Croque Madame
Top with the fried egg and chopped chives.
Tag: pork
Miso Marinated Pork Belly
Miso Marinated Pork Belly
In Japan, misozuke refers to the marinade being miso-based, as opposed to kasuzuke being a sake-based marinade. The natural enzymes in the miso help break down the tissue in meat, helping to tenderize. For the protein, I used thinly sliced pieces of pork belly, but you could also use thin sliced pork loin. For optimal flavor, the pork should be marinated for at least 1 day, but no more than two. There are several approaches to can go about cooking the pork. The best in my opinion is to either grill or broil. You could even pan fry the pork if you wanted. Since the pork is so thin, it will take only a couple of minutes a side to cook. My pork belly took about 4 minutes a side. Serve the pork misozuke as an appetizer or as your main course over steamed rice with a side salad to help balance out the richness.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly sliced 1/4” thick or less
- 2 oz miso paste
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Garnish
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Whisk together the marinade ingredients.
- Marinate the pork belly in the miso marinade for 1 day.
- Preheat your broiler. Lay the pork belly on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil for 4 minutes a side. Alternatively, you can grill the pork belly over charcoal or gas for the same amount of time.
Hmong-Style Larb
Hmong-Style Larb
Larb comes in many forms and spellings. This pork salad is popular all over Southeast Asia in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. It is herbaceous, pungent, and has a refreshing taste. Larb is served with green leaf lettuce, eaten as a wrap. The best part of larb is the toasted rice powder that adds a slight crunch
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 lime zested and juiced
- 1 stalk lemongrass minced
- 2 Thai chilies minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 3 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup mint
- 1 cup cucumber chopped into small cubes
- 1 drizzle sesame oil
- green leaf lettuce for serving
Toasted Rice Powder
- 1/4 cup jasmine rice
Instructions
- Add the rice to a small skillet over medium heat. Gently toast the rice for 5 minutes until it is golden brown. Allow to cool.
- Add the toasted rice to a spice grinder.
- Grind into a powder. Set aside.
- In a sauté pan, brown the pork over medium high heat for 8 minutes. Drain any grease from the pan.
- Toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
Biscuits and Gravy
Biscuits and Gravy
Biscuits and gravy are a breakfast staple of the South, dating back to post-revolutionary war when food supply was short. The gravy is dairy based, made from the drippings of pork sausage, seasoned with black pepper. The sausage gravy drenches flaky buttermilk biscuits, making this the ultimate breakfast comfort food.
Ingredients
Pork Sage Sausage
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Sausage Gravy
- 1 lb pork sage sausage
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix together all of the sausage seasonings.
- Mix in with the ground pork. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add in the sausage and brown for 8 minutes.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk. Season with salt and pepper.
- Reduce the heat to medium and continuously whisk for 5 minutes until the gravy has thickened.
Buttermilk Biscuits
Who doesn’t love a good buttermilk biscuit? They are extremely easy to make and are much more cost effective than buying them frozen or in a can. Plus, they taste so much better made from scratch. Once you give this recipe a try, you’ll want to dig up The Colonel’s corpse and show him what a real buttermilk biscuit is.
Equipment
- food processor
- rolling pin
- biscuit cutter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 8 tbsp cold butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Add the flour mix and the butter to a food processor. Briefly pulse 6-7 times.
- Transfer to a bowl. Pour in the buttermilk.
- Mix until a dough forms.
- Lightly dust a clean surface with flour. Roll out the dough to a 1” thick slab.
- Using a biscuit cutter or a small bowl, press out biscuits. Make sure to press straight down and not twist the cutter. This allows the biscuits to rise. Repeat this process until all the dough is used up.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet.
- Bake 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool on a rack.
