nonsense!

After months of procrastination, last week I finally got my hands on a slow cooker, via my friend @gustavo_armenta. Armed with some left over pork shoulder, a handful veggies and a spice rack, I decided to take the new gadget for a spin.

Ingredients (makes for 4 portions)

• 2 lb of pork shoulder, cut in cubes (you should get about 4-6 cubes)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced.
• 8 - 10 red potatoes, cut in half

For the sauce (ballpark, adjust to taste)

• 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp of Whole grain mustard
• 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar
• A few pinches of thyme.
• Salt
• Pepper

How to

• Take the pork shoulder off the fridge at least an hour before (you want it to be at room temperature when you start cooking)
• On a bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients thoroughly. Taste for salt and pepper. (The sauce will be cooked for a long time, so it should start more flavorful than usual)
• Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the sliced onions
• Toss each pork cube thoroughly on the sauce and lay them evenly in the slow cooker (if there's any sauce left, spoon it over the cubes).
• Place the potatoes on top.
• Cook on 'High' for 4 hours.

After 4 hours in the slow cooker, the pork will be done. It should be soft, and will come apart just by pulling with fork. Serve inmidiately, spooning the juices over the pork, onions and potatoes.

The pork turned out to be very soft and sweet (due to the onion, sugar and fat caramelizing), but with a delicious tangy hint due to the mustard.

I really recommend you give it a try. It takes time to cook, but the prep work is super quick and really easy. And the resulting dish is really really good!

In my efforts to successfully complete the great no meat challenge 2010 I’ve been trying out some new meat-less recipes to eat at home (eating out on a no-meat challenge is hard, so say the least). Last week I prepared a coconut milk risotto that turned out fairly good, so I decided to share the recipe, in case a brave soul decides to risk it all and try out something I recommended:

Ingredients (makes for 2 big portions)

• 1 cup of Arborio rice
• 1 14oz can of unsweetened coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen’s)
• 1/2 14oz can of diced tomatoes (or two finely chopped fresh tomatoes, seeded)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped shallots* (eyeball it)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• A handful of fresh cilantro
• A handful of julienned carrot (optional)
• Chili paste (optional, but everything really tastes better with chili paste)

How to

1. Put a pan on medium heat, coat it with the olive oil
2. Once the olive oil is hot (but before it starts smoking) put the butter in the pan
3. Once the butter is melted add the chopped shallots and cook until they are transparent
4. Toss in the rice, moving it around the pan until everything is evenly coated with oil and the rice starts to brown (this is very important!)
5. Once the rice is starting to brown, incorporate about a quarter of the coconut milk and the tomatoes (feel free to use the whole can if you prefer a more tomatoey flavor)
6. Stir the rice until the milk has been absorbed (the rice will start to take a creamy consistence)
7. Repeat 5 and 6 until you incorporate all the milk (I only added ¾ of the can as the coconut was too sweet, but feel free to go all the way)
8. Let the rice cook through for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until rice is tender (feel free to try some rice to test for tenderness, just don’t eat the whole thing)
9. Once the rice is done, turn off the heat and remove the pan from the heat.
10. Wait for a couple of minutes for the rice to cool a bit, and stir some more
11. Add chili paste to taste (I recommend adding a bit even if you don’t like chili, it really improves the overall taste of the risotto)
12. Garnish generously with the cilantro and the julienned carrot and serve while it’s still hot

Extra points

I haven’t tried this yet, but adding some chopped peanuts or cashews sounds like a great idea (as they go really well with the whole Thai theme). Let me know how that goes if you give it a try.

Hope you like it!

* Feel free to replace the shallots with garlic or onions. I just like shallots a lot.

Ash Wednesday represents the beginning of one of the most important celebration for Catholics around the world, Lent.  Tradition dictates that during Lent one should make a sacrifice in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus. While I’m not a devout catholic (heck, most of the people who know me will be surprised that I even consider myself a Catholic ;)),  I’m a big fan of constantly challenging myself, so every year I use Lent as the perfect pretext for some good old self-denial.

This year I’m taking the challenge to the next level, and I’ve decided I’ll give up eating meat* for the whole 40 days of Lent (Feb 17 to April 3). While I already made my challenge public through a couple of tweets I’m also writing this post as a way of giving myself some extra motivation ;)  (the power of  facing public shame FTW).

Here’s for a few weeks without meat!  Be sure to check back from time to time for my updates on how the challenge is going (tips and well wishes most welcome).

- Ramiro

*Note: I’m giving up red meat. I’m allowing myself to eat fish, and some chicken every now and then.

Ingredients (makes for 12 - 16 quesadillas)

(download)

Click here to download:

Mexican_quesadillas.zip (4.64 MB)

Very tasty chocolate cupcake from Pinkalicious Cupcakes (redmond town center, second floor).

There was a coconut one as well, but it misteriously dissapeared on my way to work ;)

Nom nom!

Check out the new xbox controller, just in time for the holidays!

Sweet stuff.

Found this amazing 15-month old english cheddar cheese on Costco last week. Fantastic flavor, a bit on the strong side, went great with a french baguette and a glass (or two) of malbec.

Bought a pound for about $6 on Costco in Kirkland. If you're there this week, go to the cheese section and grab a piece. Your life will be better afterwards :P

Ramiro Berrelleza