Dinner With Julie

Warm Hoisin Pork Lettuce Wrap Salad

Busy! Busy! Busy! I saw someone write “Dec 3″ on a label this afternoon, and wondered why they were dating something in the future. Then I realized it was today. I may have fainted.

Good news! We trudged out into the wild near Bragg Creek on the weekend and hacked down our very own tree (Mike loves any excuse to channel his inner Clark W. Griswold) and even managed to stand it upright and cover it with lights (after only one late night trip to the store and a long wait in line) and although our house looks like a snow globe, with dirty dishes and laundry and Christmas packaging instead of snow, that someone has just shook up – I’m getting excited about the next few weeks and the possibility of sliding into a cozy Christmas. How was that for a run-on sentence?

So here’s a dinner I’m a tad proud of McGyvering – it came about as a means of using half a pound of ground pork sitting in the fridge when I didn’t have the gumption to assemble lettuce rolls.

Here’s how I did it. (I’m not going to write a recipe per se, because I don’t feel like it. But every time I describe how I made something out of the traditional format, people ask, WHERE’S THE RECIPE? This is it – this is the recipe.)

- I heated up a heavy skillet, added a drizzle of oil and cooked some chopped red and yellow pepper, a couple crushed cloves of garlic, a chopped green onion and the aforementioned half pound or so of ground pork.

- When the pork was cooked, the excess moisture had cooked off and the meat was starting to get crispy bits, I doused the whole thing in bottled hoisin sauce, adding just enough to moisten it.

- While all this was happening, I chopped some romaine and tossed it with a sweet vinaigrette made with 2 parts oil, 1 part rice vinegar and 1/2 part sugar, shaken in a jar with a wee blob of mustard to emulsify it.

- I tossed the lettuce with dressing, then topped it with the warm pork mixture.

- W was confused by the presentation and opted for reheated leftover oatmeal. More for us.

December 03 2012 | pork | 6 Comments »

Bangers & Mash with Cider Balsamic Onion Jam

We turned on our furnace today.

I put on wooly socks, which discouraged me from jamming on my flip-flops.

Also? It’s getting dark out already. It’s 6:30. My psyche is all shook up.

Onions and garlic are at their best right now. Fat, sticky cloves I’ll miss in the bleak midwinter, when my stash runs out. They make great sweet, vinegary jam you can keep in the door of your fridge to glop on grilled cheese, serve with roast chicken, or dollop alongside bangers and mash.

To make bangers & mash, roast fresh sausages in the oven or on the stovetop while you simmer cubed potatoes. Mash them with butter and a splash of milk, and if you really want to be authentic, make some gravy out of the sausage pan drippings (if there are any). Serve sausages atop mashed potatoes, with onion jam.

Cider Balsamic Onion Jam

a good drizzle of canola or olive oil
3-4 big onions, thinly sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4-1/2 cup apple cider or juice
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

In a medium saucepan or heavy skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until turning golden. Add the garlic, cider, thyme, brown sugar and balsamic and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until thick, golden and jam-like.

October 02 2012 | pork and preserves | 10 Comments »