Honey Molasses Bacon

 

So. Are you drooling yet? There's nothing like home-cured and smoked bacon. Once you try it, the stuff you buy at the store in those thin plastic covered packages will never be the same. I use a few different recipes to cure my bacon and experiment with different smoking woods, but my favorites so far have been apple and cherry wood. This particular batch in the photo is made with a mixture of applewood and Jack Daniel's oak. This recipe uses honey instead of sugar, with a little extra depth of flavor from the molasses. I get my pink curing salt from outdoor sporting goods stores like Bass Pro Shops but you can also get it on Amazon (Since you can basically buy anything you can think of on Amazon). I used our Big Green Egg to smoke the bacon. Enjoy!

Honey Molasses Bacon

2-2.5 pounds pork belly
1/8 cup kosher salt
1 teaspoons pink curing salt
1/8 cup molasses
1/8 cup honey (dark honey preferred)
1 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoons smoked sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, rub bacon with mixture. Place in a gallon ziplock bag and seal tightly. Place in fridge and let cure for 7-10 days, turning bag over and rubbing mixture into the pork each day. Rinse salt off of pork.

Set smoker or BGE to 225 F. Place smoking chips (Applewood is good) in with charcoal. Insert temp probe in pork belly and heat indirect until temp is 150, approx 1.5-2 hours. Let cool to room temperature on wire rack. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in fridge. Slice when cool. Will keep for about a week in the fridge and a few months in the freezer.

Mango Sticky Rice Rolls

I went to ChefStore the other day and scored a great deal on clearance soy paper sushi wraps. Since soy paper has a very neutral flavor I thought it would be great to experiment with non traditional types of sushi rolls. The first thing that came to mind was making Thai style mango sticky rice into a roll shape for a quick portable bite with the same flavor and ingredients. The flavor is very delicate and a mix of creaminess from the coconut milk and sweet/slight tart flavor from the mango. The sesame seeds add a textural component to the rolls and the lemon powder adds a little bit of nuanced acidity. You can also add a little bit of rum (Like a splash) to the coconut milk mixture for some extra kick.

Mango Sticky Rice Rolls

3-4 soy paper wraps 
1 cup glutinous rice
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp lemon powder (Recipe below)
Roasted sesame seeds
1 mango, julienned

Wash the rice several times and soak in warm water for at least 3 hours, overnight is better. Place the rice in cheesecloth and steam it for 20 minutes. Place in a container and let cool until warm or room temperature. Meanwhile, heat the coconut milk, sugar and salt until boiling. Remove from heat, pour liquid into rice, stir and let the rice absorb the coconut milk.

Place a soy paper wrap on your plastic wrap covered sushi mat. Place rice onto soy paper and spread out, leaving about 1/2 inch of uncovered paper at the top. Sprinkle with lemon powder and sesame seeds. Layer the julienned mango in a row. Roll the wrap up using the mat. Seal the end of the soy paper with water. Slice into 1 inch pieces. 1 roll makes approximately 8 pieces.

Mise en place

Ready to roll

Lemon powder (Adapted from http://penandfork.com/recipes/cooking-tips/mandarin-orange-dust/):
Slice lemons (Preferably on a mandoline) thinly (As thin as you can slice them), layer onto a baking sheet and bake at 200 F for about 3 hours until slices are hard with no moisture in them. Put in a spice grinder and pulse until the slices form a powder.

Notes:

• A very sharp, thin bladed knife works well for cutting the rolls without tearing or squishing them. Dip the blade in water each time you cut to prevent the rice from sticking to the blade. 
• You can save them for later by wrapping the entire roll with plastic wrap and cutting them later. They keep for about a day or two until the rice starts to get hard.
• Alternative version- for an extra treat you can dip the whole roll in flour, egg wash, and panko bread crumbs and deep fry it in a 375 F fryer until the outside is golden brown.

Pork Mei Fun (Fried rice noodles)

Mei Fun! This is one of my favorite dishes my mom used to make all the time back when I was a kid. This recipe is pretty close to how she used to make it. She had a special trick of somehow getting the bottom layer caramelized and crispy (Yet not sticking to the pan or burning), like a rice noodle version of socarrat. I haven't quite perfected that part yet but the flavor is there at least! I cheated and used leftover sausage from cooking class but you can use any meat to substitute. I also cheated by using a bag of coleslaw mix for the cabbage.

Mei Fun- Serves 4-6

1 bundle thin rice vermicelli noodles (About 6 oz or approx 165 g)
2 large eggs, beaten
12 oz ground pork sausage 
2 oz thinly sliced yellow onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 bag coleslaw mix
1.5 oz thinly sliced carrot
1 green onion stalk, cut into 1 inch pieces, thick parts cut in half
6 oz sliced fresh or rehydrated dry shitake mushroom
.5 oz bamboo shoots (Julienned/thin strips)
1 tbsp rice wine
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp agave nectar (Can also use honey or sugar)
2 tsp fish sauce
1.5 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
3.5 tsp vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil for the high smoking point but any similar oil will do)

Preparation:

1. Heat the wok until it starts to smoke. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and swirl to coat the wok evenly. When the oil starts to shimmer add the eggs and cook until slightly undercooked (It will continue to cook off heat). Reserve for later.

2. When the wok starts to smoke again add the rest of the oil (Add more if needed). Add the sausage and use a spatula to crumble it while cooking. When the meat is almost cooked add the yellow onion and stir for about a minute or until it starts to turn translucent.

3. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 30 seconds. Add the coleslaw, green onion, mushroom, bamboo and carrot and stir for 2-3 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.

4. Add the rice noodles, stir to combine. Use more of a lifting motion to prevent noodles from breaking into small bits. Cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Chop the eggs into chunks. Add to mixture and stir.

5. Add the rice wine, salt, fish sauce, white pepper, and sweetener (Agave nectar). Stir to combine.

6. Turn off the heat. Add the sesame oil and oyster sauce and stir again until evenly mixed.

In the photo I added some white green onion stalk for better presentation and some chopped green onion as well. My coleslaw mix had bits of red cabbage in it which made for some nice color difference in the dish.

Rogue Meatloaf!

Rogue Meatloaf!

 

I was browsing recipes for making meatloaf and read that you can use pork cracklings/chicharrones ground up finely instead of bread crumbs. Whoa... taking meatloaf to the next meaty level. Obviously, I needed to try this out. Sprouts grocery store has a decent selection of ground wild game, such as wild boar and buffalo which I used for this loaf. My base recipe is from Alton Brown and I've tweaked it a little to suit my own tastes. The original recipe calls for baking in the oven, but I wanted to try it out on our Big Green Egg grill and it ended up having a deep smoky flavor in addition to the loafy meatiness.

Recipe adapted from http://altonbrown.com/meatloaf-recipe/

Ingredients

4 ounces pork cracklings/chicharrones
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 onion, peeled and quartered
1 carrot, cleaned and broken into chunks
3 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole
1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
16 oz ground beef or buffalo
16 oz ground pork or wild boar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Prepare your grill/smoker/Big Green Egg for 325 F temperature. I use oak lump charcoal and have a smoker box I fill with smoking chips. I used hickory chips to get a bacon-like hint of smoke. I used indirect heat, with the grill lined up flush with the felt/opening level of the egg. Note that I put in the smoking chips at the last minute to get as much smoke as possible in the food. 

Combine the pork cracklings, black pepper, cayenne, chili powder and thyme in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is like sand. Transfer to a large bowl. 

 

Mmmm pork dust

 

Combine the onion, carrot, garlic and red bell pepper in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed. Add to mixture. 

Veggin' it up

Add the ground meat to the bowl.

Add the salt, then the egg to the mixing bowl, and using your clean hands, combine thoroughly.

 Meaty mash

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. You can either shape it yourself or you can shape the meat using a loaf pan and plop it out onto the paper. Lining the pan with plastic wrap is a good idea! (Forgot to do this in this case as you can see from the picture)

Ready for the grill

Insert the probe of a remote oven thermometer so that the tip is in the middle of the loaf. Set the thermometer alarm to go off at 155 degrees F. 

Place on the grill, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, brush the BBQ sauce onto the loaf for an even covering. Place back on the grill, cover, and cook until the loaf reaches 155 degrees F. I think it took maybe an hour to fully reach temperature.

Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Voila!

Sugar Free Lemon Cake with Honey Lemon syrup

So. Many. Lemons. 4 fell from our lemon tree just today! Our tree produces massive quantities of the bright yellow fruit. I've given away countless bags full of them, and it seems like the tree still has a ton of them. One of my favorite recipes to use some fresh lemons is a modified lemon pound cake. The use of buttermilk and a lot of lemon zest adds a zesty tang to contrast with the delicate sweetness of the loaf.

The key to having a light texture is using cake flour. It's also important that the normally "cold" ingredients such as butter, eggs, and buttermilk are at room temperature. Your cake won't set in the middle correctly if it isn't. I use a no calorie mixture of stevia/xylitol and Splenda/sucralose for the loaf, and a honey-lemon syrup that I pour over the cake after it has cooled.

Sugar Free Lemon Cake with Honey Lemon syrup

Makes 2 loaves, approximately 16 slices

1 lb butter, room temperature

½ cup Stevia/Xylitol blend

1 ½ cups Splenda

1/3 cup lemon zest

4 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp kosher salt

3 cups cake flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¾ cup buttermilk

¼ cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda and reserve in a bowl (Dry ingredients).

Combine buttermilk and lemon juice in another bowl (Wet ingredients).

Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Alternatively you can use muffin tins.

Use paddle attachment for stand mixer. Cream butter and sugars in stand mixer at medium setting until fluffy, approx 6 minutes. Add in lemon zest, and eggs one at a time while mixing. Add in vanilla extract and salt.

Alternate between mixing dry ingredients and wet ingredients in mixer, starting and ending with the flour mixture.

Pour into loaf pans and place in oven for 45 min to 1 hour, until tester comes out clean. The internal temperature will be 210 F.

While the cake is baking make the honey lemon syrup.

Honey Lemon Syrup

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup honey (Can also use agave nectar)

Combine lemon juice and honey in a small saucepan. Heat on low.

Once cake is done let cool for 10 minutes. Pour honey lemon syrup over cake and let absorb.