Archive for the 'Pork' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Andouille Stuffed Peppers

Who hasn’t had a stuffed pepper of some sort before? The most common stuffed pepper: a green bell stuffed with some mix of rice and ground beef. I wanted to revisit stuffed peppers but see if I could give it a zestier twist.

First, I started with red peppers–I just love the taste of a sweet red bell compared to the other colors (I wouldn’t miss green bells if I could never find them again). I also wanted a more flavorful meat than just ground beef, so I opted for something much more full-flavored: andouille sausage. With this ground up, I also took a trick I’d learned from Peter over a Kalofagas: instead of plain old rice, I cooked up a hearty risotto. Bring these together with some creamy cheese and a number of other flavors, and you’ve got something great.

I thought this tasted amazing. Very strong, southern/Creole sorts of flavors–the pepper and the sausage gave a sweet, spicy,…
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Posted by mike on May 13th, 2008 under Main course, Pork | 16 Comments »

Carnitas with Roasted Corn Salsa

Even if Mexican food isn’t your thing, you have to love carnitas. What are carnitas, you might ask? Think something akin to a Mexican twist on pulled pork–juicy, tender, but paradoxically crispy and crunchy at the same time, all served on a tortilla, in this case, with a freshly made roasted corn salsa.

Carnitas with Roasted Corn Salsa

There are many approaches to carnitas out there, but I think they can pretty much be divided into two categories: semi-healthy using braised pork, or, as is the case with this recipe, a more traditional, heart-stopping approach on account of slow-cooking the pork in roughly a pound-for-pound equal amount of lard (like a confit).

Your reaction to that statement will go one of two ways: (1) holy shit awesome! (I agree :o ) or (2) grossed out and almost off-handedly ruled out as insanely unhealthy. If you’re in the latter group, slow down now and hear me out! After all, its not like you’re ultimately going to…
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Posted by mike on May 1st, 2008 under Main course, Mexican, Pork, Sauce | 26 Comments »

Lasagna Bolognese

I love pasta, but there’s a special place in my heart for lasagna. This is one of those pasta dishes that takes time and effort, but the end result is amazing and definitely up there among the best of pasta-centric comfort-foods. With a little extra attention paid to the noodles, the sauce, and the cheese, lasagna is a force to be reckoned with.

Lasagna Bolognese

I approached this dish more with the intent of clearing out leftovers. You know, something simple that would come out reasonably well with little effort while freeing up space in the fridge and leaving no waste. But then I thought, well, I’d still like to play with my pasta maker, so maybe I could make my own noodles? And then, well, if I have these nice veal leftovers, I shouldn’t just use some jarred sauce, since that just doesn’t seem right. And how would it look on the web site? And after a series of little tweaks…
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Posted by mike on March 6th, 2008 under Italian, Main course, Pasta, Pork, Veal | 18 Comments »

Chili con Carne

Chili is one of those dishes that can incite some passionate arguments, because when it comes to opinions on what should/shouldn’t be in a chili recipe, like ass holes, everybody has one (as the saying goes). Should it include beans? Meat? Tomato? Pasta (the answer to that, of course, is no and I don’t care where you come from ;-) )? These are life or death decisions in the chili world. So given that, here’s my take on a good and hearty bowl of chili.

Bowl of Chili, topped with cheddar and sour cream

While this chili has a lot of familiar flavors, it does nonetheless include one very special ingredient. I’ve been hanging on to this item for a few weeks now, keeping it near and dear until the right dish came along and beckoned for it as I only had one handy. See, if I like anything in my chili, its some punch–chili is a dish that simply should (must!) have some heat to it. I’ve grown my…
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Posted by mike on February 11th, 2008 under Barbeque, Beef, Main course, Mexican, Pork, Soup & Stew | 16 Comments »

Sausage Stuffed Shells

Some times, I like to really doll up a meal to make it something delicate and decadent. Other times, I just want something hearty and quick. This is one of those times: lasagna’s less popular, ugly step-brother: stuffed shells.

Sausage Stuffed Shells

This is nothing terribly fancy–pasta, tomatoes, sausage, parmesan, and ricotta–but hey, it’s good. For no good reason at all, I was just in the mood for shells instead of lasagna, even though really, they would both be largely similar. I don’t have pasta terribly often, and when I do, its usually some quick linguine kind of dish, so having a filled pasta just seemed like a nice change. Plus, it can be hard to write a ton of posts ahead of time before you go on vacation so bear with me! ;-) (this is the last one–I’ll be back and cooking fresh soon! Think of this as “leftovers”)


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Posted by mike on January 5th, 2008 under Italian, Main course, Pasta, Pork | 3 Comments »

Creamy Sausage Mushroom Stuffing

Stuffing is one of my (and probably everybody else’s) favorite side dishes that you only have once a year with your Thanksgiving turkey. For such a rare treat, you might as well spoil yourself a little:

Stuffing, fresh out of the oven

There seem to be an endless variety of ways you can prepare stuffing–from a bag, from inside the turkey, from fresh cornbread, apples, raisins, celery, squash, chestnut, oyster, cranberry–anything in season is pretty much fair game. This particular recipe was inspired by one that I saw online a while back that sounded delicious and slightly different from what I had grown up on. The end result was amazing: rather than the traditional cornbread croutons, you have the tang of sourdough bread, the heartiness of sausage, the earthy flavor of mushrooms, and the creaminess of leeks and goat cheese. There are a lot of really rich, heavy flavors at play in this stuffing, and it is guaranteed to live up to the high expectations everybody brings…
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Posted by mike on December 1st, 2007 under Pork, Side dish | Comment now »
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