Chinese Sticky Ribs

During my self-appointed day of cooking on Whidbey Island, I asked if anyone had a dinner request. Without missing a beat Minh-Hai piped up, “Chinese Sticky Ribs!” I like a challenge.

I’d never made sticky ribs before so I had to defer to the experts. But some of the more traditional recipes called for the likes of Chinese rose water, plum sauce and dried oysters, ingredients that the nearby Casey’s Red Apple probably didn’t carry. Luckily Cook’s Country came to the rescue.

Their recipe requires braising the ribs for a few hours in a flavorful mixture of soy sauce, sugar, fresh ginger, garlic, hoisin sauce, sherry and cilantro sprigs. After the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender, it gets brushed with a sticky, sweet glaze followed by a few flips under the broiler until deep mahogany in color.

We were on island time so it didn’t matter that the ribs reached the table well after 9pm. Despite the crappy lighting not doing them justice in this photo, you can trust me when I say this recipe is legit. The outside of the meat had those lovely sticky charred bits while the tender inside barely required chewing. They were so addictively delicious that I found myself gnawing on the bones well after the meat was gone.

As we were eating, fingers and faces covered in sticky glaze, Minh-Hai said, “I just dreamt this up and here it is!” That’s exactly what cooking is all about.

Chinese Sticky Ribs
If you don’t have dry sherry on hand, use one part apple cider vinegar and one part water. I wasn’t able to find hot pepper jelly but apple jelly worked beautifully. Since some of the heat was missing, I also upped the spice by adding a tablespoon or two of Sriracha sauce. Next time I’ll add even more! Slightly tweaked from a Cook’s Country recipe.

2 racks St. Louis style or baby back ribs (2-1/2 to 3-1/2 lbs each)

1 cup hoisin sauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup dry sherry (or a mix of 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup water)

1 6-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced into rounds

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

30 sprigs fresh cilantro stems (reserve leaves for glaze), chopped

8 scallions, white parts only, cut into 1-inch pieces (reserve green parts for garnish)
Optional: extra Sriracha or chili sauce (I added 2 tablespoons)

Glaze:

1 10-oz jar hot red pepper jelly or apple jelly

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Reserved scallion greens, thinly sliced
Extra Sriracha or chili sauce to taste

Adjust the oven rack to the middle and heat to 350°F. 

Remove the silver skin from the back of the ribs. Combine the rib marinade in a large roasting pan. Add the spareribs and coat well. Cover with heavy foil and cook, meat side down, 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until just tender. Remove ribs to a plate.

Strain the cooking liquid and put 3 cups into a large nonstick skillet. Skim the fat. Add the jelly and vinegar. Simmer over medium high heat until reduced to 2 cups. Off the heat, stir in the cilantro and cayenne (and Sriracha or chili sauce, if using).

Heat the broiler (don't raise the oven rack!). Pour enough water into the roasting pan to cover the bottom. Fit pan with roasting rack, arrange ribs on rack and brush with glaze. Broil until the ribs begin to brown, flip over, and brush with more glaze. Continue flipping, glazing and broiling every few minutes until the ribs are deep mahogany (I only needed to do this 3 times). Move to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes. Slice, glaze again if desired, and garnished with scallion greens. Serve with sticky rice and lots of napkins!

Cuban Roasted Pork Sandwiches

For the first time in my adult life, I have a garden to tend. I dabbled in container gardening last year from my 3rd floor apartment window (with mixed results) but this is the real deal. We were lucky enough to inherit two garden plots smack dab in the middle of our backyard, plus a narrow strip up against the house. The next 6+ months, I hope, will be filled with all-we-can-eat, -can and –freeze produce.
 
This may seem a bit confident for a gardening neophyte but I owe my optimism to Tristan’s cousin Beryl (of Houseboat Eats) and her seriously green thumb. She spent last Sunday afternoon walking us through the basics, helping us prep the soil, warning us about greedy slugs and cat poop, strategizing what will go where and generally getting us super stoked about the possibilities. Without her, I’m afraid, it wouldn’t have been pretty.
 
So what do you feed hungry gardeners after a day of shoveling dirt? Sandwiches. But not just any sandwich, Cuban Roasted Pork sandwiches.

Most Seattleites will agree that the Cuban Roast sandwich at Paseo’s Caribbean Restaurant is pretty much the gold standard in these parts: toasted baguette, aioli, cilantro, crisp romaine, caramelized onions and chunks of the tenderest, juiciest pork you’ve ever had. It’s incredibly messy and delicious, which is exactly what I wanted to replicate.
 
So I bought a 5-pound pork shoulder and let it soak in a garlicky sour orange marinade overnight. And quite honestly, the oven did the rest of the work. While we were busy outside channeling our inner farmers, the oven slowly turned that shoulder into tender morsels.

Once Talley arrived, I toasted a good-quality baguette (splurge on the good stuff, bad bread = bad sandwich) and set up an assembly line of fixins. I normally encourage self-expression when it comes to food but each of these sandwich components is essential. Leave one out and you’ll be sorry.

Frankly, this endeavor made me a bit nervous since I’m not particularly schooled in the art of meat cookery, but I’m happy to report that the sandwiches were a smash hit. As a matter of fact, when foodies of Talley and Beryl’s caliber say that they were just as good as Paseo’s, I knew this was worth sharing.

Cuban Roasted Pork Sandwiches
Perfect after a day of gardening, for watching the game or for any informal get-together. Have a stack of napkins handy. Adapted from www.icuban.com.
 
1 pork shoulder (I used a 5-pounder to ensure lots of leftovers), bone-in if possible
20 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice 
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 cups olive oil

For the sandwich:
Toasted baguette
Caramelized onions (recipe follows)
Aioli or mayonnaise
Fresh cilantro sprigs
Romaine leaves, washed and dried
Pickled jalepeños
 
Place pork shoulder in a deep dish. Using a sharp knife or fork, pierce the meat multiple times on all sides. Set aside.

In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the garlic and salt until finely chopped. Add the onion, oregano and juices; pulse until thoroughly mixed. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until warm. Whisk in the sour orange juice mixture and heat through. Pour marinade over the pork shoulder; cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove the pork from the marinade and place, fattiest side up, in a Dutch oven. Transfer to oven and let roast, uncovered, for roughly 1 hour per pound (about 5 hours in this case), basting occasionally with some of the reserved marinade. Pork should easily fall apart with a fork when done. Remove from oven and transfer to a cutting board; let rest for 15 minutes.

Drain the accumulated fat from the Dutch oven. Set aside.
 
Using a sharp knife and/or two forks, shred pork into bite-sized pieces. Add it back to the Dutch oven and mix with browned bits on the bottom. This next step is optional but for maximum flavor, I strained the remaining marinade, skimmed off the oily top layer, and poured the rest (mainly flavorful citrus juices) over the shredded pork. I then brought it to a simmer, partially covered, over medium heat and cooked it  for about 10 minutes, adding water when necessary. Season with salt to taste.
 
To assemble sandwiches: generously slather both sides of the toasted baguette with aioli or mayonnaise and pile on the shredded pork, caramelized onions, pickled jalepeños, cilantro and romaine leaves. Serve immediately.
 
Caramelized Onions
 
2 teaspoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into ¼-inch half moon strips
Salt 
1/2 teaspoon sugar
 
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter with oil. Add onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and sugar and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes or until onions are very soft and have a deep caramelized color.

Country Paté

I can't remember the first time I had paté or foie gras, but it seems that I've always loved it. That smooth, moussey texture with an intense mineral-rich taste. Then last year at Cremant, a French restaurant in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood, I had the opportunity to try a much more rustic, courser paté: Paté de Campagne, or Country Paté. To me, it seemed like the perfect picnic food, meant to be spread on hunks of crusty bread, eaten alongside cornichons and cheese, all while barefoot in the sun.

The weather didn't exactly cooperate so last night we had an indoor picnic. Earlier in the day I picked up a thick slice of Country Paté with Black Pepper, a blend of pork, pork liver, eggs, onion and spices, from Whole Foods Market. Served with 2 types of cheese, artisan bread, pickles, mustard, lightly blanched asparagus and glasses of red, we enjoyed a simple, delicious meal that any Frenchman could appreciate.