which I may do tonight with leftovers.

And I may make this as the main dish casserole for my next Sunday stampers group.

The manfriend went back for seconds and was tempted to go for thirds. Instead he took some leftovers home with him.

I can see this as a standalone brunch dish or as a great side to any kind of meat. I know it goes with the fish and steak. I bet it would be a great substitute to stuffing with a roasted chicken or as a side for any kind of pork roast or tenderloin.

And really, inspite of all the steps, this was a pretty easy dish to make. Most bread puddings are.