If I can't ski, I'm gonna cook

[Arty50]

Well I'm on the DL for a little while, so naturally I need something to prevent me from going insane. Especially since there's 22 feet of luciousness out there that I can't enjoy. So cooking has been a nice distraction...

Baked Ziti with Spicy Pork and Sausage Ragu:



Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta,* chopped
2 pounds Boston butt (pork shoulder), cut into 1 1/4-inch cubes
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed
2 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup chopped carrots
3/4 cup chopped celery
6 large fresh thyme sprigs
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 cups dry red wine
1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes in juice, tomatoes chopped, juice reserved

1 1/4 pounds ziti pasta
2 cups (packed) coarsely grated whole-milk mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Preparation:

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and sauté until brown and crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to bowl. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Add half of pork to drippings in pot; sauté until brown, about 7 minutes. Transfer to bowl with pancetta. Repeat with remaining pork. Add sausage to same pot. Sauté until no longer pink, breaking up with back of fork, about 5 minutes. Add onions, carrots, celery, thyme, garlic, bay leaves, and crushed red pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; sauté until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add wine and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Add pancetta and pork with any accumulated juices; boil 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice. Cover and cook until pork is very tender, adjusting heat as needed to maintain gentle simmer and stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

Uncover pot; tilt to 1 side and spoon off fat from surface of ragù. Gently press pork pieces with back of fork to break up meat coarsely. Season ragù to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Rewarm over low heat before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish or other 4-quart baking dish. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta; mix into ragù. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper; transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle both cheeses over. Bake until heated through and golden, about 20 minutes.

*Pancetta (Italian bacon cured in salt) is available at Italian markets and in the refrigerated deli case of many supermarkets.

Makes 8 servings.
Bon Appétit
February 2004
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/views/109165


Arty's notes:

I actually prepared the Ragu a day ahead of time and refrigerated it. Unfortunately the fridge seemed to thicken up the Ragu just a touch. It was still really good, but I wish I had just cooked the whole thing together. It would have been even more scrumptious.

Also in the online notes for this recipe, one of the comments suggested inserting a middle layer of cheese when arranging the pasta in the baking dish. This would kick serious ass.

[hop]

So the knee's not doing so well? That sucks....

I assisted with a Malaysian beef curry and an Indian beef curry the other day. MMM! Of course reproducing both w/o the power of Mom at my side would be near impossible. How does she do it?

I can see a nice "shrimp meets chiles and green onions in a wok" in the near future.



Edit: and yes, I will be eating the shells and tails!

[Arty50]

I assisted with a Malaysian beef curry and an Indian beef curry the other day. MMM! Of course reproducing both w/o the power of Mom at my side would be near impossible. How does she do it?

I can see a nice "shrimp meets chiles and green onions in a wok" in the near future.

Mmmmm...curry. Actually the "shrimp meets chiles and green onions in a wok" sounds good too.

Edit: and yes, I will be eating the shells and tails!

"Well I got a joke for you. I'm gonna tear you a new asshole."
"Only after you eat the peanuts out of my shit."

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

what's wrong with your knee? hope it's nothin serious.

[Greydon Clark]

Have you cured that rotten trash smell in your 'fridge? Saturday morning before touring with Ben and Nick I attempted to steal some food for breakfast, but I thought I was back in college and opted for the gas station.

[Arty50]

Have you cured that rotten trash smell in your 'fridge? Saturday morning before touring with Ben and Nick I attempted to steal some food for breakfast, but I thought I was back in college and opted for the gas station.

Yes, we found the culprit. I don't think it was anything of mine either (surprisingly). Anyway, we had left whatever it was in there to deter food thieves like yourself. As of this moment... [Tangina]This fridge is clean.[/Tangina]

As for my knee, I'll know more tomorrow. There's hasn't been any swelling, but any twisting or lateral motion is less than pleasant. Climbing stairs is fun too. I would have thought a sprain would be better by now. I dunno, we'll see. Maybe I'm just getting old and my days of "San Dimas High School football rules!" have come back to haunt me.

[lemon boy]

and an Indian beef curry the other day.

How culturally sensitive of you...

[runethechamp]

What's wrong about saying Indian?

[AntiSoCalSkier]

Indian beef curry

How culturally sensitive of you...

Well, you do have to distinguish between the different types of curry. Japanese curry, Indian curry, and Thai curry are all VERY different.

[KQ]

Made this last weekend and it was amazing!!!

I used Yukon Gold pots and added carrots to the roaster at the time I flipped the chicken (cut them in half lengthwise). Oh yeah - I only used one chicken (4lbs. 5oz) which cut the cooking time down. Also - my chicken was low on fat so I used some butter to baste it during the initial roasting process.

If you don't have a roaster you can use th bottom of the broiler pan that comes with most ovens.





ROAST CHICKEN STUFFED WITH FENNEL AND GARLIC

Potatoes roasted with olive oil and chopped fresh rosemary are a nice accompaniment. What to drink: Poggio del Sasso.

3 large fresh fennel bulbs, trimmed, each cut into 8 wedges
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons fennel seeds, coarsely crushed in resealable plastic bag
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 3-pound whole chickens
2 lemons, halved

1 cup Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine or other dry white wine
1/3 cup low-salt chicken broth

Cook fennel in large pot of boiling salted water until tender when pierced with knife, about 8 minutes. Drain. Transfer to bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons oil; garlic; 1 tablespoon each fennel seeds, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and marjoram; then 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix remaining 1 tablespoon each fennel seeds and herbs in small bowl. Rinse chickens inside and out; pat dry. Rub chickens inside and out with lemon halves, squeezing some of juice into cavities. Rub outside of chickens with 1/4 cup oil, then fennel seed mixture. Sprinkle chickens generously with salt and pepper. Loosely stuff chickens with some of fresh fennel mixture. Tie legs together. Place chickens, breast side down, in large roasting pan. Arrange remaining fresh fennel mixture around chickens.

Roast chickens 30 minutes, basting occasionally with pan juices. Combine wine and broth and pour over chickens. Roast 15 minutes. Turn chickens breast side up. Roast chickens until juices run clear when pierced with fork in thickest part of thigh, about 40 minutes longer. Transfer chickens and fennel mixture to platter. Pour pan juices into bowl; skim off fat. Pour juices over chickens and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

[Superstar Punani]

Who's in for some fear-factor cuisine with me?

Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew)


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups pork blood (from Vietnamese, Filipino or Western European markets).
3 cups cubed boneless pork butt with fat (1/2-inch cubes)
3 tablespoons lard or peanut oil
1/2 cup vinegar mixed with 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon salt 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 hot jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped


Place the pork in a 4-quart covered stove-top casserole and add the vinegar mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Cook, covered, until the pork is tender, about 1 hour. Watch that it does not dry out at all. You will need to add a little more water. Heat a frying pan and add the lard or oil. Saute the onion and garlic until the onion is clear. Add the oil, garlic, and onion to the boiled pork and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Puree the prok blood in a food processor. Add the blood to the pork little by little, stirring the mixture while adding, and bring to a boil. Add the chopped pepper and simmer uncovered to reduce the sauce for a few minutes more. Keep covered and serve hot.
This is most often served over rice.

2) Balut


"Balut is boiled embryonated duck egg - about 9 days or 14 days embryo. At this time, the embryo is almost full duckling, with crunchy feet and feathers when eaten, the egg yolk is reduced and the egg white is hard, and the amniotic sac is filled with fluid. So be careful when opening balut, because you might spill the fluid which is very tasty.

Balut is considered as an aphrodisiac or at least, it increases one's stamina for sex and other rigorous activities (all those nutrients!)"

3) Witchety Grubs


"Raw witchety grubs taste like butter or scalded cream - but cooked, they taste like pork rind."

[Arty50]

KQ: Thanks! That sounds yummy!

Pu: No Thanks! I'm the Golden Child and must remain pure. So no blood pie for me.

[lemon boy]

Perhaps ya'll didn't catch what the main ingredient in his "Indian" curry was...

I'm just bustin his chops. He knows he done wrong and that Vishnu will kick his ass this winter. Probably by breaking his poles.

Poon: the Dinuguan looks fucking awesome. Saved, thankee.

[watersnowdirt]

I've been on a cooking binge lately as well.

My favorites of late:

A Greek chicken dish I grew up on - don't even know the name, but it's insanely good - it involves stewed tomatoes and cinammon.

Chicken with Shiraz and Porcinis and Whole Shallots
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/views/230937

This was very good, not exactly a quick meal though. I used cabernet instead of shiraz (since it's what I had around), and chantarelles instead of porcinis. Porcinis would have been better. The shallots were great.

Pasta with Escarole and sausauge
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/views/107861

This was fabulous - really rich and yummy. I used "bulk" sausage so I didn't have to remove it from the casings. I went light on the cheese, as the dish was already quite rich.

And an Asian Pork Tenderloin I've been working on perfecting - not quite there, but very good.

Hop - any recipes for any of those - they sound great!

And you just have to love this description from Pu's Balut recipe:

"At this time, the embryo is almost full duckling, with crunchy feet and feathers when eaten, the egg yolk is reduced and the egg white is hard, and the amniotic sac is filled with fluid. So be careful when opening balut, because you might spill the fluid which is very tasty."

[runethechamp]

Perhaps ya'll didn't catch what the main ingredient in his "Indian" curry was...

Oh now I get it

[Viva]

Pu: No Thanks! I'm the Golden Child and must remain pure. So no blood pie for me.

Well, in THAT case, no hair pie either!

[KQ]

I've been on a cooking binge lately as well.

My favorites of late:

A Greek chicken dish I grew up on - don't even know the name, but it's insanely good - it involves stewed tomatoes and cinammon.

Mmmmmmmm Greek food - I've been wanting to make moussaka but SOMEONE borrowed my old family Greek cookbook and failed to return it!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[hop]

Hey, I just used what we had left over from the Malaysian curry! It was recycling... Vishnu please don't hurt me!

[irul&ublo]

Mmmmmmmm Greek food - I've been wanting to make moussaka but SOMEONE borrowed my old family Greek cookbook and failed to return it!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Was it Yossarian? He took phUnk's USB cable.

[Pinner]

The best Indian currys are made from lamb. Come on over and I'll prove it.

Tonight I've got tilapia filets which will be broiled and served over either wild rice or couscous and topped with sauteed spinach with walnuts and red peppers.

[bcrider]

damn I was hungry until I saw the Punai menu.


Nice Golden Child reference too!

Ps. Good luck with the knee.

[hop]

"I I I I I I I I I I I......want the knife"

[KQ]

The best Indian currys are made from lamb. Come on over and I'll prove it.

Tonight I've got tilapia filets which will be broiled and served over either wild rice or couscous and topped with sauteed spinach with walnuts and red peppers.

I saw fresh tilapia at the fishmonger’s the other day - looked good but I wasn't sure what the best preparation would be. Care to share?

Edit: SuPu - you don't really eat that, do you?

Irul - that's a thought...he did sleep in that room......

[irul&ublo]

Tilapia can be treated like farm raised catfish. Pretty similar.

[Pinner]

Tilapia is pretty compliant. It'll cook a dozen ways. I like it breaded and fried, pan seared or baked/broiled. Not really the best grilling fish, but it'll work.

Tonight I'll dust the fish with a combination of dried herbs and bake in a lightly greased pyrex dish at 425. As soon as the fish goes in the oven, I'll sautee a bit of garlic and white onions, add fresh spinach and a bit of finely chopped sweet red pepper and walnuts, and finish it with either lemon juice or white wine. As soon as the spinach wilts, spoon the spinach/walnut mixture on top of the fish and continue to bake. Cook time depends on the thickness of your filets, but about 10 minutes should do it. I might add a few rock shrimp if I'm feeling randy.