Pork Jowl & Kimchi Burger with Pecorino Cheese

Yum yum yum....so summery! I knew absolutely nothing about cooking with pork jowl until very recently when a former roommate moved out and left some in the freezer. Combine that with some kimchi I got for free at work (best job ever) and you get this little guy (okay, maybe not so little). This burger is a real treat.

Recipe serves 2.

For the hamburger:

-1/2 pound ground beef

-1 egg 

-1/2 of a small onion, chopped

-1 clove garlic, chopped

-salt and pepper

Other things you'll need:

-6oz. pork jowl, cut into thick strips

-kimchi, amount to taste

-a few strips pecorino cheese, cut into strips like the pork jowl

-cilantro to taste (totally optional, but it's in the picture).

-2 whole wheat hamburger buns

Cook the pork jowl, preferably in a cast iron skillet until it curls up, is really crispy and cooked all the way through. Meanwhile, make the hamburger patties.

Mix all ingredients except egg in a bowl. Crack the egg into the hamburger and mix gently. Form into patties.

Cook the patties in the skillet, unless of course you have a barbecue. Maybe some day I'll have one. Pecorino is a pretty hard cheese so it's best to put the slices on the patties while they're still cooking, soon before you take them off if you want the cheese to be melty.

I don't think I have to tell you how to make a hamburger. Put the stuff on the bun and eat it. Who's a big boy?!?!

Sweet Pea Fettucine Carbonara

I used to think there were very few people out there who didn't know what pasta carbonara was. It's on ever menu at every chain Italian place, and even Quizno's has it in a sandwich. Not surprising at all, because really, what's not to like about it? It's bacon and white sauce. Everything human beings are hard-wired to crave all rolled up into one.

I used to think there were very few people out there who didn't know what carbonara was until I tried to make it myself and discovered I didn't even know what it was.

(^ Hey look, I made an Italic letter I that looks exactly like the one on the button you push to change to Italic font. Ha. Ha. Ha.)

Anyway, I had no idea there were eggs in it, or that you're supposed to throw raw eggs into the pasta at the very end and scramble it all around to cook it.

I got this sweet pea Fettucine for free at work and thought, hmmm, what's good with peas? Why bacon, of course! And again, not surprisingly, I ended up at carbonara. A lot of people like peas in their carbonara, but here the peas are in the pasta.

I understand that not everyone has access to freshly-made sweet pea-flavored Fettucine, so sorry for being a show-off. Regular Fettucine and peas will work just fine.

You will need:

-12 oz. Fettucine
-5 strips bacon, chopped
-1 onion, chopped
-2 eggs
-2/3 cup half and half
-1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
-salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a skillet, cook bacon and onions until bacon is crunchy.

Meanwhile, scramble together eggs, Parmesan, and half & half with the salt and pepper, set aside.

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until "al dente" (nice and chewy, not too soft). This should be about 8 minutes for hard pasta, 90 seconds for fresh pasta.

As soon as pasta is done, drain water from pot, pour egg mixture over hot noodles and stir vigorously to keep from scrambling the eggs while still cooking them with the heat from the noodles and pot.  You're done when the noodles are coated in a thick white sauce. This should take a minute or less.

Top with bacon and onion mixture, sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese.

Savory Bread Pudding

These were my first successful new invention at work. I wanted to post a picture because I'm so freakin' proud of them, but I'm still not sure if I want to post a recipe or not, because they're my babies. Weird I know, I've obviously never had a problem wanting to share recipes in the past. See: the entire concept and reason I started this blog.

Maybe later.

Pictured clockwise from top right: bacon, bacon mushroom, and vegetarian potato. All have gouda cheese, kale, purple onions and a hint of jalapeño heat.

Quinoa Paella

You guessed it. Paella made with Quinoa instead of rice, courtesy of my friend Alex. Check it!

1 1/2 cups quinoa
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1/4 inch strips
1 can mixed vegetables, drained and rinsed (corn, green beans, peas)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. smoked paprika
pinch saffron threads
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Soak and rinse the Quinoa to get rid of the bitter taste it can sometimes have. Meanwhile, heat some oil in a large pot and throw in the onions and garlic for about a minute. Then add the chicken strips. It should take just a few minutes for them to cook. When chicken is done, pour in the broth, quinoa, saffron, and another half cup of water.

Stir and cover. Once it starts to boil, turn down the heat and add the remaining ingredients. Continue cooking on low heat, stirring occasionally, until quinoa is cooked and water is absorbed (15-20 minutes). Squeeze lemon juice on top.

serves 4-ish people

Cocido Madrileño

Cocido is a chickpea stew made from a collection of different meats. It's one of my favorite Spanish dishes. I can't think of anything more perfect that a hot plate of Cocido with some crusty bread on a rainy winter's day.
This is going to be a difficult recipe to write since the amounts of everything are all to taste. Apologies in advance if it's hard to follow, because I'm not going to write exact amounts at all. Basically, meat + stew vegetables + chickpeas=cocido. I hope you're good at math because that formula is key here.

you will need:

-cooked chickpeas
-chorizo
-chicken
-morcilla (blood sausage)
-fatty, streaked bacon in a block, or lard
-cured ham bones with some meat still attached
-sliced cabbage
-cubed potatoes
-cut carrots
-onion
-garlic
-salt
-pepper

cover meat in water in a large pot and cook slowly for about an hour. remove ham from bones.

add chickpeas, onions, and garlic. simmer for about 30 minutes and add vegetables. continue cooking until vegetables are done.

drain off all the broth. Save the broth or cook noodles in it to be served as the first course (as they do in restaurants here).

Open-faced Sausage and Fried Egg Sandwich with Veggies

This is almost too simple to post a recipe for, but it was so good and so pretty that I just had to share it. For the sausage I used Spanish Chorizo, but you can use any kind you want!

-6 inch long piece of crusty bread
-1 sausage cut lengthwise
-1 egg
-Your favorite white cheese
-1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
-1/2 of a medium sized onion, sliced
-1/2 of a medium-sized zucchini, sliced
-salt and pepper

cook sausage in a frying pan with some oil, add a splash of water if it starts to stick. when cooked, remove the sausage and cook the vegetables in the same pan, adding salt and pepper to taste. Remove the veggies from the pan and fry the egg without letting the yolk cook all the way through (unless you like it that way).
Cut the bread lengthwise into 2 pieces and top one piece with the egg first, then the cheese, sausage, and veggies. Drizzle some olive oil on top.

Lemon Chicken Penne with Braising Greens

At first glance, this dish doesn't seem very mad science-y. Come on, chicken and pasta? The reason I am posting this is to make you all use your noodles (pun intended) whenever you think you don't have enough in your pantry to cook a kickass meal.
I thought I had no food in the house and was about to go waste 20 bucks at Saturn Cafe when I remembered the braising greens I had just bought at the farmers market. I didn't really know what to do with them and had bought them simply because they contained something called "dinosaur kale". I'll admit I didn't and still don't know what "braising" means, but to me it sounded like quickly stir-fried or something along those lines. I remembered then I had a bag of frozen thighs in the freezer I bought for a (failed) teriyaki chicken attempt. The best idea seemed to be to throw it all on top of penne pasta and see what happened. I loved the outcome and hope you will too!

2 cups dry penne pasta
2 chicken thighs
1 1/2 cup braising greens (or just use kale)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tsp. salt
black or lemon pepper

boil a pot of salted water and add the penne. While it's cooking, heat a skillet with a little oil and add the chicken. squeeze the lemon juice onto the chicken during the last 5 minutes of cooking. once the chicken is cooked add the braising greens, pepper, marjoram, and salt to the skillet. Cook for only about a minute and a half longer; you want the greens to be a little crunchy. serve on top of penne with a drizzle of olvie oil and parmesan cheese.

serves 2