Vegetable stock base

• 2 stalks celery with leaves, broken into a few pieces
• 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 white onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup parsely with stems
• 1 bay leaf

Add 4 cups water to the vegetables in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for one hour. Strain the stock, then return to a boil and reduce to two cups

Sauce base

• 1 pound ground beef, pork, or lamb
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cans whole or diced tomatoes

Heat the oil in a skillet or saucepan. Season the meat with salt and pepper an add to the pot. Brown over medium high heat until just starting to crisp. If there is a lot of fat in the pan, drain all but about 2 tbsp.

Add the wine and reduce by half. Add the tomatoes along with the vegetable stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer one hour. Using a potato masher, crush the tomatoes to your desired level of chunkiness.

Infused oil

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• A large pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 spring fresh rosemary, or 1/2 tsp dried

Combine all ingredients in a small skillet. Place over low heat. If the garlic begins to sizzle, remove from heat for a few seconds. After ten minutes over low heat, remove from the burner and allow to sit for 30 minutes or so. Strain the oil into a small bowl.

When the sauce is thickened and the oil is ready, stir the oil into the sauce just before serving, along with a handful of chopped Italian parsley.

Zucchini Corn Fritters

• 5 small zucchini, grated
• 1 ear sweet corn, kernels removed from cob
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 to 2 tsps salt to taste
• 1/4 cup peanut oil for frying

Place the shredded zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let sit for 10-20 minutes, then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Combine with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl

Heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the batter in 1/3 cups and press down with the measuring cup to make a pancake. Cook for about 2 minutes per side or until nicely browned and cooked through

Pozole Rojo

• 3 dried guajillo chilis
• 1 dried pasilla chili
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 small white onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 lb Mexican Chorizo
• 1 can low salt chicken broth or other stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 28oz can hominy, drained and rinsed

Heat a small dry skillet over medium heat. Toast the peppers until fragrant and soft. Remove the stems. Place the peppers, tomatoes (with juice), garlic, onion, oregano, and salt in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet. Remove the casings from the chorizo and brown the sausage in chunks. Remove to paper towels to drain.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a soup pot. Cook the pureed tomato/pepper mixture until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the chorizo to the pot along with the water, chicken broth, and bay leaf. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the hominy to the pot, and simmer an additional 20 minutes. If the chorizo releases a large amount of fat, you may wish to skim some of it before serving.

Serve with lime wedges, chopped romaine lettuce, avocado, and fried tortilla strips.

Mel’s Cornbread

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, or a blend)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat until creamy. Mix in the corn, milk, and cheese, then fold in the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Turn into a greased 13×9″ pan. Put the pan in the oven, then immediately reduce the heat to 300. Bake for 1 hour.

• 12oz Linguini
• 1 lb Asparagus, trimmed and cut in to 1-2 inch pieces
• 1 cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half
• 1/2 tbsp butter or olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Boil the pasta per the package directions. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan. Saute the garlic until fragrant but not brown. Add the lemon zest and stir until fragrant. Add the cream, pasta cooking water, lemon juice, and Parmesan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring enough water to cover the asparagus to a boil in a skillet. Add the thickest pieces and simmer, covered, for 1 minute. Add the remaining asparagus and simmer until just tender, 2-3 minutes more. Drain and immediately drop the asparagus into a bowl of ice water. Drain.

Combine the asparagus, pasta, and sauce in a large saucepan and cook over low heat until the sauce coats the pasta. Serve with additional Parmesan.

Mushroom Bean Soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 cans cannelini beans or 1 can cannelini and 1 can garbanzo, drained and rinsed
• 1 can low-salt chicken broth
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 3 oz baby spinach or other dark green
• Truffle oil, walnut oil, or other fragrant oil for drizzling
• Grated Parmesan

Soak the mushrooms in 1 cup hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and chop, reserving the water.

Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a soup pot. Saute the onions until soft, then add the garlic and rosemary and saute for 1 minute. Add the chopped mushrooms and continue to cook 3 minutes longer.

Add the beans, chicken broth, and mushroom water to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Puree in the pot using an immersion blender.

Stir in the greens and stir until wilted. Serve with grated Parmesan and a drizzle of truffle oil.

Enchildada Sauce

3 dried Guajillo chiles
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tsp Mexican Oregano
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a heavy dry skillet over medium heat. Add the peppers and toast on all sides until slightly darkened. Place peppers in a small saucepan with garlic and water to cover. Boil peppers for 5 minutes until soft.

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree. Add a small amount of the chile boiling liquid to smooth out the sauce if needed.

Enchilada Filling
2 cups shredded Queso Quesadilla
1/2 cup sour cream or Crema Fresca
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 egg, beaten

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend

Enchilada Assembly
10 +/- corn tortillas
Small amount of vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Pour about 1/3 of the sauce into a square glass baking dish.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the tortillas one at a time until pliable. Roll up a small amount of filling in the tortilla and place in the baking dish. Repeat until all filling is used up and the baking dish is covered. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas, and top with a couple handfuls of shredded cheese.

Bake the enchiladas until heated cheese is bubbly and starting to brown, 20-25 minutes.

Bitter Lemon Soda

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add tonic water until 3/4 full.

Add 1 tbsp sugar, juice of 1/2 a lemon, and 2 dashes Angostura Bitters. Stir and serve

Step 1: Dry Rub

Mix up a dry rub to taste. I have made this a bunch of times and never with the same rub twice. Always in the mix are paprika, brown sugar, cumin, can cayenne.

My roasts do tend to get a little caramelized, so perhaps less brown sugar would be wise

After rubbing the meat all over, let it rest, covered, in the fridge for at least an hour. Some recipes recommend letting it sit for as long as 8.

Step 2: Smoke

When the coals are ready, pour them out of the chimney and pile them on one side of the grill. It’s probably a good idea to cover the grill and let them ash over and cool off a bit before putting on the meat. If you have an oven thermometer that you don’t mind getting smoky, you want the temperature to be about 250 degrees, and even as low as 200 would probably be ok.

When the fire is ready, put a drip pan filled with water on the far side of the grill from the coals, and put the meat on the grill as far from the fire as possible. Drain the smoke chips and place on top of the coals. Cover the grill. It should start smoking like a chimney. Adjust the vents on the grill to maintain a nice slow burn.

To keep the meat moist, it is traditional to “mop” the roast while it smokes. There are probably as many ways to make a mop sauce as there are barbecue cooks. I don’t think it matters too much what you do here. I usually make mine out of about 1 cup beer and 1/2 a cup of cider vinegar, with a little mustard mixed in. Maybe some Worcestershire Sauce. Since I always have some dry rub left, I tend to mix some of that in too. Mop (baste) the roast about every 30 minutes or so with a basting brush.

Continue this process until the fire burns out. I got about two hours out of my coals. After one hour, I added some more smoke chips to really infuse the meat with smoke flavor. As the fire dies out, preheat the oven to 250 degrees

Step 3: Roast

So at this point I was pretty much winging it, but I put the roast on a roasting rack in a 13″x9″ glass roasting pan. I poured about 1-2 cups of water in the pan and put it in the oven at 250 degrees. I continued to mop the roast about every half hour, expecting it would be done in an hour or two.

I was wrong.

Five hours later we we getting ready to head out to a friend’s birthday party, and the roast was not yet “fork tender”. Not having much of a choice, I pulled the meat out, shredded it by hand, and threw it in my slow cooker to deal with later. The meat did come apart, and it was tender, juicy, and very smoky, but I was expecting it to fall apart in my hands.

Step 4: Get Saucy

To complete the pulled pork experience, we need to coat the meat in a vinegar based barbecue sauce. You could just use store bought sauce here, but after 8 hours, that seems like a cop out.

I made a quick homemade BBQ sauce out of ketchup (not as much as you would think), brown sugar, cider vinegar (more than you would think), Worcestershire sauce, and Chili Garlic Paste, which I put in just about everything.

Cook the sauce in a small saucepan until it’s hot, then mix it up with the shredded pork in the slow cooker. Heat the mixture on low heat for an hour or two, until the meat is thoroughly coated in sauce.

That’s it. Spoon it out onto warm rolls and enjoy a well deserved smoky pork sandwich

Chorizo Taco Filling

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small white onion, minced
12 oz Mexican Chorizo
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 cup beer

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the chorizo and break it up with the side of a wooden spoon until cooked through. There will probably be a ton of bright red fat in the pan. I usually drain most of this off, but you will never get it all.

Add the raisins and almonds and stir in. Cook for a minute or so. Add the beer, bring to a boil, and simmer until thickened, about 5-10 minutes.

Nick’s Pho at Home – serves 2 (Vietnamese style in big bowls)

Broth

1.5 lbs Oxtail (I got this at United Noodles, on the cheap)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium white onion, sliced
1″ piece of peeled ginger, smashed
3 scallions, white parts only, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 star anise
2″ cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 qt water + 1/2 cup

Heat the oil in a soup pot and brown the meat on all sides. Remove to a bowl. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and scallion to the oil and cook over medium-low heat until onions are soft and brown (10 minutes or so). Return the meat to the pan along with the spices, add the water and fish sauce, and simmer, covered, for at least 2 hours, skimming off impurities as needed.

I want to note here a technique I saw in another recipe but did not try. Another cook suggests covering the oxtails in cold water and bringing it to a boil. At the same time, boil an equal amount of water in another pot. As soon as the first pot comes to a boil, drain the oxtails and transfer them to the already boiling water in the second pot. This technique is supposed to eliminate the skimming of foam and impurities that is required in my method.

Once the broth is done, strain it, chill it and skim off the fat. I use a gravy separator for this. One of my favorite esoteric kitchen tools. Adjust the broth to taste with salt and/or more fish sauce.

When you are ready to prepare the rest of the soup, bring the strained defatted broth back to a boil and keep it at a simmer, covered.

Soup
7 oz medium flat rice stick noodles
1/2-3/4 lb eye of round or top round steak, sliced very thin (it helps if the steak is partially frozen before slicing)
1/2 thinly sliced small white onion
3 scallions, green parts only, sliced (convenient, isn’t it)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the noodles. Drain when soft, 5-10 minutes. Divide noodles into two large bowls. Add sliced beef, scallions, and onions to bowl, and pour 2 cups boiling hot broth over each bowl. The broth will cook the beef instantly. Serve with garnish.

Garnish
Mung bean sprouts
Thai basil sprigs
Lime wedges
Thinly sliced jalapeno peppers
Cilantro sprigs
Fish Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, and Sriracha Sauce