So to celebrate, I made a pot of chili. I have a few versions of this up my sleeve – there’s the kind of chili that takes all day to cook, and there’s fast chili that you can throw together in 15 minutes and have on the table in an hour. This particular recipe is quick and versatile – just right for a weekday meal.
Outside of winter holidays, we rarely have turkey. For some reason, I never think about turkey – and for the two of us, even a small whole turkey is too much. A 2-3 pound turkey breast, however, is just right for a meal or two, plus a couple of sandwiches. I ordered this boneless, skinless… Continue reading Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Breast
Hat tip to Pork n Whiskey blog! Bourbon, mustard, and pork…great combination! Oh look, the recipe says to flambé the bourbon. “I can do that”, I think to myself. “This will make a great photo for the blog”, I tell James. I set my phone on the butcher block, in camera mode. I want to… Continue reading “Great Balls of Fire” Bourbon Mustard Sauce
I love noodles, and I love peanut sauce. However trying to stick with a quasi-Paleo diet means eating no gluten and avoiding legumes, which knocks out a lot of noodle possibilities and also peanuts (which are legumes, not nuts). I’m not going to discuss why these common foods could be bad for you – there… Continue reading Ground Pork with Spicy Thai Noodles
Modified from The Splendid Table The traditional menu for New Year’s Day here in the Southeastern United States is pork, black-eyed peas, and greens. As the saying goes, “Eat poor on New Year’s and eat fat the rest of the year.” These foods are supposed to bring you prosperity in the coming year – the… Continue reading Roasted Pork Shoulder with Winter Spices
I fell in love with a Vietnamese restaurant, and with Clay Pot Pork. Chateau Saigon is a gem of a restaurant in the mecca of multi-ethnic eateries that line Buford Highway. Restaurants in this area of Atlanta are mostly in shopping centers and strip malls, alongside pawn shops, thrift stores, and car dealerships. In other… Continue reading Vietnamese Clay Pot Pork (Thit Kho To)
Anytime we go on vacation…actually, anytime we leave the house… Mr. “He Cleans” is on a quest for vinyl. As in LPs, records, albums, and what have you. This is the source of much of the incredible music I get to listen to, so no complaints here. However, I hope there is either a comfy… Continue reading Classic Paella
Recipe adapted from Ian Knauer’s Sticky Balsamic Ribs I hope you are not tired of pork belly, for a couple of reasons. First, this is the best version yet! (Yes, I say that every time.) The second reason is because I still have a few pounds of it in my freezer, so chances are you… Continue reading Balsamic Pork Belly
Our good-gardener, neighbor Mike brought us some beautiful pattypan squash from his garden, and also a package of heirloom tomatoes that he had sun-dried and put up from another year’s bounty. I’m so glad I live near a generous person with a green thumb! Mike suggested cooking the squash in a tomato sauce with some… Continue reading Summer Squash Casserole with Tomatoes and Mozzarella
We recently became enamored of the Japanese sweet potato, or satsumaimo. These potatoes are dark red-skinned, almost purplish, and have a creamy white inside. They are very sweet – particularly if you roast them – and have a denser flesh than the orange potatoes we are used to. I decided to try mashing them for… Continue reading Sage and Sweet Potato Mash (with Bangers and Caramelized Vidalia Onions)
This may well be my laziest, virtually no-effort attempt at smoked Boston Butt yet….and I think it was one of the best. Sometimes the less you do, the better things turn out. No brine, no overnight rub, not much tinkering with the cooking…just a generous application of Dizzy Pig “Dizzy Dust” and onto the Big… Continue reading Pulled Pork (Smoked Pork Butt)
Modified from Los Angeles Times What a smoking weekend! Determined to clear out some of the pork products in the freezer, we decided to get the Big Green Egg smoking most of the day Saturday with a pork shoulder roast (aka pork butt) and a pound of pork belly. We’ve been getting pork belly every… Continue reading Maple-Bourbon Smoked Pork Belly
A good casserole is one of the best comfort foods. You just can’t beat a one-dish meal for convenience – just pop it in the oven and relax – or for the great way the ingredients play off each other. This Latin-style lasagna is both sweet and savory, with cumin-spiced ground beef, layers of plantains,… Continue reading Latin Lasagna with Beef and Plantains
As I’ve probably mentioned before, one fun thing about belonging to a CSA is you get to try cuts of meat (or vegetables) that you might not have otherwise picked up at the grocery store. Part of our “Dig the Pig” share from Moonshine Meats is a large slab of fresh ham steak. In this… Continue reading Fresh Ham Steak with Mustard-Cider Glaze
she cooks...he cleans 