Merlin of Chaos

Ok, I have shown that I can now make Dou Miao (lots on that page, do a search for it) in my wok on the grill. Awesome stuff.

I also continue to make a kick ass beef & broccoli, but that's not new. Well, it's new in that I haven't done it since I moved in, as the grill I need for it was broken last summer and it gets dark too early to use the grill for woking outside of daylight savings time. Also, rain is an impediment.

Here's the recipe:

SAUTEED DOU MIAO WITH GARLIC
Serves 6
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6-8 large garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1 pound dou miao , preferably large
teaspoon salt
cup water

1/4 cup oil IS quite a bit, but that turns out to be pretty close to what I used. It really soaks it up; I will have to try to use a little less. Definitely use as much garlic as you can stand, and 1 tsp salt may not be quite enough.

I found the recipe on the weight watcher's site, so tonight I made Shepherd's Pie.

Naturally, I am basically unable to make any recipe to spec. I always think I know better, and make changes.

Of course, usually I decide I was right.

( Like this time... )

This is a 3 step process. First there is the dry rub, which should ideally be left overnight but somehow i keep only getting about 4 hours in.

The second is a long braise primarily in beer.

Finally there is the bbq sauce. Mark's recipe calls for a final sear on the grill, but I find the mess isn't worth it. Yes, there is a slight improvement of flavor with the grill, but it the stuff falls apart like nothing and you lose a bunch in the grill and it leaves a horrible awful mess. I gave up on that part.

This recipe is for 1 package of Costco Country Style Bonless Pork Shoulder Ribs. I bet that bone-in ribs would be about 5x tastier, and the bones are so big they would not be difficult to remove.

The Rub:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
6 tbs kosher salt
2 tbs chili powder
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dry mustard

Mix all of the ingredients in a plastic bowl with a tight fitting lid so that you can give it a really good shake. If hte brown sugar doesn't want to delump, a fork or a potato masher will do the trick just fine.

Cut the pork down into pieces that are 1/3 to 1/2 the size that they come in the package. Mostly you want them to fit easily in the bowl. One at a time, drop a piece in the bowl and cover completely with the rub mix. Take your time with this, because a lot of the flavor will come from this. Make a single layer of pork in a disposable baking tray (easily acquired at costco, safeway, smart & final, etc). Why the disposables? Cause this is a pain in the ass to clean from a regular baking dish, and they have higher sides than a 9x14 casserole dish. 1 package will fill two trays pretty completely.

Cover with foil, refrigerate over night.

The braise:

2 pints stout beer -- heck, any dark beer will do.
5 tbs molasses
1 small head of garlic, peeled and crushed.
3 tbs worcestershire
1 tbs hot sauce (Tabasco is fine, but a hot sauce with character is better)

Mix the ingredients well. If you have trouble getting the molasses to dissolve, give it the microwae treatment. If you prepare the braise and refrigerate it along with the pork rub, it'll mix a little better, I think.

Pour the braise over the pork, and try to make sure that every piece is completely submerged. Be careful because the pork is pretty heavy for the disposable trays. It's good to put them on a baking tray of some sort.

Give them 2.5 hours in a 275 degree oven. When done, discard the braising liquid. Put the pork in a bowl and shred with a fork and a spoon.

Here is some recipe that vaguely approximates my bbq sauce.

2 cups ketchup,
1/4 cup cider vinegar,
3 tbs worcestershire,
1/4 cup molasses,
1 tbs chili powder,
2 tsp garlic powder,
1 tsp onion powder,
1/8 tsp (or more) cayenne pepper,
1 tsp hot sauce (such as tabasco; I have one I particularly like that's good on wings but i forget the
name of it offhand),
1/4 cup prepared mustard
a few drops of liquid smoke.
a generous pinch or two of kosher salt

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for awhile. Adjust until you like the taste.

• 4 cups potatoes, diced into small cubes
  
• 3 large carrots, diced into small cubes
  
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
  
• 1 large can of clams (I think it's the 51 oz can? It's a huge can)
  
• 10 tablespoons butter (1 and a quarter sticks)
  
• 6 tablespoons flour
  
• 2 tsp oregano
  
• 1 large pinch marjoram
  
• 10-15 drops worcestershire
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon regular salt)
  
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
  
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
  
• 4 cups milk or half-and-half
  

First: the recipe is supposed to have salt pork. I don't happen to have any salt pork handy, so I used drippings leftover from the last ham I made. This may or may not have actually done anything to the flavor, I couldn't tell you.

Immerse the carrots, potatoes and onion in the juice from the clams--this should come out ot around 4 cups of liquid. If it's less, supplement with a little water. Add a bay leaf and the salt, and gently boil until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Remove the bay leaf when done.

Meanwhile, melt all of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, put in the flour and the pepper. Stir until you have a nice roux, and cook for a minute or two. Add the milk in about a cup at a time; stir and heat until it's boiling, then add the next cup. When you have a nice, hot, thick cream sauce, combine with the vegetables and liquid. (Be sure to remove the bay leaf.) Add all remaining ingredients, and heat through. Serve immediately. Sourdough is nice. I use saltines.

For me it began quite early today, as there was a ridiculous amount of prep work to do.

senatorhatty decided we should throw a fondue party. But 'we' he meant me, because he was due to arrive at 8:15 this evening returning from his vacation. But it seemed like a really good idea to me, so I volunteered to go through with it. esmerel, wildpaletz, jendavis77, redhound, and strider attended.

So as I occasionally do, I decided to completely overdo it.

I was a little quiet about it because a fondue party cannot really support a large number of people--we invited a total of 10 and ended up with 7. I had as much as I could prepped ahead of time so I could spend time eating as opposed to cooking and serving, so by the time we got to the party only the fondue needed to be put together in a pot and made ready, and then the same with the chocolate.

Course #1

Each guest got a choice of spinach or spring mix salad. Each salad came equipped with shredded mozarella, shredded carrot, cucumber sticks, half of a hard-boiled egg (sliced), brocolli florets, 2 little chef rolls (roast beef, turkey, ham and swiss rolled together). Several dressings, of course, though I failed to have Italian available.

Course #2

3 different cheese fondues. Basic 3 cheese swiss fondue, black forest mushroom fondue, and french gruyere with onion. Dipping choices: 3 kinds of bread, carrots, brocolli, apples, tomatoes and little dill pickles.

Course #3

The piece d'resistance. An electric griddle (which is cheaper and more effective than a swiss grill) and 4 kinds of meat: alligator tail, ostrich fan, wild boar shoulder and filet mignon. Sauces: K.C. BBQ, pesto mayonnaise, chipotle mayonnaise, asian style orange, spicy peanut, hot sweet mustard, ginger-soy, sour cream-horseradish. All hand-crafted, thankyouverymuch.

Course #4

Chocolate fondue, of course. Semi-sweet and dark. Dippers: apples, strawberries, cream cheese balls (rolled in cinnamon + nutmeg), rice krispie balls, little cookies, ladyfingers, marshmallows and poundcake.

Course #5

Veuve Cliquot Brut Champagne. Because New Year's deserved it.

We got started at 9:15 when the 'host' arrived and even though I had everything as much pre-prepped as possible, we didn't finish the last course until about 1am.

But it was lavish, extravagant and oh-my-god good. I may be willing to do this again next year. As long as I have plenty of kitchen assistance. It's a ton of work.

So at Whole Foods we saw they had Lamb Shoulder chops for $2.99/lb. We don't really eat enough lamb, and at that price I figured it was worth experimenting.

So I picked up 4 chops. Now, I knew next to nothing about lamb of any sort, so I spent some time on the internet. I found that the cut I got is the least desirable cut (this explains the price) and is most often braised. Now, I've had this cut at a restaurant and I knew it could be delicious, but I couldn't really find any recipes that seemed to account for the toughness--a lot of people suggested olive oil marinades, but that, in my experience, doesn't seem to really do very much. I did read that lamb chops and pork chops can, for the most part, be prepared the same way (many recipes said either lamb or pork for various things).

I've made Alton Brown's pork chops recently, and got them spot on--they were delicious. So I decided to go that route.

( Here's what I did... )

If you like roasted tomato salsas, this kicks ass. It's almost exactly the same as the stuff I get from Whole Foods for $4.99 for a little 1 pint container; this recipe makes something like 3x I think. Costs about half as much.

( Click here to see what I did. )

I will likely serve this at the next party.

Also, mkellis I made this one too spicy (It's twice as many chipotles as that recipe calls for because I miscalculated) and I'd love to see what you think. You should come by sometime this week! (I doubt this salsa will survive in the fridge for too long, so Tues or Weds would be good =)

What are your favorite toppings?

I'm trying to figure out what sorts of things I want to top my pizzas with. I especially want things that store well, since the pizza works well as a 'Oh crap I need to make something...' and I can just have the stuff around, especially if I've made a batch of the sauce in advance and keep it in the freezer.

The two pizzas I've made have both had italian sausage, mushrooms and black olives.