Ingredients

• 1½ cups sugar
• 2½ pounds pork belly or butt, sliced into thin, inch-long strips
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced
• 4 scallions, sliced, green part only
• Rice for serving

Preparation

1. Cover bottom of a large, heavy skillet with one cup sugar and place over medium low heat. As soon as it melts and turns golden, add pork, raise heat to medium, and stir until coated. (Sugar will become sticky and may harden, but it will re-melt as it cooks, forming a sauce.)

2. Stir in remaining sugar, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover, stir in garlic and oil and lower to simmer to reduce sauce for about 20 minutes [CP: Or much longer! Reduce until the sauce has roughly the consistency of your usual Asian-food sticky brown sauce.].

3. Stir in Vidalia onions and cook until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Pork should be caramelized; if not, raise heat and sauté while sauce further reduces. Transfer to serving bowl, and sprinkle with scallion greens.

Yield: 4 servings.

Michael and Thao Huynh, New York Times

Ingredients

Makes: 6 servings

• 9 cups water
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 white onion
• 2 1/4 pounds pumpkin or winter squash, peeled, seeded, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs epazote

Toppings: Crumbled queso fresco, chopped onion, chopped green chilies, lime quarters

Preparation

1. Combine water, 2 of the garlic cloves and salt in a stockpot. Cut one slice off the onion half; add to pot. Heat to a boil; cook 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop remaining onion; reserve. Add pumpkin to the pot; lower heat to medium. Cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard onion slice and garlic.

2. Finely chop remaining 2 garlic cloves. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and chopped onion; fry until translucent, 1 minute. Add tomatoes; fry until reduced, about 5 minutes.

3. Place about 1 cup cooked pumpkin in a blender with some broth; puree. Return to pot. Add tomato mixture to soup. Season with salt if necessary. Add epazote; simmer over low heat, about 10 minutes. Set aside to season, about 30 minutes. Heat through; serve with toppings as desired.

Diana Kennedy, Chicago Tribune

Ingredients

• 5 lbs well-marbled pork butt
• 1 cup cold wine (red or white)
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 5 tsp salt
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 5 tbsp fennel seed
• 2 tsp crushed chili peppers
• 5 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp anise, optional (ground)

Preparation

Cut the pork butt into long, relatively thin strips. Mix with all the remaining ingredients and marinate overnight. Process twice through a meat grinder.

Taken from Emeril Lagasse and Lesley’s Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa (9 to 10 ounces), rinsed, drained
• 4 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves
• 2 15- to 16-ounce cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed, drained
• 1 3/4 cups 1/3-inch cubes unpeeled English hothouse cucumber
• 1 1-pint container multicolored baby heirloom tomatoes, halved (2 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled feta cheese (about 7 ounces), divided
• 1/4 cup Sherry wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Preparation

Place quinoa in large saucepan; add enough salted water to cover quinoa by 1 inch. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until quinoa is tender, 15 to 16 minutes. Drain. Chill until cool.

Meanwhile, combine spinach leaves, garbanzos, cubed cucumber, halved tomatoes, mint leaves, and half of feta cheese in extra-large bowl. Add cooled quinoa and toss gently to blend.

Whisk vinegar and smoked paprika in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over salad; toss to coat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining feta over.

Bon Appetit, July 2010

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized pork shoulder roast
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 4 c. (or more) chicken broth
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/4 c. (or more) chile powder (pref. New Mexico; see below for alternate with Bueno red chile)
• cumin (to taste)
• mexican oregano (to taste)
• salt (to taste)
• corn tortillas (for serving)
• fried eggs (for serving) cheddar cheese (for serving)

Preparation

Brown the 2 tbsp. of flour in a large dutch oven. Add a bit of chicken broth to turn into a roux, making sure to avoid lumps. Cut the pork shoulder into small cubes, and add it to the pot. Add enough broth to cover. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for a few hours, until the meat is nearly tender.

Add a few tbsp. of the cooking stock to the chile powder in a small bowl, and stir to form a paste. Add the paste to the pot, along with the cumin, mexican oregano, and salt to taste. You may need to thicken by adding either more chile powder or a thickener like flour. Cook the meat with the chile a little longer, until it’s fork-tender.

Limp your corn tortillas in the stock, and serve flat-stack style with cheddar cheese and a fried egg on top.

Another Option: You can replace the 1/4 c. of red chile powder with quite a lot more (maybe as much as half of the standard container, 1-2 cups) liquid Bueno mild red chile. Add some mixture of masa and water (or just flour and water) to the chile at the end to thicken things back up since you’re missing the chile powder.

Ingredients

For the Filling:

• 4 pigeons, about 1 lb. each, with livers and giblets (or doves, cornish game hens, or, most easily, chicken thighs)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp saffron threads, crushed
• 1 cup water
• 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
• 8 eggs

For the Almond Layer:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups slivered blanched almonds
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For Assembling the Pie:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 14-16 phyllo sheets, thawed

For Serving:

• 3 TBSP confectioner’s sugar
• 1 TBSP ground cinnamon
• whole blanched almonds for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Cut the birds in quarters and rub with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat and saute the bird, turning often, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Removed to platter.

2. To the same pan add onion, liver and giblets and cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the herbs, spices and water and bring to a boil. Return birds, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Remove meat from pot (leave juices in pan) and, when cool enough, shred meat and chop innards.

3. Over high heat, reduce pan juices to about 1 3/4 cups. Add lemon juice.

4. Meanwhile, beat eggs in bowl to blend. Stir the eggs into the pan juices and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until soft curds form. (this takes a while.) Season with S & P. Remove from heat and drain in a strainer. Set aside.

5. Fry the almonds in butter over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Chop coarsely, place in small bowl and toss with sugar and cinnamon.

6. Heat oven to 350. Brush a 14" pizza pan with butter. Arrange 8 phyllo sheets like the spokes of a wheel, brushing each with butter. The sheets should overlap so that all of the pan is covered and they should overhang the edges of the pan generously. Be sure to butter the edges well. Sprinkle 1/3 of the almond mixture in a 10" circle in the center of the pan. Top with half of the eggs. Top with all the meat, then the remaining eggs, then the remaining almonds. Fold the phyllo edges over the filling. Top with phyllo sheets as you did the bottom, this time tucking the edges under the pie.

7. Bake until golden on top, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully drain off the excess butter. Invert a second baking sheet over the pie and flip. Return to the oven to brown, 10-15 minutes. Flip again, then bake 5 minutes longer.

8. Slide onto serving platter. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon (and almonds).

Ingredients

• 12 oz rump of beef
• 4 fl oz olive oil
• 2 oz cured Manchego cheese
• 12 black olives
• Spanish sea salt
• Freshly-ground black pepper

Preparation

Freeze the piece of beef for half an hour then slice very thinly by machine. Arrange the slices on the plates and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with flakes of Manchego cheese, Spanish sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Chop the olives very finely, sprinkle over the meat and serve.

Spain GourmeTour Magazine, via LaTienda.com

Ingredients

• 4 double lamb chops
• salt and black pepper
• 125 grams butter
• 2 shallots
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1 deciliter / ½ cup red wine
• 4 deciliter / 2 cups meat ‘fond’ (glazed crystallized drippings) or stock
• 3 tsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp parsley

Preparation

Rub salt and freshly ground black pepper on the chops and fry them in 75 grams of butter in a skillet for three minutes each side.

Put them in a lightly buttered oven dish and bake them for 12 to 15 minutes in a warm oven at 120ºC/235ºF.

Take the dish from the oven and cover with foil or with a fitting lid.

Sautee the finely sliced shallots and pressed garlic in the grease/butter left in the skillet. Mix in the coarsely chopped rosemary and thyme, add the crumbled bay leaf and the wine. Bring to a boil and add the fond or bouillon. Slowly bring to a boil again and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Mix in the cornstarch and pour the stock through a sieve into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil again and whisk in the rest of the butter.

Put the chops on individual plates and pour the glazed sauce over them. Garnish with parsley. Serve with pan-fried potato slices, and green beans or spinach.

Adapted from goDutch.com

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 (2 kg) pounds fresh mussels in the shell
• 6.7 ounces (200 mL) dry white wine
• 1/2 pound leeks (white and light green parts) cleaned
• 4 1/2 ounces lightly smoked streaky bacon, thickly sliced
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 1 ounce unsalted butter
• Fine sea salt and freshly milled black pepper

Preparation

Clean the mussels and put them in a sauteuse pan with the wine. Bring to a boil, and cook just long enough for all the shells to open. Drain and remove the mussels from the pan.

Halve the leeks lengthwise and cut them in finger-thick slices. Cut bacon slices in very small pieces. Heat the oil in a large skillet, turn down the heat to medium, add bacon, and stir-fry until the bacon begins to render its fat (don’t let it get crisp).

Add leeks and stir-fry until they just begin to soften. Lower the heat, add the butter, and when melted, stir in the mussels carefully. Simmer together just long enough for the mussels to warm up. Add salt to taste and be generous with the pepper. Serve on a heated platter with warm French bread or ciabatta. Any leftover mussels can be used the next day to stuff an omelet.

Serves 4-6.

Florine Boucher, via National Geographic

Ingredients

• 1 whole fish (800 g, or about 1 3/4 lb.)
• 1 tbsp shao xin wine (or rice wine, or sherry)
• 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, finely sliced in strips
• 2 tbsp. green onion strips
• 3 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 4 tbsp. black vinegar
• 4 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. chicken or fish stock
• 1/2 tbsp. corn starch and 2 tbsp. water, mixed well
• sesame oil (optional)

Preparation

1. Remove the scales & clean the fish. If the fish is thick, butterfly it. Make a couple of slashes on the thickest part of the body to help it cook faster. Put the fish in a skillet with high sides and scatter ginger strips under and over the fish. Pour the wine all over the fish.

2. Steam the fish for 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the body. Test with a fork by flaking the thickest part of the body. If it flakes off easily from the bone, it is done. Do not over cook.

3. While fish is steaming, put the soy sauce, black vinegar, brown sugar, and salt into a small pot and cook over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When sugar is dissolved, add 1 cup stock to the sauce. When sauce boils, add the corn starch solution and stir well until sauce becomes shiny and thickened. Taste and adjust with more sugar, vinegar, or salt to taste.

4. Add a splash of sesame oil (if using) to the thickened sauce and pour it over the steamed fish. Sprinkle the green onion strips on the fish. Serve hot.

Adapted from Terri at Hunger Hunger (A Daily Obsession)