Our Bella Cucina » Pork

Asian Lettuce Wraps

sarah — Mon, 03 May 2010 08:00:10 +0000

I used to eat this as a child when my family would go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I would have one as an appetizer back then, but I now cook it as a main course for my family. I got the recipe from my good friend, Culinary Queen Sheri, and it is a favourite in my house – especially with the hubby!

INGREDIENTS
2 lbs lean ground beef, chicken, pork, or turkey
4 green onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger root
2 carrots, grated
3/4 cup diced water chestnuts
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp pepper
1 head iceberg lettuce (gently peel off the leaves to use as the wraps)

DIRECTIONS
In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground meat of your choice, breaking it up as necessary until it is no longer pink. Drain off the fat.

I used ground chicken which is tougher to break up than beef so I used a potato masher which worked well.

Add green onions, garlic, ginger, carrots and water chestnuts and cook over medium heat until the green onions are softened (about 5 minutes).

Whisk together the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, water and pepper.

Pour into the skillet and cook, stirring until combined and slightly thickened.

Spoon into a lettuce leaf, roll it up like a burrito, and enjoy! If you especially like hoisin sauce, like my husband and I do, you can spoon some of it into the bottom of the leaf before adding the meat mixture and it is delicious!

The prepared and cooked meat mixture can be frozen for up to three months so it makes a really easy instant meal on those nights when you need something fast!

Now that we have the cooking out of the way, I can say how happy I am to be back. I didn’t think I would miss blogging as much as I did and I’m looking forward to sharing yummy things with you guys again! You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to prepare this post. In the weeks since I last blogged I have lost my posting rhythm and my whole work flow was so scattered. I kept making mistakes and having to redo photos and it was just crazy. Big props to my husband who kept the wild and crazy kids at bay so I could concentrate on getting this finished.

See y’all tomorrow!

♥

It’s PW Thursday – Fettuccine Alfredo

sarah — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:00:09 +0000

Yes I know this is probably one of the most unhealthy dishes on the planet, but in the words of Paula Deen, “I’m your cook, not your doctor.”

That’s all I have to say about that.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound Fettuccine Noodles
1 stick Butter
1 cup Heavy Cream
Salt and Pepper, to taste
2 cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
4-6 slices of bacon (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium-high heat to the level of done-ness you normally like. I love my cast iron skillet for things like bacon!

Sit the bacon slices on some paper towels to absorb some of the fat then cut it into small pieces.

There was more bacon than this but certain little fingers kept stealing it!

Put the pasta on to boil, following the directions on the box. I like to add a splash of olive oil to the water before putting in the pasta because I find it helps keep the pasta from sticking to itself too much.

Over a medium heat, melt the butter.

Pour in the cream and bring to a gentle boil until combined.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now this is where I changed things a little. Ree has you put half the parmesan cheese (1 cup) into a bowl before pouring the sauce from the pan into the bowl on top of the cheese. I decided to mix half a cup of cheese into the sauce in the pan first.

Then I put 1 cup of the cheese into a large bowl before pouring in the sauce.

Add the bacon to the sauce and stir to mix.

Drain the pasta and immediately pour it into the bowl.

Toss a couple of times, then sprinkle in the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan.

Yes, I did forget to toss it before adding the cheese!

Toss to combine, thinning with some of the pasta water if necessary. I didn’t need to thin mine because I used 12oz of pasta instead of a full pound, so there was more sauce to go around.

Serve immediately as a main course or accompaniment to meat or salad.

We do like meat in our house and I think if I were to serve it on its own like this again I might add some chicken to it instead of the bacon. The original PW recipe didn’t have the bacon, I just added it on a whim to see if it would work and it would work well if you were serving it as a side dish. Another thing I would change in the future is to add a little garlic to it.

Criticism aside, it was mighty tasty!

I was watching my 2 year old inhale this dinner last night and was so pleased he liked it that I asked him “Who makes the best dinners?”

His response? “Mommy does…….and Daddy loses!”

Poor Daddy.

♥

Sausage Rolls

sarah — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:00:38 +0000

I get a package from my mother in Australia about every 6 weeks. Inside she sends me foods I can’t get here in Seattle, and the occasional magazine that I might like to read. Recently she started sending me the seasonal magazine that a big chain supermarket puts out there and inside are all kinds of recipes. One of the most recent ones she sent me included a recipe for sausage rolls that I have tweaked to use ingredients I can get here in Seattle. They are not the most healthy of things to eat, but they are oh so delicious!

INGREDIENTS
1 box (3 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
1lb Jimmy Dean sausage meat (sage sausage works well but plain is fine too!)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Lay out the first sheet of pastry on a chopping board and slice it in half horizontally.
Divide the sausage meat into 6 even segments and roll 2 of the segments into a long sausage type shape. It’s like play dough for adults!
Lay the sausage across the pastry, then roll the pastry around it to form a cylinder.

Slice the pastry into 3 sections. I also like to slice a few slashes into the top of it to give the pastry more space to expand when cooking.

Place the rolls seam side down on a parchment paper (or foil if you’re out of parchment but they do stick a bit more) lined baking sheet

Repeat the process with the remaining two sheets of pastry.

After all the rolls are made, use a pastry brush to lightly paint the egg on the top of the rolls and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

This recipe really makes me homesick for Australia!

♥

Rôti De Porc Poêlé

sarah — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:01:51 +0000

After seeing the movie Julie and Julia, I, like thousands of other people, went out to buy the Julia Child Book Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Volume 1). The very first recipe I tried from it was this one, Rôti De Porc Poêlé, which is French for Casserole Roasted Pork. It was an instant hit even before it got to the table because the aroma coming from the kitchen was mouthwateringly amazing!

INGREDIENTS
3 lbs boneless pork roast
4 TBSP cooking oil (I like to use olive oil)
1 medium-sized yellow onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, whole
1 tsp parsley
1/2 bay leaf
1/4 tsp thyme
Salt & pepper.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Dry meat thoroughly with paper towels (important or the meat won’t brown properly).
Put oil into a large dutch oven over a medium-high heat.
When the oil is almost smoking, brown the pork on all sides. (This will take 2-3 minutes per side, so 8-12 minutes total).

Remove pork to a side dish.
Make a herb bouquet with the bay leaf, parsley, and thyme in some cheese cloth and tie it with string.
Stir the vegetables, garlic, and herb bouquet into the remaining fat, cover and cook for 5 minutes.

While waiting, season the pork with some salt and pepper.
Put the pork back in the dutch oven with the fattiest side up.

Cover and heat till the meat is sizzling.
(Optional: I like to add some peeled, quartered potatoes into the pot at this point before putting the pot in the oven).

Place in the lower third of the oven for approximately 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180-185 degrees. All ovens run differently and in my oven this is often ready at about 1 hour 40 minutes.
Baste 2-3 times (about every half hour) during the cooking period.

Mmmmm….goes great with a dollop of apple sauce!

Doesn’t that look delicious?

Nom nom nom…

(Translation: Yes mummy, it’s yum!)

Or something to that effect…

♥

Oktoberfest Dinner

sarah — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:30:31 +0000

Over 12 years ago my husband saw an article about a local German restaurant in the newspaper. The article gave the restaurant a rating of 5 forks, the highest they give out. Such a high rating seems to be few and far between, so we decided to give the place a try. We weren’t sure what to expect since neither of us had ever had that type of food before, but that was the beginning of our love affair with the german cuisine.

A couple of weeks ago I saw an advertisement for a cooking class titled “Oktoberfest Dinner” at Chefs Catalog and thought it would be a lot of fun to learn how to make jaegerschnitzel, spaetzle, rot cabbage, potatoes and spaghetti ice. The price was a bit heafty at $65 for a 2 hour class, but I figured it would be worth it to learn one of our favorite German dishes.

The class was scheduled for Monday evening. I arrived a few minutes early only to find that the chef had not arrived yet and the class was canceled. Apparently there was a miscommunication between the chef and the manager of Chefs Catalog. The chef thought he was showing us how to make the dishes at his restaurant, however all the classes sponsored by Chefs Catalog are always at the warehouse in their special teaching kitchen. Since the restaurant was about 30 minutes away, the group decided it would be better to reschedule the class for another night.

Although I did not get to attend the class, I did gather a few details while I was there. Most of the other students attend classes at Chefs Catalog on a regular basis. The classes always cost $65 for a two hour session. The attendees are fed all of the food that is made during the session. In fact, some even brought containers to take food home, because there is always tons of food leftover. The session is not a hands on class, but more of a seminar. The chef cooks in a large kitchen area and the students sit around a large horseshoe shaped countetop that surrounds the stove. Its sounds like there is lots of chatter and discussion that goes on during the session.

I have nothing against the class, but I was expecting more of a hands on type training, specially for the $65 price tag. So, I decided to Google the recipes and attempted to make an Oktoberfest Dinner at home instead. It really wasn’t that hard, and turned out great. I am getting a refund for the class, no need to learn jaegerschnitzel now!

Here are the recipes I found with some changes that I made…

German Spaetzle Dumplings

Ingredients
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch pepper.
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg.
1/4 c. milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Beat eggs well, and add with the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.
Press dough through spaetzle maker, or a large holed sieve or metal grater. Drop a few at a time into simmering liquid. Cook 5 to 8 minutes. Drain well. Saute cooked spaetzle in butter or margarine. Sprinkle chopped fresh parsley on top, and serve.

Note: I used a metal spoon that I rubbed along the grater to push the dough through. I held the grater over the boiling water and allowed the dough to drop into the pot.

Schnitzel

Ingredients
4 Pork cutlets, cubed
2 Eggs; beaten
Salt and pepper.
1 c. Bread crumbs

Directions
Rub salt and pepper onto cutlet. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Dip cutlet in beaten egg and then in crumbs. Brown in a small amount of oil over low heat for approximately 10 minutes on each side.

Home Fries

Ingredients
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place potatoes in the skillet, and stir to coat with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, cook for another 10 minutes, turning frequently until brown and crisp.

I served all of the above with warm saurkraut and kaiser rolls. Yum!

~Valerie