Tag: pork
Cottage Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Cottage Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
This isn’t just your basic bacon wrapped asparagus. I’m not a fan of bundles of asparagus wrapped with a thin piece of bacon. I upped the meat to veggie ratio by using a single sheet of cottage bacon to wrap a single asparagus spear, parallel. Thicker asparagus spears work better than thin ones. They will only take 15 minutes in the oven for the bacon to cook through, still leaving the asparagus slightly al dente.
Equipment
- toothpicks
Ingredients
- 12 spears asparagus tough ends chopped off
- 12 slices cottage bacon thinly sliced
Instructions
- Wrap each spear of asparagus with a piece of cottage bacon, lengthwise. Secure in place with 2 toothpicks. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place on a rack on a baking pan lined in foil.
- Bake for 15 minutes until bacon is crispy.
Smoked Country Style Ribs
Smoked Country Style Ribs
So, let’s get this out of the way before we even talk about the recipe. Country style ribs aren’t ribs. Even more so, there’s no such thing as a boneless rib. Rib means bone. Then what is a country style rib? There are 2 types: loin ribs and shoulder ribs. Country style loin ribs come from the rib end of a bone in pork loin. When I was the Mad Butcher, I would cut 2” thick chops. Then, on the bandsaw, I’d cut through the bone across the center of the loin, leaving two rectangular chunks of pork with bone on it. Shoulder country style ribs come from the pork shoulder. You pretty much cut big rectangular pieces out of the shoulder. Why these 2 cuts are called ribs, I can’t answer that. Regardless, country style ribs are delicious smoked.I brined the ribs for a day. Then the ribs sat on a rack in the refrigerator for another day to form a pellicle. I threw them in my smoker at 250 degrees. They smoked for just over 2 hours. Remember, since these aren’t really ribs, but reshaped rib end pork chops, they don’t need to smoke the same way as you would with spare and baby back ribs. As with anything you smoke, let the ribs rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 5 lbs bone in country style ribs
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 medium white onion chopped
- 3 green onions chopped
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
Wood Chips
- 1/2 hickory
- 1/2 applewood
Instructions
- Mix together the brining ingredients. Place the country style ribs in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine for 24 hours.
- Place the ribs on a rack and let dry out in the refrigerator for a day.
- Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees. Place the ribs in the smoker. Smoke for about 2 hours until the ribs internal temperature reads 150 degrees.
- Let the ribs rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Lao Yum Salad
Lao Yum Salad
Lao yum salad has a wide variety of veggies, plus sautéed garlicky pork. But the real highlight of this salad is the egg yolk dressing. Being perfectly balanced between sweet, sour, salty, and savory, this salad is quite hearty and will make even the mightiest of meat eaters content.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 bunch green leaf lettuce
- 1 bunch watercress
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
- 4 green onions cut into 2” pieces
- 1 small cucumber thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1/2 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 lb pork shoulder thinly sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Dressing
- 4 hard boiled eggs yolks and whites separated
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Place all of the dressing ingredients, minus the egg whites, in a food processor.
- Purée until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the pork shoulder and garlic for 5 minutes. Season with fish sauce. Set aside.
- Toss all of the vegetables together.
- Add in the pork, hard boiled egg whites, and dressing. Toss.
