Chicken Fried Steak Sliders with Country Bacon Gravy

This recipe works great with chopped steak, beef or pork tenderloins and chicken or turkey

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Fried Steak:

• 2 – four oz pieces of chopped steak or pounded out filet tenderloin pieces
• 2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• 2 cups of buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 cups Flour
• ¼ cups of a neutral oil, like peanut, canola or grape seed.
• 1 tablespoon of rendered bacon fat
• 4 slices of chopped crispy thick sliced bacon

For the Bacon Gravy:

• Drippings from the Chicken Fried Steak skillet
• 3 tablespoons Flour
• 1 tablespoons Butter
• 2 tablespoon rendered bacon fat
• 2 cups Milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Salt (if necessary)

For the Sliders:

• 8 pieces of Chicken Fried Steak (optional Chicken/Turkey or Pork tenderloin)
• Bacon Gravy
• 8 Potato Rolls (or dinner rolls of your choice)

Preperation:

For the Chicken Fried Steak: Cut the chopped steaks or tendeloin pieces in half. Pound them out to make them thinner (about 1/4 inch thick). Next soak them in buttermilk while you fry the bacon (slow and low) and collect the rendered bacon fat (about 2-3 tablespoons) and allow the bacon to crisp.

For Chicken or turkey breasts: For the Fried Chicken/Turkey: Cut the chicken breasts in half widthwise. Pound them out to thin (about 1/4 inch thick) and cut in half again.

After you are done with the bacon, add the salt and pepper to the flour in a shallow bowl or large plate. Remove the steak (chicken, turkey or pork) from the buttermilk and dredge each piece in the flour, generously coating all sides, pressing the steak into the flour. Repeat with the rest of the pieces. Set the pieces of chicken fried steak on a rack to air dry.

Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and bacon fat. Once up to temp add the chicken fried steak pieces to the skillet, taking care not to crowd. Keep an eye on the side of the chicken fried steak that’s facing down and when it turns a light golden color, turn the pieces over. Then after the other side turns a light golden color, turn them to the other side.

After that side turns a little bit darker, turn the chicken fried steak again. The idea is to not let it cook or brown too fast. If you notice that the drippings in the pan are turning a darker brown color, turn the heat down just a bit. When all sides of the chicken fried steak are a light golden brown (about 7 minutes) turn off the heat, remove them rom the pan, set each piece on a rack or plate, and set aside.

For the Bacon Gravy: Pour out the oil so that just the yummy crunchies are left in the pan. Heat the skillet with the drippings and one tablespoon of rendered bacon fat. Add the butter and let it melt before adding the flour, then stir until the mixture thickens up (about 2 minutes). Next, while stiriing, add the milk, chicken stock and pepper. Continue stirring until the gravy is at the desired consistency (about 5 minutes). Add a few tablespoons of water if you need to thin it out. Season with the salt if necessary.

For the Sliders: Lay the bottom side of each slider roll on the serving plates with the inside of the roll facing up. Ladle some gravy over the roll. Then add a piece of the chicken fried steak, and ladle more gravy over the piece of chicken fried steak. Add the top piece of the slider roll. Serve while warm.

Twice Cooked Pork with Take Away Chinese Packets

I ordered Chinese food on Sunday and was surprised how many of those packets of sauces they gave me. There were easily 12 packets of soy sauce, 8 of sweet and sour (why they call it that I don’t know) and 3 of mustard.

This turned out to be a pretty good recipe…

So I decided to try using them in a way not normally used. Let’s make a marinade with the take away packets and a few center cut pork chops I have in the refrigerator, already thawed.  The only other ingredients I had, at the time, was fresh ginger, garlic, mushrooms and a small onion.

I keep the take away packets from Chinese restaurant delivery in a drawer, just in case I need them.

Reading what I just typed makes me realize how stupid that sounds. It’s not like they won’t give me another 50 packets, the next time I order take away Chinese food.

Ingredients:

•  3 center cut pork chops, cubed 1 ½ inch pieces
• ½ small onion, sliced
• 6 large mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha
• 2 thumb sized pieces of ginger, sliced match sticks
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 packets soy sauce
• 6 packets sweet & source
• 4 packets mustard
• 2 packets Mc Donald’s honey
• 1 ¼ cups of water
• 1 teaspoon Lawry’s seasoning
• 1 teaspoon White pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preparation:

Place the pork pieces and the soy, sweet & sour, mustard and honey into a plastic sealable bag. Marinate for at least 6 hours (best if overnight).

Remove and strain the pork pieces over your sink in a colander or strainer. Don’t rinse the pieces; allow some of the marinade to remain on the pieces.

In a skillet or pan large enough to cook the pork piece heat over medium high, 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil and the sesame oil. Quickly sear the pork pieces on all sides. Pour 1 cup of water into the pan and bring up to almost a boil. Turn it down to low immediately, cover and allow the pork to braise for 60 minutes.

While pork is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Clean the mushrooms slice the onions and ginger and chop the garlic.

When pork has finished braising for 60 minutes remove and allow the liquid to evaporate, so the pork is left to sauté in the remaining oil to brown.

Add the the onions, ginger pieces and the mushrooms to the pan. Season the veggies with Lawry’s and white pepper, cook until softened about 4-5 minutes. Toss in the garlic and cook for a few minutes more.

To finish, mix the cornstarch with one ¼ cup of water, addingt the Sriracha pour into the pan to deglaze.

Blend and cook together for 1 -2 minutes until sauce thickens. Serve hot over Jasmine rice.

Amazing Pork Soup Dumplings (Xiao Long Bao)

Ingredients:

For the Broth:

• 2 quarts water (or enough to cover the ingredients)
• 3 pounds chicken backs
• ½ pound pork belly or fatty pork with skin
• 3 ounces chinese-style cured smoked ham
• 4 shallots
• 1-inch pieces of ginger, chopped
• 1 tablespoon white peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

For the Filling:

• ⅓ pound ground pork
• ¼ pound raw shrimp, peeled
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon XiaoShing wine
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon sesame oil
• ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 scallions, finely minced
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper

For the Dough:

• 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon oil

• Napa cabbage leaves

Preparation:

Combine ingredients “For the Broth,”  and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, remove to a simmer, and simmer for about 2-3 hours. Strain broth and cover to refrigerate until ready to make the filling.

Meanwhile, combine ingredients “For the Filling,” into a food processor. Pulse a few times until a course paste is formed, about 8-10 one-second pulses. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the dough, place flour in bowl of food processor. With machine running, add oil and then slowly drizzle in water until cohesive dough is formed (you probably won’t need all the water), continue for 30 about seconds. Form into a ball using floured hands and transfer to a bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Bring the broth back up to almost the boiling point.  When the broth is just about to boil, turn heat off and remove from the heat and add the gelatin. Whisk for 2 minutes until all powder is dissolved. Pour broth into a baking dish to set up and then place in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours.

After the broth gelatin is set, crumble it up in the pan, with a spoon or fork.  Take about 1 ½ cups of the broth gelatin and add that to the filling mixture. Stir to incorporate evenly throughout. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Divide dough into 4 sections, and each section into 10 small tablespoon-sized balls, making 40 balls total. On a well-floured work surface, roll each ball into a round 3 ½ – to 4-inches in diameter. Stack wrappers and keep under plastic until all of them are rolled out.

To form dumplings, place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of a wrapper. Moisten the edges of the wrapper with a wet fingertip or a pastry brush. Pleat edges of the wrapper repeatedly, pinching the edge closed after each pleat until the entire dumpling is sealed, into a cinched purse shape. Pinch and twist top to seal. Transfer sealed dumplings to a lightly floured wooden or parchment-lined board.

Place a bamboo steamer over a wok with 2 inches of water. Place over medium high heat until simmering. Line the steamer with napa cabbage leaves and place dumplings directly on leaves. Steam until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately, being careful not to break them.

New USDA recommendations for pork

Pork has new guidelines…

Goodbye hockey puck…Hello moist, flavorful pork!

For juicy, tender, flavorful pork, it’s time to toss out Grandma’s advice (sorry, Nona!) The USDA has recently confirmed that 145 degrees Fahrenheit measured on a thermometer, followed by a three-minute rest, is a safe final internal cooking temperature for pork.

Thanks to this significant 15-degree temperature difference, it’s now easier than ever to cook pork like a pro!

“It’s great news that home cooks can now feel confident to enjoy medium-rare pork, like they do with other meats. Pork cooked to 145F is juicy, tender and perfectly pink,” said Guy Fieri, celebrity chef and restaurateur,  “and the foodservice industry has followed this cooking standard for nearly 10 years.”

So, a bit of pink in pork appears to be okay after all, which is great news for those of us who’ve been cooking it this way all along!

To celebrate this new standard, here’s one of my favorite pork recipes from,“MEAT FIRE GOOD” our Burnin’ Love BBQ cookbook.

via http://burninlovebbq.wordpress.com

Mojo Marinated Lechón (Cuban Pork Roast)

Ingredients:

• 5 lb pork shoulder with skin

Mojo Marinade:

• 8 Cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp Adobo, (or salt)
• 2 Oranges
• 1 Lemon
• 1 lime
• 1 cup, chopped onion
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 cup (Goya) Spanish olive oil
• 1/2 cup Sherry

Preparation:

Put all ingredients of the Mojo Marinade into a blender and liquefy.  This needs to be very fine as we will inject the marinade into the pork shoulder.

Load a marinade syringe with some of the mojo marinade.  Using a narrow paring knife, stab through the skin and into the meat, to create a hole.  Inject the mojo marinade into the hole.  Repeat this process everywhere you can around the entire pork shoulder.

Place the pork shoulder and the balance of the mojo marinade into a zip-lock bag, rubbing the out side of the pork shoulder to distribute marinade over the meat.  Place into the refrigerator to marinade over night, turning it every now and then.

Preheat the oven to 450⁰ (F).  Remove the pork from the zip-lock, reserving the marinade for basting. Place the pork, fattest side up, in an open roasting rack/pan in the middle of the oven.  I originally was using a disposable baking pan, but I put a hole in it with the knife. Roast at this temperature for 1 hour.  Reduce the temperature to 200⁰-225⁰ (F).* Optional: Add 1 cup of water to a backing pan, for slow moist roasting.

Baste with reserved marinade over the roast occasionally as it cooks. Using a meat thermometer, roast should be removed from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 145⁰-150⁰ (F). This took me approximately 7-8 hours.  The last 15 minutes I lowered the pork to the bottom rack and turned on the broiler at a low setting, to crisp the skin.  Turn off the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes in the oven.  Remove from the oven and allow to rest, for at least 10 minutes more before slicing and serving.

Now that the roast has rested. move it to a cutting board. Preheat the oven to 300⁰. While the oven is heating up, cut off the bottom of the roast close to the bone. Then with a paring knife, cut around the knuckle and the bone will slide out. 

Remove the skin and scrape off excess fat.  Cut the skin into thin strips and return to the oven in the roasting pan to dry for about 10 minutes.

To servve, slice the pork or cut into cubes.  Take the skin out, drain on a paper towel, and plate pieces with your servings of pork.