When you hear “baby-back ribs” you’ll almost certainly think of smoky slow cooked racks slathered in barbecue sauce or crusted with a spicy rub of powdered chilis and brown sugar. And you would be forgiven for that – barbecue is a true American art form. But that’s not the only way to make a masterpiece of pork.

For today’s piggy canvas, we’ll throw out the standard flavors and work with a palette of cumin, jalapeno, pineapple, and avocado. Cumin, the world’s second most popular spice, finds its way into myriad cuisines from Mexican to Middle Eastern to Indian to Sichuan to Uzbek. In this application, its earthy warmth forms a perfectly complementary crust on rich, juicy ribs. A sweet-spicy glaze of honey, lime, and jalapeno puts it over the top.  And the whole ensemble is crowned with a chunky pineapple-avocado salsa that provides just the right bite to balance out the heavy pork flavors. Now that you’re hungry, let’s get started.

Assemble your ingredients. Not your typical baby back accoutrements. Note that I’m using 1 rack of ribs, but the recipe makes enough glaze and salsa for 2 racks.

Make a rub of ancho chile powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Rub the rub on the ribs (what did you think you were going to do with it?). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Add a little water to the rimmed baking sheet. A non-rimmed sheet will result in an all too predictable mess. Stick the ribs in the oven at 350° for 45 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes more, until tender.

Meanwhile, core and slice your jalapeno peppers. Set aside ¼ of them.

Add  ¾ of the peppers to a blender with garlic and  lime juice and blend until smooth. Add honey and a tablespoon of cumin and blend again.

There you go.

Transfer from the blender to a small saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes or so, until glossy and thickened. Stir frequently.

When the ribs are done, raise the oven temp to 450° and brush on half the glaze. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes, turning once.

They’ll come out looking like this. Yes, this will be a pain to clean. Yes, it might set off your fire alarm. Yes, it will be worth it. Brush on the rest of the glaze.

Slice and grill the pineapple until it’s softened and you have nice grill marks.

Dice up the pineapple.

Dice the red onion, cilantro, and remaining jalapeno.

Mix together with the pineapple, diced avocado, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons lime juice.

Grill the ribs until nicely charred on both sides, about 5 minutes.

Indulge. With IPA.

Cumin Glazed Ribs with Pineapple Avocado Salsa

from Food and Wine

1. Combine the ancho powder with ¼ cup of the cumin, 2 tablespoons of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper in a bowl. Rub the ribs all over with the, um, rub. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°. Add ¼ inch of water to the baking sheet and bake the ribs for 45 minutes, then cover with foil and bake 30 minutes longer until tender. Pour off the pan juices.
3. Meanwhile, blend three-fourths of the jalapeños with the garlic and ½ cup of the lime juice in a blender or food processor. Blend in the honey and the remaining 1 tablespoon of cumin. Simmer the glaze in a saucepan over low heat until glossy and thickened, 15 minutes.
4. Raise the oven temperature to 450°. Brush the ribs with half of the glaze. Roast 20 minutes, turning once. Brush on the remaining glaze.
5. Preheat a grill or broiler to high heat. Grill the pineapple rings, turning once, until lightly charred, about 5 minutes. Finely dice the pineapple and transfer to a bowl. Add the brown sugar, onion, cilantro, avocado, remaining jalapeno and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Grill or broil the ribs over high heat, turning once, until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Cut between the bones and serve with the salsa.

Unless your mom doesn’t bake, you probably think your mom’s apple pie is the best apple pie there is. I certainly do. Our mom’s apple pie comes from an old cookbook that she scanned for me, although it’s really more of a guideline. My biggest change is using all brown sugar rather than brown and white sugar. The extra brown sugar brings in more of a caramel taste to the filling and topping, and really, is there a better flavor to add to an apple pie than caramel? I contend that there is not.

Choosing apples for an apple pie is very important. You want apples that have a firm flesh that will stand up after baking, preferably ones that are in season in your area. Mealy apples won’t hold up and will leave the pie with much less texture. In this particular pie, I used half fuji and half granny smith apples. You want a combination of sweetness and tartness, whether it comes from all one type of apple, or from multiple types. If you’re lucky enough to live near a farmer’s market, ask around at stands with fresh apples, particularly if there are types that you don’t recognize. The best pie I’ve ever made was with an apple that I’d never heard of, but which the woman at the apple stand assured me was the perfect pie apple. When such a resource isn’t available, I use the advice on this page for guidance.

It always amazes me how few ingredients you need to make something as decadent as apple pie. I only ended up needing the 4 apples that you see peeled in the ingredients photo. The number of apples you need will depend on their size. I use this pie crust recipe, although I keep intending to try a half butter crust. This one is a great flakey texture and tastes good, but I imagine some butter would make it even better. It’s just so easy to work with when it’s make with all shortening.

Start but peeling your apples and slicing them into approximately 1/4″ thick slices. They can be a little thinner, but you generally don’t want the slices much thicker than that. Snack on the leftovers. You deserve it.

In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and brown sugar.

Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over apples and toss to coat.  You should probably do this in a bigger bowl than I used.

Dump apples into pie shell, making sure to scrape as much of that syrupy juice out as you can. Yum. It’s okay if it looks like there are too many apples, since they’ll bake down a bit.

Now for the crumb topping. I use the same bowl as I make the pie crust in, since they have most of the same ingredients. Fewer dishes is always better! Start with brown sugar and flour.

Mix together the brown sugar and flour, then cut in cold butter.

Mix with an electric mixer’s dough hook, a fork, or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle crumbs on top of apples and arrange to cover.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-60 minutes. Start checking about every ten minutes after the first 40 by testing with a fork in a couple places. The fork should slide into the apples with only a small amount of resistance. If the crust and topping are browning too quickly, shield with a sheet of tin foil. I usually do this at about 40 minutes. Cool on a rack, then serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Or chocolate ice cream if you’re weird like Jamie.

Crumb Top Apple Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

4-7 apples, a mixture of sweet and tart

1/2 and 1/3 cups brown sugar, divided use

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnimon

3/4 cup all purpose flour

6 tablespoons cold butter

Peel and core apples, then slice into pieces about 1/4″ thick. In a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over apples and toss to coat. Arrange apples in pie crust. In bowl of an electric stand mixer with dough hook attachment, mix together 1/3 cup brown sugar and flour. Cut in cold butter and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples and arrange to cover. Bake at 400 degrees for 40-60 minutes, checking at 10 minute intervals with a fork. If crust and/or topping brown too quickly, shield with tin foil. Cool on rack. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

I’m certain that this is the best thing I’ve ever cooked. It dethrones Deer Delicious due to some incredible depth of flavor that is sweet and savory while leaving a low, smoky burn on the tongue. The smell of it is still hanging in the air in my apartment and just that is nearly enough to bring tears to your eyes. It combines three of my favorite foods: apples, sweet potatoes, and slow cooked pork, all of which happen to be reasonably priced, particularly if you use pork shoulder like I did. The entire recipe cost me around $10. It’s also easy to prepare the night before and drop in the slow cooker when you wake up, which I did at 6:30 this morning before heading to South to watch Michigan destroy Minnesota. By the time I got home to watch MSU and OSU fail all over each other, the apartment smelled amazing. I will admit that if you’re looking for a lot of texture, this is not the dish for you. But if you’re up for letting a meal melt away in your mouth, this will certainly satisfy you.

Your ingredients. I considered substituting apples tossed in apple pie spices for the apple pie filling in this recipe, but decided not to for two reasons. First, apple pie filling is cheaper and quicker than buying apples and making my own. Second, I was planning to make this recipe the night before. I worried that fresh apples would go brown, while the pre-mixed apple pie syrup would add to the marination of the pork. If I prepare this the day I plan to eat it, I might try fresh apples. I’m sure it would make a nice substitution, if you have the apples on hand!

Chop your sweet potatoes and onions. This is another reason I might use fresh apples next time: I could make the apples the same shape as the sweet potatoes, which, while not at all necessary, would look pretty.

Chop your chipotle peppers and add pepper, paprika, and salt…

Then mix them all together. Rub this mixture into the pork.

Place the meat into the slow cooker dish and cover with sweet potatoes, onions, and apple pie filling. Stir a bit to coat potatoes and onions with syrup.

At this point, I placed the covered slow cooker crock in my refrigerator and went to bed. If you’re preparing this the day you plan to eat it, place it in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-6, depending on your slow cooker.

When the pork is cooked, remove the sweet potato mixture with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Also remove the pork to a serving dish, and the remaining liquid to a medium saucepan.

Mix 1/4 water with 3 tablespoons of flour.

Add flour to saucepan, and cook over medium heat until thickened.

Serve with biscuits, preferably homemade if you have the time and aren’t scared of the extra dishes.

Serve the meat and vegetables separately as Jamie did in the top picture, or pile them on top of each other and douse them in gravy like me. Whichever way suits your fancy, but either way try them together. Each part it great on its own, but together, they’re incredible.

Sweet and Spicy Pork with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from Allrecipes

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 boneless pork shoulder roast, about 2.5 lbs

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 large onion

1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 lukewarm water

Chop chipotle peppers and add to a small mixing bowl. Add salt, pepper, and paprika. Rub mixture into all sides of pork. Place pork in slow cooker. Chop sweet potato into approximately 1 inch cubes. Cover pork with sweet potato, onion, and apple pie mix, stirring a little to coat with apple pie syrup. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or 4-6 on low, depending on slow cooker. Remove pork and sweet potato mixture and set aside. Remove remaining liquid to saucepan. Combine flour and water, then add to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until thickened. Serve pork with sweet potato mixture and gravy.

Meatloaf is not the most glamourous of meals. I’m sure that someone somewhere has created a meatloaf that is somehow classy and elegant, but this is not that meatloaf. In fact, I’m not totally certain that I would want that meatloaf. You see, meatloaf is the epitome of comfort food. It should evoke memories of family meals and childhood, not sophistication. Although if there were a meatloaf that could do both of those things, I might be impressed. In any case, this is not that meatloaf either. This is a combination of a few meatloaf recipes, but mostly my parents’ meatloaf recipes, and it’s covered in ketchup, for god’s sake. It is also an experiment in how many times I can write the word “meatloaf” without getting grossed out. Mostly, though, it is delicious.

It doesn’t take much to make a meatloaf, and almost all of the ingredients can be substituted or tinkered with in some way. For example, my dad usually uses prepared Italian breadcrumbs, while my mom sometimes uses panko. I like to make my own breadcrumbs from whatever bread I have around the house by just running it through my little food processor for a bit. This time, however, I had some leftover homemade Italian breadcrumbs from when I made pork chops last week, so that’s what I used.

You can also use a mixture of ground meats depending on your preference. Here I use two pounds of lean ground beef, but you can also mix in ground veal, pork, turkey, or whatever else you have available.

Drop whatever ground meats you’ve chosen into a large mixing bowl. The only large mixing bowl I currently own is my KitchenAid bowl, so I’m using that for everything right now. Moving will do that to you. Whisk together two eggs in a separate bowl.

Dump in your bread crumbs, cheese, chili powder, seasoned salt, pepper (not pictured) and eggs. This is very much a dumping recipe. I’ve given approximate measurements, but you can adjust the amounts based on what you like. I like my meatloaf to barely hold together, so I don’t use a lot of breadcrumbs or eggs. If you prefer yours a bit sturdier, add another egg or two and another half cup or so of bread crumbs, as well as whatever spices smell good to you today. In other words, dump in whatever you please.

Now here comes the fun part.

Make sure you’ve washed your hands and under your nails very well, then mash your hand in there and start squeezing and stirring everything together. Turn everything over a few times to get to what’s on the bottom of the bowl, and keep going until there are no more clumps of crumbs or spices or until your hand gets too cold and falls off. I take my ring off for this step so that it doesn’t get raw meat stuck in the little crevices.

Form the meat into a loaf shape. Or really, whatever shape you want. You could have a meatfootball or a meatstar or a meatman, though I doubt some of those would cook very evenly.

I bake my meatloaf on a broiling pan with a sheet of tin foil lining the bottom to keep it from getting too messy. If you don’t have a broiling pan, go for something that will let the fat drain, like a roasting pan or a cooling rack placed in a jelly roll pan.

Now wash your hands again! I should note at this point that Jamie took the pictures for this post. I didn’t want to get meat all over my camera, and I’ve been teaching him how to cook now that it’s just us living together. That’s two birds.

Now it’s time to make the sauce. Half a cup of ketchup and a tablespoon each of mustard and brown sugar is a good place to start. I ended up adding a bit more ketchup and brown sugar this time.

Taste as you go and see what you think it needs. Too tangy? Add a bit more sugar. Too sweet? More mustard.

Coat the entire meatloaf in sauce. I use a fork to “paint” it on the sides after pouring it over the top.

The sauce is a little more orange than it looks in this picture, and a bit less bright red. But it gets brighter red in the oven, and then it really looks like it’s just covered in ketchup. Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and 15 minutes.

See? Radioactive red. But delicious! Cut into the middle and make sure that there’s no pink left. Serve with mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Meatloaf

2 pounds lean ground beef

2 eggs

1/2 cup breadcrumbs, about three slices

1 cup shredded cheese (I use a Mexican mix)

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon mustard

Place ground meat in a large mixing bowl. Whisk eggs together in a separate bowl, then dump eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, chili powder, and pepper. With clean hands, mix these ingredients together until there are no clumps left. Shape into a loaf, place on a broiling pan lined with tin foil. Mix ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard into a sauce. Adjust sauce to taste and spread evenly over loaf. Bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes.

I’ve been busy over my long, unexpected hiatus. I finished two honors theses – one in creative writing and one in psychology, graduated from the University of Michigan, and packed up all my things and moved to Los Angeles. I’ve been in this apartment for less than two weeks, but Jamie and I have settled in pretty well. Our new kitchen is cute and cheerful, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you all. 

We looked at about ten apartments, and this kitchen captured my heart immediately. I couldn’t help imagining my bright orange stand mixer sitting there on that pretty blue tile countertop.

There was, of course, no guarantee that we’d get the place, so I tried not to fall in love too much, but it wasn’t easy. This kitchen has everything I was hoping for but wasn’t expecting to get: a gas range, plenty of space, a window over the sink, plus an innate, irresistible charm. Over the past week, I’ve been working at making it my dream kitchen – as much as Craigslist and Amazon gift certificates from friends and family would allow.

You’ll notice that, although there is a place to hang my apron, there isn’t a huge amount of counter space. It’s workable, sure, but not quite enough for big projects. We’ve got a dining room table I could work at, which you’ll see in a minute, but I also started looking for some sort of cart or island to give me a little more workspace.

I found this cute mahogany bar cart on Craigslist. The top space extends, and that bottom shelf is actually a removable cutting board and basket.

I lined my shelves with vinyl contact paper to help keep them clean and pretty. It was quite a project to apply – I ended up crawling entirely into this cabinet as it goes a fair way back – but it was worth it to cover up that old, worn wood.

Our dining table is an Ikea original. They only had three of the chairs we wanted, so we’ll be going back at some point, which I’m not complaining about a bit. We were surprised to find that this table actually came with four chairs, though, so now we have a closet full of extras that we don’t really like. But they’ll certainly be useful for when we have company.

Possibly my favorite part of the tour, I now have a cabinet full of Fiestaware! I have one more place setting in shamrock coming from Amazon any day now, and I could use a mixing bowl or two, but the cabinet is otherwise complete.

I decided to go with eight colors for eight place settings. Since most of our furniture is black or gray, I wanted to accent it with touches of bright color. This dinnerware goes a long way toward that. It’s gorgeous, and opening every box of it was like Christmas.

Our drinking glasses mainly consist of my collection of pint glasses. I like the uniformity of the form with the variety of designs. Between the glasses and the colorful dinnerware, we set a playful table. I’m hoping that all the colors will make for some great food photos.

I’m really looking forward to getting back to posting on Sibling Cutlery. Since I’m currently unemployed, I should certainly have the time, if not the money, to post more regularly than before. Look forward to some budget meals from me soon, as well as some great desserts and a look at my new neighborhood, which is full of restaurants and shops that I’m eager to share.

This particular Mexican chocolate treatment blends it into a custard with dark chocolate to produce a creamy, elegant dessert that’s deeply chocolatey without being too sweet. Make up a batch and enjoy the food of the gods…

Collect your ingredients. Simple is good – use the best chocolate you have around.

Mexican chocolate comes in these cute little tablets, so unwrap one…

… and chop it up finely.

Meanwhile, heat the milk and cream in a saucepan on medium-low heat until it just begins to bubble around the edges. I don’t have a picture of this, so enjoy another shot of the chocolate.

Separate your eggs. You’ll only need the yolks – save the whites for something healthy (i.e. not this).

Once the cream mixture begins to simmer, scoop out half a cup and slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. This “proofs” the yolks, warming them gently so they don’t turn into scrambled eggs.

Pour the eggs slowly into the hot milk (still on the medium-low burner), and whisk, heating gently until slightly thickened (enough to coat the back of a spoon). This is a custard, so don’t overcook it (it will eventually curdle, or at least get grainy, and that’s bad).

Once the custard has reached the proper consistency, immediately add the chocolate, remove the saucepan from the heat, and stir until the chocolate is fully melted.

Once melted, strain the custard through a fine sieve (this catches the inevitable bits of cooked egg that form, and is good practice any time you make a custard).

Divide the strained mixture into six six-ounce ramekins and refrigerate for six hours (or overnight).

Once the pots de crème are chilled, serve with a dollop of unsweetened whip cream and some additional chocolate chips or shavings for garnish.

Mexican Chocolate Pots de Crème

from Food and Wine

This recipe was lovingly extracted from a Food and Wine article by Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods fame. Andrew, known primarily for scarfing, ahem, exotic world cuisine ranging from swamp rodent stew to sheep eyeballs (and sometimes just … balls), took some of his favorite adventurous eats and made them a bit more refined and approachable to the average palate.

The inspiration for this particular dish was Mexican street tacos. And not the undersized, overpriced finger food variety dished out at the local margarita bar, but actual street cart fare from the heart of Mexico. Like most street food, they were greasy and delicious – but you probably didn’t want to know exactly what was in them. In this case, it was pig small intestines, fried up and served with fresh salsa – a sort of chitterlin’ taco, if you will.

To retain all the rich, greasy, crispy, salty, porky goodness with none of the digestive tract, Andrew subbed in a confit of well-seasoned pork shoulder. Confit, for those of you with a limited (i.e. normal) internal culinary dictionary, is a French (imagine that…) cooking style in which meat is slow-roasted gently in its own (or added) rendered fat. Originally intended as a preserving mechanism (cooked meat packed in fat will keep for a few days without refrigeration), now confit just tastes good. It is, of course, exactly as delicious and rich as something cooked by slow deep frying sounds.

To complement the rich pork confit is an equally enticing grilled pineapple salsa. The smoky, caramelly sweetness of grilled fruit works beautifully with the pork, and the pineapple tartness combined with a touch of fresh mint lend an excellent bright counterpoint to the unctuous shredded pork. Wrap it up in a warm corn tortilla with a touch of queso fresco and a dollop of crema, and you’re in pig heaven (or maybe not heaven for the pig, since you are eating it, after all).

Hopefully that description was sufficient to get you salivating despite the reference to sheep (eye)ball consumption in the opening graph. On with the recipe…

Assemble your ingredients. Note that here I’m using pork loin because it’s easy to get in a more manageable size, but pork shoulder would be a bit preferred for this treatment.

Cut the pork into 1 1/2″ cubes.

Assemble your seasonings: kosher salt, white pepper, thyme, garlic, cilantro, and juniper berries. Juniper berries (the primary flavoring component of gin) may be a bit hard to find (I got these at Whole Foods and saw them nowhere else), but they provide a wonderful aromatic quality and shouldn’t be left out. They need to be crushed (physically, not emotionally – you can use the flat of your knife) just before use. This releases their flavor, but does so quickly, so wait until you’re ready to use them.

Throw the pork and seasonings into a large plastic freezer bag, seal it, and toss to coat the meat. Place in the fridge to marinate overnight or up to 16 hours. Don’t go much past that, as the meat may become overly salty.

Place the meat in a large enameled cast iron casserole (you can get away with most any oven proof pot, but my sapphire blue Staub coque au vin is so very much prettier) and pour the oil over it, deep enough to just cover the meat.

Heat it on your stove until it just begins to simmer, then place it (using oven mits, obviously) in a 300 deg. oven for ~2.5 hours.

While it’s cooking, get started on the salsa by slicing up your onion, pineapple, and tomatoes. Brush all sides of the slices lightly with oil.

Cook  the produce on a hot grill a couple minutes per side, until you have nicely charred grill marks and the slices are softened.

Add cilantro, chipotles, mint, and lime juice to a food processor…

… and process until finely minced.

Add the grilled produce…

… and pulse a couple times until well mixed but a bit chunky. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.

Once the pork is done (it should be extremely tender) remove from the oven.

Grill the pork chunks over a hot flame a couple minutes per side until nicely charred (all you’re going for is a charred, crispy exterior, since it’s already fully cooked).  The pork is so tender that it may be difficult to manipulate while on the grill. I had some success by placing the pieces on skewers, but sometimes this causes the pieces to fall apart, so you may have better luck just tossing them on the grill individually and flipping them with a spatula.

Shred the pork with your fingers (you’ll need to let it cool a bit after the grill, obviously) and serve on warm corn tortillas, topped with the salsa and, if you want, queso fresco crumbles and a bit of crema.

Pork Confit Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

From Food and Wine

Ingredients:

1. ¼ cup kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
2. 3 Tbs. white sugar
3. 2 Tbs. crushed juniper berries
4. 1 Tbs. ground white pepper
5. 10 cloves garlic, minced
6. 8 sprigs thyme
7. 6 Tbs. cilantro, finely chopped and dived in half
8. 2½ lbs. boneless pork shoulder or loin, cut into 1½” cubes
9. 2 cups vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
10. 12 oz. fresh pineapple, sliced ~½” thick
11. 1 yellow onion, sliced ~½” thick
12. 4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
13. 3 Tbs. chopped mint
14. 2 Tbs. red onion, minced
15. 2 canned chipotles, chopped
16. Juice of 1 lime
17. Warm corn tortillas, for serving
18. Crumbled queso fresco and fresh crema, for serving, if desired

In a non-reactive (glass or plastic) container (or a large freezer bag), combine ¼ cup kosher salt, sugar, juniper berries, white pepper, garlic, thyme, and half the cilantro. Stir to combine, then add the pork. Toss to coat the pork pieces evenly. Cover and refrigerate, tossing occasionally, overnight or up to 16 hours. Do not overmarinate, as it may become over-salted.

Heat an oven to 300°. Scrape most of the seasoning off the pork and place in a large enameled cast iron casserole (or any heavy oven-proof pot with lid). Pour oil over the meat – add additional oil if necessary to just cover the pork. Stir to ensure the meat is evenly coated. Heat the casserole on the stovetop over medium-high heat until it just begins to simmer. Transfer to the heated oven (using pot holders, obviously) and bake for ~2½ hours, until very tender.

Heat a grill to medium-high. Brush the pineapple, yellow onion, and tomatoes with vegetable oil on all sides. Grill all of it for a coupe minutes per side, until softened and nicely charred. In a food processor, finely process the mint, lime juice, chipotles, and cilantro. Add the grilled produce and red onion, then pulse a couple times until well blended but still chunky. Transfer to a storage container, cover, and set aside (can be made ahead – store in refrigerator).

Remove pork from the cooking oil. Grill the pork pieces over medium-high heat until charred all over. It may help to place the pieces on skewers before grilling, but be careful as the pork is tender and easily falls apart. After grilling, allow the pork to cool enough to handle and shred the pieces by hand or with two forks.

Serve the pork with the salsa and tortillas. Add queso fresco and crema to the tacos if desired.

Time for another recipe from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Everyday. This one’s a quick to prepare change-up to the typical taco. Why limit yourself to just chicken and beef? How about something a little more on the green side?

Greens braised in a bit of broth, mixed with garlic, red pepper, and flavorful red onions make for a delicious and surprisingly satisfying filling for warm corn tortillas, particularly when topped up with fresh cheese, sour cream, and smoky salsa. The best part is you can use just about whatever leafy green you have on hand, from chard to spinach. Don’t worry about the ground beef and taco seasoning packets – you won’t miss ‘em.

Ingredients. Not much to it, really.

Slice your onion 1/4″ thick or so. You can use white or red onions – here I like the stronger bite of red onions, but your taste may vary.

For my greens, I used swiss chard. Spinach or collard greens would be equally good. For large leaves like chard, chop into strips about 1/2″ wide.

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil (or use bacon fat if you want) in a large wok or skillet, and cook the onion. Stir frequently for 4-5 minutes until the onion is golden brown but still crunchy.

Add minced fresh garlic and red pepper flakes and stir in until the aroma starts to waft up to your eagerly waiting nostrils.

Add 1/2 cup broth, greens, and a bit of salt. I went with chicken broth, but you can use pork, or, for fully vegetarian, use vegetable broth or plain water.

Cover and simmer just until the greens are just tender, then uncover and continue to cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Try not to overcook – I prefer to keep a bit of texture in the greens.

Spoon into warm tortillas and top with cheese (queso fresco is best, but I was out), sour cream, and smoky salsa. There are a lot of ways to make this dish your own, so feel free to experiment with the ingredients. Enjoy!

Tacos with Braised Greens

from Mexican Everyday

Ingredients:

1. 12 ounce bunch swiss chard, collard, mustard, or beet greens, thick stems removed OR 10 ounces  spinach
2. 1 ½ Tbl. vegetable oil, olive oil, lard, or bacon drippings (muah ha ha)
3. 1 large white or red onion, sliced ¼” thick
4. 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5. 1 tsp. (or to taste) red pepper flakes
6. ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth (or water)
7. salt
8. warm corn tortillas, for serving
9. 1 cup crumbled queso fresco, feta, or other fresh cheese
10. ¾ cup smoky red salsa (make your own or use your favorite bottled brand)

Cut the chard crosswise into strips (½” or so). Small greens like spinach may be used as is. In a very large skillet or wok, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Cook the onion until golden brown but still crunchy, 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and stir in. Reduce heat slightly to medium-low, and then add the broth, ½ teaspoon salt, and the greens. Cover the pan with a lid (or a cookie sheet in a pinch) and cook until the greens are nearly tender. This varies widely depending on the greens – spinach takes only 2 minutes or so, collard greens take around 7, and swiss chard needs about 5.

Uncover the pan, raise the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring constantly, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Taste and and extra salt if needed. Serve on warm tortillas, topped with crumbled cheese, salsa, and anything else you like (sour cream is good).

Yesterday I turned in my psychology senior honors thesis. Just over a week ago, I turned in my creative writing senior honors thesis. Now, there is one poster, one exam, and 28 days between me and graduation. Needless to say, this was my third batch of cupcakes this week, which has been full of minor hysteria, endless edits, and more real cooking than I’ve had time for in months. You, dear readers, will now reap the benefits. These cupcakes are a major benefit. They may even be the best cupcakes I have ever made.

I realized at about noon yesterday that I absolutely had to celebrate my accomplishments somehow. Writing two honors theses is not an easy feat. While I’m not the best at throwing together impromptu celebrations, I knew that cupcakes had to be involved. I’d already made cream filled chocolate cupcakes earlier in the week (recipe forthcoming) as well as vanilla almond cupcakes (recipe coming when I’ve tweaked it enough to be completely happy with it), so I was running out of ideas. But what’s a celebration without champagne? And what better way to ingest said champagne than in little dinosaur wrapped cakes topped with even more champagne? And when I found champagne from Cupcake Vineyard on sale at the Beer Depot down the street? Well, I knew that the cupcake gods were beaming down upon me, and there could be no more perfect cupcake for this day.

The ingredients for these cupcakes include almost a pound of butter, and about half a bottle of champagne. And that is what makes them amazing. The cake is very lightly champagne flavored, mostly sweet and buttery, and with a lightness appropriate to a cake made with an effervescent beverage. The frosting really makes it. It isn’t heavily flavored, but it is unmistakably champagne, also light, fluffy, and not cloyingly sweet. In short, they’re perfect, and you need to make them right now.

I used Cupcake Vineyard’s brut rosé pinot noir in these cupcakes, as the recipe suggested using a light rosé. I was hoping that the color would come through a little in the cake and the frosting, but both turned out pretty starkly white, which I’m actually very happy with. I think they look more like champagne without the rosey color.

Begin, as is usual with cupcakes, by creaming together your room temperature butter and sugar for a few minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl at some point during this process to make sure you don’t end up with a layer of butter that doesn’t get cut up by the sugar.

Meanwhile, whip your egg whites until stiff peaks form. Egg whites never cease to amaze me. They turn from a mucusey mess into a fluffy mass more than twice the volume that looks so inviting. It’s really hard not to dip a finger in it. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s egg whites, not whipped cream or frosting. Not that I dip my fingers in frosting.

Sorry for the mucusey mess thing. We’re making cupcakes here. No mucus talk allowed.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. I finally got a sifter while home for Christmas and I’m loving it. No more lumpy frosting! I’ve read that, for flour at least, whisking works just as well, but I’ve been getting such excellent results with my sifter that I really hesitate to go back.

Beat the flour mixture into the butter and sugar, alternating with champagne. I made three additions of flour and two of champagne. You’ll end up with something closer to cookie dough than batter, but that’s fine, because we’ve still got the egg whites to add.

Fold in about a third of the egg whites to start lightening the batter. Do this by hand to avoid over mixing. We don’t want tough cupcakes here! Buff arms are a possible side effect.

Fold in the rest of the egg whites, being sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as you go. You can see that the batter looks much more like batter now, and much fluffier, which is just what we want from these cupcakes.

Divide the batter into a lined cupcake pan, filling each about 2/3 full. A cookie scoop is exceedingly helpful here. I used two scant scoops of my two tablespoon scoop for each cupcake, and ended up with 22 cupcakes.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. 20 minutes was exactly perfect for me. Remember to turn the oven off! I almost never do. Adam doesn’t like it.

I didn’t take took many pictures of the frosting making process because frankly everything is white so it’s just too hard to see anything. Also I was too excited and a little worried about getting powdered sugar in my camera. The process for this frosting is a little unusual, but trust me, it is perfect. Beat two room temperature sticks of butter until fluffy. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar – I went a cup at a time, slowly ratcheting my mixer up to speed – beating thoroughly and scraping the bowl between each addition. Add champagne and vanilla and beat thoroughly, again taking your time to get the mixer up to speed so you don’t slosh everywhere. The frosting will look a little bit broken, especially at first. I was worried it was going to be a gross, separated mess, but it came together after about 30 seconds of mixing on medium speed. It’s still not absolutely perfect looking, but it tastes amazing and the texture is smooth. I piped it on the cupcakes with a star shaped tip, and that helped as well.

Aren’t those dinosaur papers great? My aunt got them for me for Christmas. Maybe bot as classy as you would expect from champagne cupcakes, but perfect for me. These cupcakes are totally irresistible. I’ve already had four of them. But it’s my party, so it doesn’t count.

Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream

From The Curvy Carrot

For the Cupcakes:

2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 egg whites

1-1/2 cups sugar

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup champagne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl at least once. Meanwhile, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding flour mixture and champagne to the butter mixture, making 3 additions of flour and 2 of champagne, beginning and ending with flour. The batter while look more like cookie dough than batter at this point. By hand, fold in about 1/3 of the beaten egg whites to lighten batter, then fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites. Fill lined cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Makes about 22 cupcakes.

For the Buttercream:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3-1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons champagne, at room temperature

Cream butter until fluffy. Sift in powdered sugar, about a cup at a time, beating thoroughly and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition. Add vanilla extract and champagne, beating thoroughly. Pipe onto fully cooled cupcakes. I recommend a star shaped tip.

Here’s something a bit different – a review of someone else’s cooking! As a (very appreciated) birthday gift, I was taken on a food based tour of Old Town Scottsdale (no relation to Frank Miller’s Old Town). The tour was offered by Arizona Food Tours, and made for an interesting and tasty afternoon’s diversion.

Now, Old Town Scottsdale is, at first glance, a typical Old West themed tourist trap: several blocks of gift shops hawking moccasins, Native American jewelry, and t-shirts emblazoned with “Arizona” and/or crude camping related puns. But there are other layers – dozens of interesting (if occasionally a bit snooty) art galleries, high-end fashion shopping a few blocks away, a boisterous  nightlife, and a surprisingly eclectic array of dining establishments. There are more than a few stereotypes surrounding Scottsdale, and most of them are true. The local wildlife comes in many forms, from cougars to old-money bluehairs to $30k millionaires to gold diggers of both the Stetson-hatted-pickaxe-wielding and surgically-enhanced-Prada-toting varieties. This is a city that calls itself “The West’s Most Western Town” and yet has storefronts for Versace and Tiffany & Co. in its massive Fashion Square (that’s a “shopping mall” to you proles). Subtlety is not Scottdale’s strong suit.

Now, this type of town is not my usual cup of tea. But with the right guide and frequent stops for some tasty food, Old Town can make for an undeniably fun day. Arizona Food Tours provide all of that. Based on the reactions of the wide range of locals and visitors from across the country, I wasn’t the only one having a good time. For an out-of-towner, it’s a great  first taste of the area, and for a local it can open your eyes to some places you may have walked right past but never thought to sample. So with all that, let’s start the tour…

The tour starts off with passing out logo’d water bottles – a nice touch, and a necessity when we’re not in the midst of a February cold snap – and a short lecture on some local history in front of the city’s old school/police station/courthouse, under the gaze of a statue of Mr. Scott himself. From there, we head out toward our first destination, past a guitar strumming busker in front of a pile of Navajo rugs and a for-hire carriage towed by a stout horse decked out in a pink feather headpiece and – I kid you not – gold glitter hoof polish. If I were more meta-inclined, I would comment on how perfectly this encapsulates the entire Old Town milieu, but mostly I’m hungry.

I was not aware that horses were capable of shame…

The Rusty Spur Saloon

Stop 1 is Scottsdale’s oldest still-open saloon, the Rusty Spur. The place is exactly what you’d expect – swinging doors open to a small, dark bar with wooden tables, and walls decked out in old license plates, beer signs, and assorted knick-knacks and Old West chintz. In one corner sits a small stage where there is live entertainment everyday from open to last call – typically a soloist crooning some mellow country tunes in the day, and rather more… exuberant entertainment at night (the weekend regulars call themselves the Psychobilly Rodeo Band, and I’m told that’s an accurate description). At stage left is a sign warning the patrons “No Midget Tossing”. A common pastime is for patrons to doodle on dollar bills and tack them to the wall. In short, the Spur is a perfect dive – loud, rough around the edges, kind of tacky, and fun if you’re into that sort of thing (but who isn’t, at least every now and then?).

This place positively oozes class…

A south of the border slider

The food offering to the tour-goers is a slider-sized version of the Rusty Spur’s “South of the Border Burger”. A thick beef patty is topped with green chiles, cheddar cheese, and bacon, served up on a soft white roll. The topping combination is excellent – if you haven’t tried green chiles on a burger, you need to. Sweet, earthy, and a bit spicy, they are the perfect burger topper. And if you don’t like cheddar and smoky bacon, there really is no help for you. However, the patty itself was a bit dry, and the toppings could have been a bit more generous. I’ll chalk some of this up to translating a full-size burger to slider form for a large group of folks who might need their burgers well-done (poor misguided souls…). Anyway, it’s good enough to give it another go, and I’ll have to check it out again.

Bill posting with my lovely companion, foodie-in-training, and funding provider for this expedition

A work of art, if I do say so myself. Who put that Wiscy plate there?

Overall: A fun old-west themed dive bar. Go if you’re into live music, solid bar food, and cold American beer. Don’t go if you like peace and quiet, feng shui, or your liver.

Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars

Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars, in glorious Slightly-out-of-Focus-Vision™

The next stop is Outrageous Olive Oils & Vinegars – a purveyor of dozens of varieties of aged and infused… olive oils and vinegars (bet you didn’t see that one coming). I will henceforth refer to them as O3&V because the whole name is a lot to type. The shop is always open for samples, but we get something of a guided tour. If you’ve never sampled olive oil and/or vinegar before, you may be somewhat weirded out by the prospect of sipping straight vinegar or oil from a little paper cup; don’t be, especially not here.

O3&V has a number of oils from various regions around the world, but their specialty is infused oil and vinegar with surprisingly rich and varied flavors. Some of my favorites are the blood orange and chipotle olive oils – the first intensely citrusy, the second with a rich smoky heat. On the vinegar side, the 18 year old balsamic and dark chocolate balsamic were both tasty. I’ve really grown to like balsamic vinegar, with it’s deeply sweet, lightly tart fruity flavor and rich mouthfeel. The dark chocolate infusion adds a nice dimension – this would be excellent on strawberries or cheesecake.

A fancy tray for fancy oil

I can’t claim to be a vinegar or olive oil connoisseur, but to my untrained palate, everything at O3&V is tasty, interesting, and surprisingly fun to sample (and hey, it’s good for you!). The flavors are vibrant without tasting at all artificial or syrupy, and most do an excellent job of complementing rather than clashing with the underlying base. The staff is friendly and offers up several excellent suggestions for using their product, most intriguingly a recipe for olive oil cake made with the blood orange infused oil. They also offer up a 10% discount to visitors from the tour. Not bad.

Overall: a different tasting experience offering an interesting, quality product. Go if you’re into intriguing food products or want to impress your friends with your refined palate – in other words, if you’re the sort of person that reads food blogs for fun.

Su Vino Winery

Stop 3 is more what you’d expect when you first think of “tasting” – a winery in the midst of Scottsdale’s huge block of upscale art galleries. Su Vino is a functioning winery, but it’s not associated with a vineyard. Instead, it’s a “microwinery” that whips up small batches of wine using grapes sourced from around the world. One of their more intriguing services is allowing patrons to order custom wines (Su Vino means “your wine”). Want more oak in your chardonnay? Some syrah in your pinot? They can probably do that, so long as you’re up for buying 30 bottles. For a custom gift with a bit less of a commitment, you can design your own customized label and apply it to as few or as many bottles as you want for just a couple dollars more than the cost of the wine.

All for me?

We had two generous samples of wine at Su Vino. The first was their Chardonnay, a lightly oaked example of the style with a nice amount of citrusy acidity. It’s more refreshing and less buttery than many California-style Chards. Su Vino also offers a fully unoaked version. The second was Ruby, a fun off-dry red designed to be drinkable in the heat of an Arizona summer, where a dry, tannic red can be off-putting. Something like a less-fruity, less-sweet sangria, Ruby has full red flavor with minimal tannin and a non-cloying sweetness. Not a connoisseur’s red, but it definitely fits the bill as a red for backyard barbecues or the person who claims to not like reds.

The bottling, corking, and labeling station. Would look good in my kitchen.

The Su Vino tasting room is attractive in a modern dark wood style, with probably a dozen tables and a bar for enjoying their wine and various nibbles (cheese and crackers, caprese, antipasto, and some very delicious-looking mascarpone stuffed strawberries with chocolate wine sauce). In the back of the bar, patrons can watch the proprietors bottle and label wines.

Overall: A fun tasting experience – the wines aren’t out-of-this-world, but they are accessible, moderately priced, and fun and are served in a nice atmosphere. Go if you’re looking for an enjoyable wine bar with some fun styles, or if you need some high-class wedding favors. Skip it if you can’t put away your wine snob mode and the idea of chocolate infused port horrifies you.

Frank and Lupe’s

Beyond this wall lies mystery and intrigue. Also a bar.

Stop 4 is Frank and Lupe’s (warning: website plays cheesy music), the Arizona wing of a restaurant originally established in New Mexico. We set up on the back patio, a friendly outdoor bar with the hint of rough around the edges that it seems most decent neighborhood Mexican joints require. We sit down to cold beer and margaritas and wait for our foodstuffs: stuffed sopapillas.

Hot Pockets, New Mexican style

Sopaipillas,  deep fried Mexican puffed flatbread, are typically served in sweet form for dessert, but our savory example at Frank and Lupe’s is stuffed with seasoned beef and topped with cheese, cilantro, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and your choice of homemade red or green sauces (or both, for “Christmas style”).  The sopaipilla itself is perfect, with a crisp golden-brown exterior and a chewy center. The seasoned beef filling is underwhelming, but this is trumped by the red and green sauces, which are excellent. I’d like them spicier, but they have a nice bite for the average palate. The verde sauce is particularly good, swimming with chunks of New Mexico chile, blackened to add a hint of earthy smoke.  I’m told the star of the show at Frank and Lupe’s is the cheese crisp, a sort of Mexican pizza consisting of a giant melty cheese and veggie topped fried tortilla. I didn’t get to sample it, but, having seen an example on the table of some other patrons on the way out, I can heartily agree with the recommendation.

Overall: A decent neighborhood New Mexican joint, go if you’re looking to satisfy your Mexican craving on a hot Arizona evening. Skip if you want a cloth napkin fine dining experience.

Cowboy Ciao

Yes, this is a bad pun. Don’t let that stop you.

Stop 5 is an off-beat bistro serving up an eclectic and frequently changing mix of fine eats not easily described. From the “testosterone salad” of port-charred beef tenderloin topped with blue cheese, bourbon-soaked cherries and … ahem … potato chips, to the habanero-apricot glazed tiger shrimp, the quirky dishes playfully blend Southwestern and global flavors into modern American cuisine.

Our sample plate is a salad with its own fan club that is representative of the Cowboy Ciao style: the Stetson Chopped salad. This is a mix of ingredients that, individually, don’t seem to fit, but together are beguilingly delicious. The Stetson consists of chopped arugula, Israeli couscous, diced tomatoes, pepitas (shelled, toasted pumpkin seeds), dried currants, asiago cheese, a pesto-aioli dressing, and air-dried sweet corn kernels. Protein is typically provided by diced smoked salmon, but our tasting version uses grilled chicken to good effect. While our salads were pre-mixed, the salad is usually served in a delightful series of rows on the plate, inviting the diner to mix their own.

The Stetson – do not wear on head

Something just works with the salad. There is a near-perfect balance of flavors, and an outright symphony of textures, from the crisp arugula to the crunchy pepitas to the softly popping couscous. For me, the crowning ingredient is the dried corn, which has an intense corn flavor and concentrated sweetness paired with a crisp, airy, almost weightless texture. Overall, it’s very good and impossible to properly describe. Cowboy Ciao is a place I’ll definitely visit again.

Overall: Eclectically delicious fine dining. Go if you want to impress your companion with your unique yet refined tastes. Skip if your idea of an adventurous meal is having two ladles of au jus on your prime rib.

The Sugar Bowl

Most mental images of “ice cream parlor” look something like this. Most do not, however, have banners for the local curling club on the back wall

At last we come to dessert. The Sugar Bowl is an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that’s been selling its wares in Old Town since 1958. It’s even been referenced in numerous occasions in the long-lived Sunday strip “Family Circus” – and it’s exactly that sort of place. The Sugar Bowl is brashly nostalgic, decked out in Pepto pink with heaping glass bowls of ice cream dotting the tables. A party annex on the side offers arcade games.

The Top Hat, like the Stetson, makes for impractical but delicious headwear. Note: let’s see how good a picture YOU take with your hand in a cast

We sample the Top Hat Sundae, a cream puff stuffed with vanilla ice cream, topped off with hot fudge and whipped cream. This is, as you’d expect, delicious. Nothing adventurous or out there, just old-fashioned, sweet ice cream deliciousness and fudgy goodness. The cream puff is a perfect complement, though a bit tough to get through with the provided plastic to-go spoons (dine-in patrons get metal flatware, of course). The sundae certainly sates the sweet tooth. The Sugar Bowl also serves up sandwhiches etc., but I’m told the desserts are the clear stars of the show. It’s a nice last stop in Old Town that, to risk inducing groans, leaves a good taste in your mouth.

Overall: Tasty, old-fashioned desserts in a classic soda fountain atmosphere. Go if your sweet tooth or your nostalgia bone demand satisfaction. Avoid if you hate children or are on a diet.

And that’s the end of the tour. It makes for a fun afternoon with a knowledgeable guide and interesting, tasty stops. You’ll get in a good walk and a nice light lunch. All food and a bottle of water are included in the reasonable ~$40 ticket price, although drinks at the stops are extra.  My only complaint is that, at many of the locations, I’d have loved to sample smaller portions of a larger variety of the menu items rather than a relatively large single sample.

Two tours with different stops are offered every day except in summer, when it’s too bloody hot. Arizona Food Tours get a good-for-just-about-everyone recommendation. Try it out if you’re in town and you’ve got an afternoon to spare.