Ribs
It's quite strange when you consider how much of a carnivore this blog is making me realise I am, that I have never bought or prepared pork back ribs before. I must admit they would probably be the last thing I would order in a restaurant, usually coming with a gloopy, overly sweet sauce and sticky fingers. In a Chinese restaurant, however, it's a different matter. Spareribs, as they were called at my local Chinese takeaway were one of the best things on the menu. The sauce was a glossy, deep mahogany red from Hoisin and soy sauces with enough sweetness to make you lick your fingers until every inch of sauce was gone. The meat was charred and slightly crispy round the edges and the succulence and tenderness of the meat inside was good enough to make you forgive the fact that there is hardly any meat at all on these little beauties. I like barbecued anything to have a char grilled, almost black exterior, not for me, the chicken wing with a floppy, soft skin, I don't care how good the sauce is. So, cooking these for 2 hours in a low oven (250oF) and then grilling them with the glaze until charred proved to be a good alternative to barbecuing. Neil actually commented that these could have fed four people. I pointed out that in a restaurant you would probably get one rack per person, not the rack between 2 as we had, so to feed four was just silly. Maybe he didn't actually like them.
One rack of ribs. 1 tsp salt. Place the ribs on a sheet of foil and sprinkle with salt. Tent loosely with the foil and seal the edges. Bake at 250oF for 2 hours. Remove from oven and pour away the juices. Mix 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp each of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. Add a little paprika, chili powder and sugar to taste and season with a little salt and pepper. Brush half over one side of ribs and grill (broil) until crispy. Turn over and add the rest of the glaze and grill again until crispy.
I made a strawberry salad to go with this. 1 large handful spinach, 6 strawberries, quartered, 1/2 block goat's cheese, handful pecans, chopped and a dressing of 1 tbsp walnut oil and 1/2 tbsp raspberry vinegar.
I also made a coleslaw with red cabbage, red onion and bacon with a buttermilk dressing. It wasn't great. I think I added too much sweetener, the taste was quite disgustingly sweet.
Pork fillet with mushrooms and Port
One of the best standbys I find to have in the freezer is a pork loin. It's weird because when I was younger, I wouldn't eat pork unless it was smothered in a sauce such as curry to render it almost unidentifiable as a meat in it's own right. Now, I love pork, whether a 6 hour roasted shoulder, chops sizzling in some Herby marinade or a loin with endless culinary possibilities, like that other blank canvas of the food world, the chicken breast.
I decided my dinner creation should play double duty and allow me also to release some pent up frustration by bashing the pork into flat fillets. Very therapeutic, like bread kneading, I used a rolling pin to flatten 1 inch pieces of the loin to about 1/4 inch thick. I then seasoned well with salt and pepper and fried in a pan with butter and oil until well browned on both sides.
I'd like to take a moment to mention this wonderful ingredient. It's called mushroom ketchup but is more like a thin liquid and tastes like concentrated mushrooms with a hint of something sharp like vinegar. It's only available in British or gourmet shops here but is so versatile you can use a drop in almost anything. It intensifies the mushroom-iness of soups, stews, casseroles etc. but also works well as a marinade or sauce. I buy one once a year and it lasts for ages. I guess you could say it is similar to that other quintessential British condiment, Worcestershire sauce. You should try it if only to visit Mary's British Home Store in Steveston if you live in this part of the world.
Anyway, back to my dinner. I removed the pork once cooked and kept it warm. I added a large handful of mushrooms, 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly and 1/2 cup port. and 2 tbsp chopped herbs, (I used oregano, chives and thyme). This all simmered down until the mushrooms were soft and the final touches of 1 tsp of mushroom ketchup (see above) and 1/4 cup whipping cream added.
The pork pieces were then added back to the pan with a sprinkling of paprika and black pepper and left to heat through, turning once.
Yum. Served with more spinach and strawberry salad. (I have to say strawberries and warm sauce is not such a great combination).
Chicken skin spring rolls
Why not? I have been racking my brains, my culinary knowledge, my books and my sanity trying to find some low carb alternatives for foods I love, one of which are those crunchy and satisfying Chinese invention, spring rolls. What can I possibly use instead of the wrappers? I tried using rice rolls which you soak in water, fill and roll up with fantastic results, but I could only eat one as the carb count was still quite high. Then, one day, it occurred to me, why not try chicken skin? It's quite sticky stuff so it should stick together well and it should crisp up nicely when deep fried. Having two chicken breasts with skin in the freezer, I decided to try it out. I stretched and dried the skin as much as possible first, (see above)..
The filling was some left over pork scraps from dinner the night before, some dried shrimp, soaked, 4 water chestnuts, thinly sliced, some chives, a little thinly sliced onion, sesame oil and Cantonese seasoning mix.
I filled the chicken skins up, rolled them tightly and deep fried them for about 1 minute. As you can see, they didn't really stay together too well and the second batch fell apart on contact with the oil
The filling sort of 'fused' with the skin, attaching itself to the inside, so this one remained pretty intact. It wasn't a complete disaster but lessons were learned for next time: I.E. don't use chicken skin. Back to the drawing board, any suggestions?
TVP Fried Rice
As I've boringly and predictably mentioned before, I miss rice. So, while reading a food forum the other day, I happened across a thread regarding using TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) as a worthy contender as a substitute. Deciding it can't be any worse than begrudgingly pretending cauliflower is like rice, I gave it a try. Thank you to the thread, it was a much more viable texture and could almost be mistaken for brown rice itself. Plus, as added juicy bonus, it tastes really good. Well. that's not entirely accurate, it tastes really good if you soak it in something really good, like chicken stock. Frying it like fried rice with egg and lots of yummy vegetables also increases the rice-like qualities and the finished dish was a winner.
Recipe
2 tbsp chopped leftover lean pork scraps
1 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in warm water
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 yellow pepper, sliced thinly
2 tbsp chopped water chestnuts
1 clove garlic, chopped
handful spinach
6 mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 cup TVP
1/2 cup strong hot chicken stock
1 egg
salt, pepper
sesame oil
- Place the TVP into a bowl and pour over the chicken stock. Stir well and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan until very hot and fry the pork, onion, garlic and pepper until the pork is cooked.
- Add the water chestnuts, shrimp, spinach and mushrooms and season well. Cook until mushrooms are soft.
- Add the TVP and mix well.
- Add the egg and sesame oil and stir through everything until the egg is cooked. Check seasoning, adding a little more sesame oil and serve.
This was served with: chili chicken
Recipe
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
1 chili, sliced
1 tsp hot chili powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp wine vinegar
1/4 tsp sugar
- Sprinkle the chicken with the salt.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil until hot and add the chili, stir well for 30 seconds then add the chicken and fry until cooked and browned.
- Add the soy sauce, wine vinegar, chili powder and sugar and cook until syrupy and fragrantly spicy. Serve.
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