Pot Braised Ribs

I love eating ribs...the meat is especially tasty and tender. Probably because of all the fat...but whatevs. If you're going to eat ribs, it better be fatty and good. Just don't eat it often. I cut up the ribs into two's and then boiled it in water for ten minutes to get rid of some of the fat and scuz. Then I drained the ribs and in another pot, started the marinade in which I'll eventually braise the ribs in:

Onion - sauteed until almost carmelized
Tomatoes
Paprika
Bbq sauce
Ketchup
Sirracha
Honey
Chicken stock
Apple cider vinegar

The ribs simmered in that sauce for...I dunno....40 minutes? Until the meat was soft and everything smelled heavenly. Then it was served and paired with the Beet and Brussel Sprouts salad.

I liked the sauce with onions and tomatoes more than I liked the ribs...but I think that's account my pregnancy tastebuds still throwing off the taste of meat. One day...in five months or so...this will taste as good as it smelled.

Veal Flank Stew and Spring Salad

I bought some veal flank meat and thought a stew would be nice....but as Spring is here, pairing it with a fresh salad would be even nicer.

Stew:
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Veal flank
Onion
Garlic
Cumin
Paprika
Sugar
Sriracha
BBQ Sauce
Ketchup
Tomato Paste
Various herbs that seemed to smell good together

Salad:
Spring Greens
Naval Orange cut to bite sizes
Chopped Almonds

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Grainy mustard
Honey
Lemon Juice

Pork Tenderloin & Roasted Fennel

After the success of the medium cooked pork tenderloin last time...I wanted to try again. I browsed cookbooks and the Internet for inspiration and then combined a couple recipes together.

Marinade:
Soy sauce
Garlic
Onion
Honey
Lemon Juice

Pan sear tenderloin. Add cut fennel chunks. Bake until internal temp of tenderloin is 130 F. Remove from oven and tent until temp is 10 degrees higher.
Meanwhile, take the leftover marinade, simmer in a pot until the onions are soft...then pour over the tenderloin and fennel before serving.

Yum.

Fennel Broccoli and Orange Salad

It's not quite Spring...but we wanted something fresh and summery to brighten all the gloominess of Winter. So...threw together a yummy salad to enjoy:

Fennel
Broccoli
Orange
Cilantro
Pine nuts

Dressing:
Olive Oil
Honey
Wine vinegar
Grainy mustard

Spaghetti Squash Pasta

This time I made the spaghetti squash one of the mains instead of a side....and ate it as "pasta" to go along with some pan seared, soy sauce marinated drumsticks. I tossed it with a few more veggies so it was a little heartier but otherwise, it's similar to the previous spaghetti squash side.

Spaghetti Squash
Onion
Tomato
Broccoli
Gouda (You can tell what block of cheese we've got in the fridge because that's all I'll use until it's gone.)
Dried herbs

Drumsticks
Light Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce (this gives it the dark caramelly color)
Honey (to drizzle over after it's cooked)

Date Honey'n Garlic Chicken

Here's a simple one...marinate, pan fry, drizzle, serve.

Soy Sauce - light & dark
Garlic
Cumin
Date Honey

Drizzle with date honey after the chicken's been pan fried. If you cook it with the honey, there's a chance it'll char beyond the nice caramelly look it's got now. The flavors work together really nicely and goes great with rice. Leftovers can be cut up and put into a salad with a sesame dressing. Ymm!

Honey curried chicken nuggets on israeli couscous

This summer I came across a friend's post on honey bbq'd chicken wings with a hint of curry. "What an interesting combination of flavors!" I thought. I didn't have all the ingredients but what stood out for me was to have honey and curry. So I threw it together. And have made several variations on it since. It was always with wings...but this time, I had boneless skinless thighs. Why not use the same flavors right?

Marinade:
Soy Sauce
Curry Powder
Cumin
Paprika

I pan seared them...then drizzled Date Honey on top.

The Israeli couscous side was neat too. I saw it at Trader Joe's and thought to give it a try. I put some rice seasoning that I actually bought in Jerusalem into the couscous. Can't say I really knew what to do with the rice seasoning because though there was a spice scent, the taste wasn't very pronounced. I must be missing some additional seasoning...anyone know?

Pork Rib Stew & Braised Purple Cabbage

It's getting cold out...and as such, my mind is starting to think of hearty soups and stews. And cooked veggies. This recent experiment turned out decently though I think the pork rib stew flavors could be stronger.

Pork stew:
Pork riblets
Onion
Lime juice
Oregano
Sugar
Chili powder
Soy sauce
Ketchup

Braised Purple Cabbage:
Purple cabbage
Apple
Raisins
Honey
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt to taste

And the cooked cabbage turned out pretty decently too. My husband had gotten tired of the slaw over the summer so to change the texture I tried this. The apples add a nice sweet/tartness to the mix.

All the above was served with brown basmati rice mixed with red quinoa.

Pineapple Salsa

There's a bit much going on in the photo...but this post is really about the pineapple salsa. There were a few pieces left over from the pineapple we cut up so I decided to use it as a salsa over pork chops. It's got a very summery, sweet and fresh taste...brings out the flavor of the pork really nicely.

Salsa:
Pineapple
Tomato
Cilantro
Shallot
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Honey



But why stop there...I had a bit of salsa left over so the next morning, it went over eggs on toast for breakfast. Yum!

Wings!

I <3 chicken wings. Big time. I could never turn down an offer of wings. There's so many ways and recipes to marinate them and it just so happens I also love trying out different flavors. An easy way to prepare wings is to marinate them in a baggie then freeze it. When you want to use it, just defrost and cook...it's perfect whether you pan fry, BBQ, bake or smoke it.

I bought a big package of wings from Costco yesterday. After roughly dividing them into three bags, I prepared the marinades. They are (from left bag to right):

Left:
The Quick BBQ Marinade

Center:
Curry/Garam Masala mix
Cumin
Paprika
Sugar
Salt

Right:
Date honey
Soy Sauce (light and dark)
Garlic
Sesame Oil

Can't wait to eat these!

Date Chicken and Napa Salad

My Hubby requested date honey glazed chicken for dinner last night. While thinking about what greens to pair that with, I saw a head of napa cabbage sitting in the fridge. It was too hot to eat steamed napa...which is usually how Asians eat it. (That or boiled in a broth for noodles.) Could it be a salad too I wondered...cabbage is cabbage isn't it? A quick search on Google confirmed napa salads do exist, though they were all eaten with raw, wax covered instant noodles and msg seasoning. No thanks. When I think of raw cabbage, I think of kimchi...so this napa salad will be kimchi inspired!

	Napa Salad: Napa cabbage Carrots Fish Sauce Sugar Garlic Olive Oil Vinegar Crushed Chili Powder
	Marinade for the pan seared chicken thighs: Cumin Black pepper Soy sauce Paprika Date honey (drizzled after pan searing)

(Hubby even had third helpings of the napa salad!)

Red Cabbage Slaw #2

Last time I only used half a head of cabbage...so I made a slaw again with the remaining half. Slight variances made but still light, crunchy and yummy.

Slaw:
Half red cabbage
Granny Smith apple
Carrot
One shallot
Raisins
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Chia seeds

Dressing:
Orange juice
Olive Oil
Honey dijon mustard
Salt
Honey

The dressing wasn't bad, but it wasn't the greatest...I think I needed more acidity in the taste. The Lemon dressing is still my favorite. What would you recommend adding instead?

Next time.

Summer Dressing

Summer is a time for salads. My husband and I are trying to cut, if not drastically reduce, processed foods that come into our house. It's easy enough to avoid canned foods, but have you read the ingredients for all the sauces and condiments we use?? Yikes. Especially the ones that have artificial coloring or artificial flavoring...and where half their ingredients have four or more syllables and are unpronounceable.

So, we're trying to make our own dressings...which is largely experimentation coupled with what I've heard/read that works together.

My current favorite summer dressing:

Lemon juice
Honey
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Garlic (minced)
Honey Dijon
Salt & Pepper to taste

I put the ingredients into a small glass bottle then shake the dickens out of it. It gets used up in a day or two and then I make a fresh batch with a new ingredient variation. So fresh. So yum.

Adhoc Korean Shortrib Marinade

This happens more often than not...I look up a recipe for inspiration and find that I'm missing an ingredient or two...or five. Unless it's the main ingredient, I consider myself too lazy practical to make a trip out to the grocery store to get it. No time and not worth the gas. I always look for what's "close enough" and already in my cupboards or fridge. That was the case for the Korean shortribs, or Galbi, I wanted to marinade. But I made do with this:

Soy sauce
Rice wine
Brown sugar or Honey
Garlic
Ginger
Lime juice
Black Pepper
Sesame Oil

What I was missing or had substituted from the real recipe (taken from Maangchi.com):

Cooking wine
Korean pear or Bosc pear
Onion

But you know, my adhoc one was still really really tasty. =)