Daring Cooks :: Pork Satay

We are huge fans of Thai food.  If we order food, 95% of the time it is Thai.  We love the spices and flavors in Thai food. So I was excited to see that the Darking Cooks challenge for this month was Pork Satay.

We have made several variations of chicken satay but haven't tried pork.  And we were both overall happy with this dish.  It was very yummy and pretty simple.  Even if you haven't spent much time in the kitchen, this would be a good recipe to try as the directions are very straightforward and all the ingredients are easily found in any major grocery store.  My only adjustment would be to cut back on the cumin.  While I love cumin in some things, it was a little overpowering in satay.

We made the "long version" of the marinade and it was still pretty quick to mix up.  And the peanut sauce was very easy, providing a great alternative to a bottle of the processed stuff.  We will definitely be making this again.

Thank you, Cuppy for sharing this great recipe!

The January 2010 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

A Versatile Spice Rub

Since the purpose of this blog is to share our recipes and cooking discovers, I suppose I should share the best ever spice rub for meat.  I love meat!  I love to grill it, bake it, saute it, fry it and occasionally eat it raw (well seared really).  However for some reason this country has this need to coat every piece of meat with A1 Barbeque sauce, which is gross.  Not to mention some guys also seem to think that because they spend $500 bucks on a grill they are experts, but that's a different show.  How you cook the meat is almost as important as what you add to the meat, if anything.  Adding spices to a cut of meat can set your dish apart from the others. 

We came across a recipe for a spice rub in The Complete Meat Cookbook and have since tweaked it to our taste.  This spice rub is sweet, spicy and tangy all rolled into one.  We like to liberally coat the meat with it a few hours (or overnight) before either grilling or otherwise cooking it.  Adding a homemade barbeque sauce to give it a wet marinade or during cooking can round out the flavors, but the rub by itself is fine too.  The recipe makes quite a bit so we use an old spice container with a label.  Keeping this rub on hand ensures that you always have a way to add a little flavor without reaching to the steak sauce.  It works great on beef, pork, chicken, and even lamb if my wife would let me buy it (lamb is on Tara's not allowed in the house list).   We use it for grilling, roasting, and ribs.

Spice Rub

Adapted from The Complete Meat Cookbook

2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Chile Powder
1 Tsp Cayenne Powder
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Ground Cumin Seeds
1 Tbsp Dry Mustard
1 Tsp Ground Sage
1 Tsp Dried Oregano
1/4 cup Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Ground Pepper

Enjoy!

-Dan

Goodbye Gourmet & Chipotle Pork Cheeseburgers

Like so many others, I was beyond disappointed and quite sad about the loss of Gourmet magazine.  For me, it is losing a new friend that is so stylish that they had been inspiring me of what could be.  We just subscribed to Gourmet this past spring... I was just feeling as thought I was ready to be inspired by the beautiful pages rather than intimidated, I was just ready to learn about new-to-me ingredients and techniques and soak in the photography. 

I saw a snippet of an article stating that they thought what aided in Gourmet being shut down was that Gourmet was too far out of reach of the common, average reader.  This is part of what made Gourmet brilliant and why I was being swept off my feet by my new friend.  The articles about places and cultures that I haven't experienced, the amazing styling, and the impeccable detail of the pages took me outside of my everyday.  It was an experience to read Gourmet magazine.  One that I will greatly miss.

So about the food.  I have recently started to try recipes from Gourmet and have found them to be one of my favorite resources for both everyday meals and for when we are hosting guests.  But I really love the simple, quick recipes that pack a Gourmet punch.  A burger can be just a burger but what if you use ground pork and include adobo and tomatillos? 

Yup, that's right we chose to go with a burger recipe for our celebration of Gourmet hosted by A Mingling of Taste.  May be a choice that is out of left field but one of things I loved about Gourmet magazine was the way they made ordinary so much more... And also is what makes Gourmet recipes something that we can fit into our everyday.  So, cheers to the creators and all who worked so hard to make Gourmet magazine amazing and inspiring.  I am grateful for their published recipes that will continue to inspire our kitchen for years to come.

Chipotle Pork Cheeseburgers

Source: Gourmet

• 1 lb ground pork (not lean)
• 2 teaspoons minced chipotle in adobo plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
• 4 slices Muenster cheese
• 4 hamburger buns, toasted
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 large tomatillo (1/4 lb), husked and rinsed, then sliced
• 1/2 small avocado, sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro sprigs

Prepare a gas grill for direct-heat cooking over medium heat.

Gently mix pork, chipotle, garlic, and a scant tsp salt until just combined. Form into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) patties.

Oil grill rack, then grill patties, covered, 4 minutes.

Flip patties and top with a slice of cheese. Grill, covered, until just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Spread buns with mayonnaise and assemble burgers with tomatillo, avocado, and cilantro.

Gourmet Cooks’ note: Burgers can be grilled in an oiled hot 2-burner grill pan over medium heat, about 10 minutes total.

These burgers pack a serious flavor punch!  They are quite incredibly tasty and such a step up from regular burgers.  We will be saving this recipe for a future bbq as they simply must be shared!

Apple and Cranberry Stuffed Pork Chops

There isn't a more fall dinner like Apple and Cranberry Stuffed Pork Chops.  With hints of apple, spices and stuffing its hard not to find this recipe delicious.  I found a few recipes that had somethings I liked and other things I didn't.  So I came up with a compromise and combined them into a nice blend that worked out very well. 

Apple and Cranberry Stuffed Pork Chops

• 2 thick bone-in loin end pork chops
• 1/2 cup salt, regular
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 2 cups cider vinegar, HOT
• 1 pound ice cubes
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons cranberries
• 1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup Apple pieces, cut small
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh sage, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a plastic ziplock bag put the salt, sugar, peppercorns, and mustard powder. Add the hot vinegar and swirl to dissolve. Let mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes to develop flavor. Add ice cubes, add the chops and cover with the brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Swirl around the meat in the bag every 30 min or so.

Remove chops from container and rinse. Cut horizontal pockets in each pork chop for stuffing. Combine rest of ingredients, and put into piping bag that is not fitted with a tip. Pipe each chop full with cornbread mixture. Grill the chops on medium high heat for 6 minutes on each side. Turn each chop 45 degrees after 3 minutes to mark.

The key to stuffing the chops is to insert a sharp knife in the middle of the chop and cut at a diagonal, so you don't enlarge the hole anymore than you have to in order to get the stuffing inside.  I found that a 4 inch paring knife works great. 

You can also bake them in a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 min depending on how done you like them.

Enjoy

-Dan