And in the smoker the pork belly goes. That’s where the magic happens and transforms these beautiful pieces of meat into glorious bacon
Tonight I made something I haven't cooked in a while. Very simple recipe, Whenever I smoke a large amount of meat, I save a portion of it for this recipe. I vacuum seal and freeze it until I have a sufficient amount available to cook. This time I have some leftover smoked brisket and prime rib cut into 1" cubes, smoked sausage, thick cut bacon and 2 cans of baked beans. It all goes into a dutch oven and simmers for about an hour. Served with some cheddar cheese cornbread. Probably not good for you but it tastes delicious.
Here is the end results of the pastrami Still need to let it rest for an hours can’t wait to slice into this for a taste test
Today, I’d like to introduce you folks to a dish that’s near and dear to me. It’s a stew from Vietnam- a French stew with a Vietnamese twist such as- lemongrass, star anise, coconut juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, and Chinese 5 spice I usually cook on the weekends and I love stews but they take too long to cook. I found a great deal on a new pressure cooker so I took the plunge. Normally this stew takes 2 hours but I was able to do in 1 hour, only 38 mins of pressured cooking. Everything came out tender. This is the calf muscle or beef banana shank I had lots of tough cuts in there, beef shank and tendons. I got 10 out of 10 scores, so high marks on this one. This is the recipe I worked off of: https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-bo-kho/#recipe
My ultimate goal is cook a killer pot of Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodles). For my first foray into Pho I decided to make it easy and use an Instant Pot and cook Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodles), because there’s less ingredients and half the cooking time. Toasting the Coriander, Cloves, and Chinese cinnamon Now the rest of the aromatics- onion and ginger All the ingredients in the pot! In addition the ingredients above, I added a bunch of cilantro and green onions. I had no room in the pot so I stuffed it all up the chicken! I added a Fuji apple and sea salt. This cooked under low pressure for 15 mins. Served up with all the table side seasonings
I never thought I’d be cooking holiday meals like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter but here I am doing it. It’s really nerve wrecking for me, but do I love helping out on these special occasions- however I can. If I make it easier on the host, I’m thinking- they’re more likely to host in the future. For Easter Sunday, I had church so I cooked the pot roast the night prior to make things easier. I started with a nice well marbled Chuck roast. I really wanted to use brisket but they ones at the market were too small. Next time! This pot roast is a little different from the traditional ones. I’m using fish sauce and soy sauce for extra umami. I really browned and seared the beef and then browned the mushroom. Color is flavor. Developing depth. Garlic, onions, rosemary, thyme, red wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, bay leaves, mushrooms, Carrots, potatoes, butter, beef stock and the Chuck roast keeping things well organized and prepped, helps my anxiety. I try to make it a foolproof as possible because I always mess something up. Searing, browning and developing flavor Mushrooms releasing liquid and on its way to getting browned Onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves all in the pot!
I’m a big fan of curries, all of them: Indian, Thai, Japanese, etc…. Each region had a different twist on it based on flavor preferences, cooking techniques, and local ingredients. To my Indian curry is jam packed with exotic spices, very yummy. Thai curries tend to be creamier and spicy and sour at times. Japanese curry is very rich and thick. The base of it is a roux. Some optional add ons are: a grated apple, honey, ketchup, Worcestershire, butter and even chocolate. You barely taste any of that because the roux is so rich and savory. I used boneless short rib, mushrooms, Yukon potatoes, carrots, 2 onions, and beef broth. The the flavoring- I used a Japanese roux block (most common way in Japan for naming Japanese curry) but it didn’t have enough flavor for me so I added Japanese curry powder. Grated half an apple and snacked on the other half. It lacked a little acidity so I added a little vinegar. Very savory and Rich- the sauce or gravy really fills up your mouth and coats all of the taste buds.
This evening, travel with me to south east Asia to the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly Siam. I made two Thai dishes: Creamy Tom Yum Goong and Thai Holy Basil Stir Fry or Krapow. I used the recipes from: https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/. I’ve made 3 of the recipes from there and everything has been great. Better than the average Thai restaurant. Highly recommend it: Tom Yum Goong: Shallots, galanga (similar to ginger), lime leaves, Thai chili, lemongrass Shrimp Stock Evaporated milk and Thai chili paste added Krapow:
