For Sunday's dinner, I decided to do something with an inexpensive pork roast. I picked up a large Boston Butt, and as I wandered the aisles of my favorite grocery store, I started to think about an Indian dish I had made with cilantro, mint, and jalapeno. That sounded good, so I grabbed those items, plus a couple cans of coconut milk.
On Sunday, I cubed the pork fairly large (2" cubes) and browned it in several batches. Meanwhile, I took the mint, cilantro, 4 garlic cloves, a jalapeno, the juice from one lemon, and pureed that in my food processor. After the meat was browned, I fried my spices: Garam Masala, cardomom, cinnamon, and some Vindaloo powder. Next came the pureed cilantro and mint mixture, and I sauteed that for a while. I threw in the meat and the coconut milk, and then decided that a some nutty flavor would also be nice. I washed the food processor, and then put in about a cup of cashews and a cup of plain yogurt. I processed that, and threw it in the pot.
I let the pork simmer for a couple of hours, and made some Naan to go with the dinner. I used a bit more yogurt than the recipe calls for, because I like the flavor of the Naan with the extra yogurt. The dough was nice and soft, and rose nicely. I changed tactics with my Naan this time, though, by deciding to cook it on a pre-heated stone (500F for 30 minutes) instead of on a buttered cookie sheet. I also rolled it out a bit thinner than I normally do.
The pork masala korma was very nice...although I was hoping that the pork would have been a bit more tender than it was. Maybe another hour would have made it spoon tender. The naan turned out very nice, with a bit of crispiness that is normally not there. The cashew/yogurt mixture gave it a nice nutty flavor that went well with the mint/cilantro/jalapeno puree.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Battle Bell Pepper...and the winner is...the salad??!!
So, I hit my favorite market in Springboro, Ohio, and try to figure out what I'm cooking for the weekend. I had pretty much decided that for Battle Bell Pepper I would make a couple of dishes...a pasta dish and a roasted red pepper coulis on some chicken, but then I thought about what I would cook on Sunday. I decided to do a tart on Saturday, and cook something with more meat on Sunday.
So, I headed to the meat department to see what they had for Sunday, and saw a beautiful Boston Butt roast. I grabbed that, not really knowing what to do with it, and decided to go with a tart for Saturday night. I had most of the ingredients I needed for the tart, but I realized that I needed something to go with it...a nice spinach salad, perhaps?
A spinach salad sounded good, but a wilted spinach salad sounded even better. I went to the meat counter and got a 1/4 pound of bacon to go with it, with some other thoughts starting to coalesce about that salad.
I got home, and sliced thin 1 1/2 large onions and 4 bell peppers. I put those in a large skillet with a 1/8 cup olive oil, tossed the mixture to coat everything with the olive oil, and then covered to start the cooking process. I also made the dough for the tart shell, and let that rest on the counter. With that done, I let the onions and peppers cook until thoroughly caramelized, and then pre-baked the tart crust.
As the onions and peppers were cooking, I mixed together some ricotta, goat cheese, and parmesan cheese for coating the tart shell. When the tart shell came out of the oven, I let it cool a bit, and then covered the tart with the cheese, and then put the onions and peppers on top of that. I threw on some cubed pepperoni for some spiciness, sprinkled on some more parmesan cheese, and then covered the whole thing with another piece of pastry dough. I popped that in the oven, and then turned to the salad.
I hard cooked some eggs, washed the spinach and chopped the bacon. I popped the bacon into a skillet and let that start to cook and render the fat. When the bacon was done, I turned down the heat, spooned out the bacon, and then threw in a handful of pecans. I dusted those with some Chipotle chile powder, and let the pecans saute for a while. Meanwhile, I took one other red pepper, and minced it.
I filled some large pasta bowls with the spinach, and then poured the pecan and hot bacon fat on top. I threw on some minced hard cooked egg, the minced red pepper, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I tossed all that, and served it while it was nice and hot.
So, to make a long story short, Susan loved the salad. It really was good...too good, really. It was a meal in and of itself. That salad along with a baguette and some really good butter would have been plenty for dinner. But, I had worked hard on the tart, so I insisted that we have at least a bit of it. I really liked it, but Susan was right...it was very dense and rich. It would have been good by itself, but following a wilted spinach salad, it was just a little too much.
So there you have it....the salad that was little more than an afterthought turned out to be a bigger hit than the main course!
So, I headed to the meat department to see what they had for Sunday, and saw a beautiful Boston Butt roast. I grabbed that, not really knowing what to do with it, and decided to go with a tart for Saturday night. I had most of the ingredients I needed for the tart, but I realized that I needed something to go with it...a nice spinach salad, perhaps?
A spinach salad sounded good, but a wilted spinach salad sounded even better. I went to the meat counter and got a 1/4 pound of bacon to go with it, with some other thoughts starting to coalesce about that salad.
I got home, and sliced thin 1 1/2 large onions and 4 bell peppers. I put those in a large skillet with a 1/8 cup olive oil, tossed the mixture to coat everything with the olive oil, and then covered to start the cooking process. I also made the dough for the tart shell, and let that rest on the counter. With that done, I let the onions and peppers cook until thoroughly caramelized, and then pre-baked the tart crust.
As the onions and peppers were cooking, I mixed together some ricotta, goat cheese, and parmesan cheese for coating the tart shell. When the tart shell came out of the oven, I let it cool a bit, and then covered the tart with the cheese, and then put the onions and peppers on top of that. I threw on some cubed pepperoni for some spiciness, sprinkled on some more parmesan cheese, and then covered the whole thing with another piece of pastry dough. I popped that in the oven, and then turned to the salad.
I hard cooked some eggs, washed the spinach and chopped the bacon. I popped the bacon into a skillet and let that start to cook and render the fat. When the bacon was done, I turned down the heat, spooned out the bacon, and then threw in a handful of pecans. I dusted those with some Chipotle chile powder, and let the pecans saute for a while. Meanwhile, I took one other red pepper, and minced it.
I filled some large pasta bowls with the spinach, and then poured the pecan and hot bacon fat on top. I threw on some minced hard cooked egg, the minced red pepper, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I tossed all that, and served it while it was nice and hot.
So, to make a long story short, Susan loved the salad. It really was good...too good, really. It was a meal in and of itself. That salad along with a baguette and some really good butter would have been plenty for dinner. But, I had worked hard on the tart, so I insisted that we have at least a bit of it. I really liked it, but Susan was right...it was very dense and rich. It would have been good by itself, but following a wilted spinach salad, it was just a little too much.
So there you have it....the salad that was little more than an afterthought turned out to be a bigger hit than the main course!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Battle Bell Peppers!
So this weekend, the secret ingredient for my challenge is: Bell Peppers! Susan got me 3 peppers, an orange, a red, and a yellow bell pepper. The possibilities are endless, but already, I've got some ideas.
I have always loved roasted bell peppers, so I'm thinking of roasting the red pepper, then putting it into the food processor with some garlic and olive oil, and making a sort of roasted pepper coulis. I bet that would go great over some sauteed chicken thighs. I could even put the coulis in the pan I cooked the chicken in, and make a nice pan sauce. But what to do with the other peppers? I'm betting those would be awesome cooked down with some onion in olive oil and oregano, until they were nicely caramelized, then served over pasta with ricotta and parmesan cheese. Or, I could serve that over polenta. There's also this recipe in Lynn Rosetta Kasper's "The Italian Country Table" that has this great recipe that I've always wanted to try involving braised peppers with pork and polenta.
Or, maybe I could caramelize the peppers and onions, then pile them on top of the ricotta cheese in a tart shell, and make a pepper tart.
Dang, this is gonna be harder than I thought...
More tomorrow after I cook something.
I have always loved roasted bell peppers, so I'm thinking of roasting the red pepper, then putting it into the food processor with some garlic and olive oil, and making a sort of roasted pepper coulis. I bet that would go great over some sauteed chicken thighs. I could even put the coulis in the pan I cooked the chicken in, and make a nice pan sauce. But what to do with the other peppers? I'm betting those would be awesome cooked down with some onion in olive oil and oregano, until they were nicely caramelized, then served over pasta with ricotta and parmesan cheese. Or, I could serve that over polenta. There's also this recipe in Lynn Rosetta Kasper's "The Italian Country Table" that has this great recipe that I've always wanted to try involving braised peppers with pork and polenta.
Or, maybe I could caramelize the peppers and onions, then pile them on top of the ricotta cheese in a tart shell, and make a pepper tart.
Dang, this is gonna be harder than I thought...
More tomorrow after I cook something.
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