Success! ... and FAILURE!

My pork weekend

Let’s start with the success – pork stew. I had 1 1/3 lbs of pork cubes which I got for a song at Safeway. I don’t even remember how I made this beyond chopping onion and putting it in a pot with the pork and some guajillo peppers I ground in our spice grinder. Then added broth, salt and pepper and simmered it for about 3 hours until the pork was tender. Served over rice it was almost like a delicacy.

The more important discovery is just how amazing baby bok choy is when roasted instead of sauteed or steamed. 400 degree oven for 15 minutes coated with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and some of the guajillo chile powder. The leafy ends get crispy and melt in your mouth.

Now, FAILURE time.
I decided to try my hand at pork belly. We got a slab of it at the Asain market for only $2.18 per lb. I studied several recipes, blended ideas together, and ended up with hockey pucks of pork that would not be recommended to anyone with dentures. The skin, instead of being crispy, was like shoe leather. The meat, instead of being melt-in-your-mouth succulent, was dry and chewy. We ate some of it in the form of a cassoulet (carrot, potato, lentils, onion) and then the next day I tried to resurrect what was left by simmering it in broth for a few hours. That worked and what remains is indeed succulent. I cut off all that darned skin. I won’t give up though. There’s got to be a better way.

No picture, it’s too humiliating.

Dirty rice

I have discovered two new favorite things: cooking rice with some onion and bell pepper, and a simple way to do baby bok choy. The bok choy method can be summer up in a single sentence.

Melt 2 tsp butter in 2 tsp olive oil (or vegetable oil); when hot, add the bok choy and saute a few minutes; add a generous splash of Chinese rice wine; that’s it.

In years past I have often discarded the turkey liver. Only because I had no particular use for it. This year was different. When I made giblet gravy with the heart and gizzard, I browned the liver along with them and then set it aside. My motivation? Dirty rice.

The essential ingredient for dirty rice is turkey or chicken liver. I added a bit of green pepper just to use it up. A bit of onion is nice but not required. Scallions would be good. The rice doesn’t look particularly “dirty”. It could have used 2 or 3 times as much liver. But no matter, I used what I had and the flavor was quite nice.

The protein is leftovers of the coffee-encrusted steak from a few days ago – still succulent.

Dirty rice
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp butter
¼ onion, chopped
¼ green bell pepper, diced
1 cup white rice
2 cups stock (turkey or chicken or both)
¼ cup cooked turkey or chicken liver
salt and pepper to taste
1 scallion, white and green parts, chopped fine

Heat the oil. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté over medium for 5 minutes. Stir in rice and sauté 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer, cover, and cook 20-25 minutes until all liquid is absorbed.

In the meantime, chop the liver into small pieces. When the rice is done, stir in the liver, season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning. Let it sit off heat for a few minutes, then serve.