JBug's Kitchen Antics

Grilled Cuban Style Pork Chops

I have to admit to a certain affinity for the sight, sounds and flavors of the Caribbean and Latin America likely due to some long, cold and dark winter nights spent dreaming of the sun, sand and sea. When I worked for the hockey club, many's the midnight I'd spend clearing the snow and frost off my car before driving home on slick roads after a game and believe me when I say I cherish the memories but I don't miss it one bit. Living in Tucson now kinda' takes the bite out of winter as it's grill season year round here which is a good thing.

Last night's dinner took mere minutes to cook after the gargantuan porterhouse style pork chops marinated for two hours. The marinade's the key to the Island flavors and it is composed of fresh orange and lime juice along with lots of garlic, oregano, cumin and oil of course and infuses the meat with all those lovely flavors. Just be careful not to over soak the pork or it will have a spongy texture as it almost "cooks" in the acidic juices so longer is not better in this case.

Grilled for 4 to 5 minutes a side the chops are topped with sliced ham slices that I warmed slightly on the grill, and Swiss cheese slices. With the grill cover down for a few minutes, the cheese melts all nice and gooey and the sour dill pickle slices hit the chops just before they hit the plate. 

The results are different and delicious - perfectly cooked to a lovely moist barely pink inside, the flavor's like the Cuban Sandwich we've enjoyed here before sans the bread of course. We had our chops with a salad of black beans, corn, sweet onion and jalapeno peppers in a citrus vinaigrette but fried plantains or a baked sweet potato would be wonderful too.

We can thank Bobby Flay for this creation. I changed it up by necessity as I didn't like the looks of the pork loin chops that were available at the supermarket so rather than butterfly and stuff the chops with the ham/cheese/pickle mixture, I topped them instead. Hit the link here to Food Network's site for Bobby's original recipe so you can check it out. Otherwise, you'll find my version below. 

Grilled Cuban Style Pork Chops (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from Bobby Flay via Foodnetwork.com)

2 large 8 ounce porterhouse style pork chops

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon dried oregano

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

Whisk marinade ingredients together until well blended. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the mixture and set aside. Place the remainder into a large zip bag along with the pork chops and refrigerate for a maximum of 2 hours.

Salt & pepper

4 ounces thin sliced deli ham

4 ounces Swiss cheese cut into quarter inch slices

Sour Dill pickle chips

Vegetable Oil.  

To cook – Brush oil on grill and preheat grill to medium hot. Remove chops from marinade and discard marinade. Pat chops dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Place chops on grill and cook for 4 minutes or until golden brown on one side. Flips chops over and cook for additional 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile heat ham slightly on grill until barely warm. Top chops with ham followed by Swiss cheese slices. Cover grill and cook additional minute or two until cheese is melted and chops are barely pink inside. Remove from grill to serving plate and drizzle chops with reserved marinade mixture.  Garnish with dill pickle chips. Serves 2.

A year ago - Grilled Lamb Chops with Wheatberry Salad

Two year's ago - Pasta in Vodka Sauce with Sausage

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Personally I think dessert is the most important course of any meal mostly because ending dinner with a sweet thing isn't something we do on an ordinary basis around here. Too much of a good thing gets blamed for expanding hips, dunlap disease (as in the stomach done lap over da' belt), and muffin top too, but it doesn't have to be that way at least not always.

For example, in addition to making something relatively healthy for our dessert Monday night, the challenge was on to produce something that our dinner guests could enjoy as well. For health reasons they're unable to eat anything with gluten, refined sugar or any dairy products which when you think about it takes most desserts right out of the equation. Just think about never being able to eat a chunk of chocolate cake, or a huge slice of apple pie, or hit the freezer for a scoop of ice cream. That would hurt, wouldn't it?

JBug's Kitchen is all about never say never so we did some research and adapted this recipe from wholefoodsmarket.com to meet the requirements. Simply a custard based ice cream made from coconut milk, eggs and vanilla, we substituted honey for the sugar and came up with this rich, creamy concoction. 

It went very well sitting on top of a glass full of sliced fresh fruit including strawberries and blackberries.  Personally I thought it needed more honey as it wasn't sweet enough, so I'd be inclined to add more to the mix next time I make it. The Big Guy had the idea of topping his serving with some fresh basil which went surprisingly well with it too. 

I think the sky's the limit with this particular concoction, so I'll be trying it again with some extra toasted coconut, or papaya, mango or pineapple too. Just remember, for the best flavor and texture, serve it slightly soft.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from wholefoodsmarket.com)

4 egg yolks or equivalent egg substitute

1/2 cup honey (more if you want a sweeter ice cream)

1 can light coconut milk (13.5 oz can)

1 can regular full fat coconut milk (13.5 oz can)

2 teaspoons vanilla

In a medium pot, whisk together egg yolks and honey. Whisk in coconut milk then heat slowly, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon – about 10 minutes. Do not let mixture boil. Remove from heat, cool slightly and add vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cold.

Process mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s directions, then transfer to a sealed container and freeze for 1-1/2 hours. Serve slightly softened for best texture and flavor. Note - I used all light coconut milk, but for a creamier product use 1 can of light and 1 of full fat coconut milk.

A year ago - Ginger Mint Lamb Chops and Cauliflower with Raisins and Pine nuts

Two year's ago - White Bean and Asparagus Salad

 

 

 

Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel and Italian Meat Sauce

There's leftovers and then there's LEFTOVERS and with the current economic times, we all need to make good use of them. Unfortunately when someones says the word "leftovers" to me it brings back memories of Mother cleaning out the refrigerator and making a hash of all the little odds and sods left in the back. It was usually burnt, looked like something the cat dragged in and honestly Heinz didn't produce enough catsup to make it palatable in my book. The thought of it still gives me shivers.

The point I'm trying to make in a round about way is that while tough times call for tough measures, a little imagination can go along way in making something delicious out of the dregs in our freezers and cupboards.

That was the case last night when I discovered a container of leftover Italian meat sauce. Now I could have added another tin or so of tomato sauce to top our pasta and called it dinner, but I figured that would be kind of boring. Instead, I cooked up a pot of rigatoni and while that was burping on the stove, made a simple bechamel white sauce and loaded it up with grated romano cheese. Then I tossed the al dente drained pasta into the bechamel and topped it off with the meat sauce and the casserole hit the oven.

Twenty five minutes later dinner was on the table - hot tubes of pasta oozing creamy cheesy white sauce, covered in spicy tomatoey meat. It barely deserved to be called anything but delicious! Leftovers - surely you jest. MMMM

Baked Rigatoni with Béchamel and Italian Meat Sauce (a creation from JBug’s Kitchen)

Béchamel:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1-1/2 cups grated Romano cheese

Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes until roux is slightly golden in color. Whisk in milk and seasonings and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in grated Romano cheese.

8 ounces rigatoni, cooked to al dente and well drained

Béchamel sauce

2 cups Italian meat sauce  (hit link for recipe)

Crushed dried chile peppers

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a casserole or gratin dish with cooking spray. Mix cooked pasta with béchamel and transfer to prepared casserole dish. Top with meat sauce. Sprinkle with crushed dried chile peppers. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until casserole is bubbling hot. Serves 4 to 6.

A year ago - Pecan Crusted Rack of Pork

 

Mango Chicken Curry

What could possibly be better than a bowl of curry anything on a cool November evening. I mean really, doesn't the flavor of curry immediately transport you to another place? We had a beautifully cool day in the desert yesterday with a temperature that barely topped 60. That's fleece weather for people used to triple digits so our dinner was the perfect choice for the occasion.

From Elise at Simply Recipes, this Mango Chicken Curry shouts its Island flavors. What makes it different is a sauce made of onion, red bell pepper, garlic, fresh ginger, curry, cumin and mango chunks that brews for a while allowing the flavors to develop and then gets blended into a smooth colorful puree before the chicken's added to the pot. My immersion blender was up to the task - man, I often wonder how I did anything without that little piece of equipment!

Finished with more mango chunks and some wonderful golden raisins, the curry is a perfect pot of bliss - kinda' sweet, kinda' hot and more than kinda' good. Click on the link above and head right to Elise's site for the recipe because other than adding a little more curry powder and using coconut milk instead of heavy cream, I changed not one darn thing.

A year ago - Pasta Salad with Green Olivada

 

A Cuban Feast

Saveur call this a "Cuban Pork Hash" but you might know it as picadillo. Whatever the moniker, it's often made with ground beef but this pork version takes the prize as the tastiest I've ever made. A popular menu item throughout Latin America, I think it's a great solution to the old weeknight dinner dilemma and easy on the budget too.

Loaded with onion, bell pepper and garlic, the dish is flavored with cinnamon, oregano and cloves and sweetened with raisins, olives and toasted almonds. Normally served with rice, we had our bowl of island sunshine along with fried plantains, Cuban style black beans and flour tortillas. What a feast!

Best of all, there's plenty left for today's lunches and even better, I socked a bunch of it aside to use in  empanadas that I'll make and freeze for the holidays. It's always smart to have some appetizers set aside just in case unexpected company rolls in, right?

Transport yourself to a warmer climate and put this one on your weeknight menu. It takes absolutely no time to whip up and it's a real winner of a dinner.

Cuban Pork Hash aka Picadillo  (adapted from Saveur)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 – 4 inch stick cinnamon

1-1/2 cups chopped onion

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Salt and coarse ground black pepper

2 pounds ground pork

3/4 cup raisins

1 cup green pimiento stuffed olives, halved

1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Fresh limes

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium high. Add onion, green pepper and cinnamon stick and cook until vegetables are softened. Add garlic, cinnamon and cloves and season well with salt and pepper. Cook additional minute, stirring constantly. Add ground pork, and break it us using a potato masher or a fork. Cook until pork is no longer pink. Stir in raisins, olives and crushed tomatoes. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until very thick – about 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in almonds and vinegar. Serve on rice or with tortillas. Garnish with fresh lime juice. Makes 6 to 8 servings. Download Cuban Pork Hash aka Picadillo

A year ago - Biscuit Topped Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

Beer Braised Turkey Thighs with an Island Twist

Don't you think turkey's rather the forgotten bird? I mean, other than Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's just not as popular as it could be which is really a pity. It is incredibly inexpensive, versatile, delicious and braised, it's darn near perfect for the upcoming autumn season.

We had the hint of an autumn day here yesterday with temperatures just a smidge under 90 and when you've been enduring triple digits for as long as we have, a 90 degree day almost calls for fleece. It certainly rang my braising bell and with the Big Guy out bird hunting for the day, it was the perfect menu item. Isn't it like having a fish in the refrigerator ready for dinner when the significant other goes fishing just in case he's skunked...and...wait for it people...a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush. Ha...gotcha!

Seriously, gorgeous big meaty turkey thighs, seasoned with salt and pepper and dredged in flour, browned to a rich dark color are then removed from the pot and set aside while the trinity (onion, carrots and celery) is sauteed until softened. After the veg are darn near perfect, they're joined by diced leeks, lots of garlic and ginger which introduce that island flair. After the aromatics had a few minutes in the hot pot, some tomato paste joins the party followed by flour to thicken what becomes an amazing braising liquid. Cooked for a few minutes to lose the flour taste, the holy grail of the pot is introduced - dark, rich beer.

I used Black Butte Porter and to lose the bitter flavor, it hits a boil and bubbles in the caldron for a good five minutes. Topped off with a can of consomme, a touch of water and some ground allspice for another hint of the Caribbean the browned turkey thighs go back in, the pot's covered and hits the oven for a couple of hours.

Served on a bed of rice, the rich mahogany colored stew is with out doubt, the best thing since sliced bread.

Now, I know we've blogged about this before just after the Big Guy got back from St. Croix almost exactly 2 years ago, but this is a dish that cries out for a place on your regular rotation. You could make it with turkey wings or drumsticks too but the thighs I used on this occasion were absolutely superb. I just wish to heck I'd cooked more of them!

One more thing - a word of warning. You'll want to batten down the hatches, pull the drapes and make sure the door's locked, because the smell of this cooking's going to bring the neighbors calling and goodness knows you're not going to be inclined to share. It is that good!

Beer Braised Turkey Thighs

Inspired by Foodnetwork.com Emeril Lagasse, 2006 and revised from previous JBug’s Kitchen recipe

2 large turkey thighs washed and dried

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper

Flour for dredging

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, small dice

2 carrots, small dice

2 celery stalks, small dice

1 leek, white part only small dice

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1-1/2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1-1/2 - 12 ounce bottles dark beer (I used Black Butte Porter)

1 can Beef consommé’

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Heat large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add oil and heat till almost smoking. Season turkey thighs with salt and pepper; dredge them in flour and brown well on all sides, without crowding in hot oil. Takes about 10 minutes, total.  Remove from pan. Set aside.

Add onions, carrots and celery to Dutch oven. Cook stirring until vegetables are soft – about 5 minutes. Add leeks, garlic and ginger. Cook 1 minute more, stirring well. Add tomato paste and incorporate well into vegetables. Sprinkle with flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add beer, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. (This step helps to remove the trace of bitterness from the beer.) Add beef consommé, water and all spice. Bring to a boil. Add seared turkey thighs. Cover pot and place in 350 oven for 2 hours, or until thighs are very tender. Remove cover from pot during last half hour of cooking.  Serve turkey thighs and sauce on a bed of steamed rice. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serves 3 to 4 people, depending on size of turkey thighs.

A year ago - Hanger Steak with Mushroom Madeira Sauce

Baked Jamaican Jerk Flavored Chicken Wings

Ever make something that, although good, could have been great with a little more effort. That's kind of what I thought about these jerk flavored wings. We even used some of that fabulous Raspberry Habanero Jelly I told you about yesterday to try and take them to a higher level. Darn, they should have been wonderful.

Marinated in a slurry made of onions, scallions, garlic, jalapenos, citrus juice and island spices including allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon then oven roasted, one would think the wings would fairly fly from the platter to the tummy via very happy happy tastebuds. If you remember or maybe you don't, the last time we made jerk chicken we could hardly believe how good it was - moist, flavorful, tender bird with a kick of spicy heat.

In my opinion this recipe didn't quite live up to its predessessor. It might be that one must use larger pieces of bird, as in thighs or drumsticks, and more importantly grill them outside to get a more authentic flavor. What was missing with this version was the crunchy, crispy surface area normally associated with chicken wings and you're just not going to get that with these oven roasted, marinade coated bird appendages. Just sayin'. It's not that they're bad, but they could be better. You be the judge, OK? The big guy says I'm just too darn picky.

Jamaican Jerk Flavored Chicken Wings (adapted from Gourmet via epicurious.com)

3 pounds chicken wings, tips removed and discarded

1 onion, chopped

2/3 cup chopped green onions (scallions)

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon black pepper

6 drops Tabasco

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Juice of each 1 lime and 1 lemon

Combine all ingredients except for chicken in a food processor and blend until finely pureed. In a large shallow glass dish arrange wings in single layer. Cover with marinade, rubbing into surface of wings. Marinate covered in refrigerator preferably overnight or for several hours.

To cook, preheat oven to 450. Arrange wings in single layer on oiled rack set over foil lined broiler pan or sheet pan. Spoon some of the marinade over them and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until well cooked through. Serves 4 to 6 Download Jamaican Jerk Flavored Chicken Wings

Rum Coconut Shrimp and Fried Plantains

Grenada is the last stop in our week of Caribbean cooking and I can't believe our adventure is almost over. Darn, the unpacking is such a pain, isn't it? LOL 

The area of Grenada is made up of the island along with six smaller islands located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela and southwest of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines. Grenada was all but wiped out by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, with 37 people killed and 10,000 left homeless. Ninety percent of the buildings on the island were damaged or destroyed, but thankfully recovery is in process. Grenada is known as The Spice Isle as it provides 20 % of the world's supply of nutmeg, along with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and allspice. Bananas and cocoa are also grown here.

 

 

 

Dinner last night was one of our favorites because we both love shrimp and really like plantains - I thought it was particularly enjoyable since the big guy did the cookin' in the outside kitchen. Hey - I don't allow no deep fryin' in the house - sure don't want to mask the curry smell from the night before. Ha.

When you're making a stand alone dinner like coconut shrimp, you really need to make sure your shrimp are top quality. We had no problem with ours - we bought them at Sprouts 16-20 size and they were unbelievable. The recipe is quite simple - merely bread the cleaned shrimp in panko crumbs, then dip in egg wash mixed with rum, garlic, salt and pepper, then a final coating in coconut before they hit the deep fryer. Download Rum Coconut Shrimp

"They were crispy on the outside and moist and meaty on the inside" - that's a direct quote from the big guy. What he also said was that they were "succulently delicious" - hey who's writing this blog anyway? Now, as for the plantains - these were the ripe variety rather than green ones. How can you tell? The ripe ones are brown on the outside, and the green ones...are well they're green. Dahh. The vegetable guru at Sprouts pointed out the best ones to us and gave the big guy a lesson at the same time. What can I say - we love this place!

The big guy cut the peeled plantains in about 1-1/2 inch pieces, then deep fried them until they were golden brown. He then removed them from the fryer and squished them down to about a 1/2 inch depth, and put them back in the fryer until they floated to the top. That's the signal that they're done. Removed from the fryer, they were sprinkled immediately with coarse sea salt and as quick as you could say Bob Marley, dinner was ready.

End of island adventure. Now we can look forward to weeks of Mac & Cheese - no not really. Stay tuned for further developments.

 

 

Salmon with Brown Sugar and Lime Rum-Mustard Glaze

Have your got your passport? How about sunglasses? Did you remember to bring sun screen? OK, ready? Buckleup buttercups - as I mentioned yesterday, we're doing a whirlwind tour of Caribbean cuisine this week with Tortola the first stop on our adventure, followed by a trip to St. Martin.

Tortola is the largest populated island in the British Virgin Islands with breathtaking views, hilly countryside and steep, narrow roads. The views are unspoiled by highrises since no building taller than a palm tree is allowed. Island cuisine includes West Indian specialties such as fresh spiney lobster, conch, turtle, spicy goat and curries as well as stewed mutton, saltfish and dumplings and many varieties of Caribbean fruits and local vegetables. With no flatlands to speak of agriculture is scarce and naturally that is reflected in the cost and availability of foods not indigenous to the island.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure that salmon is a local speciality found in the Caribbean or whether it is flown in; however, this recipe is from a Taste of the Caribbean Cookbook by Angela Spenceley. Download Salmon with Brown Sugar and Lime Rum Mustard Glaze The salmon is coated with a sweet and spicy glaze of brown sugar, honey, butter, dijon mustard, fresh ginger, lime zest, rum and olive oil, then wrapped in foil and grilled. The big guy cooked our beautiful filet of wild salmon for 10 minutes, indirect heat over charcoal. By the way, for those of you living in Tucson, Sprouts has wild salmon on sale this week for $3.99 a pound and each filet runs about a pound to a pound and a half in weight. It's beautiful, high quality and very fresh fish. Perfect, just perfect! 

 

The island flavors really came though loud and clear in this dish with the ginger predominant. The filet was perfectly cooked, incredibly moist and full of flavor. We'd do this again in a heartbeat - in fact, we managed to scarf down the entire one pound filet and had we bought 2, it would have been devoured too. It was that good.

Our salmon was accompanied by a light delicious salad from St. Martin made up of grilled pineapple, avocado and red onion, dressed with a sweet and spicy lime vinaigrette. St. Martin is the smallest island in the world shared between two different nations - St. Martin by the French and St. Maarten by the Dutch. They've co-existed for over 350 years. Located in the center of the chain of Caribbean islands, the climate is moderated by cooling trade winds meaning the average temperature is 82 in the summer and 80 in the winter. Their average annual rainfall is about 45 inches, most of which occurs during late summer and early fall.

St. Martin is known for its nude beaches, high fashion, shopping and fine dining style influenced by French culture..."the smell of fresh croissants and pastries mixes everywhere with the spicy aroms of West Indian cooking."  Nix on the nude beaches, but I have a feeling I for one would LOVE discovering the joys of St. Martin's cookin'.

 

This salad was perfect along with the salmon. If you've never tried grilled pineapple, you've just GOT to - it brings a whole different flavor to the mix as the sugars in the pineapple carmelize so the normally fairly acidic pineapple is much sweeter and milder. The vinaigrette has mild heat from Serrano pepper balanced with honey and a touch of cinnamon. Quite honestly I could easily live off the stuff. Download Grilled Pineapple Avocado and Onion Salad

As for the GMan, he loved it - the big guy loved it. Can you believe it? His comment after dinner last night was "this is turning out to be a BAD weekend. Friday night peas, now Saturday night salmon. What are you doing to my tastebuds". Got him AGAIN. Man I love being right!