Luci's Tasty Adventures

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

This months Daring Cooks Challenge was super fun for me.  Mostly because I got to break in my newly acquired WagnerWare Dutch Oven.  We purchased this Dutch Oven off E-Bay and it works like a dream.  It heats evenly and retains temperature like no other pot I have.

I created my stew using a Game Hen and Chicken Carcass Vegetable base stock.  I pulled the game hen out of the stock pot after the stock had been simmering for about an hour.  I let it cook off then I skinned it and removed all the meat and set it aside to add to my stew later.  The other meat I chose for my stew was the economical choice of country style pork ribs.

Basically, I had one random game hen in my freezer along with a chicken carcass and 3-4lbs of country style pork ribs.  They spoke to me and my Brunswick Stew was born.  Also, please note I cut the recipe provided by half.  The other adjustments I made were to brown the onions first in the pot and add flour to them.  I then took them out and reserved them for later.  I used Cannellini beans instead of butterbeans, mostly because I had Cannellini beans on hand.  I try to cook with what I have to save money, and doing this usually prompts me to be more creative with my recipes.

I served my Brunswick Stew with some tasty homemade Sourdough Buns.  I was particularly pleased as this was the first time I used my Sourdough Starter without adding any yeast to help the rising process.  I was told that the added yeast would take away the Sourdough flavor of the bread, and this is pretty much true.  My starter is now a few months old, and this was really the first time the end result tasted like Sourdough bread.  When I bit into my first roll I was like OMG it tastes like Sourdough, I win!
 










Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 2 Serrano chilies, seeded, and chopped
• The meat of one Game Hen, shredded
• 3-4 pounds country style pork ribs
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
• 4-8 quarts of chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
• ¾ cup chopped carrots
• 1/ ¾ cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup corn
• 1 ½ cups Cannellini beans
• 2 cups canned peeled tomatoes, drained and mashed 
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 lemon, juiced
• hot sauce to taste

Method:

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat, and saute the onions till they are almost translucent.  Add the flour to the onions mix it around and then dump the onions in a small bowl, reserve them for later.

Add the chopped bacon to the stock pot, saute it over medium heat till it starts to crispin.  Transfer the bacon to a large bowl.  Toast the chilies in the stock pot for about a minute, and then remove them and place them in the same bowl as the bacon.

Season both sides of the pork with kosher salt and pepper.  Place them in the pot and sear them for about 4 minutes a side (work in batches, try not to over crowd the pot). 

















This is just a sear, this will not cook the pork all the way through.  Remove the pork from the pot and place it in bowl with bacon in it.

Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the sauce pan.  De-glaze the pan and get all the bits up off the bottom, simmer the stock till it reduces by half.












Add the remaining stock (start with adding 5 cups) the bay leaf, celery, potatoes, pork, bacon, and chilies.  Bring the pot to a boil, and then lower the heat so it simmers.  Cover it and let it cook for about 2-3 hours till the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the pork with a pair of tongs, and place in a colander to cool.  Remove the bay leaf and discard.  After the meat has cooled, shred it off the bones using a pair of forks.  Discard the bones.
















Return the the shredded pork and game hen to the stock pot.  Add the carrots to the stock pot and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Add the cooked onion, Cannellini beans, corn, and tomatoes.














Simmer for another 30 minutes uncovered.  Remove from the heat, add the vinegar, hot sauce, and the lemon juice.  Serve immediately with a bread. 

This recipe was inspired from Gourmet Magazine.   I often hear the following complaints: week nights are hard to find the time and energy to cook up a fabulous meal, and the most common complaint is recipe X has too many ingredients that I don't have in my pantry.  I think this recipe is good for a causal cook because most of the items are things all cooks should have in the kitchen.  The only thing I may not have on hand all the time is the cream, but more often then not I have a little jug of it in my frig.  I have scaled this recipe down to serve two people; you could easily double this recipe to feed four.  This recipe is also kid friendly in my opinion.  You could easily cook five pork chops, make the sauce for two and serve the kids chops with apple sauce. 

I'm not sure why or when simple whole food got replaced with processed food.  Processed food usually still has to be heated or doctored in some way or another, and always costs more then whole food.  I'm sure you could buy some processed pork chops for more than double the price of what you would pay to make this meal, and save like 15 minutes time.  Just being a little more organized with your menu planning will save you money and the time won't be an issue.  And don't forget the biggest bonus; you will be eating delicious healthy food vs what you get from the deli counter.

Ingredients:

• 2 pork chops
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• ½ cup crimini or button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and position rack in the middle.

Heat a stainless steel sauce pan over medium heat until it is hot.  Pat dry pork chops with a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.  Add oil to skillet; and the pork chops and brown them.  They should cook for about 5 minutes each side.

















Transfer pork chops to a baking dish, save the skillet and bake uncovered until thoroughly cooked about 7-10 minutes depending on chops thickness.  After they are thoroughly cooked loosely cover them with foil and let them stand for 5 minutes.

In the interim, pour off the fat from the skillet.  Cook the shallot and mushrooms over medium heat till they are soft; about 5 minutes.














Add broth to shallot and mushrooms and bring to a boil; make sure you scrape all the browned bits in the pan.














After sauce has boiled for 2 minutes add the mustard and cream, return sauce to a boil add the lemon juice and simmer the sauce till it thickens, about 3 minutes.  Right before serving stir in butter.












Plate pork chops and smother each chop with the mustard sauce.  Remember it does not take godly amounts of time to cook a homemade meal, it just takes some planning.  Enjoy!

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

The rules for this challenge were pretty simple, the challenge left room for lots of creativity.  I chose to make Pork Satay over Chicken or Beef because Pork Satay was something I have not made before.  I also followed Cuppy's recipe pretty much all the through, except for adding jalapeno pepper to the marinade instead of dragon chili.  I also followed the recipe provided for the peanut dipping sauce.

This is my first challenge and I am so excited to have joined the Daring Kitchen, and I am looking forward to the monthly Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges.  Enjoy!

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp ginger root, chopped
• ½ jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and chopped
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound of pork (loin or shoulder cuts)

Method:

Combine onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, lemon, soy sauce, coriander, cumin, turmeric and olive oil in a food processor.   Mix on low till it resembles a chunky sauce.

I used boneless baby back rib pieces, and with that came a lot of trimming, I tried to cut the pork into one inch strips; some are bigger and some are smaller.  So I had to adjust the cooking time on some of them. 

Place prepared pork in a bowl and combine with the marinade.  Pork should marinade from 12-24 hours.  The longer the better (:














Skewer pork, and broil for 8-10 minutes a side.












Flip when they start to turn brown on the edges.  I think the preferred cooking method for satay is barbecuing them, and I would have barbecued them if the laws regarding apartments and barbecue did not exist.  I had to broil mine in batches.












Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 4 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1-2 dried red chilies, chopped

Method:

In a small bowl combine lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, cumin, coriander and red chilies.  Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and combine peanut butter and coconut milk; add the lemon and soy mixture, and melt mixture together.  Serve in a dipping bowl along side the Pork Satay, enjoy!

 






Pastry Ingredients

16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
½ tsp kosher salt
3 cups white flour

1 beaten egg for pastry egg wash

Filling

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, minced
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
¼ pork chorizo sausage
½ pound ground pork
½ pound ground beef
1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, I used fresh
¼ cup Spanish brine-cured green olives, pitted and chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and finely chopped

Method

Pastry

Beat cream cheese, butter, and ½ tsp salt until well blended.  Slowly add in the flour.  Mix till incorporated and form dough into two balls.  Place balls in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator.

Filling

Warm olive oil in a large fry pan over medium heat.  Add onions, bell peppers and garlic, cook till tender about 10 minutes.  Add the chorizo, pork, and beef and cook till no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, olives and cumin.  Cover and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.  Uncover and cook till all moisture is gone, about 5 minutes.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Put aside to cool.

Assemble
















Heat oven to 375.  On a floured work area roll one dough disk out to 1/8th thickness.  Use a cup or a jar with a 3 inch diameter to cut pastry disks.  Fill each disk with a nice teaspoon size ball of filling, top with a few pieces of hard boil egg.  Roll dough over and crimp edges with fork to seal.  Rinse and repeat till your cooking sheet is packed, brush with egg was and bake for about 15 minutes.