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Pork Belly Carnitas
Pork Belly Carnitas
Recently, I’ve been eating a lot of pork belly in taco form. Instead of just browning it until crispy, I wanted to prepare it like carnitas. Typically, carnitas is pork shoulder simmered with lard, then browned. Since there is a lot of fat in pork belly, I omitted the lard. Most of the fat rendered out of the belly, allowing it to brown in its own fat. The belly was nice and crispy, but still tender.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly cut into small cubes
- 2 cups water
- salt to taste
Tacos
- vegetable oil
- corn tortillas
- white onion finely chopped
- cilantro chopped
- hot sauce
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Bring the water and pork belly to a boil in a sauté pan. Simmer for 1 hour on low.
- Increase the heat. Cook off all the water. Season with salt.
- Turn the heat to medium low and brown the pork belly until crispy; about 10-15 minutes. Drain any excess fat.
Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs over Goat Cheese Polenta
Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs over Goat Cheese Polenta
Of the current 1363 recipes on my site, I’d say that this is in the top 5 of tastiest. This preparation is a fusion of French and Italian techniques. The french aspect is using shallots and a french red wine; Italian would substitute onions for shallots and using an Italian wine. Either way you go, these ribs fall off the bone. When serving, place a short rib in the center of a mound of polenta; spooning over the red wine sauce.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs English cut beef short ribs 2 1/2” thick
- 1/4 cup flour
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 ribs celery finely chopped
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 1 large shallot finely chopped; or 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 cups red wine French or Italian
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
Goat Cheese Polenta
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups water
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup polenta
- 4 oz goat cheese
Instructions
- Pat the short ribs dry with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Dredge the short ribs in flour.
- Heat up olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the short ribs.
- Brown on all sides for 3 minutes a side. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the carrots, celery, and shallots. Sauté for 8 minutes.
- Pour in the red wine; scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the beef stock. Add in the short ribs, rosemary, and thyme. Place on the cover and put in a preheated 300° oven for 3 hours.
- The last 20 minutes of cooking the short ribs, bring the milk, water, and seasonings to a simmer in a large pot.
- Add in the polenta and continuously whisk over low heat for 3 minutes. Place on a cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Whisk in the goat cheese and turn off the heat.
Lemon Dill Halibut
Lemon Dill Halibut
This is classic Mediterranean preparation of fish that is highly flavorful and extremely easy to make. I purchased a pound of fresh halibut cut into 8oz portions to ensure the fish properly cooks through. The fillets simply get seasoned, baked, then sprinkled with fresh dill and a squeeze of lemon juice. This recipe also works with just about every type of fish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb halibut 2-8oz portions
- olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp dill chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Line a baking pan in parchment paper. Pat dry the halibut with paper towels. Brush the fillets with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and Aleppo pepper flakes.
- Place 2 slices of lemon on top of the fillets.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Take off the lemon slices, squeeze the rest of the lemon over the fillets and sprinkle on fresh dill.
