pork – Harmonious Belly

August 18, 2015August 18, 2015

For the Love of Ground Meat

Larb, one of my very favorite ground meat dishes, and something I cooked early on here on the blog.

When I started eating meat after 13 years of being a vegetarian, I began with fish (ironically, it was raw fish—sushi—that enticed me off the wagon), moved to chicken (skinless, boneless breasts), and about three years into my omnivore status, I decided it was time to try “the hard stuff”—beef and pork. I found early on in that phase that I gravitated toward ground, minced, or shredded meats, something that still appeals to me to this day. Perhaps it was how those muscle cuts were so obviously animal flesh, with all their explicit fat, bones, muscle fibers and tendons, something I was still apprehensive about, and the grinding and shredding of meat helped mask that reality.

It was also easier to eat, not to mention that when I cooked it, ground meat was, and is, usually much more forgiving, especially when it’s loose; it takes a certain set of skills to cook a steak, a leg of lamb, or a pork chop and not have it turn out tough to inedible. That said, nowadays I do feel comfortable roasting whole chickens, cooking strips of bacon, and cooking an entire filet of salmon in parchment. But I still prefer to cook ground meat, even after 17 years of omnivorous living.

During the quiet months of this blog, I tried a number of ground/minced/shredded meat dishes and found some pretty delicious recipes from fellow bloggers and food sites. When I tried them out, I posted pictures of some of the outcomes to my Instagram account, but it’s worth collecting them here in one place. Here are four that I really enjoyed.

Spicy Garlic Pork and Ground Pork via Two Red Bowls

This is the most recent ground meat dish I made and is the one I’m the most excited about. It combines the classic pairing of eggplant and pork, surrounded by a well-balanced mix of savory, spicy, and sweet notes, creating something that is pretty addictive. Ever since I made it my mind keeps wandering back to it. I suspect that its uniquely memorable flavor has to do with the time the pork sat marinating in soy sauce, sesame oil, as well as the high-quality pastured pork I used. It also has what I consider to be a lot of garlic cloves but in the end the garlic was not overpowering and was just right. I also loved the inclusion of ginger. Continue reading “For the Love of Ground Meat”

September 20, 2013September 20, 2013

Viva La Comida 2013 – Fabulous Food All Around

Friday night I had the pleasure of attending Viva La Comida, a food and cultural festival that takes place on 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, Queens. It’s in its second year now, and going strong. They had more space this year compared to last, and more food vendors, too. My friend Jeff Orlick is the organizer of the food side of things, and has done an excellent job getting great food vendors to participate. I ate some extremely delicious things—two dishes that stood out were from a new vendor and a returning vendor.

It was great to see food that represents so many different parts of the world—El Salvador, Ireland, The Phillipines, India, Tibet, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. I also understand there was Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Italian food represented too. Additionally, I picked up a pandebono (Colombian) from Las Delicias En Pandebono (they make THE BEST pandebono in Queens) a cup of fresh strawberry-tangerine-carrot juice from 82 Market, and a glass of horchata from Taqueria Coatzingo, all local businesses on 82nd Street.

I was also happy to hang out and share food with my friend Dayna, talented animator and food fan (so good to see friends and fellow food writers Sue, Bradley, Anne, and Joe during the evening, too!). We got there early, which was great for getting food relatively quickly. First dish we tried was two pupusas from El Oolmega, a truck based at the Red Hook Ballfields, home to amazing, authentic global food. They’ve been in business for 23 years, and their pupusas were one of the highlights for me.

We got two pupusas, one stuffed with pork and cheese and one stuffed with loroco and cheese. Loroco is a flower from Central America and used commonly in pupusas. It was delicious! They were topped with curtido (a traditional tangy cabbage condiment) and we got the optional pickled jalapeños on it, then sprinkled a bit of hot sauce and crema over everything. I couldn’t get over how fresh and delicious it all was—the masa yielded easily to the fork, with flavorful fillings. Definitely a high point of the evening.

My other favorite food of the night was the arepa con queso from Jackson Height’s own Arepa Lady crew. These arepas are excellent and have quite the glowing reputation. I especially love these smaller, thick, soft, and cheesy arepas, that are topped with more cheese. They are a little sweet, too, so it ends up being this wonderful mix of sweet and savory, one of my favorite meta flavor combos. Gorgeous looking thing, too. Continue reading “Viva La Comida 2013 – Fabulous Food All Around”

February 14, 2011September 2, 2011

Homemade Bacon

They say bacon is a gateway meat for vegetarians, and I can totally see how that is. As a vegetarian I used to eat “Fakin Bacon”, that soy-based alternative meat product, something I wouldn’t touch now. I enjoyed it then because the smoky, salty taste was highly appealing. But it’s no comparison to the real thing.

Since I left vegetarianism 13 years ago, I’ve eaten a lot of legit bacon. I’d recently heard that you could cure your own bacon, which was really intriguing, but a little daunting. So when I caught wind of bacon curing as part of the Charcutepalooza challenge, I thought that this was the perfect time to dive in.

I looked at my main two sources for pork belly, but neither had them in stock, so I headed to The Meat Hook in Brooklyn. They sell very high quality local, pastured meat that is extremely tasty. When I got there, they were butchering what I think was a pig, with some hardcore knives, on a large table behind the counter. The person that helped me brought out a whole pork belly and deboned it, and also cut off the skin. I ended up with 2.71 pounds of belly. It was gorgeous.

I cured it (using this bacon recipe from Michael Ruhlman) with salt and spices, plus I added some smoked paprika to the spice mix – this gave the meat a smoky flavor without having to actually smoke the meat (which I have no idea how to do anyway). I also opted to not use pink salt.

The end result is some of the most delicious bacon I’ve ever tasted, if not the best I’ve ever had. And the smoked paprika really worked! The bacon is both savory and smoky at the same time. I am just so impressed with how easy it was to cure and how well it came out. I plan to cure bacon more often.

So, what did I do with the bacon? Well, I cooked it on its own, in the oven, and had it with brunch. I find that cooking bacon in the oven yields a more pleasant slice of bacon, plus I don’t get spattered with hot fat like I do when I cook it on the stovetop. I also used the bacon in a braised red bean dish that I was really happy with. I’ve also reserved the fat when cooking bacon on its own, and have used it to cook with. I’ve been really happy with it, too – it lubricates my cast iron pan like nothing else!

I used the bacon in a dish I put together called a BST (bacon, spinach, tomato) sandwich in open-face form – it’s also a wet version because I used tomato sauce. It was absolutely delicious – a very simple, homey, and comforting dish with lots of flavor. Plus it’s really easy to put together.

BST (Bacon, Spinach, Tomato) Sandwich

1 slice sourdough bread (2 slices if they are small slices)
tomato sauce of your choice, hot
baby spinach (organic if possible)
bacon, cooked and broken into small pieces
parmesan cheese (optional)

Toast the sourdough bread and place on a plate. Spoon the tomato sauce over the bread. Top with a handful of spinach and the bacon. Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over it if you like. Eat with a fork.

More images from my bacon curing project can be found in my Charcutepalooza photoset on Flickr.

May 17, 2010May 16, 2010

Perfect Crispy Bacon

Bacon

I love bacon. I really do. However, over the years I haven’t had the best luck cooking it, even though it seems so simple in theory. When cooking it on the stove top – the only way I’d been taught – I’d always get grease spatter on my hands (ouch) and the bacon would cook unevenly. I kind of gave up on preparing bacon, to be honest.

However, I’d recently heard about cooking bacon in the oven, and since I wanted to make a cobb salad on Friday, I thought I’d give this technique a chance. Well, I am a total convert now! This method works beautifully and turns out amazing crispy bacon, with no grease spattered hands or burnt bacon.

I took my inspiration from a method described on about.com, which is as follows:

Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.

Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it’s done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.

Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses. I like to pour it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to filter out any crunchy bits.

My observations:

The foil was a really good call. I wouldn’t want to do it without foil because it really does make cleanup easy.
At about 15 minutes, I turned over the bacon slices, using tongs to grab them. I think that gave the bacon a chance to cook more evenly than just cooking it on one side.
One way to drain the bacon is to set the slices on a baking rack which sits over a paper towel. That way, the bacon won’t be sitting in its own fat and will have a better chance to more thoroughly drain off the fat.

My household was really impressed by this bacon. It was perfectly crispy without being burned or overcooked. In fact, you could hold the bacon horizontally and there was no bending. It snapped off and almost melted in your mouth. It was perfect in our cobb salad (which was delicious), and for breakfast this weekend.

I will forever cook my bacon this way.

Photo credit: (cc) Porge, via a Creative Commons License.

April 30, 2010September 2, 2011

Asado de Bodas

final dish

Last week I was in a bookstore, and found my way to the cooking section (no big surprise there). I was there with the intent to buy some food writing or a memoir. I saw a number of books that were perfectly respectable candidates, but nothing spoke to me at that time. Then I spied Diana Kennedy’s The Art of Mexican Cooking, and had to check it out. For a while now, I’ve been debating whether to get a basic Mexican cookbook by Rick Bayless or Diana Kennedy, not sure which I’d prefer. After perusing this book, I knew I had to have it. And I’m glad I did.

There are so many delicious sounding recipes in here! I knew I had some pork kebab meat in the freezer that I wanted to use, so I checked out the pork section. I came across this recipe for Asado de Bodas – a northern wedding dish from Durango and Coahuila – and it looked perfect. The flavors sounded wonderful – chiles, chocolate, tomatillos – and the method looked pretty simple (boiling, sauteeing).

I prepared it after work last night. It took a little longer to make than I anticipated, but none of the steps were difficult. It was worth the time and waiting – this pork is good. It’s warm and tangy, which just the tiniest hint of bitterness in the background, not at all disturbing (I’m not normally fond of bitter things). The tartness of the tomatillos takes care of the harsh bitterness you often find in chile soaking liquid. As the sauce thickens, it tastes more intense, as would be expected. I just loved it.

ingredient collage

I got to use some special ingredients, too. I had a few stale tortillas from Tortilleria Nixtamal; the chocolate I used was made by Taza, so it is organic and stone ground, with a hint of cinnamon in it; and the pastured pork I used was sourced from the wonderful Lewis-Waite farm via my CSA.

While I’ve included the recipe as-is, I did make a few adjustments. First, I halved the recipe, simply because I had one pound of pork on hand instead of two. I used extra virgin olive oil, because I haven’t rendered my lard yet. I used ground cumin instead of cumin seed, because that’s what I had. I also chose to cut the pork into slightly smaller sizes because I like it that way.

sauce collage

And I used a regular old Queens bay leaf instead of a Mexican bay leaf. Interesting story – as T and I were walking around Corona one day, we noticed a house with a big greenhouse attached to it. The older man who lived there came out and said hello, and we remarked how amazing his house looked with that green house attached. He invited us in and showed us around – he’s growing citrus trees in there! Also a bay laurel tree, and so he snipped off a handful of leaves for us. Such a kind and neighborly thing to do – I’ve loved using these bay leaves in my cooking.

I ate this over millet cooked with chicken broth, but tortillas would be wonderful. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.

Asado de Bodas
From The Art of Mexican Cooking

The Meat
2 pounds (900 g) pork with some fat, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes
1/4 medium onion, roughly sliced
2 garlic cloves peeled
sea salt to taste

The Sauce
6 tbs lard
4 chiles anchos, slit open, veins and seeds removed
the pork broth
About 8 tomatillos
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small slice dried French bread
1/2 dried corn tortilla
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1 oz Mexican drinking chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 Mexican bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
Thinly pared zest of 1 orange
sea salt to taste

Put the pork into a saucepan; add the onion, garlic, and salt to taste. Cover the meat with water, cover the pan, and bring to a simmer; cook slowly for about 25 minutes. Remove 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the broth and keep warm in a bowl. Continue cooking the meat, uncovered, until it is just tender but not soft and the water has been absorbed – about 15 minutes (cooking time will vary with the quality and cut of the meat).

Melt 3 tbs of the lard in a frying pan and fry the dried chiles very briefly on each side until they are an opaque tobacco brown inside – about 3 seconds. Remove from pan an add to the broth. Fry the tomatillos and garlic until golden and transfer them to the broth. Last, fry the bread and tortilla over very low heat until crisp and brown. Add to the broth. Set the contents of the bowl aside to soak for about 15 minutes or until the chile skins are soft.

Transfer the mixture to a blender jar, add the cumin seeds and chocolate, and blend until smooth.

Melt the rest of the lard in a heavy pan and fry the pork pieces until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the blended ingredients, bay leaves, oregano, orange, zest, and salt to taste and cook over low heat, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan until the sauce is fairly thick and the lard makes a shiny surface on the sauce – about 20 minutes. Serve with corn tortillas

Serve 6-8.

March 19, 2010September 14, 2011

Larb

larb plated

So, I’ve had a package of ground pastured pork in my freezer for a while and I’ve been itching to use it. It’s delicious stuff, from pigs raised by Alan and Nancy Brown at Lewis Waite farm. I could have made burger with it, but I wanted larb. Larb!

What is larb? It’s a Southeast Asian ground meat salad that can be made with pork, beef, chicken and other poultry, or fish. In Laos, it’s made with a bit of ground toasted rice, but the recipe I used didn’t specify that. The version I made was basically meat and some seasonings, served over lettuce with cucumber.

It was delicious, and had that wonderful mix of tangy-salty-fresh-and spicy flavors that I love so much in Southeast Asian food. It was also well-received by our resident picky eater, so I see that as a good sign. It would be an excellent summer dish, perhaps paired with some fresh spring rolls, or perhaps just with a side of papaya salad. Fresh fruit would be perfect for dessert. I expect to make it again.

larb

Larb (Spicy Pork Salad)
I adjusted the original recipe to reflect my preference for deeper flavors. I increased the amount of lime juice, mint, and cilantro, as well as the chili sauce. I also found that red leaf lettuce worked just fine, though Boston lettuce would be very nice. I also do not use nonstick pans, so I added a tsp of coconut oil to my cast iron pan, which worked well.

1 pound ground pork
1 tsp coconut oil
4 medium shallots, peeled, sliced in half and then sliced 1/4-inch thick, divided
3 tbsp fresh lime juice, divided
2 medium scallions, sliced
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp chili sauce, hot Asian-style (like Sriracha), or to taste
1/3 cup mint leaves, fresh, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, fresh, coarsely chopped
12 leaf Boston or red leaf lettuce

1 kirby cucumber, thinly sliced

Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it melts, add pork, half of the shallots and 1 tablespoon of lime juice. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon to break up pork as it cooks, until pork is no longer pink, about 6 to 7 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine remaining shallots, lime juice, scallions, fish sauce, chili sauce, mint and cilantro; add pork mixture and toss well to coat.

To serve, place 2 or 3 lettuce leaves on a plate; divide about 3/4 cup of pork mixture over top and serve with cucumber slices.

This post is participating in Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays.