Spicy, Southern Rice & Pork

I know that pork is the other white meat, the healthy low-fat meat and the perfect pairing with everything.  I agree with all of those points, but because of those things, it needs some help from tasty sides.

For this dinner I made one of my new favorites which I am calling "spicy, southern rice."  I'm not in love with the name though, let me know if you can come up with something better?!?!

Spicy, Southern Rice

1 pkg. yellow rice (I like Carolina brand)

Fresh okra (we buy it in a dry pint at the farmer's market ... you want about two cups when cut)

1 long hot pepper (or other spicy pepper like jalapeno)

2 cloves garlic

Chop the okra into rings about 1/2" thick.  Smash the garlic cloves and then roughly chop.  De-seed the peppers and then chop them as well.  Add the the above and the rice to a cold pan, follow directions on rice package for the amount of water to add.  Stir well, increase heat to medium-low and then cover.  Once the rice comes to a simmer, turn the temperature down to low and cook, covered, until the water is absorbed by the rice.  Stir occasionally.

Once the rice is fully cooked, allow to sit off the heat, covered for about 10 minutes and then plate and enjoy!

Grilled pork loin w/ spicy, Southern rice, avocado puree and sautéed collard greens.

Sunday Steak Night

Shells and I have been trying to reduce our red meat intake, but I still tend to enjoy Sunday night "steak night."  With that said, I agree that an eight ounce filet is much better for me than a 16oz dry aged ribeye.  Don't get me wrong, I would prefer the ribeye any day ... I'm just talking purely from a health perspective.

In an order to healthify (is that a word?) our steak intake, I've gone to 4-5 oz filet for Shells and a 7-8 oz filet for me.  The other trick to making the steak night healthy is to look for better sides.

For this dinner I went with home-made potato chips, baked of course and a veggie mix.

For the chips I used 1 medium baking potato, sliced thinly & evenly (I used a knife, you can use a mandolin if you struggle to slice evenly).

Chips go onto a non-stick baking tray (use a little baking spray if needed) at 425F.  Cook for about 15-20 minutes (until browned evenly), turning every 5 minutes to ensure they don't burn or stick.

Tasty, and healthy, side.

For this second dinner I went with one of my traditional standbys, garlic white beans.

These beans are simple to make: 1 14.5oz can Cannellini beans (with liquid), 1/2 can of water, 4 garlic cloves (smashed and chopped).  Put all ingredients in a pot and cook over medium-low heat (stirring frequently) until the water has evaporated and a gravy has formed.

The beans stick to your sides and provide a filling and healthy side that paired well in this dinner with the steak and steamed veggies.  Try them both and enjoy!

My take on Veggie Hash

The traditional hash, at least as I think about it, is chopped up potatoes with some corned beef and onions served for breakfast with runny eggs over the top.  For this dinner I decided to do something a little different and went with a potato+veggie combination.

For this dish, feeding two, you'll want the following:

2 small-medium white potatoes

1 small red bell pepper

1 small yellow bell pepper

1 large green tomato

1 avocado

I started with small white potatoes, cut into french fry style strips and cooked them in a sauté pan with a tablespoon of light olive oil.

While the potatoes are cooking, slice the peppers with a similar size.  Once the potatoes have started to brown toss in the sliced peppers and allow the mixture to continue to cook for about five minutes.  Continue to agitate so that things don't stick.

After the five minutes of peppers cooking, add the chopped green tomato and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

If there is still water in the pan after 10 minutes, cook until water has evaporated and then remove from heat and plate.  I served it with a white fish, avocado and sautéed squash, but you can serve it with whatever you'd like, enjoy!

The leaning Mexican Scallop "tower"

I decided to have a little fun with an appetizer here and built out a Mexican themed scallop stack.  This was the day after I had made our last Mexican themed night so I still had a bit of Pico and limes left as well as some tortillas.

The concept here was pretty simple, U-10 scallop + tasty accompaniments.  I sliced the scallop in half and then pan seared it (about 15 seconds per side) until just cooked and still a little clear in the very center.  I then built the dish starting with a slice of avocado followed by tortilla, scallop, tortilla and scallop.  I topped off the "tower" with some fresh Pico de Gallo.  I finished the plating with a bit of charred long hot pepper, a lime slice, and Valentina hot sauce.

Try it and enjoy!

Grownup Mac and Cheese

I'll be one of the first to admit that sometimes everyone just needs some Mac and Cheese.  Face it, whether that goopy stuff that they served in school, Velveeta shells, lobster mac from that trendy place down the road or Kraft EasyMac ... Mac and Cheese is always good!

For my Mac and Cheese I go a little overboard with the cheeses, feel free to choose to do so or not.  For this dinner I didn't have a lot on hand so it was a mix of cheddar, mozzarella and gouda .. typically I love mixing it up with a blue or a brie.  Also, this recipe is surprisingly easy.

Grownup Mac and Cheese

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp butter

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup assorted melting cheeses (Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Brie, Blue, Gouda, etc.)

4 cups cooked orecchiette

Frank's Redhot (or a similar hot sauce), optional

Start off by melting the butter into a sauce pot and then whisk in the flour to build your roux.  Once the flour and butter are well combined, slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture has thickened into a sauce.  Next add the cheese and continue to whisk until well melted and mixed.

Finally, add the orecchiette and stir well.  Yep, that simple.  You'll have to play with the mixture of cheeses a little bit as some will add more oil or water to the mixture and can throw it off.  If that happens you'll have to make a bit more of the roux and milk mixture in another pot and slowly add until the consistency is correct.  Try it and enjoy!

Grilled steak, Searzall'ed

I know that I've posted a million pictures of a steak (or pork, or onions, or you get the idea) and the Searzall ... I thought that it might make sense to talk a little bit here about my infatuation with it.  The Searzall was invented by the resident geniuses at Momofuku's Booker and Dax food lab and  I was introduced to this miraculous device by Chef Nick Pfannerstill at Dovetail NYC.  While used by many restaurants to get that perfect sear on meats that have been cooked Sous Vide, I have found other uses for mine as well!

What you're seeing in this picture is a one inch thick, dry aged porterhouse steak from Whole Foods.  I grilled it over high heat for about 8 minutes (2 minutes, quarter turn, 2 minutes, flip, 4 minutes) and then onto a cutting board covered with a light towel to rest for 5 minutes.  Then it was time to sear!

I brushed the steak with a bit of browned butter that I had infused with a Harissa spice mix and then used the Searzall until the steak was sizzling and a bit of crust had formed.  Immediately I sliced the two cuts off of the middle bone and then plated over white beans ... medium rare filet for Shells and rare (pictured to right) NY Strip for me.

If you've made it all the way through this post without purchasing your own Searzall yet, good for you and your commitment to reading this blog ... now off to Amazon with you and enjoy!

Mexican night, with a little helpful inspiration

I was leafing through the September 2015 issue of Food and Wine and came across an article about Mexican chef Enrique Olivera.  I realized that Shells and I hadn't done a Mexican dinner in a while, so for this meal we broke out the masa and drew inspiration from the article for a different take on some old favorites!

For the first course I put Shells to work with the rolling pin and a plan to make 8 inch corn tortillas.  It was easier said than done and I quickly had to lend my hands to helping flatten out the corn.

While she was rolling I sautéed a batch of mushrooms (I used shiitake for this), shredded some Oaxaca cheese and made a Pico de Gallo. Mushroom quesadillas are something we used to eat on Friday's for lunch in Leon.  While there was a recipe in the article, I kept mine simple with just mushrooms and garlic.

I cooked the tortillas on a cast iron skillet and once I had crisped the first side I added the cheese & mushroom mix, carefully folding the tortilla over to make the quesadilla.

 For the main course I tried a variation on one of my favorite Mexican dishes, Carnitas!  For this version Olivera used pork belly instead of the traditional pork shoulder.  I knew that the extra fat in the pork belly would make this a much different dish!  The full recipe can be found here.

The highlights were a slow braising of the pork belly in an oil and shortening mix (I only used the olive oil) with onion, garlic and morita chiles.  Typically I have braised in a water mix, so I was curious to see how it came out!

After the braising, the pork was cooked in a hot skillet to get the crispy skin and then sliced for tacos.  I served it with lime wedges, Queso Fresco and fresh corn tortillas ... and some ice cold Pacifico, of course!

While this didn't replace traditional pork shoulder carnitas for me, it was a very good incarnation ... try it and enjoy!