Slow-cooker carnitas

During summer of 2008, Tom and Jan gave me my first slow-cooker. I have made lots of delicious stew and chili since, but I've been meaning to braise meat with it, too. So, today I made some carnitas with pork shoulder, and the tacos that followed actually tasted pretty good! I'm so proud of myself.

Ingredients:
4 lbs pork shoulder
Salt
Pepper
Dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 onion
2 c chicken broth

Directions:
Cut pork into 1-1/2 inch pieces and place in bowl of slow cooker. Liberally sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano. Put 2 bay leaves in. Pour chicken broth in. Chop the onion fine and sprinkle over top of the pork. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Using a slotted spoon, put pork on a large cutting board and chop it fine with a knife. The meat should fall apart easily.

Served on corn tortillas with cilantro, sour cream, avocado, and a little hot sauce.

Easy Peasy Jalapeno Cornbread

I made this today for football day! Go Michigan! Go Texas! USC...I am still mad at you for losing to UW.

Ingredients:
1 Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix box
3 jalapenos, seeded and cut into large pieces

Throw the jalapenos into a food processor and pulse 4-5 times. Add the dry cornbread mix and pulse until jalapenos are well-blended. Add the wet ingredients called for on the box and mix until just blended. Bake at 350 for 40 min.

I served it with honey and butter. Yum!

Mom's first post!

First Entry from Jessica:

Olivia has always had a talent for finding good recipes. This one came out of California Heritage Continues Cookbook which along with its predecessor, California Heritage Cookbook (both by the Junior League of Pasadena), contains many family favorites. While she and Bryan and Alex visited in September, she whipped up this sauce and I realized, I had better get back to using my cookbooks for inspiration and enjoyment. Here is to you Olivia.

Olivia's Favorite Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce

1/2 c heavy cream

1 c sugar

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 oz Swiss semisweet chocolate

1/2 c unsalted butter

2 large egg yolks

1 t vanilla

1-2 T dark rum

1-2 T almond liqueur

In a heavy saucepan, combine the cream and sugar. cook over medium heat, stirring just until the mixture starts to simmer. Add the chocolates and butter. cook over low heat, stirring until smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Stir in a few spoonfuls of the hot chocolate mixtures. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate in the saucepan, stirring constantly, cook gently over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring continuously. remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla, rum, and almond liqueur until well blended. Store in the refrigertor. Reheat when ready to serve Makes about 2 cups.

Salmon with Beurre Blanc

I saw Julie & Julia and there was a scene about beurre blanc and how yummy it was. So, I decided I'd give it a try. I just broiled the salmon with nothing on it for about 20 minutes, because it was a fat piece of King salmon. Then I served it with asparagus and spooned some beurre blanc over the plate. I made it for the first time last night; I cheated and used some cream to stablilize it, so that it wouldn't separate.

Buerre Blanc (enough for 2):
1 small shallot, chopped fine
1/2 c white wine
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of white wine vinegar
1 tsp heavy cream
7 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Combine the shallots, white wine, and lemon juice in a saucepan over high heat and reduce to 2 tablespoons.

Add the cream to the reduction. Once the liquid bubbles, reduce the heat to low. Add the butter, one cube at a time, whisking first on the heat and then off the heat. Continue whisking butter into the reduction until the mixture is fully emulsified and has reached a rich sauce consistency. Season with salt and white pepper.

Ahi with Ginger-Garlic Salsa

This ginger/garlic salsa was Olivia's friend Nadia's idea. On the last day of Bryan and Olivia's three weeks in Southern California, we had a fridge full of half-used produce and some Ahi Tuna that needed cooking. So, we brainstormed a bit and this is what we came up with:

Ingredients:
1/2 red onion, chopped in large pieces
about 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, 2 if you want it spicy*
big handful of cilantro, minced
juice of one lime
large spoonful of honey
1 avocado

Mix it all together, adding the avocado last so it doesn't mush up. Serve over seared, sashimi-grade ahi tuna. We paired it with jasmine rice and some broccoli.

* I originally forgot the jalapeno on this recipe, but mom reminded me. Thanks mom!

Lemon Bars

This recipe is a good one from Barefoot Contessa. I add a little more zest than called for and a little bacon grease to the pastry to make it flaky. It also has a yummy, interesting flavor.

For the crust:

nocoupons

• 1 c minus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
• 2 tbsp bacon grease, cold.
  
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

nocoupons

• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup flour
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cut the bacon grease and butter into the flour and sugar, until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Double-Dipped Fried Chicken

My recipe for fried chicken is a first effort. I pulled it from Paula Deen's recipe on www.foodnetwork.com and made a couple changes.

• 2 chicken breasts with rib meat and bones
  
• Salt and pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• If you like it hot, some red pepper flakes
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
  
• 3/4 vegetable oil, 1/4 bacon grease for frying

Directions

Cut the chicken breasts in half, keeping the bone on, so that you have 2 pieces, each the size of a fist, from each. Liberally sprinkle with a mixture of salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Watch the salt, since bacon grease is salty.

Place the flour in a plastic kitchen storage bag. Beat the eggs with the milk. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg mixture, then place each piece in the bag. Shake until chicken is coated. Set the floured chicken on a plate for about 10 minutes. Then, dip the chicken in the egg wash again, and into the flour again. Let sit again while you heat the oil.

Heat the oil: Put some bacon grease, I used about 1/2 cup, into a deep frying pan. Pour enough vegetable oil into the pan to come only about halfway up the sides. Turn the heat to medium; test by adding a drop of water to the oil. If it sizzles, the oil is ready; this takes about 4 to 5 minutes. Place 2 pieces of chicken into the hot oil. Allow to cook on the meat side about 10 minutes, and on the bone side about 7 minutes, until brown and crispy. Remove the chicken from the oil and drain well on brown paper bags. Cook the second batch of chicken.

I served it with Bisquick biscuits and broccolini.

Review: Bryan says it is very flavorful and crunchy! He said it was better than he expected for fried chicken.

First Post!

This blog is for members of the Jones, St. Clair, Hart, Yoon, and Ossowski families and their friends. I made this so that we can share recipes and cooking tips with each other. Hopefully is will be a great way to keep memories of great recipes alive, preserve signature dishes, get advice, and answer the age-old question: what are we going to have for dinner?

Guidelines: for now, I am putting this on my Blogger account. You all can comment without signing in or anything. If you would like to post, please send your post to me at ostclair@gmail.com, and I will put it up for you!

Cooking has always been a useful, happy pastime and one through which I have learned a great deal while getting to spend time with you, my favorite people. I hope this can be a new way for us to keep each other close.

Love,
Olivia