Funky Fleurs and Bonne Norriture

10 Pork Dishes I Want to Cook Before I Die

2009-11-04T16:46:00.002-05:00

I am a pork slut. I love pork to the extreme, it is the most succulent and flavorful meat. As I don't eat beef, pork is my supplemental go to meat. Here is a list of ways that I would like to cook pork before I die (before 50 would be preferable).

1. Roast Suckling Pig
2. Cassoulet, complete with homemade duck confit
3. Oaxacan Pork Mole
4. Osso Bucco
5. Crown Roast, even down to the little chef's hats on the tips
6. Tamales
7. Alcapurria
8. Pernil (I've made this but I'd like to do it well)
9. Sausage
10. Cure my own Prociutto (not really a recipe but a feat in and of itself)

Plum and Chocolate, October 2009

2009-11-01T21:05:00.005-05:00

This wedding bouquet is constructed on a base of curly willow bound with bark wire and chocolate brown raffia. Embellishments of purple fiddle heads, black calla lillies, and pheasant feathers were wired in to create the massed effect. The addition of chocolate unique roses and lime cymbidium orchids add a dynamic flow to the arrangment. The Bride chose to carry this presentation style during the ceremony then downwards during photography. She desired a look that would work both ways.

A small framed photograph of the bride and her grandfather embellished the hand hold. The photo included varying shades of purple ribbon to tie in the colors of the wedding. When she chose to carry it downwards the frame would rest easily between the two top cymbidiums. A lovely way to commemorate a lost family member.

The Bride's Maid bouquet is hand tied and includes purple variegated dahlias, orange unique roses, purple callas, purple fiddleheads, and brown hypericum. Beupeurum and variegated pittosporum are massed together to create the base of the bouquet.

In my 16 years of floral design, this was my favorite wedding to create thus far. I would have never thought to put plum and chocolate together but mixed with layers of orange and green it became a lush and fabulous color palate. This was a beautiful way to accentuate an October wedding. Too bad it rained!

Thai Japanese Fusion for a Busy Night

2009-08-23T14:26:00.001-04:00

This meal is a fusion of two of my favorite cuisines, Japanese and Thai. I came across the Laab recipe one day when browsing a great website www.thaitable.com. I immediately had to make it but was faced with the challenge of getting the flavors right with out using onion, my husband is allergic. I made this a few times to work out the right balance of flavors and came up with the following adaptation.

The carrot salad came along from my desire to turn this into a full meal. My husband makes a Japanese salad with daikon and carrot that I felt would complement the flavors of the Laab. Ume vinegar is a wonderful ingredient made from the umeboshi plum, developing a salty and tangy flavor in the dish. I love the combination of the sweet salad as is combines with the salty sour of the Laab.

In my trials I used many different ground meats including chicken and beef however, pork was my favorite with turkey as a close second. If you have access to ground duck go for it! I feel duck would be the tastiest but I do not have it readily available to me.

Laab

Ingredients:

Handful toasted peanuts

1-2 Limes

½ lbs. Ground pork or turkey

¼ tbsp. Ground dried chili pepper or

¼ tsp. Cayenne

3 tbsp. Fish sauce

Handful cilantro, roughly chopped

1 Green onion, sliced thin on the diagonal -Optional and added for those of you who can't cook w/out onion

Preparation:

Squeeze juice from ½ a lime onto the pork, mix well and let sit for about 15 minutes.

I usually use my wok to cook this dish because it can get really hot, but any pan will do.

Heat pan until very hot and add about a tbsp. Cooking oil. Add the pork, don't fret if it sticks, as the juices release so will your pork. Saute for about 7 minutes until pork is cooked through. Remove from the pan into a bowl.

Combine the rest of the lime juice, the ground chilis or cayenne, and the fish sauce. Pour over the cooked meat and add the chopped cilantro and the optional green onion.

Complete your meal with the following sides:

Carrot Salad

3 carrots julienned, or a whole buncha baby carrots julienned (cut into matchsticks)

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

2 dashes fish sauce

1 tsp ume vinegar (if on hand)

Combine all ingredients minus the carrots and mix well to dissolve the sugar. Add the carrots and let marinate while you make the rest of dinner.

Handful bean sprouts -canned or fresh, if using canned, rinse well to remove the salty water they're packed in.
1 cup short grain rice,cooked. Sushi rice preferred
Toasted peanuts, chopped. Heat a pan and add peanuts, tossing and turning until slightly browned and toasty. Remove from heat. Be careful not to burn them!
Lime wedges

Putting it all Together

Place about 1 cup of cooked rice in the center of the plate (I formed it in a small ramekin then turned it out onto the plate). Add about ½ - ¾ cup of Laab on top of the rice spooning sauce over it, if some spills around the pile its ok. Top this with some bean sprouts and about ¼ cup of the carrot salad spooning some of the remaining vinaigrette over the whole stack. Sprinkle the toasted peanuts over top. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Eat it, Love it!

Moroccan Chicken with "7 Whole Grains on a Mission"

2009-05-20T23:21:00.000-04:00

I was inspired to make this chicken one night when I came across a Kashi 7 Grains mix in my local market. I wanted to emulate the flavors of the mix in my chicken. Using spices I had on hand I created this easy and flavorful recipe.

Chicken

2 Chicken thighs with Legs (I used Coleman Farms Organic, Antibiotic free) Breasts would work well too, I simply like the flavor of thighs.
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon

Pan Sauce

1/4 Cup water
1 tbsp white cooking wine
1/8 cup cilantro

1 Package Kashi Moroccan Blend Grains

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375.
Combine all spices, cumin through paprika. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste then rub your spice mixture over the chicken, making sure to cover. Heat olive in oil in an oven proof pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Place the pan in hot oven and cook about 15 minutes, depending on size of pieces, until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan and squeeze lemon juice over top. Keep warm while making the pan sauce.
Return pan to stove top and turn burner to medium. Pour in cooking wine and deglaze, add water as needed to keep sauce loose.
While the sauce is cooking, heat Kashi Blend accoding to package directions.
Serve Chicken over Grain blend and spoon on sauce to taste and sprinkle the chopped cilantro on top.

I served this with steamed broccoli dipped into the excess sauce on the plate.
To reduce fat in this recipe, remove the skin from the chicken.