Prepare Carne Adovada, A Pork Chili Stew

Tender chunks of pork shoulder braised in a chili-based liquid are perfect for tacos or burrito fillings.

PAX: Serves 6 to 8

ACTIVE TIME: 45 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 2 hours 45 minutes

Equipment Required:Large Dutch Oven

b>Ingredients

- 4 whole dried ancho chilies, seeds and stems removed

- 4 whole dried pasilla chilies, seeds and stems removed

- 1 quart (32 ounces) homemade or store bought low sodium chicken stock

- 1/2 cup raisins

- 1 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

- 3 whole chipotle chilies canned in adobo

- 2 tablespoons white vinegar

- 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch thick steaks

- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced, about 2 cups.

- 6 medium cloves garlic, minced, about 2 tablespoons.

- 2 teaspoons dried oregano

- 1 tablespoon ground cumin

- 3 bay leaves

- Kosher salt

- Corn tortillas, cilantro, diced onions, lime wedges, and queso fresco for serving (optional)

Method

Add dried chilies to large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or stock pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until slightly darkened with intense, roasted aroma, 2 to 5 minutes.

Do not allow to smoke. Add chicken stock, raisins, orange juice concentrate, chipotles in adobo, white vinegar, and fish sauce.

Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a bare simmer, and let cook until chilies are totally softened, about 15 minutes.

Blend into a smooth puree using an immersion blender or by transferring to a counter top blender. Set aside.

Carefully pat pork dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Heat vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat until smoking.

Add pork all at once and spread evenly over bottom surface, it's fine if not all the pork is touching the bottom or if the pan is crowded.

Cook without moving until bottom surface is well browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and set aside.

Add onions and garlic to Dutch oven and cook, stirring frequently, until onions and garlic are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add oregano and cumin and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add chili mixture to Dutch oven and stir to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom.

Dice pork into 2-inch chunks, then return to Dutch oven. Add bay leaves. Bring to a boil then reduce to a bare simmer.

Cover, leaving lid slightly ajar, and cook, stirring occasionally until pork chunks break apart when you apply pressure with a spoon, about 2 hours.

Sauce should be thick, with an almost ketchup-like consistency. If too thin, increase heat to a light simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until reduced to the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt.

Serve pork with corn tortillas, cilantro, diced onions, lime wedges, and queso fresco. Pork can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.


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PREPARE: Pan Seared Steaks With Red Wine Sauce

Technique is the secret to perfectly cooked steaks. Season them liberally, let them sear, baste them with butter and let them rest.

These easy steps will result in perfectly cooked meat every time. And, you can make a delicious sauce in the same pan while the meat is resting.

Ingredients

STEAK

- Two 8- to 10-ounce sirloin steaks, about 3/4- to 1-inch thick

- Kosher salt

- Freshly ground black pepper

- Canola oil

- Olive oil

- 4 cloves garlic, roughly smashed

- 2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme

- 1 to 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cubed

PAN SAUCE

- 2 shallots, finely chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

- 1 cup red wine, such as Cabernet or Malbec

- 1/3 cup beef stock

- 3 tablespoons butter

Preparation

For the steak:

1. Remove steaks from the refrigerator and let rest to come to room temperature. Pat them dry with paper towels.

2. Season the steaks liberally with kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper on all sides and press into meat. Let seasoned meat rest for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Place a skillet (large enough to fit both steaks comfortably) over high heat.

4. When pan is extremely hot, pour in approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons of canola oil and shake pan to make sure entire bottom of skillet is coated.

5. When oil begins to smoke slightly, using tongs, carefully lay the steaks into the pan, laying them down away from you (this will avoid oil spatters).

6. Press down slightly on meat. Let steak sear, without moving it, for roughly 2 minutes until a golden brown crust develops, then drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan.

The crust will form and then detach from the bottom of the pan.

7. Using tongs, carefully flip steak and let cook for another two minutes. Drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil on and around the meat.

8. After the crust has formed, set both of the steaks on the fat strip that runs along the side of the sirloin.

You can set them side-by-side against the edge of the pan if it has a high enough edge, or hold them on their ends using the tongs. Render off this fat for roughly 60-90 seconds.

Tilt the pan towards the steaks so the oil and hot fat will continue to baste and cook the meat. Then set steaks down flat, side by side in pan.

9. Add the smashed garlic cloves and approximately 1½-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Tilt pan to make sure the oil touches all of the meat. Add rosemary and thyme. You can again add an additional drizzle of olive oil.

10. Add butter to the pan, a few chunks at a time, placing them on either side of the steaks, above them, between them and below.

As the butter begins to melt, bubble and brown, give the pan a swirl, tilting slightly towards you so that all of the melted butter and juice collects towards you in the skillet.

11. Using a spoon, thoroughly baste the steak with the butter and juices at the bottom of the pan. Carefully flip the steaks and repeat, basting frequently.

12. While basting, using tongs, periodically brush the steaks with the herbs and garlic from the pan. The steaks can then be basted with the herbs and garlic on top.

Flip the steaks and repeat, brushing the surface with garlic and herbs and basting over them during the basting process, continually check the surface tension of the meat to check the doneness.

Use the palm of your hand as a gauge: soft part of the thumb is rare, moving towards the finger is medium-rare and well done is down by your wrist.

13. When a crust has formed, and you have a soft texture with a little bit of resistance, ideally medium-rare, turn off the heat, and remove the steaks from the skillet, placing them on a cutting board.

14. Place fried herbs and garlic on top of steak, drizzle steaks with pan drippings and cover loosely with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes. (A good estimate for how long to rest your steaks is half the time you spent cooking.)

For the pan sauce:

1. Using the pan in which the steaks were cooked earlier, pour off all but 2 teaspoons of fat and the flavorful browned bits adhering to the bottom, and place over medium-high heat.

2. Using a wooden spatula, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan and, stirring constantly, add finely chopped shallots and garlic.

3. Add 1 cup of red wine and keep stirring and reducing the sauce.

4. Continuing to stir, add beef stock (you can also use a quarter cup of beef stock and add whatever reserved steak juices you have).

5. Add the butter, reduce heat to medium and keep stirring so the butter does not break.

To serve:

Slice the steaks against the grain and serve with pan sauce drizzled over the meat or on the side.



Tourism Observer

PREPARE: Creamy Skillet Chicken

Ingredients

- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

- Four 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

- One 8-ounce container sliced mushrooms

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks

- 1 cup half-and-half

- One 10-ounce package of baby spinach (about 8 cups)

- arm egg noodles, for serving

Directions

- Whisk together the flour, 1 tablespoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a pie plate or shallow dish. Coat both sides of the chicken breasts in the flour. Shake off any excess and set aside.

- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.

- Add the chicken to the skillet and cook, undisturbed, until deeply golden, about 3 minutes.

- Turn the chicken and cook, undisturbed, until the other side is deeply golden brown, about 3 minutes.

- Remove the chicken to a plate.

- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet.

- Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown and release their liquid, about 5 minutes.

- Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

- Add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Then pour in the half-and-half.

- Use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.

- Season with salt and pepper.

- Add the chicken back to the skillet, cover and cook, turning about halfway through, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes.

- Transfer the chicken to a serving platter filled with warm egg noodles.

- Add the spinach to the skillet, cover and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.

- Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper.

- Pour the creamy spinach sauce over the chicken and noodles.



Tourism Observer

Chinese Poached Chicken

Yum. I make this as delicious as I can without a ton of salt which is generally synonymous with a lot of restaurant-style Chinese food. This is a “fairly” authentic recipe eaten in and around Sichuan, China, but definitely not just there. I’ve had it in Bangkok and Singapore…and even a version in NYC.

Bai Qie Ji
This recipe was heavily influenced by various “khao man gai” . It’s a super tasty recipe that will impress anyone who enjoys fragrant, clean, no-MSG style Chinese food. Not only that but this recipe works on so many other levels. Not only do you finally have something to do with all those coriander roots but you can also save the bath/broth for a future soup stock or stir-fry sauce. How great is that?

Culinary Notes:

Prepare the Sichuan dipping sauce ahead of time.

chengdu_sauce

A fragrant poaching bath is key. Important steps for silky, tender chicken? Since you are using skinless breasts, there is hardly any fat so you must poach on low-medium simmer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes it won’t be 100% done yet, that’s ok! It will finish cooking in the broth. You salt the chicken to break down the proteins. Now it will take on more flavors of the poaching liquid. You definitely want this to happen. Serious Eats breaks down the chemistry pretty well. A great read.

poached_chicken01
Chinese Poached Chicken Ingredients

2 big free-range chicken breasts
3-inch piece of ginger peeled and sliced thin. If you don’t peel the skin off it will turn the water a little bitter.
1 tbl cane sugar
1 1/2 tbl sea salt or Kosher salt
2 scallions cut in big pieces
The stems/roots of 4-5 coriander sprigs
4 smashed garlic cloves

The Method

Fill a pot with 3 liters of water and put it on med-high.
Add the salt and sugar
Cut, peel, pound all your aromatics and add them in
Bring that pot to a slow boil for 30 min. This builds the bath and gives it time to extract flavors from the ginger root and other aromatics. Go ahead and taste it. It should taste good and smell very fragrant.

poached_chicken05

Put in your chicken breasts and reduce heat to medium simmer for 8min.
Pull you chicken breast out and put them in a bowl.
Pour the hot liquid over them and cover by about an inch.
Let the liquid cool to room temp then cover and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Put aside 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid / stock.

Servin’ it up.

Prepare the Sichuan dipping sauce ahead of time

Cut some iceberg lettuce (I use this for the water it holds) or some Frisse into a bed. Then cut the chicken into nice, thin bite-size slices. Sprinkle a bunch of cilantro (leaves only) on top. Dress the chicken lightly with Sichuan sauce and put the rest in a serving dish. Or just go the super quick route and dress the dish like I have above.

Enjoy the meal.

How To Cook Tender & Juicy Pork Chops In The Oven

What if I told you that I could guarantee perfectly cooked, perfectly tender pork chops, every time? Would you believe me? Or have too many dinners of overcooked shoe-leather pork chops turned you off from this easy addition to the weeknight meal rotation? Let me convince you to try them one more time. Let me convince you to try roasting your pork chops in the oven.

Here is our step-by-step recipe for perfectly cooked, perfectly juicy pork chops.

Brine The Pork
Brining the pork chops is one of the best ways way to guarantee a juicy cooked pork chop. Even a quick 30-minute brine (or up to 4 hours) makes a big difference.

It's not strictly necessary — you can still use this method to make great pork chops even without brining — but if you have some extra time, I recommend it. Brining actually changes the cell structure within the meat, resulting in a noticeably juicier chop. The salt brine also seasons the interior of the meat. It won't taste "salty," just well-seasoned. You can even add other seasonings like garlic, peppercorns, fresh herbs, and lemon to the brine for more flavor. If you fear bland pork chops, definitely give brining a try.

Stovetop to Oven
Pork chops are a tender, quick-cooking cut of meat — so quick-cooking, in fact, that they're very easy to overcook. This is why I like to start the chops on the stovetop where they get a good sear and then transfer them to the oven to finish cooking. The gentle heat of the oven helps us to control the rate of cooking a little better and also prevents the outside from getting tough and dry before the middle has finished cooking.

Bone-On Pork Chops
I encourage you to look for bone-on pork chops. They take a little longer to cook than boneless chops, but in my experience, they are another way of ensuring tender cooked pork chops. And by "a littler longer to cook," I'm really only talking about a few minutes. It won't make a huge difference to your meal prep!

You can also make this whole process of cooking pork chops easier by using just one pan. Heat up the skillet in the oven while you get the rest of the meal prepped, then transfer it — carefully! — to a stove top burner to sear the pork chops. Once the chops are golden on the underside, you flip them and transfer the skillet back to the oven. The residual heat from the skillet will sear the other side of the pork chops while the heat of the oven cooks them through.


How to Cook Tender & Juicy Pork Chops in the Oven

Makes 2 to 4 pork chops

What You Need

Ingredients

For the brine (optional):
3 cups cold water, divided
3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 2 1/2 tablespoons table salt)
Optional flavorings: 2 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf

For the pork chops:
2 to 4 pork chops — center cut, bone-on, 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick (about 1 pound each) Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Equipment
Shallow dish (for brining)
Large cast iron, stainless steel, or other oven-safe skillet
Tongs
Instructions

Brine the pork chops (optional): If you have time, brining the pork for even a brief period adds flavor and ensures juiciness in the finished chop. Bring 1 cup of the water to a boil, add the salt and optional flavorings, and stir to dissolve the salt. Add 2 more cups of cold water to bring the temperature of the brine down to room temperature. Place the pork chops in a shallow dish and pour the brine over top. The brine should cover the chops — if not, add additional water and salt (1 cup water to 1 tablespoon salt) until the chops are submerged. Cover the dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
Heat the oven and skillet: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Place the skillet in the oven to preheat as well.
Season the pork chops: While the oven heats, prepare the pork chops. Remove the chops from the brine; if you didn't brine, remove the chops from their packaging. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub both sides with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set the chops aside to warm while the oven finishes heating.
Remove the skillet from the oven: Using oven mitts, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and set it over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Turn on a vent fan or open a window.
Sear the pork chops: Lay the pork chops in the hot skillet. You should hear them immediately begin to sizzle. Sear until the undersides of the chops are seared golden, 3 minutes. The chops may start to smoke a little — that's ok. Turn down the heat if it becomes excessive.
Flip the chops and transfer to the oven: Use tongs to flip the pork chops to the other side. Immediately transfer the skillet to the oven using oven mitts.
Roast the chops until cooked through: Roast until the pork chops are cooked through and register 140°F to 145°F in the thickest part of the meat with an instant-read thermometer. Cooking time will be 6 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops, how cool they were at the start of cooking, and whether they were brined. Start checking the chops at 6 minutes and continue checking every minute or two until the chops are cooked through.
Rest the chops: Transfer the cooked pork chops to a plate and pour any pan juices over the top (or reserve for making a pan sauce or gravy). Tent loosely with foil and let the chops rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

The result is a perfectly cooked pork chop: one that's golden and crusted on the outside and perfectly tender and juicy in the middle. Every time. Serve it with a simple side salad, roasted vegetables, or rice pilaf for an easy and quick weeknight meal.

Buy 2-4 pork chops — center cut, bone-on, 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick (about 1 pound each)