I know, I know, I've been lazy. Bad AJ. Hear my excuse: busy schedule. That's all I have to say for myself. I still have a busy schedule, but I have a bit more free time at the moment than I did..during...the..last..entry...and I honestly don't know when that was O_o.
So I'm back because Anita requested some veggie recipes for an upcoming period of time and I thought ohmigod someone reads my food blog! and ohmigod a request from a real live person! and so I'm back here with a goofy smile on my face, ready to take on the heat (pun intended) once again.
Throughout this hectic month of May, I haven't stopped cooking, and so I decided I'll focus on the most outstanding meal of the month (hahaha that sounds like an award) first. Just last week I made an easy version of swiss rice, curried vegetarian lamb with veggies, red beans, and dhal (split peas). Here go my explanations.
There are different versions of different kinds of rice. I don't know where I first saw someone throw in some spice or the other into their boiling pot to make their rice swiss, but I've since alternated my spices with my own easy version. I wasn't too eager to try vegetarian lamb at first, but once cooked the right way, it does wonders. For example, with this meal. Red beans should be a no brainer (easy version: I usually drain out the water from the can - yes I get too lazy to soak them overnight - and saute some onions in a couple tbsp of oil, then throw in the beans, stir, simmer, add liquid and salt and pepper to my taste, simmer, and voila) but as my brain is quite tired at the moment, I'll leave the big, long process out of this one. Dhal is also called split pea soup by some. I just know it as dhal, a popular Trinidadian dish. It's also famous for being a prime meal as a soup in bars and as a hangover helper.
HOW I MADE IT
Rice: I put up about 3 1/4 cups of water to boil with a dash of salt and a drop of oil. Once the water was boiling, I threw in the 2 1/2 cups of washed rice and stirred in a tablespoon of ground ginger (fresh ginger works better) and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamon (elychee). About 12-15 minutes later, I strained the rice and it was ready to eat!
Curried Veg. Lamb & Veggies: I put about two tablespoons of oil in a hot pot and wait for it to heat up. I mix about 1 tablespoon of curry powder and 1/4 tablespoon of anchar massala powder together, and add it to the pot. Stirring up the curry mix, I wait until all the powder is somewhat grainy and add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and leave it to simmer. While this is simmering, I add 1-2 sliced hot peppers (omit if you don't like it spicy), 2 finely chopped pimientos, and 2 1/2 cups of mixed veggies ( I used corn, sweet peppers, peas, carrots, cauliflower, baby carrots,and string beans) and stir until the sauce thickens. Then add 2-3 cups of chopped veg. lamb (seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped green seasoning to taste) and stir again. Once the sauce has thickened to the extent that it begins slowly sticking to the pot, I add four-five cups of coconut milk and let it simmer to the thickness I want. Once the sauce has achieved the consistency I want, I add a pinch of salt if necessary, and take off the stove. Done!
Dhal: I wash about 1 1/2 cups of dhal (split peas) first, and add 1 flat teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron, 1 crushed clove of garlic, some chopped green seasoning, and stir. I add some hot water, just covering the top of the dhal, and leave it to soak for about 20 minutes or so, and add it to a pot of boiling water, where I leave it to boil for upwards of 15 minutes until the split peas are soft. Using a wooden swizel stick (ghutney), I swirl and mash the peas to increase the thickness. I leave it to simmer until it has the thickness I want, and take it off the stove. Then I put up a metal ladle (kalchul) on the stove burner, filling it just about half way with oil (I use a good sized one - that's about two tablespoons of oil). When the oil is hot, add about one tablespoon of geera (whole cumin). This process is called patching the geera in the oil. Once the geera browns, add one crushed, minced clove of garlic and 1/4 of an onion, finely sliced. I also add a whole pepper, slashed in the middle, but leave that out if you don't want it spicy. I usually turn this with a metal fork to ensure everything is browned (I love the onions all caramelized-y). Then lift the lid off of the dhal pot very slightly, and sneak the ladle/kalchul in there. That's right, just dunk it in and slam the cover on it (not loudly). The sizzly sound makes me giddy :) Stir it all up with your ladle/kalchul and get ready to serve. If you choose, you can do like my grandmother and boil the dhal with a whole pepper. For all the pepper lovers out there, it's heavenly.
REVIEWS
Best idea ever! I loved it, I loved it, and ohhhh how I loved it! There are no pictures to show you because it all finished very quickly due to greediness. Hopefully, the next time I make this (definitely a new fave!) I'll stop, clamp my watering mouth, and take a few pics to add later on. Right now, use your imagination. The rice was the perfect complement to the sweet, savoury, flavorful, in your face curry, and the dhal and red beans just enhanced it by that much extra. I wanted to drink the dhal alone...I wanted to sit down and eat the curry meal...I wanted to eat the rice and oh the beans and OMG...you must try it! It was HEAVENLY!!!!
As for hubby, Mr. I-automatically-hate-anything-vegetarian-or-healthy could not stop talking about how good it was! He can't wait for me to make it again and interrupted me mid-conversation a few times just to describe how much he loved it. Did I say best idea ever? I repeat: BEST IDEA EVER!!!!
I'm going out on a limb here, but have you heard of engagement chicken and so on? FORGET THAT!!! If you have vegetarian in-laws or new friends or soulmate hopeful or whatever, MAKE IT! They will love you, and they will love this. As a warning to people that advertise their cooking skills: people often expect you to become their personal cook. True story. But I repeat, this meal was THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
A Pork Story (part two)
Hubby and I agreed to work on the second piece of Piglet this morning. My way. So I put my excellent recipe idea to work at last (on poor, innocent Piglet)!
HOW I MADE IT
I put Piglet to thaw out in hot water and chopped up half a head of garlic, some green seasoning, and three pimientos. By the time Piglet was thawed, already washed, my sauce had regained room temperature after spending a couple days in the fridge. I stabbed Piglet a few times and slashed him across his meatiest parts, and then proceeded to rub him down firmly with the garlic, seasoning, and pimientos, as well as some onion powder, salt, and black pepper. I zig-zagged some extra virgin olive oil across the top of the meat and rubbed the seasoning into the meat, as well as into the gashes.
I had hubby add sauce to Piglet and rubbed him down on both sides before putting him straight into the preheated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. After 15 minutes, I pulled Piglet out to baste him, and after another 15 minutes, I basted Piglet, flipped him over, and placed him on a wire rack on top of the dish so the sauces could drip down below.
I put him in for another 25 minutes and then pulled him out again. I added a cup of water to the sauces in the dish below and basted Piglet with that as I flipped him again and sliced him to see how much more cooking he needed.
He was moist and mostly cooked, but to the center of the meat, closer to the bone he still needed more cooking, so I basted him with the thick sauce and the sauce in the dish as well and put him in the oven for another 35-40 minutes.
Hubby and I took him out of the oven to see the top part looking crispy in some parts and my first instinct was that I overcooked or even burned it. I sliced through and saw that Piglet was indeed fully cooked, and made some slices throughout the meat, and basted with the sauce in the dish before carving out some for hubby's meal.
REVIEWS
I told hubby today that he's the best and worst critic. He gives excellent reviews, but makes me wait forever for his response and keeps a mutual face throughout tasting and talking so I have no idea what to expect. (Which is probably a good thing, but having butterflies in your stomach after eating a cheesy lasagna is not a pleasant experience.)
Hubby put his mutual thinking face on as he had a piece as is. He chewed thoughtfully and swallowed slowly. Then he picked up another piece and dipped it in the ketchup and pepper to the side. He seemed to be thinking hard, as he chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed slowly.
"Well?" I asked anxiously.
"It's" he began (and continued 30 seconds later) "not so good" he finished.
I was devastated. I was so sure this recipe thing would work. Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together and dared to ask why.
"Well" he began (and continued 30 seconds later) "I'm just kidding, this is real, real, real, good!" he exclaimed.
I gave him my I-will-kill-you look, calmly informed him that I wanted to strangle him, and asked if he was actually serious.
He was. He described it as better than the pork from a place in Tabaquite, which he had previously claimed was the best pork anywhere. He loved the moist texture and how every inch was packed with flavor (which he did not get from the first pork). Even the crispy looking parts were more moist than pork he had eaten anywhere else.
Drawback? Now he wants a sauce to go with it because the pork from Tabaquite has some supposedly spectacular sauce that gives their pork all its flavor and if this roast pork gets a sauce like that, no other pork will be able to stand up to it. Funny. Really funny.
HOW I MADE IT
I put Piglet to thaw out in hot water and chopped up half a head of garlic, some green seasoning, and three pimientos. By the time Piglet was thawed, already washed, my sauce had regained room temperature after spending a couple days in the fridge. I stabbed Piglet a few times and slashed him across his meatiest parts, and then proceeded to rub him down firmly with the garlic, seasoning, and pimientos, as well as some onion powder, salt, and black pepper. I zig-zagged some extra virgin olive oil across the top of the meat and rubbed the seasoning into the meat, as well as into the gashes.
I had hubby add sauce to Piglet and rubbed him down on both sides before putting him straight into the preheated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. After 15 minutes, I pulled Piglet out to baste him, and after another 15 minutes, I basted Piglet, flipped him over, and placed him on a wire rack on top of the dish so the sauces could drip down below.
I put him in for another 25 minutes and then pulled him out again. I added a cup of water to the sauces in the dish below and basted Piglet with that as I flipped him again and sliced him to see how much more cooking he needed.
He was moist and mostly cooked, but to the center of the meat, closer to the bone he still needed more cooking, so I basted him with the thick sauce and the sauce in the dish as well and put him in the oven for another 35-40 minutes.
Hubby and I took him out of the oven to see the top part looking crispy in some parts and my first instinct was that I overcooked or even burned it. I sliced through and saw that Piglet was indeed fully cooked, and made some slices throughout the meat, and basted with the sauce in the dish before carving out some for hubby's meal.
REVIEWS
I told hubby today that he's the best and worst critic. He gives excellent reviews, but makes me wait forever for his response and keeps a mutual face throughout tasting and talking so I have no idea what to expect. (Which is probably a good thing, but having butterflies in your stomach after eating a cheesy lasagna is not a pleasant experience.)
Hubby put his mutual thinking face on as he had a piece as is. He chewed thoughtfully and swallowed slowly. Then he picked up another piece and dipped it in the ketchup and pepper to the side. He seemed to be thinking hard, as he chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed slowly.
"Well?" I asked anxiously.
"It's" he began (and continued 30 seconds later) "not so good" he finished.
I was devastated. I was so sure this recipe thing would work. Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together and dared to ask why.
"Well" he began (and continued 30 seconds later) "I'm just kidding, this is real, real, real, good!" he exclaimed.
I gave him my I-will-kill-you look, calmly informed him that I wanted to strangle him, and asked if he was actually serious.
He was. He described it as better than the pork from a place in Tabaquite, which he had previously claimed was the best pork anywhere. He loved the moist texture and how every inch was packed with flavor (which he did not get from the first pork). Even the crispy looking parts were more moist than pork he had eaten anywhere else.
Drawback? Now he wants a sauce to go with it because the pork from Tabaquite has some supposedly spectacular sauce that gives their pork all its flavor and if this roast pork gets a sauce like that, no other pork will be able to stand up to it. Funny. Really funny.
A Pork Story (part one)
So hubby's friend K dropped off a piece of pork for him last week. Hubby got the idea of making roast pork. Neither of us have any experience with roast pork. To spare myself the agony of cooking the beloved character of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh for my carnivorous spouse, I asked if he would be willing to experiment with it on his own. He agreed. So two days ago, we took poor little Piglet (forget the fact that this was actually Piglet's mommy or daddy) out of the freezer in the morning, and placed him in a large bowl of steaming hot water to thaw out. We spent the majority of the day cruising the internet, searching for recipes of roast pork.
Seeing American and British versions seemed to discourage him, so I suggested we search for Trinidad roast pork, which was what he actually wanted. Thankfully, there were a few others who had queried the same thing. As I inspected every suggestion and recipe idea I came across, hubby grew restless, hungry, and cranky and so we had to run to the kitchen to see if Piglet was ready to cook.
Piglet was barely ready, so we organized something else to soothe hubby's growling stomach and cut Piglet in half so if this recipe didn't work, we could try again. I immediately began to prepare a sauce I had been concocting in my head since early morning.
HOW I MADE IT
I began with a roux, adding about three tablespoons of butter to about three tablespoons of melted butter, I mixed until the lumps were gone and it began to thicken. I threw in some chopped green seasoning (chive, podina, culantro) and about a head of garlic, minced, as well as two finely chopped pimientos. I added about two tablespoons of paprika and chili powder, followed by a tablespoon of Maggi (bouillon cubes) vegetable seasoning, parsley, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, back pepper, and sugar. I added about a cup of water as the mixture got drier.
*While making the sauce, my father-in-law informed us that gas might be low, so hubby rushed out to buy a tank of gas to come back.*
As the sauce was still watery, I added about a tablespoon of ketchup, a tablespoon of aromatic bitters (which hubby will now find out), three tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of brown sugar & hickory flavored barbecue sauce, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and two tablespoons of hot homemade peppersauce. I beat in the ingredients with a fork for about five minutes before leaving the sauce to simmer until I felt I had achieved the right thickness.
As I was beating the sauce, I tried to think up how exactly I was going to attempt to do poor Piglet justice. I put a few methods together, decided to take a couple risks with it, and had a recipe planned out by the time I was ready to wash the pork. I had called Daddy an hour before to ask the meat chef's (he claims he's not a pro; we all have reason to believe it's a lie) expertise. He had advice on stew pork, geera pork, barbecued pork, washing the pork, cutting the pork, but as for roast pork...nothing.
So I followed his advice and washed the Piglet with flour, not lime, and followed a random website's advice and patted Piglet as dry as humanly possible with a bunch of paper towels. As I waited for hubby to return, I realized I was most likely on my own with this, and would have to begin the process of cooking poor Piglet without hubby's valuable assistance. I put my sentiments aside, said a little prayer for poor, innocent, little Piglet, and took my sauce off the stove, as I got ready to prepare beloved Piglet for my even more beloved hubby (because I love him so much).
As I preheated the oven, hubby came running into the kitchen, completely out of breath, and told me to wait. I waited until he caught his breath and as he spoke my agonizing decision to make Piglet for him became complicated. A lot.
Hubby had met one of his friends, who was in fact the son of a bar owner who was famous for making roast pork. According to this friend, we should cover Piglet in oil and fry him, as putting him in the oven would do nothing but bake him. Hubby decided to follow his friend's advice, and so my excellent recipe idea was squashed. [DISCLAIMER: All actions from this point forward was not my fault. I blame PMS. I am innocent.]
So I stared at hubby as if he was talking another language (PMS glared at him, I just stared). I sighed (PMS let out a huge sigh and said "what?") and I agreed (PMS said "fine, whatever" with an attitude, not me). Remembering his eagerness to experiment on his own, I asked if he would be okay seasoning Piglet on his own, and he gave me his how-could-you-do-this-to-me face, so PMS gave him a you-are-so-not-serious-it's-not-even-funny-so-don't-even-start look, and I gave him a okay-fine-I'll-help-you-but-I'm-not-doing-everything-since-my-plan-got-cancelled look, and PMS gave him a you-said-you-would-do-it-on-your-own-and-now-you're-giving-me-the-look-when-I-should-refuse-to-help-you-but-I-won't-because-I-already-made-the-seasoning-and-your-look-is-getting-to-me-you-evil-husband-you look.
So I washed the stickiness of Piglet's dead body off my hands and instructed hubby to rub Piglet [as if he were massaging him, but firmer] with half a head of minced garlic and finely chopped green seasoning. After rubbing both sides, I poured in some sauce for hubby to repeat the rubbing process again, before remembering to tell him the sauce had pepper and might leave his hands burning. My guilt was replaced by evil PMS which was then pissed off because he wasn't bugged about it; he just said "Nah, it's okay". And he was humming. Happily humming. So the damned guilt returned. And then I remembered I loved him. So I gave PMS a time-out.
We covered the seasoned Piglet with Saran wrap, and put him in the fridge to marinate for about two hours. Then hubby heated up a tall pot half filled with oil, and we dunked the marinated Piglet in and covered the pot. You should probably know that dunking the saucy Piglet into oil created a lot of oil splashing. We left Piglet in there for about seven minutes or so, on high heat, The we flipped him (more splashing) and lowered the heat to the lowest heat and left him there for more than ten minutes.
We took him out and put him on the cutting board where I sliced him to see if he was fully cooked. He was not. So we dunked him back into the oil and left him for about eight minutes or so I think. We took him out and placed him on a paper towel to soak up the oil and I got ready to cut him for proper serving sizes.
REVIEWS
Hubby and I laughed when we saw how dark and firm the exterior of Piglet was when we took him out. Hubby ate Piglet with some oyster sauce I made. Hubby says it was good, not bad to say bad, but it could have been better, and the first word that comes to mind is "burn" (with a trini accent). It was afterwards I remembered to mention that I've never heard of bars serving roast pork per se, and that I believed the popular dish from bars was actually just fried pork.
The night ended as PMS took over again and boosted my ego by filling my head with the *fact* that my way would have been better than just "good". But that was what PMS said, not me.
NOTE: Hubby refused to let me take a picture of the pork. Use your imagination I guess.
Seeing American and British versions seemed to discourage him, so I suggested we search for Trinidad roast pork, which was what he actually wanted. Thankfully, there were a few others who had queried the same thing. As I inspected every suggestion and recipe idea I came across, hubby grew restless, hungry, and cranky and so we had to run to the kitchen to see if Piglet was ready to cook.
Piglet was barely ready, so we organized something else to soothe hubby's growling stomach and cut Piglet in half so if this recipe didn't work, we could try again. I immediately began to prepare a sauce I had been concocting in my head since early morning.
HOW I MADE IT
I began with a roux, adding about three tablespoons of butter to about three tablespoons of melted butter, I mixed until the lumps were gone and it began to thicken. I threw in some chopped green seasoning (chive, podina, culantro) and about a head of garlic, minced, as well as two finely chopped pimientos. I added about two tablespoons of paprika and chili powder, followed by a tablespoon of Maggi (bouillon cubes) vegetable seasoning, parsley, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, back pepper, and sugar. I added about a cup of water as the mixture got drier.
*While making the sauce, my father-in-law informed us that gas might be low, so hubby rushed out to buy a tank of gas to come back.*
As the sauce was still watery, I added about a tablespoon of ketchup, a tablespoon of aromatic bitters (which hubby will now find out), three tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of brown sugar & hickory flavored barbecue sauce, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and two tablespoons of hot homemade peppersauce. I beat in the ingredients with a fork for about five minutes before leaving the sauce to simmer until I felt I had achieved the right thickness.
As I was beating the sauce, I tried to think up how exactly I was going to attempt to do poor Piglet justice. I put a few methods together, decided to take a couple risks with it, and had a recipe planned out by the time I was ready to wash the pork. I had called Daddy an hour before to ask the meat chef's (he claims he's not a pro; we all have reason to believe it's a lie) expertise. He had advice on stew pork, geera pork, barbecued pork, washing the pork, cutting the pork, but as for roast pork...nothing.
So I followed his advice and washed the Piglet with flour, not lime, and followed a random website's advice and patted Piglet as dry as humanly possible with a bunch of paper towels. As I waited for hubby to return, I realized I was most likely on my own with this, and would have to begin the process of cooking poor Piglet without hubby's valuable assistance. I put my sentiments aside, said a little prayer for poor, innocent, little Piglet, and took my sauce off the stove, as I got ready to prepare beloved Piglet for my even more beloved hubby (because I love him so much).
As I preheated the oven, hubby came running into the kitchen, completely out of breath, and told me to wait. I waited until he caught his breath and as he spoke my agonizing decision to make Piglet for him became complicated. A lot.
Hubby had met one of his friends, who was in fact the son of a bar owner who was famous for making roast pork. According to this friend, we should cover Piglet in oil and fry him, as putting him in the oven would do nothing but bake him. Hubby decided to follow his friend's advice, and so my excellent recipe idea was squashed. [DISCLAIMER: All actions from this point forward was not my fault. I blame PMS. I am innocent.]
So I stared at hubby as if he was talking another language (PMS glared at him, I just stared). I sighed (PMS let out a huge sigh and said "what?") and I agreed (PMS said "fine, whatever" with an attitude, not me). Remembering his eagerness to experiment on his own, I asked if he would be okay seasoning Piglet on his own, and he gave me his how-could-you-do-this-to-me face, so PMS gave him a you-are-so-not-serious-it's-not-even-funny-so-don't-even-start look, and I gave him a okay-fine-I'll-help-you-but-I'm-not-doing-everything-since-my-plan-got-cancelled look, and PMS gave him a you-said-you-would-do-it-on-your-own-and-now-you're-giving-me-the-look-when-I-should-refuse-to-help-you-but-I-won't-because-I-already-made-the-seasoning-and-your-look-is-getting-to-me-you-evil-husband-you look.
So I washed the stickiness of Piglet's dead body off my hands and instructed hubby to rub Piglet [as if he were massaging him, but firmer] with half a head of minced garlic and finely chopped green seasoning. After rubbing both sides, I poured in some sauce for hubby to repeat the rubbing process again, before remembering to tell him the sauce had pepper and might leave his hands burning. My guilt was replaced by evil PMS which was then pissed off because he wasn't bugged about it; he just said "Nah, it's okay". And he was humming. Happily humming. So the damned guilt returned. And then I remembered I loved him. So I gave PMS a time-out.
We covered the seasoned Piglet with Saran wrap, and put him in the fridge to marinate for about two hours. Then hubby heated up a tall pot half filled with oil, and we dunked the marinated Piglet in and covered the pot. You should probably know that dunking the saucy Piglet into oil created a lot of oil splashing. We left Piglet in there for about seven minutes or so, on high heat, The we flipped him (more splashing) and lowered the heat to the lowest heat and left him there for more than ten minutes.
We took him out and put him on the cutting board where I sliced him to see if he was fully cooked. He was not. So we dunked him back into the oil and left him for about eight minutes or so I think. We took him out and placed him on a paper towel to soak up the oil and I got ready to cut him for proper serving sizes.
REVIEWS
Hubby and I laughed when we saw how dark and firm the exterior of Piglet was when we took him out. Hubby ate Piglet with some oyster sauce I made. Hubby says it was good, not bad to say bad, but it could have been better, and the first word that comes to mind is "burn" (with a trini accent). It was afterwards I remembered to mention that I've never heard of bars serving roast pork per se, and that I believed the popular dish from bars was actually just fried pork.
The night ended as PMS took over again and boosted my ego by filling my head with the *fact* that my way would have been better than just "good". But that was what PMS said, not me.
NOTE: Hubby refused to let me take a picture of the pork. Use your imagination I guess.
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