Entree – Page 12 – Rosemary and the Goat

Pork Belly Taco

Ok, ok, enough with the pork belly.

You all are probably sick to death of hearing about pork belly. For years I have talked about things I have had in restaurants made with the delicious meat and the sandwiches and items I have seen on menus while visiting in Chicago.

I finally got around to making the Braised Pork Belly and then made several other items using the meat. I think this is the last of the pork belly recipes (at least for a while, or I may run you all off; oh, I forgot I did an Eggs Benedict Scramble with pork belly I will probably save until the Fall).

Take a look at Big Star’s menu. They use roasted pork, the pork belly, roasted chicken and tilapia, potatoes and chihuahua cheese in a lot of their dishes. All their menu items are so different from all the Tex-Mex we find here in Texas hence the reason I’m always talking about their menu. Read their “about” section of how they got started — interesting.

Who doesn’t like tacos of any kind? Typically, I’m going to want a crispy shell that falls apart with your first bite and dribbles sauce and lettuce/tomato all over your once clean top; but this time I’m using some homemade corn tortillas (not by me but by someone making fresh corn/flour tortillas in the grocery)

This is a pretty simple straight forward taco — a corn tortilla shells, crispy pork belly pieces that you crisp up from the braised pork belly you made, lots of crumbled queso fresco, cilantro, some chopped sweet onion and some green sauce. Since I didn’t want to come up with their recipe for their sauce, I simply bought a jar of sauce called “That Green Sauce”. It’s made with jalapeños, poblanos, green tomatoes and a bunch of ingredients I can’t pronounce. So any green (or red) sauce will work fine.

June 24, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Spicy Honey Glazed Chicken Thighs

Boneless delight!

Looking for something different to throw on the grill. This recipe can be cooked inside or outside. I think this would also be good served at room temperature for any summer gathering.

Normally I always say anything cooked with a bone is better than boneless. For this recipe I had bone-in, skin on chicken thighs in the freezer and didn’t have time to bone them (or I didn’t want to). Nutmeg Nanny (where I got this recipe) used boneless skinless chicken. Now for this recipe I totally agree with her. You want the spices to soak into the chicken and not lose the spiciness when you pull of the skin (that’s if you don’t eat the skin).

When doing this recipe again, I will double the spices, buy boneless thighs, and remove the skin. I used all the juices that flowed from the cooking of the thighs and poured that over the plated chicken like a sauce.

Doing this chicken boneless also speeds up the cooking time. So when you are in a pinch for time, give this a try.

I normally change up recipe but this one sounded so easy I wanted to make it as stated the first time. Now that I’ve made it I really wouldn’t change anything about the recipe.

June 19, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Honey Walnut Shrimp

What’s the secret ingredient?

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend. I always think of my dad on Memorial day and the letters I have read that he sent back to his mom. He was just 17 when he signed up and this one particular letter he talked about cookies his aunt was going to send him and that all the guys wanted him to go out drinking but he didn’t want to. He was just thinking of home and probably his mom’s cooking.

I thought of him yesterday when I bought a Vitamix and remember at least 25 years ago him seeing an ad in one of his magazines and telling me this machine would make ice cream and soup and how could one machine make both hot and frozen things. Well, I don’t remember the machine but it had to be the Vitamix because it has been around since 1921.

I can’t wait to try out this new appliance — like I need one more appliance. But I say, why not! Both of my kids in Austin have one and they love it.

It’s been almost three weeks since we were in Austin for the birth of our newest grandson, Thomas. We were there almost two weeks and I missed him the minute I walked out the door. I always miss all our grandsons as soon as the kisses, hugs and goodbyes are said. One of the weekends we were there before his birth we went to an Asian restaurant and had a honey walnut shrimp dish that was so good and it had a sweetness (just like my babies) that I could not figure out.

For all my surfing the internet for a recipe for Walnut Shrimp ALL results came up with the same secret ingredient. The secret is out and the secret ingredient of Walnut Shrimp has sweetened condensed milk.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with condensed milk and it seems like everyone loves the sweet gooey mixture in many desserts. But for an entree? Yes. Believe me you will go back for seconds. The truth is there’s only about two tablespoons of it in the sauce that coats the tempura battered shrimp.

May 25, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Pork Marsala with Creamy Spinach Grits

Wonderful pork and the creamiest grits.

The hot days of summer will soon be here and you may not want to be cooking that much indoors. For us, we do most of our cooking outdoors once the weather is hot enough to jump in the pool with a glass of wine while the aroma of something on the grill or smoker drifting our way. You have to eat, right, whether you are cooking indoors or outdoors and you can’t eat COLD food all summer anyway.

So, I guess it doesn’t really make much difference if this dish sounds like “comfort food” or not, everyone needs a little comforting every once in a while anyway.

This is one of those recipes that I started with about 4 recipes, pilfered this and that from them all and came up with the one I made for the two of us one night. I had no mashed potatoes so I decided to serve with creamy grits.

One weekend my friend was beaching it with some friends and texted me and asked if I had heard of grits and greens. They were having them for dinner that night and the though intrigued me. I knew I loved grits and adding something green would be visually appearing to the dish. I think they were using kale or chard; spinach my my choice of greens since there just happened to be some in my refrigerator.

Don’t you just love buying those little packages of pork tenderloin. They are so easy to prepare just about any way. Open the package, remove a little of the silver skin, slice and you are ready for this recipe.
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May 15, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Peach Whiskey Chicken

I don’t like whiskey but this is really good.

The other day I was watching Pioneer woman out on her ranch in Oklahoma cooking up something good for her family and ranch hands. I imagine myself on one of their horses galloping all over the thousands of acres they own. Don’t know if I could even get on a horse or even if I could stay on one after swinging myself up on the saddle but I can dream anyway.

Anyway, she was making some whiskey chicken that caught my attention and since I had a jar of peach preserves still in my pantry that I bought on a trip to Nashville last year I thought I’d give the recipe a try. Loveless cafe is a neat little breakfast/lunch place just outside Nashville and I’ll go back again next time we are in Nashville.

The two changes I made to PW’s recipe was I didn’t really want to add fresh peaches since this isn’t really peach season and I didn’t really care for the idea of peach chunks in with the chicken. I wanted to add some heat to the dish so I added some thinly sliced jalapeño peppers to the onions and then used some to garnish the dish. Her dish called for chicken pieces with bones and I will probably use bone-in thighs and legs next time I make it.

The Whiskey Chicken can be served on top of mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower or even some pasta or rice would do. The saucy part of this is very tasty and I love what the jalapeños add to the dish.

I hope you will give this a try and if you do, please leave a comment below.

April 30, 2014 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ HotApp

Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb. shrimp peeled and deveined
Sauce
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tsp. chili garlic paste
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. rice vinegar
Egg mixture:
3 egg beaten
1/2 c. flour
Breading mixture
1/4 c. flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 c. panko breadcrumbs crushed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Slap Your Mama seasoning or Old Bay
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 green onions thinly sliced
Lettuce leaves or shredded lettuce to line dish
Oil for frying

Instructions

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
Beat the eggs in a shallow pan and set this aside.
In another bowl, combine the 1/4 cup flour, cornstarch, panko, salt pepper, onion, garlic powder and Slap Your Mama.
To bread the shrimp first dredge in 1/2 cup flour. Shake off excess flour. Next dip the shrimp 5 or 6 at a time into the beaten eggs then put in bowl with the breading mixture and toss to make sure they are coated well. Arrange the breaded shrimp on a plate and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or cook immediately.
Heat the oil to 350. Use about 1-2" of oil in your pan. When oil is hot fry shrimp 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels. When you have fried all the shrimp put them in a large bowl that contains the sauce mixture and toss the shrimp until coated. Sprinkle in the green onions and put in dish and serve.

DO NOT USE honey — Ok, the story about this honey is I was fussing at my husband one day about him using so much honey for his cereal (sometimes 3 times a day) and when I need it to make a salad dressing or some other “real” food, there’s no honey. So he goes out and buys two huge bottles of honey and writes “do not use” on the bottle”. SORRY GA, I had no honey to call my own and had to use his honey for the Bang Bang Shrimp.

April 10, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Chinese Fried Rice

Good to make with leftover chicken, bacon or pork.

This is another recipe that my sister and I have made for years (decades). I added a couple of extra ingredients and did the egg a little different but in the end it is just as delicious as the dish we have been making all out lives.

Since I was serving my Egg Foo Yung with this fried rice and I didn’t need the whole cane of bamboo shoots, water chestnuts or bean sprouts, I decided to add them to the recipe. If you want to make our original version then you can just leave out those three ingredients. BUT, I hope you will make the Egg Foo Yung along with the fried rice as a side dish.

Originally the egg was beaten and stirred into the finished dish. But I decided to beat the egg with a little soy and sesame oil and cook it like an omlette, really quick in a hot pan, flip it and then cut in strips. The egg has a better look like this rather than kind of mushing up with the rice the other way.

Just about any dish you have in a Chinese restaurant can probably be made better at home.There’s a Walnut Shrimp dish I had once in Austin and I will be posting that soon.
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March 31, 2014 By Sherry

Beef/Veal/ Entree

Beef Filet with Blue Cheese Sauce

And then there was one.

Once upon a time I was cooking for two; then along came the first little Michie boy and I was cooking for three. Three years later came another Michie boy and I found myself cooking for four. To our surprise three years later a baby girl joined the group and we were a family of five.

Years later (hundreds/thousands of meals) as the Family grew, we became five, then six then seven, eight and now adding up all the grand kids and the one joining the clan in April will bring our table to 13.

So one night I found myself cooking for one. How strange is that? My hub was off on a fishing trip for a couple of days (UPDATE: they caught their 25 each limit in 50 minutes) and I could have easily thawed a frozen dinner or gone out for some terrible fast food. Instead, I decided to try this steak recipe that I have had waiting in the wings. Armed with the recipe, I headed to the store to buy the best steak I could find and maybe a bunch of asparagus to go with it; I didn’t know that tenderloin was going to be $25/lb.

What a quite dinner that was. Me in front of the TV eating this wonderful steak wondering what the cooler of fish was going to look like when my husband came home.

I can’t wait for the next family dinner with the table full of family and kids crying, throwing food (not really) spilling milk and having a great time enjoying each other’s company and the stories of what’s going on in their busy lives. The steak was delicious and my mouth waters now just thinking of it but I would have preferred to enjoy the steak with a table full of friends or family.

I love blue cheese and walnuts together and paired with this steak it was so tasty. I added a little blue cheese crumbles to the top along with some chopped walnuts and parsley for garnish.

March 26, 2014 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Bread/ ColdApp/ Entree/ HotApp/ Pork

Momofuku’s Steamed Buns and Quick Pickles

Soft and delicious buns and the pickles are bad either.

Here’s the second installment of the pork belly saga.

Thinking of Steamed Buns brings up thoughts of dim sum and being in Chinatown/San Francisco. Back in 2001 (just a week before 9/11 happened) we were in San Francisco/Napa with our friends Peggy and Gordon. While in San Francisco we were in Chinatown and went for dim sum at supposedly one of their best places. Well, Peggy and I both can now hear the word “dim sum” and it always gets a smile and chuckle from us.

We didn’t know what to order and it seemed like everything put on our plates was sweet and gooey. I remember the buns but not what was in ours, something sweet and gooey I’m sure. Anyway, it was a fun experience watching all the waitpeople come by with their carts of goodies. Too bad we weren’t up on what to order off the menu.

Since, that experience we have had dim sum with our son/daughter-in-law in Chicago and they’re experts on everything on the menu and we have enjoyed it very much and will be much better prepared the next time on what to order.

So for this recipe you will need the Braised Pork Belly recipe that I posted a few days ago and the cucumbers that are used in this little Pork Belly Steamed Bun Sandwich.

I do hope you will try these little buns, or you could make a pulled pork sandwich using these little white buns.

I think these Steamed Buns, the Quick Pickled Cucumbers, Pork Belly and the glaze make one terrific bite of a sandwich and you won’t regret the hours it takes making the pork belly or the buns. I’m giving you the pickle recipe along with the steamed buns just because the pickles are so quick and easy and the “pickle” post would be all of about two lines long. So, you can eat these pickles with whatever you chose; I made them to go with the Pork Belly and Steamed Bun sandwich.

March 1, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Braised Pork Belly

And she said oink, oink, oink all the way home or at least into my pot.

Food trends come and go. In 2013 we had our cupcakes (they’ve been around for quite a while), pretzel buns, sriracha, bacon, egg on top of everything.

From what I have read on some internet chats the top trending things now are citrus flavorings, (especially grapefruit), craft cocktails including “adult” milkshakes, Asian bowls, raw meats, bitter greens, anything fermented, bourbon, oysters, vegetable-based dishes; noodle bars, “Spam” dishes, tortas, biscuits, yeahhhh and pork belly (Lardo) is still on the list, smoked everything, designer brand-name meats, Korean inspiration in our kitchens, woooah and the rise of the pressure cooker.

I love my pressure cooker and I do use it from time to time; it is the quickest way I know how to make a good stew. Just throw in the meat and cook for about 20 minutes and you have fork tender stew meat; and I can cook a pot of beans in less than 30 minutes.

Over the last few years I have seen pork belly in a lot of things. Pork Belly taco is great from Big Star restaurant in Chicago, pork belly on steamed buns (recipe in a couple of days along with the steamed buns), pork belly cut into little lardons and fried until crispy as a garnish for a good bowl of creamy soup. I’ve seen pork belly served on top of french fries, and my favorite is a pork belly BLT sandwich with arugula and a tomato fennel jam (Longman and Eagle); and I may try that one with some of my left over braised pork belly.

So, what is pork belly anyway? It’s a boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig. Both bacon and the pork belly start as a cut from the fatty underbelly of “porky”. Curing the piece is what turns it into bacon (my son, Paul, smokes his pork belly and turns it into bacon), but braising that same piece of meat turns it into the most mouth watering bite you will ever taste. Some say pork belly is the new bacon. I love them both.

So I’ve decided instead of having one long post with a thousand pictures I would break this pork belly marathon into 3 or 4 different post and post them a few days apart.

February 25, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Poached Salmon with Fennel and Lemon Caper Yogurt Sauce

Simple but delicious.

I can’t believe we’re still eating Salmon from my husband’s fishing trip to Alaska last summer and will for some time to come.

Every time I take out a piece of fish I can just see that fish jumping up out of the water begging to be let go knowing all the while it doesn’t stand a chance for a reprieve from the dinner table. Maybe at least he/she will envision what type of tasteful dish it will become and how others will enjoy the life they gave up.

Whatever it’s last thoughts were, I have enjoyed coming up with new ways to prepare all this salmon and halibut.

I would like some new recipes though, especially for the halibut. So, if you have any, please pass them this way.

I’ve never tried poaching salmon before and I think just about any poaching liquid would work. I just happened to have some fennel fonds on hand and a left over bottle of white wine so I used those ingredients. Giada had done this Lemon Caper Yogurt Sauce on one of her shows and it’s delicious with the fish. Wished I had thought of using some of my preserved lemons in the sauce or in the poaching liquid.

Hope you’ll give this a try.

February 15, 2014 By Sherry

Beef/Veal/ Entree

Beef, Mushrooms and Pea Pods

Nothing is easier than a quick stir fry!

I love Asian food and don’t know why I don’t cook it more often. Remember my Wok’n Noodles? I made that dish after seeing a restaurant in Paris called Wok’n Noodles and I thought that would be a cute name for a noodle dish and for some reason the tune “Walkin to New Orleans” (Wok’n) popped into my head. 🙂

We did a going away party in early January for friends who moved to China for three years. It was really a fun party and got me thinking about some old Asian inspired recipes I use to prepare.

My sister and I have made this recipe for at least 15 years and I use to make it quite often. This time I decided to add some sugar snap peas along with the snow peas. I love the crunch from the sugar snaps because they stay nice and plump and add a lot of texture to the dish.

So, if you are looking for a dish that is so quick to throw together, please try this; and you can even use instant rice if you are in a pinch for time.

January 31, 2014 By Sherry

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