What do you serve when you have two teenaged nephews over for the weekend in a house already populated by four men?  When you know that the two people visiting are capable of consuming the gross food production of some small island nations all by themselves in a single sitting?  Casserole came to mind, but since both of my nephews are fond of spicy foods there really was only one choice for me.  Curry.

A curry might seem a strange choice for boys raised eating primarily Southern American and Californian cuisines, but on a night of complete chaos and a house filled with 5 boys it seemed about perfect to me.  The rice cooker did all the work on the grain for me and the curry required little monitoring while cooking, which left me free to put out fires in other parts of the house.

About 1/4 of the way through cooking, all of that was a mute point.  The older two boys were hovering in the kitchen by then, with mutterings of “When is dinner” and “That smells Great!”  A definite testament to the power of curry, and to the power of a teenager’s hunger.

In the end, this one was a real winner. There were calls for seconds and thirds from most of the kids and all 6 cups of rice were demolished. (I made more rice to get the photos above.)  This was not a terribly spicy dish, but one packed with a massive amount of flavor that I’m sure your family will enjoy as well.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

One of the highlights of Last years’ foodbuzz blogger festival was a wonderful brunch at LuLu.  I got to sit and hang out with some very old and dear online friends who are now just old friends.  The day was amazing! If you’d like to know more about it, follow the link above.  This post is about just one part of that day and a certain super-blogger’s love of bacon.

Yes Jaden, I’m talking about you.

While we talked about many things over that brunch, the topic kept going back to bacon.  Not only because the bacon at LuLu was somehow better than most other I’ve ever had, but because Jaden just couldn’t resist going back for “one more piece” every few minutes.

At some point in the conversation someone quipped that we should just make the bacon into a straw to go with the bloody mary (or it could have been a virgin mary, I didn’t check) that she was drinking.

I thought that was a brilliant idea, and while it’s more of a “From the playing with your food” files than it is a recipe, I went ahead and made sure it happened.  It just took me a while.

So this post finds itself dedicated to the venerable and ever so sweet Jaden Hair of Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen.  These straws are for you, my friend.  perhaps you can enjoy them with your next bloody mary.  Oh, and if you haven’t already, go grab a copy of her cookbook: The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, you won’t regret it, I promise you that.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

There is nothing more fun or more challenging for a seasoned cook or chef than dealing with an overage of product (leftovers for us laymen.)  While you could just reheat and serve, it will almost never be as good as the original dish was (unless it’s a soup or stew, which are sometimes made a day in advance and allowed to get better overnight.)  The idea of turning something previously wonderful into something completely different, but just as memorable is one that some shy from, but I embrace.

This dish is the result of having made far too much braised pork.  I’d used soy in the original marinade and the rest of the ingredients are just pantry staples mixed in a new way.  The difference in textures and flavors was amazing and even though the pork was braised for hours, the dish still had a light, bright flavor that was perfect for a quick breakfast.

The recipe below is for one person, but makes enough dressing for 3 or 4, so feel free to make several plates with a bit more pork and you’ll be fine!

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Fried rice is something I’ve covered on this blog on more than one occasion. Fried rice is a passion for both my wife and myself.  It’s a staple meal in our home for its versatility, ease of cooking and its ability to carry the flavors of almost any ingredient added to it, but this post is not about the rice.

Don’t get me wrong,  the rice was wonderful; but in this instance it was eclipsed by the accidental perfection of the marinade used on the pork.  It’s good folks.  Good enough to consider using as cologne.  Good enough to make a full batch on skewers and call it a snack for one person good. Good enough that I almost don’t want to share it with you good.

But I’m just not that cruel. This must be shared. All I ask is that if you put it on a restaurant menu, I get a handy little royalty check and credit for the recipe.  This recipe is a keeper.

The flavors in the marinade are more Middle-Eastern than Asian, but they pair very well with the rice and just a bit of soy sauce. The pork is savory, sweet and spicy at the same time, but so tender you can cut it with a glance.  No knife necessary.

I could rave on about this for hours, but I think I’ll end the suspense and just get to the recipe.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Fried Rice is the perfect go-to meal.  As long as you have Rice, eggs and scallions you already have all the basics of fried rice on hand.  Anything and everything else that you happen to have lying about in the fridge or the pantry is fair game for this dish and there’s absolutely no reason not to throw just about anything including the kitchen sink, into the pan.

This particular fried rice incarnation is brought to you by my brand-spanking new smoker/grill. When I bought it I knew I wouldn’t use it all that often as a smoker, but I absolutely had to christen it as such.  To justify the expense of burning three bags of charcoal and two bags of wood chips, I offered up close to 15 pounds of proteins to the gods of the grill and they did not disappoint.

My larder now happily includes 6 pounds of smoked chicken, 5 pounds of smoked brisket, 6 pounds of smoked ribs and 4.5 pounds of smoked pork.  If you’ve got this amount of smoky goodness on hand, you use it.

I was debating between making spring rolls and a simple batch of fried rice.  My wife made up my mind for me and I was off to create something worthy of the time taken in preparing such a wonderful feat of wood infused goodness. I think I’ve managed to do so, but I’ll let you be the judge.

Of course, if you can’t smoke your own pork for 7 hours you can easily recreate the spirit of the dish by cooking a pork roast wrapped in foil with 3 tsp of liquid smoke in the oven at 250 degrees for about 4 hours.  The flavor isn’t exactly the same, but it’s a close second.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

The other night I was looking for a recipe idea that just screamed Holidays. We’ve been going over plans for the move, getting paperwork in order and dealing with a sudden and potentially devastating problem that came just one month too early. I needed something realy holiday flavored to get me back in the spirit of the season before it fizzled out on me and this dish was just the ticket.

When I walked into the kitchen, all I was sure of was that I wanted to pair the pork with a few apples I had left over.  What I ended up with is one of those “hooRah!” moments that simply come together perfectly.  A blent of svaory, sweet and spicy that we just couldn’t get enough of.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.  It really is something close to perfection, especially during the holidays.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

The weather in our part of the world finally got chilly.  The moment that happened I had a definite urge to slow cook something for a very, very long time. Luckily i had just picked up a pork butt roast at the store a few days before.  Originally I’d planned on grilling and smoking, but with the mercury in the 40′s the roast suddenly had a new direction in life. the only question was exactly how I was going to braise it.

The answer came more from a need to get going than it did from planning.  There on the counter sat a few onions that needed to be used and a few heads of garlic that are on their way to getting woody, so those looked like prime candidates.  On the other counter sits a bottle of Sherry that’s past its prime for baking, but would still go wonderfully in a sauce.  Then there was a lonely 1/2 stick of butter and most of a box of vegetable stock in the fridge… I was good to go!

With just a little effort and a little patience we had what is very likely the best pork roast I have ever made. The pork was tender, so packed full of flavor that a little goes a very long way, and with the potatoes…  Well, let’s just say that on winter days when I don’t have a post for this blog, I’m probably making this dish again! I hope Y’all enjoy it as much as we did.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

I love Stir Fry.  I love it because it’s fast.  I love it because it’s simple, and I love it because it’s the easiest way I know of to use up anything you happen to have in your fridge or pantry.  You can stir fry just about anything and it’s gonna be good.  Add the right flavorings and whatever it is, it’s gonna be great.  This dish was absolutely fabulous.

Lunch needed to be quick yesterday.  All I knew was that it was going to involve two pork shoulder blade steaks I had in the fridge.  These guys were just begging to be used up before they went bad. I’m ot sure what inspired me to use this particular combination of marinade ingredients, but I’m very glad that I did.  The ork was tender, with a zing of ginger and more than enough flavor to induce a perfectly fed food coma after eating it.

The recipe easily makes enough for 4 to 6 people, especially if you pare it with a few extra sides, like pot stickers or dim sum.  Add in a bit of garlic chicken and you’d have a complete take out feast.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

What if I told you that you could make a dish that would wow your guests with less effort than it takes to order-in?  What if I told you that you don’t need a huge arsenal of cooking skills or prior knowledge to turn out a perfect meal each and every time? What if I told you that all of this can be done with just five or six ingredients that can be found in any big-scary-mega-mart anywhere in the country, for somewhere around $10.00, depending on the price of pork in your area?

It’s all true, every word of it. With just a few minutes of prep time and a few lazy hours spent doing… Well, whatever it is that you’d like to do… You can produce something so sinfully delicious and decadent that everyone who tries it will think you’ve slaved your day away working on the perfect meal. And I’m going to tell you how to do it.

Hey, I won’t tell anyone it was easy. That will be our little secret, O.K?

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Popularity: 13% [?]

I whipped this up for myself on the same night I made the beef in plum sauce for my wife. It was a perfect pairing with fried rice, and more than spicy enough to make my mouth sing. All three dishes were wonderful and could be served together without issues.

For a little less fire, skip adding the additional curry powder at the end, or marinade in a sweet curry, it’s up to you. I was feeling the need for a few alarms, so I went with a yellow curry sauce and a mix of red and yellow curry powder.

This is a simple dish, and would work well on the grill if you simply kabob the ingredients then serve with a dish of curry dipping sauce on the side. Not a bad job considering that I took about five minutes to decide what i was going to do with a leftover pork loin. (Hey, they come two in a package, and if we cook them both, we eat them both, so there’s always one left over.)

Any suggestions on what would have made this a better dish? I’m itching to make it again, but I’d like to see if I could boost the flavors in it a bit.

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Popularity: 1% [?]