Pull Pork Roast

We used to go to movie theater every week or two. After Ethan came along, we now watch a movie at home every week or two. And only good ones, means I can no longer watch any B-list chick flicks whenever I want!

Yet, “good ones” do not mean they have to be good. My husband MADE ME watch “Star Trek” last night which I found extremely boring and hard to understand though the creepy look on Spock was fun to watch. Sorry to all Star Trek fans.

What I meant was “My Sister’s Keeper”. The synopsis itself can tell you how tear-jerking the movie was. And I’m a sucker for that kind of movies. I’m not saying this movie isn’t a cheap excuse to make you cry, but as far as cheap excuses go, this one is richly made. The story was so powerful, poignant and believable in the sense that at the end there’s no right or wrong just like what happens in your life. Acting was a key factor too. Cameron Diaz has successfully discarded her comedy label, and I have found a new respect for her talent.

(serves 4 – 6)

Ingredients:

For Dry Rub:

3 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dry mustard
3 tbsp coarse salt

1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 5-lb pork should

For BBQ Sauce:

1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

Mix dry rub ingredients in a bowl. Rub the spice all over the pork and marinate overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 300F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 5 hours, until the meat is fork-tender.

To make the BBQ sauce. Combine all BBQ sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Simmer and stir gently for 10 mins until the sugar dissolves.

Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 mins. Take 2 forks and pull the meat into thin shreds. Discard fat.

Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto the bottom 1/2 of the hamburger bun, and top with salad or coleslaw. Serve with more sauce if needed.

Oven Baked Pork Ribs

You can definitely do it with your BBQ grill. I’ve tried before. Not that it didn’t work, it worked perfectly. But it took 2 hours when people kept asking me “is it done?”, “can we eat it now?”, “how much longer it’s gonna take?” When it’s finally done, everybody was full with other food.

This rib involves slow cooking. You could either cook it way before your BBQ starts, or just like me, use the oven.

(serves 6)

Ingredients:

2 racks of pork baby back ribs
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Whisk together all remaining ingredients. Pour over the ribs. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat over to 300F.

Remove ribs from marinate. Place ribs into a large roasting pan. Reserve marinate.

Bake the ribs until they are fork tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

To make dipping sauce, bring to the boil and simmer the marinate in a sauce pan for 5 mins.

Cut ribs in pieces and serve with dipping sauce.

Pork Shoulder Chops with Caramelized Onions & Baked Potato

Among all parts of pork, I love pork shoulder. Pork shoulder is always tender and easy to cook. You can either spend little time on chops like this recipe. Or slow-cooking a shoulder roast in an oven, then shred the meat for pasta, tortilla or bruschette. Plus, pork is always the most inexpensive meat that you can feed a crowd without sweating.

(serves 2)
Ingredients:

For Pork Chop:

4 small to medium sized pork shoulder chops

1 tbsp canola oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

6 sage leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to season

For Baked Potato:
2 baker potatoes

2 slices of bacon, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 green onions, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to season

Directions:
Prick potatoes all over with a fork.

Bake potatoes at 400F for 45 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 mins, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool.

Pull over half the bacon fat, add canola oil. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Sear both sides over medium high heat until nicely brown. Remove the chops to another dish.

In the same pan, saute onions until caramelized, around 10 mins.

Deglaze the pan with wine. Reduce heat to simmer. Return the pork chops to the pan, add stock and chopped sage. Cover the pan and simmer until pork is tender, about 30 mins.

For the potatoes, after 45 mins. Remove them from the oven. Slice the top lengthwise, and scoop out the flesh. Add cheese, crumbled bacon, green onion. salt and pepper. Mash well and then stuff back into the potato shells.

Return to oven and bake for another 20 mins, or until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through.

To serve, place baked potato next to the pork chops, pull over onion sauce on top, and sprinkle chopped sage.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri

Just came back from Florida. My husband went there for business, I just came along for sunshine, not Disney for sure. I’ve never been a Disney fan, but I was amazed how the Disney Kingdom is dominating the whole city. Basically, you will have to love Disney, otherwise my suggestion is “don’t go” because you got nothing else to do and most importantly, food really sucks!!!!! It was my first time I honestly crazed for my own cooking.

Why I went all the way to Florida for sunshine? Because Vancouver is still freakingly cold now. It was still snowing when I was in Florida late April. It’s getting better these 2 weeks though with sun keeps showing. So we couldn’t wait to do a little grilling at our backyard.
The recipe is from “Tyler’s Ultimate”. I wiki-ed a little for “chimichurri” – originated from Argentina and is a popular sauce used with grilled meat in many Latin American countries. It is told that the unusual name comes from “Jimmy McCurry”, an Irishman who is said to have first prepared the sauce… However, “Jimmy McCurry” was difficult for the native people to say. Some sources claim Jimmy’s sauce’s name was corrupted to “chimichurri”‘, while others say it was changed in his honor…interesting!

(serves 2)
Ingredients:
For Chimichurri:
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 limes, juiced
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp whole black peppercorn

For Tenderloin:
1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat, patted dry
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lime juice, for drizzling
Parsley sprigs, for garnish

Directions:
Combine garlic, jalapeno, vinegar, parsley, oregano, and lime juice in a bowl. Whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside at room temperature to allow the flavors to marry.

Reserve half of the chimichurri to serve and marinate the pork with the rest. Put the pork and marinade in a sealable plastic bag and set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Don’t over-marinate.

Preheat an outdoor charcoal grill or oven broiler to high.

Remove the pork from the marinade, wiping off any excess. Season both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and place on the grill.

Grill the pork on the hottest part of the barbecue for 5-6 minutes per side, until well charred. Allow the tenderloin to rest for about 5 minutes prior to slicing. Spoon some chimichurri over the meat, drizzle with lime juice, garnish with parsley, and serve with the remaining sauce at the table.

Wonton Soup

Holiday cooking prevails for Christmas – turkey, gingerbread cookies, chocolate truffles, cheese…… Not that I don’t like them, I love every festive traditional food. That’s absolutely what the celebration is for. At the heart of these traditions, it’s only food that brings reunions of friends and family.

For me and my husband who also loves Chinese traditional food, wonton brings memory of growth. It’s such a hearty meal that we both eventually consumed a total of 20 pieces wonton for a little weekend dinner.

(30 pcs of wonton)
Ingredients:
1/4 lb peeled shrimp, deveined and chopped
1/2 lb medium ground pork

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch (I didn’t put it, but my cousin told me afterwards that a little cornstarch helps tenderized the pork)
salt and pepper
30 wonton wrappers
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 lb pakchoy, washed
1 cup finely chopped green onions

Directions:

In a bowl, marinate pork with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, cornstarch, salt and pepper for a hour.

Mix pork with shrimp. Place 1 tsp of the mixture in the centre of a wrapper. Moisten the outside edge with water. Seal by drawing the opposite corners to form a triangle. Pinch top sealed. Draw the opposite corners up to the top and seal sides by pinching.

In a large saucepan, bring the broth and water. Add the wontons, carrots and pakchoy. Return to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wontons are cooked through, about 6 minutes.

Garnish the soup with green onions and serve.

Baked Pork Chops with Fried Rice

Fried rice in Asian food is such a rustic food that is basically a combination of leftover rice with leftover anything to form a one-dish meal. And it actually brings out the beauty of fried rice that there are unlimited range of ingredients that can be used to create your own version of fried rice.

The essence of a good dish of fried rice is the rice itself. You might be surprised to learn that the perfect rice for making this is leftover rice. You have to put the freshly cooked rice in the fridge for at least a day. In that way, the rice will turn firm and be easier to separate. If you go for freshly made rice, your dish will probably be pretty mushy. And that’s the reason why I always cook rice for more than we need, and have the leftover lying in the fridge for days.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:
For Pork Chops:
4 pork chops
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to season
1 cup canola oil

For Sauce:
4 tomatoes, chopped in small pieces
1 onion, chopped in small pieces
1 garlic clove, mashed
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water

For Rice:
8 bowls of leftover rice
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:
For Pork Chop:
Season pork chop with salt and pepper.

Dredge the pork chops a piece at a time, first in flour, then in the beaten egg.

Heat 1/2 cup oil for deep frying.

Deep fry the pork chops in medium high heat until slightly golden brown. Set aside.

For Sauce:
In a saucepan, saute the garlic and the onions in oil till transparent without browning.

Add tomatoes. Saute until the tomatoes begin to soften.

Add tomato ketchup, salt, pepper, oyster sauce.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Thicken sauce with the cornstarch and water.

For Rice:

Heat oil in wok until smoking.

Add eggs. Then add cooked rice and stir fry over high heat.

Add soy sauce and sesame oil to taste.

To Assemble:
Preheat oven to 375F.

Put the fried rice on a large oven proof dish.

Place the fried pork chops on top of the rice in a single layer.

Pour the sauce evenly over the pork chop.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or till the sauce is slightly brown on top.

Stuffed Pork Chop

Have checked the freezer, and I found a couple of really thick pork chops longing to be eaten. Their purse-liked thickness inspired me to make stuffed pork chop. It’s my first adventure that turned out to be not really hard! And I could actually create my own stuffing by adding whatever ingredients I like, be it sweet or savory!

I put in bread bread cubes, caramelized onion, homemade sundried tomato and parsley. Every bite of pork goes with a taste of vegetables, it makes eating meat seem less fatty and more healthy!

(makes 4 pork chops)
Ingredients:
4 1 1/2″ thick pork loin rib chops
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup white wine
2 roma tomato, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced

For Stuffing:
4 slices stale bread, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomato

2 tbsp chopped parsley
pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
Making stuff: Saute onion in a large skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil until onion is golden, season with salt and pepper, about 10 minutes. Add bread cubes, stir to combine. Remove from heat. Add add sundried tomato and parsley. Set aside.

Cut a pocket in each chop by cutting a slit in the meat and working the knife inside to cut almost to bone, keeping original slit small.

Preheat oven to 350F. Spoon stuffing into the pockets. Try to push the stuff in with fingers, and secure with toothpicks. Coat chops on both sides with flour-salt-pepper mixture.

Heat butter in the large skillet. Brown chops well on both sides, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove chops from skillet to roasting pan. Add roma tomato and garlic in the skillet. Pour in wine, stir over medium heat to deglaze the pan. Pour sauce into roasting pan. Cover with foil, bake 1 1/2 hour.

Remove from oven, discard toothpicks and serve.

Paella

I am not a rice person. I love noodle instead. However, I do love “flavored” rice, fried rice, baked rice, risotto, and paella is one of my favorites.

This traditional Spanish dish carries bright and colorful presentation, thanks to the fresh seafood and meat. Plus it’s actually not as much work as the lengthy ingredient list tells, and really well worth the effort. An easy task to make a big pot for a big party too. I found it also good the next day as well, maybe the seafood juice continues to infuse the dish.

(serves 6 persons)

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian hot sausage, cut into bite size pieces

5 boneless chicken thighs, chunked

1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 cup white rice

1 can chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

1 tbsp dried herbs (basil and thyme)

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
In a large pan, brown chicken in oil, remove and add sausage, sautee about 2 minutes.

Remove sausage, keep fat in pan. Sautee shrimp quickly until bright pink, remove and set aside.

Fry the onion and garlic in the same pan, add reserved chicken and sausage, wine, rice and chicken stock. Sprinkle in the herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer gently about 15 minutes.

Add the shrimps, cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

Add more chicken broth if needed. The rice should be moist but there should be no excess liquid.

Sprinkle parsley on top when it’s ready to serve.