My Week With Red Miso Paste

I have been in a culinary rut for a bit. I decided that the rut had to end and decided to get myself out of it by challenging myself to use an ingredient that I had not used before. As you might have guessed by now that ingredient was red miso paste. What is is? Well in essence it is fermented soybeans with some rice or barley thrown into the mix. Red miso is usually fermented for over a year and has a very robust and salty taste. If you want a little more in-depth information about miso check out this Wikipedia link that really gets into the knitty gritty of this awesome and very versatile Japanese staple.

I will start off with the first of two dishes I made with my challenge ingredient. I call it Tilapia in Red Miso Maple Glaze. Since I am flying mostly solo these days I made this recipe that is supposed to be for one but really could feed two.

1 Tilapia Fillet (usually about 3/4 lb)
1 TBSP Red Miso Paste
2 TBSP Maple Syrup
1 TBSP Olive Oil/Sesame Oil
1 Garlic clove - Minced
Optional Ingredient - Black figs

Preheat Oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit. mix your miso paste and maple syrup together. Take your tilapia filet and spinkle the oil and garlic over it and massage them on the fillet. Add the miso maple syrup mixture and coat the fillet with it. Let the fillet rest in this nice mix for about 10 minutes. As an option I got some black figs and sliced them thinly and placed the slices on top of the fillet.

On a baking dish place a piece of foil large enough to wrap around the Tilapia fillet. Place your fillet right in the middle and fold the foil over it to contain the heat and allow the fish to sort of poach in all the wonderful liquid it was marinating in. Bake for about 20 minutes. As an added step, since I like a little crispiness, I placed the fillet under the Broiler for about 4 minutes which caramelized those figs nicely.

To serve you can either accompany your fillet with some rice and a steamed vegetable or like me you can place it on top of a nice massaged kale salad garnished with some dried cranberries.

Enjoy.

I will give you the other recipe on the next post. I am tired and need my beauty sleep.

Spiced Pork Roast

This is a dish inspired by the book Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family by Art Smith and the recipe for Spiced Pork Loin with Vidalia Onion Sauce. I thought this recipe sounded great except I did not have white wine, and I also did not like to think about using whole cinnamon, allspice and cloves (I like them better ground so they can easily incorporate and flavor the food). I decided that instead of following the recipe I would adapt it and use ingredients I already had. Instead of using vidalia onions I used shallots and I rubbed my pork roast with the Moroccan spice blend I made in one of my previous posts instead of using the whole spices. Here is what you will need and how to make this delicious dish.

Spiced Pork Roast

1 Pork Roast (Large to Medium about 3-5 pounds)
2 TBSP Moroccan Spice Blend
2 TBSP Olive Oil
3-4 Shallots (Thinly sliced)
1 Cup Vegetable Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place 1 TBSP of olive oil in a dutch oven and put your pork roast in, coating it with the oil. Sprinkle the pork with the Moroccan spice blend making sure to rub it all over the pork. Allow the pork to sit in this blend for about 10 minutes.

Place the dutch oven on your stove and turn on your burner to medium high heat to get the oil nice and hot. Brown the roast on all sides. Remove the roast once all sides have been nicely browned and set aside on a dish.

Add the remaining TBSP of olive oil into the dutch oven and allow to heat up. Add your shallots and saute them until they are soft, translucent and fragrant. Add in the vegetable stock and stir. Bring the liquid to a boil and return the pork to the dutch oven. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the lid on the dutch oven and place in the oven. Bake for about 1 and a half hours or until a thermometer inserted at the center  of the roast reads 155 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat the liquid remaining in the dutch oven and reduce it to about 3/4 to 1/2. Use this liquid as a sauce for the roast (or you can always use some demiglace).

Slice your roast and serve with your favorite sides.

Enjoy.

Ravioli with Carrot & Ricotta Filling

Sorry for my absence this week. It seems that as we get deeper into summer things start getting more and more hectic, which is the opposite of my general expectations, but what the heck. Since I have been cooking a bit of stuff that is on my usual repertoire, I decided that I should try to be a little more creative and make something that I could share will those of you who read through my humble blog. This week I made Jumbo Raviolis stuffed with a wonderful mix of Ricotta cheese and carrots. I made my pasta using a recipe from the Food Network website. After that it was a matter of making the filling and hand rolling the pasta into thin sheets to make the ravioli. Here is the recipe for the filling:


Carrot & Ricotta Ravioli Filling

2 TBSP Olive Oil

2 Shallots (small preferable - finely diced)
4-5 Garlic cloves (Minced)
2 Carrots (Finely grated)

1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (Whole or low fat - whichever you prefer)
 Salt and pepper to taste


In a pan heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are semi translucent and soft and the garlic is starting to brown.

Add in your carrots and saute for about 5-10 minutes, until the carrots are a deeper shade of orange.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly about 10-20 minutes.

In a separate bowl combine the carrot mixture with the ricotta. Make sure to mix well so that all ingredients are evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Now you are ready to make your ravioli. If you do not have a ravioli maker (which I don't at the time), you can roll out your dough out into sheets about 1/8 inch in thickness (or slightly less - thinner pasta cooks quicker). The pictures below show you my process for making my ravioli.

 Place about 1 teaspoon of filling on one side of your pasta sheet.

make sure to leave about 1 inch between them and about 1/2 inch for the edges

 Fold pasta over and press between the mounds of filling.

 Cut Raviolis

 Roll edges of ravioli pillows to seal them in.

 Finished ravioli 

I topped mine off with some bolognese sauce, but you can do it any way you want (Alfredo, butter and garlic, etc...)

Enjoy

Pork Chops with Apple, Plum and Date Vinegar Reduction

 

As you may have read in my previous post, my husband and I have learned a little bit about  how to properly butcher meat. One of the perks of taking the class was that you got to take home the meat that you butchered, so our freezer is now full of some great pork cuts, which we need to get through. To help us get started on this task I concocted this recipe using some of the fruits that did not get used from last week's grocery purchases, just an apple and some plums. Here is the recipe.

For the Pork Chops:

4 Large Bone-in Pork Chops

1-2 TBSP Olive Oil

3 Cloves of Garlic (minced or crushed to a paste)

In a large bowl combine the olive oil with the garlic. Place your pork in the bowl and coat it with the olive oil and garlic mixture.Allow the pork to sit in this mixture for at least 10 minutes.

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot place your pork chops in it and sear about 5 minutes on each side. Lower the heat cover the pan and allow to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to allow the meat to fully cook through.

Remove the pork chops from the pan and let them rest. 

In the meantime use the fat and juices left in the pan for the reduction. Here is what you will need:

For the reduction:

1/2 Cup Chicken Stock

1 Large Apple (Cored and sliced into thin wedges. Gala preferable because of its sweetness)

2 Plums (Pitted and sliced into thin wedges)

1 1/2 tsp Date Balsamic Vinegar (if not available you can use fig balsamic)

As mentioned above you will use the juices left by the pork chops in your frying pan. Start by de-glazing your pan with the chicken stock over medium heat. 

Add in the apple and plums, cooking until they are soft and tender.

Add in the date balsamic and raise the heat slightly to allow the mixture to simmer. Allow it to reduce by 25 to 40 percent. When it coats the back of a spoon you are good to go.

To serve, simply put the fruit and a little bit of the reduction liquid on the plate. Place your pork chops on the fruit and drizzle the remaining reduction liquid on the pork chops. Accompany it with rice and a steamed vegetable and you are set.

Enjoy.

Roast Chicken with Couscous

Today has been a wet dreary day which made me think that a nice roast chicken stuffed with something nice and aromatic might just be the thing to make for diner. What else could be better to compliment the roast chicken, than couscous infused with the juices left over form the roast chicken. Here is the recipe:

1 Whole Chicken (cleaned)
2TBSP Olive Oil
4 Garlic Cloves (Minced)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp Mild Yellow Curry

Pre-heat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper and curry in a wide deep bowl and whisk together. Place your chicken in the bowl and coat it in this mixture. Set aside.

For the cooking base:

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 Red Pepper (finely chopped)
2 Shallots - medium (thinly sliced)

In a dutch oven heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the red pepper and shallots and saute until the shallots start caramelizing. 

For the aromatic stuffing:


2 Green onions (sliced lengthwise)
3 Sprigs of Cilantro
4 cloves of garlic (smashed)

Stuff your chicken with these and place it in the dutch oven with the caramelized shallots and red pepper. 

Add to this 3 cups of water and one large carrot (cut in thick slices about 1/4 inch thick). Cover the dutch oven and place in the oven for about 1hr, checking in about every 20 minutes or so to baste. 


Remove dutch oven from oven and check to make sure chicken is cooked through. Uncover and return to the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes to allow the skin to brown.


Remove the chicken from the dutch oven and place on a baking dish to allow to rest. 


For the couscous:

At this point there should be about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of rendered juices left in your dutch oven (if it is less than this add some more water and heat up a bit, checking to make sure that the flavor of the juices is right for your palate). 

On the stove top heat the rendered juices to a boiling point and then turn off the burner.

If this is your first time making couscous all you have to know is that the ratio of liquid to couscous is 1 to 1. Add the amount of couscous corresponding to the amount of liquid you have in your dutch oven. Cover the dutch oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes to allow the couscous to absorb all the tasty fluids.

Fluff the couscous with a fork and serve along with your favorite chicken parts. Enjoy :)