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Category Archives: braise

Pork and Beans

Pork and Beans

After my trip to London in October of 2011, I finally got to taste the famous Heinz beans in tomato sauce that everyone had raved to me about.  We settled in for a nice full english breakfast one day at the Regency Cafe in Westminster where besides spotting a mutant (yes they exist) I finally got to have these beans.  I imagine they are pretty prevalent across London unless the establishment is making their own.  Basically, I was hooked.  They are tangy, a little sweet and a perfect accompaniment to the eggs, meat and toast you’re eating (love the grilled tomato too)  Anyway, recently my friend Gale actually surprised me with these beans and I knew I had to feature them.  This recipe is really simple.  To make the beans, follow the directions on the back of the tin (which are written in a very British style) and then serve them.  Don’t mess with them at all.  The meat of this recipe lies in the pork chop preparation.  Basically, I believe that a sear and then a finish in liquid is one of the tastiest ways to cook pork.  I’ve never had it sous vide so perhaps my standards are a bit low but for now, in my kitchen, I’ll go with my sear-braise method.

 

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Posted by on February 29, 2012 in braise, dinner, recipes, sear

 

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Thai Eggplant Oyster Chili Sauce

Thai Eggplant Oyster Chili Sauce

Recently, a trip to the American Sardine Bar yielded me the best brussel sprouts that I ever tasted.  The previous title was held by Varga Bar but unfortunately, this preparation got the edge.  The oyster sauce (vegetarian, made with mushrooms) was salt and briney while the pickled chilis in the sauce gave little blasts of heat in separate bites.  Combine those flavor elements with crispy brussel sprouts and you’ve got a powerhouse of a dish.  So why the deviation?

The answer is my asian market.  I’ve gone in their a few times expecting staples such as milk, ice or even brussel sprouts.  It takes pleasure in disappointing me and reminding me that yes, I am a westerner and much taller than most of their clientele.  Upon perusing the produce section, I came across thai eggplant.  Initially I thought, well those look close enough.  I’ll give them a shot.

When you cut into them, they smell like normal eggplant.  I get the sense of the seeds and this briney earthy scent.  I was happy.  I kept the recipe exactly as I planned with one notable exception.  I had only planned to perfume the peanut oil with garlic and discard it.  It was by happy circumstance that I used a small ramekin to collect the fried garlic and set it aside.  While the eggplants were braising, I looked over and saw that it had a crispy texture.  I tasted a piece and my eyes lit up.  Immediately, I minced it and reserved it for garnish.  The villagers rejoiced.

Pro-tip : Halve and then soak your eggplant in a water bath to keep it from browning.

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Posted by on January 18, 2012 in braise, quick, recipes

 

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Five Spice Sichuan Chicken Thighs

Five Spice Sichuan Chicken Thighs

Five spice powder.

As someone who cooks regularly, you tend to hear about ingredients in conversations with other people.  I’ve know about five spice powder for a while but I never actually got the chance to work with it.  It just never seemed to cross my mind in the grocery store when I was out picking up normal foodstuffs.  I finally decided to try it out on this chicken dish.

It is highly aromatic.  From the moment I started searing the chicken thighs, my whole house smelled like toasted cinnamon.  That might have been just the five spice blend that I purchased but I was pretty happy with the results.  This recipe balances sweet and savory rather well and has a small dose of heat in addition.  The wonton noodles help to really soak up the delicious sauce.

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Posted by on December 7, 2011 in boil, braise, dinner, recipes

 

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Sunday Short Ribs

Sunday Short Ribs

Sunday has definitely become a slow cooking day for me.  Typically I plan my week so that I have my Sunday completely free which affords me the opportunity to go shopping, have a few beers and cook something special.  With football on, there is no better background noise in your kitchen then watching a football game.  You crack a beer, open a bottle of wine, pour some bourbon and have some friends come over.  This to me is what life is about.

Originally, I wanted to make this recipe with five-spice powder and sichuan peppercorns.  I promise that I’ll get to that eventually.  This recipe came up as a result of me being gifted some homemade BBQ rub.  A friend went to a BBQ/Bourbon festival (yeah how did I miss that?) and as part of the ticket admission, you mix your bbq rub and take it home.  That found its way to my kitchen and I knew that I had to use it.  There aren’t many more seasoning elements happening in this because the bbq rub does that part all for you.  You can google around for a bbq rub to put together or buy one.  You will love this dish.

One final note.  The tahini sauce was a late addition.  I thought the richness of the braising liquid might be a bit too much so I included the tahini sauce to lighten things up a bit.  Feel free to omit that step or make it and keep it around for other things.  It’s delicious.

 

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Posted by on November 16, 2011 in braise, dinner, recipes, sear

 

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Potlucky Chipotle Meatballs

Potlucky Chipotle Meatballs

I was lucky enough to receive an invite to a Philadelphia Foodie Potluck.  It was hosted by Jackie of Cupcake Karma.  Notables in attendance were Brian of Bridges, Burgers and Beer and of course Chris, from ThisIsAHotJam who you may recognize from his Friday ZP posts.  Others who showed were Lou and Gwen, Erin, Sarah, and the crew from Homespeakeasy.  Needless to say, it was a food extravaganza.  I’m quite sure that we could have fed a small army with the amount of food that showed up here.

As usual, I was pressed for time.  I didn’t want to show up empty handed.  With all the posts that we do here at ZP, I should really be able to come up with something.  My co-author whipped up a new dish and I thought, “fine I guess I can quit my whining and come up with something fast.

The recipe skips a few steps by using sausages and just splitting them from the casing.  You have the benefit of someone having already seasoned them for you.  Of course, you can still augment and that’s exactly what we do here.  I went with cilantro both in the meatballs and in the sauce because it has such a unique flavor.  The lime zest also just seemed like a natural pairing.  You can serve these with fresh tortillas or maybe with some polenta.  They will go over very well and the effort level is rather minimal.

This recipe is adopted from the Rick Bayless version that I saw here.

 

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Posted by on November 14, 2011 in braise, dinner, recipes, roast

 

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