Salad Dressing by bookseller

I made a really great salad dressing tonight, dead easy, and just super-tasty. And since it's salad season, I thought it might be useful. This is an adaptation of a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Frog Comissary Cookbook:

1 egg
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced (fresh) garlic
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard
pinch salt
big pinch fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup canola oil or other neutral-flavored oil
1/2 cup olive oil

Bring the egg to room temp. Break it into the container of a blender, and whiz it around for 30 seconds. Add all the ingredients except the oil, and whiz around for a minute. Mix the oils together in a measuring cup or some other container with a pouring spout. With the blender running, start dripping the oil mixture in. At first, go quite slowly -- really truly drop by drop, until you start to get irritated. At the 1/3 point, you can bump it up to a thin stream. At the 2/3 point, you can go to a fairly solid stream. Getting the oil in will probably take you two minutes of standing there. Very irritating.
But worth it. This produces a dressing that is creamy, thanks to the egg, but very light, with a lovely punch of flavor. It will go beautifully on all green salads, especially if you're adding, say, hard boiled eggs or chicken or sliced steak or shrimp. Or avocados or swiss cheese or asparagus or tomatoes or radishes or cold leftover potatoes or broccoli or artichoke hearts or....pretty much anything. The soy sauce, by the way, will not taste like soy sauce; it just adds a very savory back note. The dressing keeps in the fridge for a good two weeks.

Italian Stir-Fry of Beef and Cherry Tomatoes by Sicut Cervus

I'm oh so pleased that you are intrigued by the fusion experiments. Last night's involved beef and cherry tomatoes, stir-fried in "Italian bread dipping sauce" -- olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbs -- and finished with some leftover orange-ginger sauce that is Chinese and does have soy sauce in it (don't remember where I got the recipe for it but it's excellent), plus white wine. Served over wild-rice-from-a-box (we all have our shortcuts, now don't we?) and steamed broccoli (with butter of course) on the side. It would have been even better if I'd marinated the meat beforehand in the bread-dipping sauce, but I tend not to think of that sort of thing until it's too late.

Then I stuck all the bones and trimmed fat from the beef (we've been eating off this one hunk of cheap steak for three days) in the oven and roasted them down, and made some stock with what I managed to keep from eating of the roasted bones and crackling. So that, with a few days' leftovers, will be soup sometime next week.

Gingery Pork by Sicut Cervus

I've been experimenting with Chinese / Northern Italian fusion, using stir-fry techniques and cornstarch as a thickener, and spices like ginger and cayenne, but leaving out the soy (which my husband and I are not all that fond of) and adding things like artichoke hearts and rosemary that are my vernacular. I've had some dandy results, including this evening.

Here's one of them, for a gingery pork, that I made up about six weeks ago and had the presence of mind to write down.

Cut up 2 pork chops into bite-size pieces. Dredge in cornstarch seasoned with salt, pepper and basil.

Chop fine: 2 t. garlic and 2 t. ginger root

Get ready in small dishes, cut up for stir frying:

2 stalks celery (yeah I know you hate it)
6 baby bella mushrooms
3/4 c. snap peas
4 oz. fresh spinach

Mix up a sauce of 3/4 c. white wine, 2 T. vinegar, 2 t. sugar and set aside.

Sauté meat in olive oil. When nicely browned, add garlic and ginger, then celery, then mushrooms, then snap peas, then spinach. When vegetables have wilted, add sauce, stir and serve immediately with rice or over pasta.

Veggie Balls, aka Lentil Balls with Walnuts and Parmesan

The Meatball Shop’s
Veggie Balls
[I called it lentil balls with walnuts and parmesan, for honesty's sake]

"The Meatball Shop’s staff eat these around the clock. You’ll often find them at the bar with a big bowl of these and a side of steamed or sautéed spinach. You can also top with Spinach-Basil Pesto. And when it comes to feeding children, this is a great and tasty way to sneak in more veggies."

2 cups lentils
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons tomato paste
8 ounces button mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
3 large eggs
1/2 cup grated rennet-free Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. Combine the lentils and 2 quarts water in a medium stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the lentils are soft but not falling apart, about 25 minutes. Drain the lentils and allow to cool.

2. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil to a large frying pan and sauté the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme and salt over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown. Add the tomato paste and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for 15 more minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. When cool, add the lentils to the vegetable mixture.

3. Add the eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley and walnuts to the cooled vegetables and lentils and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated. Place in the refrigerator for 25 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside.

5. Roll the mixture into round golf ball-size meatballs (about 1 1/2 inches), making sure to pack the vegetable mixture firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, allowing 1/4 inch of space between the balls and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another.

6. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving. Yield: About 2 dozen five dozen 1 1/2-inch meatballs.

One recipe is supposed to make one 9x13" panful of 24 non-meatballs. Instead it made enough to fill two pans plus two pie plates. And the leftover no-meat-balls are delicious eaten cold with the fingers while passing by.

My fifteen-year-old ate plate after plate of these, without pause for comment. My meat-loving nineteen-year-old ate plenty of them, but did mention that he prefers meatballs with real meat. His taste limitations can be a little tiresome.

Pickled Shrimp by annen

To 2 1/2 lb shrimp add boiling water to cover. Add 1/2C celery tops, 3 1/2tsp salt and 1/4c mixed pickling spices. Cook shrimp 10-12 min. drain. cool with cold water. Peel under cold running water and remove black line. OR buy about 2 lb shrimp already cleaned and steamed. Sauce: Combine 1 1/4 C salad oil, 3/4 C white vinegar, 1 1/2 t salt, 2 1/2 t celery seed, 2 1/2 T capers and juice and a dash of Tabasco. Mix well. Alternate shrimp in container with thinly sliced onions. Add 7-8 bay leaves. cover with sauce. Refrigerate at least 24 hrs. Will keep at least 1 week in refrigerator.

Oatcakes by gaudy Night

(from Herr Ritter's father: note I have never actually made this recipe myself).

1 c. flour, sifted with
1 T sugar
1 t. baking powder
½ t. salt

Place this in a large bowl, and mix with 2 c. quick rolled oats (must be the “quick” variety). Then cut in ½ c. soft butter or margarine (I find half and half works best).

Finally, add ½ c. milk. Mix the milk in with a large spoon so that eventually you get a single round blob or ball of dough. Put flour on your hands and shape the ball into a reasonable sphere (it’s likely to be sticky). Make sure you have a large counter or board to work on. Cut the ball of dough in half and put half to one side; place the other in the middle of a pile of flour and pat it down into a rough circle about ½ inch thick. Now take a rolling pin and begin to roll it out, again keeping the circular shape. You’ll probably need to use a spatula or something to pick it up off the board and turn it over into more flour before it gets too thin or stuck to the board. Repeat the rolling process, shaping it toward a rough oval shape. When it’s thinned down to about ¼ inch [more like 1/8; remember it will rise] and about the size of a greased cookie sheet, use the sheet to slide under the dough in one smooth motion.

Bake at 375º for 12-15 minutes; take it out when it gets just brown.

Gluten-free Flour Mix by Miriam

For my flour mix, I use a mixture of around 40% rice flour (white and/or brown), 30% corn starch, and 30% tapioca flour. I'm not exact about it. I don't have access to xanthum gum here in Japan so I don't use that. In fact, it kind of grosses me out so I have just skipped it in my baking. In any recipe, I substitute between 75-80% of the flour called for with this mix, and for the remaining 20-25% I use almond flour, which does a great job of improving the crumb and texture. For any kind of quick bread, biscuit, or cake, I always use yoghurt or sour cream instead of milk, and I use half baking soda and half baking powder for the rising (whatever amount is called for in the recipe). For cakes, I always separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a few tablespoons of sugar and fold them in at the end. It significantly improves the overall experience of gluten free cake. With these tricks, I feel like I can make just about any baked item short of yeast bread, and it tastes just as good as wheat based recipes, even according to my daughters. Now I need to figure out the secret of making tasty yeast bread that doesn't contain too much bean flour, which to me has a wacky taste.

I should also also point out that my batters are lot less liquidy than some wheat based batters, particularly since I am using less liquid overall with the yoghurt/sour cream substitution. If your batter gets too liquidy, the end result will not be great. I shoot for a batter that can sit in a spoon in a mushy lump and not flow around and off the sides, kind of what you want to see in a classic muffin batter.

Lowering the Calorie Count of Sauces by bookseller

In terms of sauces, adding a little cornstarch in a slurry (i.e., dissolved in liquid, typically in a 1:3 ratio) to ygurt, even lower-fat yogurt, will keep the yogurt from breaking and allow for a creamy sauce. If you, for example, braise some chicken with onions and greens, remove the chicken, boil down the liquid and veg to concentrate the flavors and evaporate most of the liquid, puree the veg and the remaining bit of braising juices, return this puree to the pot, stir in the yogurt slurry, simmer, return the chicken to the pot for a few minutes, and dish it up, maybe with some chopped dill or capers or lemon zest, something that will go well with the yogurt's mild acidity, you'd probably have a very nice dish that would taste much more calorically expensive than it really was.

I also find that Greek yogurt, or strained yogurt, makes a very good substitute for either sour cream or cream cheese, depending on the thickness. However, it can be a bit tricky, because the full-fat stuff doesn't save you a lot of calories, but the reduced-fat stuff can be REALLY sour once it's strained, so you'd need to experiment with brands and levels of concentration and also your own taste for sour.

I used to make a lower-fat maynnaise substitute, using roasted onions and tofu and fresh thyme, that I liked quite a lot; I think the recipe is in the Otters' recipe log. In fact, tofu can "creamify" things (like soup, especially, and desserts -- makes a very convincing mousse) very nicely. There will be lots of recipes online, and you might be interested in Deborah Madison's I Can't Believe It's Tofu. She's an extremely well respected vegetarian chef, was the chef at Chez Panisse before branching out on her own.

Worth knowing, btw, that almond milk (widely available here, not sure about where you are, though it's easy enough to make yourself) makes for a very pleasant bechamel, substituting for milk or cream, and certainly lower in carbs than the one and in calories than the other. You do need the flour to thicken it, though; on its own it has about the consistency of skim milk, so not much use as a sauce.

Finally -- and I think this is the last trick I know -- in southern Italy, pasta is often eaten with a topping of toasted coarse breadcrumbs, rather than cheese. Partly this is because that part of Italy has historically been desperately poor, and bread is cheaper than cheese but it performs some of the same functions; it helps drink up a bit of the sauce and thus thickens it and helps it cling to the pasta. Bread is also a caloric bargain over cheese; if you make pasta this might be an easy and tasty switch.

Saag Paneer by Picklehead

I'd made Madhur Jaffrey's recipe before, but forgot that Flatmate took that book with her when she moved out, so I had to improvise based on memory. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

4 oz. paneer

approx. 8 oz. cooked spinach

4 oz. water

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

Oil and butter

Fry the oil and butter together. Add the mustard seeds. When they pop (about 30 seconds), add the cumin and stir. Add the paneer and cook until brown. Add the garam masala, chili powder, and turmeric, and cook for approximately 5 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the pan is close to dry.

Add the water, spinach, and garlic, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Add more water if needed.

(It probably could have been improved with a dollop of cream a few minutes before serving, but I didn't think of that.)

Rye Rolls and Rye Sausage Buns by Erythrosine

Rye Rolls

1 cup plus one tablespoon water
2 tablespoons sugar
1.25 cups whole rye flour
2.25 teaspoons instant yeast
0.5 cup all-natural sour cream
(optional one teaspoon to two tablespoons caraway seeds or sesame seeds)
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 cups white 100% whole wheat flour (King Arthur brand, which is lighter than whole wheat flour made from red wheat)
2 tablespoons wheat gluten

In the pan of a bread machine, mix the water, sugar, rye flour, and yeast together with a non-scratching spoon or spatula. Let the dough rest for twenty minutes, while the yeast wakes up and becomes bubbly. Add sour cream, seeds, salt, wheat flour, and gluten, then place in bread machine set to "dough". When the dough is ready (1.5 hours later in my machine), divide the rolls into 12 or 16 or 24 equal parts, depending on the size of roll you want, roll between your hands, and then flatten to the shape of a hamburger patty. Place on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, then preheat the oven to 425°F.

While the oven is preheating, brush the rolls with water, using a pastry brush or silicone brush, and sprinkle on seeds, if desired. (Water works just as well as beaten egg yolk and is less trouble.) Use sesame seeds for hamburgers, or a mixture of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, minced dried garlic, minced dried toasted onion, and kosher salt for "everything" buns.

When the oven is preheated, bake the rolls until their internal temperature reads between 190 and 200°F on an instant read thermometer, about twelve minutes.

Variation:

Sausage buns

Include 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds in the dough. Cut a one-pound kielbasa into eight pieces, and wrap each one in one-eighth of the dough, when it comes out of the bread machine. Wrap carefully and place seam-side-down on the parchment paper on the baking sheet. Cook in a 425°F oven until the instant read thermometer says at least 190°F in the middle, about fifteen minutes.

Here is the original that the above recipes are based on: King Arthur Caraway Rye Bread. It does not call for the use of a bread machine, and it calls for more water and different flours, and doesn't mention buns or sausage rolls.

Pork adn Eggplant Curry by bookseller

Curry recipe by way of Fine Cooking magazine, but fairly heavily tweaked:

1 T coconut oil
1 cup sliced onion
3/4 pound pork loin, thinly sliced
3/4 pound eggplant in small, bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 t fish sauce
1 T brown sugar
1/2 of a 14 oz. can of coconut milk (not "light)
1 heaping T Thai red curry paste
grated zest of 1 lime
fresh lime juice to taste
1 t cornstarch
Garnish: 2 T chopped roasted peanuts or dried coconut or fried shallots/onions; fresh cilantro if you got

1. Shake the coconut milk so the thick and thin parts mix together.

2. Brown the pork, then the onions, and finally the eggplant in the coconut oil over medium heat; remove to a bowl.

3. Deglaze the pan (over slightly higher heat) with 1/4 cup of the coconut milk; simmer 2 minutes or so to thicken.

4. Stir in the broth, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, lime zest, and remainder of the coconut milk (remember, you're only using half the can in total); simmer 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning (this is the point when I said WHHHHOOOO HOT HOT HOT! and threw in more coconut milk). It will look extremely unimpressive, like dirty dishwater, but it will taste great.

5. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1-2 T of the sauce; stir this slurry into the sauce and bring to a boil, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Taste again; add lime juice as desired (I added the juice of about 1/2 a lime).

6. Add back in the pork, eggplant, and onion, and simmer to heat through. Garnish with peanuts, toasted coconut, chopped cilantro (and bean sprouts, shredded carrots, thinly sliced chilies...all those would be good, too) as desired.

For me, this serves two over a large-ish bowl of mesclun greens (undressed).

Note the pork is much easier to slice when it's partially frozen (and in fact, I wound up making this because the only pork I had was FROZEN frozen, and I knew I'd need to slice it really thin if it was going to thaw in time for anything like dinner).

If diabetes is an issue here, FWIW, instead of sugar I used Locanto/Whey Low in a 2:1 ratio. Worked beautifully. The cornstarch comes out to 1/2 teaspoon per serving, which is 1 gram of carbohydrate. And by serving it over salad rather than rice, of course, it becomes very diabetes-friendly.

The original recipe added 2 cups sliced cabbage to the eggplant; I think that would be a good addition. And this would work with any number of veggies instead of the eggplant -- I plan to mix in some snowpeas for the second round, and maybe some sliced red pepper.

You could certainly make this more complex by adding some thinly sliced lemongrass and/or grated ginger to the simmering sauce, and/or by garnishing with some slivered Thai basil or pea shoots. Very good as is, though. And takes less time to make than it has to type up.

Finally, if you don't have coconut oil (delicious and very good for you) or peanut oil, use unflavored vegetable oil, like canola; don't use olive oil.

Walnut Martini by Grizzled Adams

Ingredients:

2 shots Vodka

3/4 shot Tuaca Liqueur

3/4 shot Walnut Liqueur

3/4 shot Vermouth (Dry)

Fruit Salad by bookseller

At this time of year, my vote would be for an enormous fruit salad. You can make a syrup by boiling down orange juice (and lemon juice, if you got) with some zest, maybe a few cardamoms, and some sugar; when it's the consistency of, say, light cream (don't go all the way to maple syrup), glug in some liqueur if you have any (Gran Marnier?), and toss it all with the berries, any other fruit, ideally some orange segments (the cherries are out, they would go nicely), and stick it in the fridge to marinate. Come time to serve, toast some walnut halves and scatter them on top -- or pistachios, they'd be pretty, maybe some fresh mint. Offer some whipped cream or Greek yogurt to anyone who wants, but it will be just wonderful without, and nobody will feel remotely deprived.

Oatcakes by MollyDunlop

Here is the oatcake recipe I use. It's from Dan Lepard's book The Art of Handmade Bread, which you must all go out and buy now, to make up for my stealing his recipe.

Oatcakes

1.5 cups (250 g) fine oatmeal
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.25 tbsp (20 g) unsalted butter or lard
6 tbsp (100 g) water at room temperature
additional oatmeal for rolling

In a bowl, combine the oatmeal, salt and baking soda then rub in the butter until all the lumps disappear. Add the water and mix to a soft dough.

Sprinkle a little oatmeal on the work surface, place the dough on top, and sprinkle more oatmeal over the dough. Use the heel of your hand to flatten the dough, then sprinkle again, over and under, with oatmeal. Roll it out to a scant 1/4" thickness. You may need to run a spatula under the dough to make user it doesn't stick. Cut out disks with a 3" cutter, and place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with oatmeal. You can rework this dough without destroying the structure, so re-roll it as needed to get as many cakes as you can.

Bake at 400 F (200 C) for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and beginning to brown at the edges. Cool on a rack, then store in an airtight tin.

You don't so much bake oatcakes as dry them; the oven will fill with steam as they cook. It is almost impossible to screw them up unless you actually burn them. They're excellent with butter and a sharpish berry jam or good marmalade, and very good with cheese or smoked fish.

New Home

When Salon Table Talk closes on 10th June, 2011, the Otter discussion thread will continue at drive we said. In fact, we're there already--join us!

Romany Creams by liz isabella

Biscuit
1/2 lb butter, plus 1 tablespoon butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
2 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking powder

Butter cream filling
1 lb icing sugar
1/4 lb butter, softened (not melted!)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons milk
A couple of teaspoons of reserved melted chocolate

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cream together butter and sugar; add flour, coconut, and baking powder.

3. Dissolve melted baking chocolate by whisking into boiling water; add to mixture. Reserve a teaspoon or two to mix into your filling.

4. Roll mixture into small 1-inch balls. 5. Place balls on greased cookie sheet and, using a fork, press criss-cross to flatten.

6. Bake in a moderate oven, 350F, for 10 to 12 minutes until desired doneness (some people like them crispier than others); let cool on a wire rack.

7. Make the butter cream filling: cream one-third of the icing sugar with softened butter and salt in large bowl.

8. Blend vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons milk and remaining sugar into mixture.

9. Gradually stir in remaining milk to filling until desired spreading consistency is reached.

10. When cookies have cooled completely, sandwich them together with the butter cream filling.

Apricot Bread by Sicut Cervus

[Based on recipe from Beard on Bread, with corrections.]

I can't speak to whether it's better with apples, peaches, etc., since Pops has a different recipe (from the same book) for Apple Walnut Bread that is also delish but quite different in texture and crumb, being based, like cake, on creaming butter and sugar together. As to dried peaches vs. apricots, I can say that my friend Clio who now lives in Merced, CA, just sent me some dried nectarines from her local farmers' market, and OMG sooooooooooo good.

Anyway. The recipe.

1 1/2 cups dried apricots (one package if you buy them that way)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups unbleached flour (Pops uses about 2 cups white, 3/4 cups whole wheat)
1 cup chopped nuts (he usually uses about 1/2 walnuts, 1/2 almonds, but you could also use pecans or any other combination of nuts)

Preheat oven to 350.

Pour 1 cup boiling water over the apricots and let stand till just tender -- do not oversoak. Drain off the water and reserve it. If it's now less than a cup, add more water to make 1 cup water, and pour into a large mixing bowl.

Add baking soda, sugar, and eggs and mix well.

Roughly chop the apricots, and toss with flour, baking powder, and salt in a second bowl. Pour the liquids into the solids. Add the nuts and mix well.

Butter and flour two loaf tins. Divide the batter into equal parts and pour into the tins. (You can line the tins with wax paper or parchment paper if you want to be sure to get the loaves out without any of the crust sticking to the pans).

Bake about 45 minutes (takes less in our oven, so start checking at 30-35 minutes in case your oven is similar) -- till loaves are nicely risen, dark in color, and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool before slicing, if you can stand it. Once cooled, bread is delicious sliced cold, or sliced cold and warmed briefly in microwave OR briefly toasted in toaster; plain or spread with butter or cream cheese and/or topped with sliced sharp or mild cheese.

Could probably also be baked in a bundt pan as a coffee cake.

Seafood Stir-fry with Arugula by liz_isabella

My favourite seafood stir-fry is mixed shellfish fried lightly in butter, lemon and garlic, then add in chopped coriander, chopped rocket (arrrrrrrrrrrrugula, love that word), and if I have any, spring greens, warm through until wilted. I have it with couscous usually, but I have A Thing for couscous.

Arugula by bookseller

I particularly love "wild" arugula (which is in fact simply a different, and cultivated strain that is much spicier than the regular stuff). It makes a great pesto and also a great soup, particularly with some starch (potato, usually) for balance; I also love it stirred into lentil soup, the way I might use kale. And it's terrific stirred around with olive oil and garlic and used to sauce pasta. But to tell you the truth, I like it best in salads.

One thing you might could do is branch out beyond the usual salads. Frex, arugula is delicious in a salad that incorporates, say, grapefruit and orange segments and maybe some cooked white fish or (even better) crab or lobster. It plays very well with the softer, sweeter salad greens like mache or Boston lettuce, with maybe a little endive for a nice jolt of bitterness. Mmmmmm a citrus vinaigrette, throw in an egg if you'd like it creamy, with a little fresh tarragon and some toasted slivered almonds or a few toasted baguette slices (brushed with a little garlic olive oil) on the side....MAN am I hungry!

Carnitas by Calamity Jeanne

This afternoon I dusted off an old recipe for carnitas. It's one I basically cobbled together from two recipes out of two different library-loan cookbooks back when I lived in Silver Bay 20 years ago. I used boneless country-style ribs: simmered the wee out of them in water with a sliced onion and some ground cumin and dried oregano, then removed them from the broth, salted them and baked them in a 350F oven until browned, then allowed them to cool and cubed the meat, then put the meat cubes back into the baking dish, seasoned them well with cumin, oregano, chili powder and garlic powder, dumped in the onions from the cooking stock as well as a cup or so of the stock, covered it with foil, and let it bake for another 45 minutes. The meat is amazingly tender. I serve it on soft corn tortillas spread with refried beans, rolled up like taquitos, with Mexican rice on the side.