Chinese spareribs in black bean garlic sauce

Ingredients:

vegetable oil
pork spare ribs, cut to 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 medium-sized leek, thinly sliced
White sesame seeds for garnish, optional
Thinly sliced scallions optional

Sauce:

3 tablespoons spicy black bean sauce (or 2 tablespoons black bean sauce with 1/2 tablespoon chili oil)
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Method:

Mix together ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.

In a wok or frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add spare ribs and stir-fry until brown on all sides, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, and leeks and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Pour in sauce mixture. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes. Sauce should be reduced enough to coat the spare ribs. Transfer to serving plate, garnish with optional sesame seeds and scallions, and serve with rice.

Tuna, red pepper, chickpea couscous

1 cup cous cous
1 can tuna, drained
1 roasted red pepper, diced
1/2 cup chickpeas
a few sprigs parsley, chopped
pecorino romano
3T olive oil
2T lemon juice
2t hot pepper flakes
salt, pepper

garlic?
red onion?

Asian cabbage

• 1/2 head cabbage, cored and thinly sliced.
• 2 strips bacon
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 3 scallions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 T oil
• 2 t sesame oil
• 
  

Fry bacon in small pieces. Separate green and white parts of the scallions. Slice white parts and mince garlic. Sautee whites, garlic, and ginger. Add cabbage and oils, stir fry for 5 minutes until cabbage starts to wilt. Addg scallion greens, vinegar, soy and oyster sauces. Cook for a 2-3 more minutes. Add salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. 

Dry rub pork tenderloin and honey bourbon bbq pan glaze

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 T dry rub

Sauce

• 1.5 oz bourbon
• 1 T honey
• 2 T ketchup or tomato paste

Preheat oven to 425 degress. Pat the tenderloin dry. Apply rub. Brush on oil, place in pan on high heat to sear, 3-4minutes a side. Place in baking pan, cook for 20 minutes. After baking, let stand in frying pan, covered.

Put drippings from baking dish in frying pan, add 2 T water and simmer. Add bourbon. Once reduced, mix in ketchup and honey.

Creamy cole slaw

• half head green cabbage, shredded
• half head red cabbage, shredded
• 1 large carrot, shredded

Dressing

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 T sugar
• 1.5 T lemon juice
• 1.5 T cider vinegar
• 1 t white vinegar
• 1 t mustard powder'
• salt
• pepper
• dash of hot sauce

Let chill in refrigerator for an hour.

Sushi Rice

Rinse 1 cup sushi rice until water runs clear. Add to saucepan. Add 1 C water. Bring to boil on medium heat, stir and cover. Turn heat to low and cook 15-20 min. Turn off heat and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Pico de gallo

The best, freshest salsa

• two medium sized tomatoes or three roma tomatoes
• half of a large red onion
• 1-2 whole jalepenos depending on heat preference
• 1 lime (or lemon)
• salt
• cilantro (recommended)

cut the vegetables into large chunks to help fit into food processor. Pulse briefly 3-4 times, stopping to use spatula to even out the large remaining chunks, making sure they get chopped and not stuck on the sides.

In bowl, add lime juice, pinch of salt and chopped cilantro. Mix well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to let flavors mix.  

Cod and Lemon caper cream sauce with bourbon

I used cod steaks.

• 1 inch thick cod steak
• flour, salt, pepper
• 1 T olive oil

Pat cod dry, sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Coat lightly in flour. Heat oil in pan, fry first side 4-5 minutes. Flip and cook on other side 4-5 minutes or until fish is done and flaky.

Lemon caper cream sauce

• 1 stick butter
• 1 T capers
• 2 medium sized shallots
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 T flour
• 1.5 oz. bourbon or white wine
• 1 oz. stock
• salt, pepper to taste

Melt butter. Sautee shallots, garlic and capers for 1-2 minutes. Add flour, stock and bourbon. Add cream, bring to simmer. Let reduce for 7-10 minutes, until sauce is thick. Season with salt and pepper

Lemon to sprinkle over everything, parmesan cheese if making pasta. 

Chickpea stew

• 8 oz. dried chickpeas
• 2 c stock
• 1 large can diced tomatoes, drained.
• 1 large can peeled plum tomatoes
• 2 zucchinis
• 2 c diced onions (3 small ones)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 1/2 T cinnamon
• 1 T cumin
• 1/2 T coriander
• 1/2 T garam masala
• 1 T chili flakes or powder
• 4 chicken thighs
• 3 T olive oil, separated
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper

Fry chicken thighs in 1 T oil. Sweat onions. Add garlic and tomato paste, cook 2 min. Add tomatoes, spices, oil, zucchini and stock. Place chicken thighs on top of stew. Simmer 1 hour uncovered. Serve over couscous or rice. 

Easy tomato soup

So easy.

• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 2 c broth
• 1 T basil
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• sour cream

Spinach artichoke dip

• 8 oz. can artichoke hearts
• 8 oz. spinach
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• parmesan cheese
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 1 t mild chili powder or paprika
• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
• optional: frank's red hot sauce or crushed chili flakes

chop artichoke hearts and spinach in food processor. Mix in all ingredients except mozzarella. Put in oven safe dish and top with remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 25 min.

BBQ spice rub

Dry rubs are a great way to change up barbecuing. The brown sugar in this one gives a great crispy and caramelized crust.

• 2 T fresh ground salt
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 T black pepper
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t ground coriander
• 1 t garlic salt
• 1 t paprika
• 1 t chili powder (something kind of smoky like ancho or chimayo is great)

Optional

• 1 t ground coffee

     or

•  1 t cayenne chili powder