Monday, October 18, 2010

Easy appetizer - Brie won ton cups

When two of your good friends get engaged, you have to have a dinner party. That's the rule, or at least my rule. So, with about 14+ headed over for dinner and limited time and resources, some old receipes were called upon and snazzed up a bit.  A long time ago, I had these stuffed won tons at a dinner party, I remembered there being brie, and other ingredients so, I tried to recreate. With the lovely help of miss Ali and her artful hands, the Brie cups were assembled.  Simply, a wonton, piece of brie, green onion, and some orange-fig spread.  Baked at 350* until golden... Also pictured, some delicoius sweet-hot peppers from the farmers market... stuffed as a trial to see if it could take the brie... it could. 

Chili Ginger pork & Faux Dashi

Every now and again I get a huge craving for some Japanese home style cooking. I had bought an extremely large pork tenderloin and had to clean it up a bit before it went to its rightful owner (see Orange Ginger pork loin). So, with the fat and a little aid, I started out on an adventure in making a delicious pork broth for a cold summer nights dinner.  Starting with fresh ginger, garlic, and chili paste, the fat was browned a bit before any liquid was added.  Also, cilantro stems and more ginger added throughout the process.  Instead of adding just water, or some stock, I decided to get a little crafty and brew some green tea.  2 bags of green tea steeped away in about 10 cups of water. This was added to my mixture of pork, ginger, chili paste and garlic, and simmered for a while while also adding a bit of soy sauce and mirin along the way.


In a separate pot, I boiled some rice noodles, strained and set a side (note: a good way to be resourceful, cook rice noodles ahead, mix with a bit of sesame oil, and store in tupperware... noodles ready at any moment for another meal). Also, I sliced some of the pork tenderloin very thin and set aside for the topping to my growing noodle dish.  


Broth almost ready, it was time to cook the pork.  Hot pan, peanut oil, chili paste, garlic, ginger, the pork went in for its quick fry.  The smell alone would get your stomach grumbling.  


Pork then added atop the noodles with fresh cilantro and green onions.  Faux dashi added, along with a poached egg.  This was certainly good eats!