My Cooking Blog

Braised Asian Pork

Posted by in The Kitchen

Oyster sauce combines surprisingly with ketchup for a rich, tasty sauce that will wake up your pork! Country style ribs are rendered more tender by braising, and simmering in this zesty sauce will be sure to pack them with flavor. Try to use shiitake mushrooms in this recipe; their rich earthiness holds up to the sauce and adds amazing flavor.

Chinese Oxtail Soup (adapted for the crock pot)

Posted by in The Kitchen

If you are looking for a thick, stew-like dish, this is not it. The end result here is a clear, rich broth, like a consomme. This soup is a study in delicious simplicity; with only three ingredients, the essence of each rings clear in the end result. Oxtails contain a large amount of gelatin, which flavors and adds body to the broth.

Chipotle Pork Stew

Posted by in The Kitchen

My spicy take on a New Mexico Green Chile Stew. I like using Country Style Ribs because the fat and bones add so much flavor. Be sure to rinse the meat to remove any stray bone fragments that occur when slicing. Chipotle peppers, which are smoked jalapenos, bring a bracing, earthy component to this stew.

In Praise of Spinach

Posted by in The Kitchen

I had forgotten how delicious spinach can be. Finding lovely, dark green bunches of Savoy Spinach on sale, I bought some, and I’ve been in heaven all week! Thinking I would tire of the same old spinach salad, I found myself experimenting and coming up with some great variations.

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Bea’s Chicken

Posted by in The Kitchen

Beatrice Hamilton was a short, feisty woman who worked at my parents’ restaurant. Working at the restaurant all the time, I got tired of the usual fare, so Bea would fix me different things. This was her specialty. “I used to fix this ev’ry Sundy for a family I used to work for,” she’d say. “I caint undersand how they could eat the same thing EV’RY SUNDY.”

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Egg Drop Soup

Posted by in The Kitchen

This is sort of a wild ramble on the makings of a good chicken stock and, afterwards, a good egg drop soup! Sounds like a lot of trouble, but once you’ve had the real thing, you won’t open a can or use those bouillon cubes ever again!

Chinese Roasted Chicken with Bean Sprouts and Snow Peas

Posted by in The Kitchen

Visually stunning, this dish is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Prepare this chicken with other sides for your during-the-week menu, or wow your guests with the full presentation. The beautiful browned skin and moist meat will have you making this again and again! Try the marinade ingredients with different meats.

Purple Hull Peas

Posted by in The Kitchen

Stopped at a roadside produce stand near Hempstead, Texas on the way back from Waco and bought some fresh purple hull peas. I’d never cooked them before. Called my partner’s mom (“…never cooked purple hulls? You aren’t much of a Southern cook, are you??”) who gave me basic instructions, which I modified. The results were amazing! So delicious and flavorful. I’ll never eat canned again!

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Figs and pork

Posted by in The Kitchen

Before I forget, I want to record an amazing combination of things that just “happened” in the kitchen of some dear friends I’m visiting.

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