delvious

I have always loved mu shu pork, it was the one dish my family could agree upon ordering at what I thought was the best Chinese restaurant where I grew up.  Stricken by nostalgia (or just a massive craving for Americanized Chinese food), I went back to that restaurant a few weeks ago and ordered the mu shu lunch special for the first time in years.  Sadly, it was nothing like the mu shu I remembered (quite edible, but certainly mediocre).  I like to think this is attributable to a recent change in ownership, but who knows.  Have you ever gone back to a restaurant years later and found it was different than you remembered?


On a totally unrelated note, isn’t Savoy cabbage beautiful?  This is my pictorial ode to Savoy cabbage:

Recipe

Despite my recent mu shu let-down, I was pretty excited when I saw this recipe.  HC took issue with the pancake batter topping in the original recipe, and suggested I substitute a crispy phyllo crust with the leftover frozen phyllo dough from the chicken and date pastilla I made awhile ago.  Good call, HC.





The prep work includes a whole lot of chopping, so sharpen your knife and plan for some prep time.  I’m going to remember the cornstarch tip for future stir-fry recipes, as the pork browned perfectly and turned out tender. However, this could also be a delicious vegetarian dish if you omit the pork and add a few extra veggies.





I do recommend using up phyllo dough asap after you open it, as it was almost too brittle to work with after a few months in the freezer.  It wasn’t the most beautiful crust, but luckily it still cooked into flaky layers with a nice crunch.  If you have leftovers, heat them up in the oven to keep that crispy topping.

Mu Shu Pork Casserole

Filling adapted from Real Simple
Prep time + Cook time = 40 minutes + 30 minutes
Serves 8

Ingredients

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 lb boneless pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
1 small head Savoy cabbage, shredded
2 medium carrots, sliced into thin matchsticks
1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 package phyllo dough
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the hoisin sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, and ginger. Set aside.
2. Pat the pork dry with a paper towel and slice into 1/4 inch strips. Place in a bowl and toss with the cornstarch.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate.
4. Add the remaining canola oil to the skillet over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cabbage, carrots and water chestnuts and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved sauce, reserved pork, cilantro and half of the scallions, and stir to mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove skillet from heat.
5. Transfer mixture to a 9×13 inch baking dish and preheat oven to 350F.
6. Layer a sheet of the phyllo dough over the casserole. Brush with a thin layer of olive oil and sprinkle with a few scallions. Repeat layers until you have used all of the phyllo dough. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with sesame seeds.
7. Bake until the phyllo dough is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

3 Comments | In: Casserole, Pork | tags: carrots, cilantro, ginger, hoisin sauce, mushrooms, orange juice, phyllo, Pork chops, savoy cabbage, scallions, sesame seed, shiitake, water chestnuts. | #

I was a bit skeptical about getting my daily dose of fruit from this savory pork, pear and mushroom ragu, but anything is worth making once.  And as it turned out, this pasta is certainly worth making twice.

Recipe

Ground pork is way underrated.  Did you realize that it is like (lower fat) sausage?  Just be sure to get it nicely browned at the start of the recipe, and I promise you will be happy with the results.  If meat isn’t your thing, though, omit the pork and use veggie stock.  I’m sure the pasta will still be delicious.


This recipe is also very flexible – I used extra mushrooms and thyme just because I had extra.  I also decided to add a beurre manié (equal parts flour and butter kneaded together) because I wanted to make the sauce richer.  Alternatively, try adding some of the starchy pasta cooking water to thicken it up at the end.


Alright, I know you just want to know how it tasted.  Since the sauce had simmered for an hour on the stove, all of the flavors melded together nicely.  The pears lent a subtle sweetness but had broken down such that my delvious dinner victims were surprised to learn that they were even on the ingredient list.  The nutty shaved parmigiano on top was perfect (but then, isn’t it always?).

Pork, Pear & Mushroom Ragu

Adapted from Serious Eats
Prep time + Cook time = 5 minutes + 60 minutes
Serves 6
Printable recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 lb ground pork

2 large shallots, finely chopped

1 lb cremini or button mushrooms, quartered

2 medium pears, diced small

4 large garlic cloves, sliced

1/4 cup dry sherry

6 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons flour

1 lb short pasta

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

1.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, high-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the pork and cook until browned and crispy (about 8 minutes), breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon.  Add the shallots and sauté until softened (about 3 minutes).

2.  Add the rest of the olive oil and the mushrooms to the pan and sauté until the mushrooms begin to brown and soften (about 8 minutes).  Stir in the pear and garlic, and cook a few minutes until softening (about 3 minutes).

3.  Pour in the sherry and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan as the liquid sizzles.  Let the sherry reduce until nearly evaporated.  Add the thyme, broth and vinegar and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.

4.  To thicken the sauce, mix together the flour and the butter forms a paste.  Stir into the sauce, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

5.  While the ragu simmers, cook pasta according to the package directions.  Strain the pasta and add to the pan of ragu, allowing it to soak in the sauce for several minutes.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

6.  Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and fresh thyme leaves.

2 Comments | In: Fruit, Pasta, Pork | tags: ground pork, mushrooms, pear, shallots, thyme. | #

Whether it’s at a classy sit down restaurant or takeout from the little place down the street, I have trouble turning down pork ribs when they’re on the menu.  No matter what I did that day or what I had for breakfast, it’s rare that something could possibly sound more appealing than a falling-off-the-bone rack of ribs dripping with barbecue sauce.

Let me introduce you to these Dr. Pepper Chipotle Ribs.  They captivated me the moment I laid eyes on the recipe.  It’s a tough job I had here, but I had to find out whether they were delicious enough to be called delvious.

Recipe

For the many of you that have never tried making barbecue sauce at home, it’s made up largely of sugar.  As you are probably more aware, soda is primarily sugar – and thereby a stellar ingredient for barbecue sauce (just don’t use diet soda because artificial sweeteners aren’t going to cut it here).  Simmered on the stove with the other ingredients, the Dr. Pepper reduced down to a concentrated sweetness marked by its distinctive flavor.


I kept the chipotle on the lower end of the 2-4 teaspoons suggested by the recipe; I don’t care for the real spicy barbecue that some parts of the country seem to prefer.  I’ve also heard barbecue is more vinegary on the East Coast, so I wasn’t surprised by the addition of some apple cider vinegar to my Dr. Pepper adaptation.  I certainly didn’t mind that, I’ve been know to eat salt & vinegar chips by the (5 serving size) bag.


Monitoring these ribs in the oven for 2.5 hours is a time commitment.  Don’t worry though, you will be greatly rewarded for your patience.  Layering flavor with both a rub and sauce (especially with that final few minutes under the broiler to caramelize and crisp up the surface) resulted in addicting complexity.  I see no reason to limit this sauce to ribs;  I suspect it would make an outta-this-world condiment on a bacon cheeseburger.

Dr. Pepper Chipotle Spare Ribs

Adapted from Homesick Texan

Prep time + Wait time + Cook time = 30 min + 4 hr + 2 hr 40 min

Printable recipe

Rib Ingredients

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp allspice

2 racks St. Louis style ribs

1/4 cup Dr. Pepper

Sauce Ingredients

2 cups Dr. Pepper

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup yellow mustard

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp molasses

2-4 tsp chipotle powder

Directions

1.  Mix dry spices for the rib rub together.  Coat the ribs with the rub, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  (Omit the salt if you are planning to marinate longer.)

2.  Preheat oven to 300F and bring the ribs to room temperature.  Line a baking or roasting pan with foil and place ribs in with the meat side up.  Add the 1/4 cup of Dr. Pepper.  Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven.

3. Add the sauce ingredients to a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes until thick and syrupy.

4.  After an hour and a half, remove the ribs from the oven and spread some of the sauce on each side. Place back in the oven, meat side up, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

5.  Take the ribs out and spread more sauce on them.  Cook bone side up and uncovered for another 30 more minutes or until ribs have reached the desired tenderness.

6.  Remove the ribs from the oven, and spread the remaining sauce on them.  Cook each side under the oven broiler for 4 minutes.

Spare Ribs Cooking Tips

Completely new to making my very own rack of ribs, I didn’t prepare adequately for handling this giant hunk of meat.  Once the ribs were already in the oven baking away, I decided to Google some tips on cooking spare ribs only to learn I had made several mistakes.

• Cut of meat: Unable to find 2 racks of “St. Louis ribs” at the grocery, I settled for 1 large rack of spare ribs.  I should have at least trimmed them of excess fat; while still tasty, my ribs came out far too fatty for my liking.
• Marinating vs. curing: Par for my overambitious cooking plans, the rub-marinated ribs ended up in the fridge for 48 hours before they went into the oven.  Evidently, salt starts curing pork after about 4 hours.  I definitely detected some ham/bacon flavor in my ribs (not a bad thing necessarily, but not what I was going for).  So if you’re planning to let your ribs marinate overnight, omit the salt from the rub until you are ready to cook.

Nonetheless, I would like to reiterate that it’s okay to deviate from recipes!  Even though my ribs probably tasted somewhat different from the original recipe, we had no trouble polishing them off.

10 Comments | In: Pork | tags: barbecue sauce, chipotle, Dr. Pepper, dry rub, spare ribs. | #