tarte aux pommes

a rainy saturday was the perfect weather for staying in, watching some football and baking an apple pie. a slice of americana ..

apple pie

6 large apples, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
pie crust .. basic recipe
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Add the fresh squeezed lemon to the apple slices in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients and toss to combine. Pour this apple mixture on top of the pie crust. Top with a pie crust. Cut 4 slits for vents and stick in the oven at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.

wallula

spent the week in the midst of harvest. went to the always breathtaking wallula vineyard and hung out with the sheep :)

chair

... finished champagne wire chairs

mmmcakes

laura and I baked our first batch of lil mmmcake lovies. looking forward to many more!

thanks alisha for being our guinnea pig! happy birthday :)

brick-ulents

... the latest batch. I need close to 80 for the Design*Sponge shoot at the end of the month! So here is an update on the latest lovelies.

Thank you boobie for continuing to let me loot!

meat crack

This is hands down one of my favorite things to eat. There is nothing better in this world than succulent, sweet meat. It's a head to head battle between the Vietnamese candied pork variety (suong ngo) OR the Korean candied beef short rib variety (kalbi). I love both, so I'm posting the two recipes for you to enjoy :)

KALBI SHORT RIBS

1 1/2 cups soy sauce
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8-10 cloves garlic, chopped
6 green onions, chopped
4 lbs Korean style short ribs
(you can find this at Uwajimaya, it needs to be the kind of short rib that is cut across the bone)

Combine all of the marinade ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic & green onions). Cover short ribs with the marinade in a freezer bag and make sure the meat is completely saturated in the marindade. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to the highest broil temperature (500 degrees). Remove short ribs from the marinade and place on a baking sheet and put in the oven. Broil the ribs for about 5-7 minutes on each side until the meat is cooked and developing a nice char.

In the mean time, pour the marinade into a small saucepan and simmer until slightly thickened (about 10 minutes).

Serve the Kalbi with white rice, kimchi, a Korean green salad and the side of thickened marinade as an additional sauce.


VIETNAMESE CANDIED PORK

3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup fish sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 hard boiled eggs
4 lbs of fatty pork, cut into 1 inch pieces (pork shoulder or boneless country pork ribs, look for a healthy amount of marbled fat .. or if you're feeling very committed to deliciousness ... opt for some pork belly)

You'll essentialy start with making a dry caramel. Heat a large pan on med heat. Add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon constantly. The sugar will slowly melt and turn a golden caramel color. Keep stirring to make sure all of the sugar melts and doesn't clump. If the caramel isn't turning golden and doesn't look like it's at risk of burning, slowly increase the temp to med-high. Once the caramel is a nice dark honey-golden color, add the pork and continuously stir to combine the caramel and pork. (Be careful during this step. The caramel clumps and sticks to the wooden spoon very easily. So you'll want to keep stirring and keeping the caramel off the spoon so that it can combine with the pork).

Stir and brown the pork for about 2 minutes, then add the chopped garlic. Stir to combine. Add the hard boiled eggs whole and stir to cover the eggs in the golden brown sauce. Let this simmer on medium heat for about 8 minutes. Occasionally stir and continue to check on the pan to make sure the caramel doesn't burn.

Add the fish sauce to the pan and stir. Let the mixture and sauce bubble and reduce. Check the sauce to make sure it is the perfect balance of salty and sweet. Add more sugar or more fish sauce if it seems off balance on either side.

Top with a few turns of fresh ground pepper and serve with white rice.

If you're meat-centric and hungry enough to try both ... let me know which one is your favorite!

- Queen LaBeefa

posole rojo

The rich blend of chipotle chiles, braised pork and earthy hominy contrasted perfectly with the freshness of the fresh radish, lime, cilantro and red cabbage garnishes.

posole rojo

for the stew

5 lbs of bone in shoulder pork, cut into 4-5 pieces

1 tbl vegetable oil

2 large onions, chopped course

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can of stewed tomatos, 14 oz can, sliced

1/2 can of chipotle chiles in adobo, half the sauce and half the chiles

1 tsp dried oregano

6 cups chicken broth

1 large can of hominy (28 oz)

for the garnishes

2 limes, cut into quarters

1/4 red cabbage, sliced thinly

1 small onion, chopped finely

cilantro, roughly chopped

5 radishes, sliced thinly

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat a large pot to medium high, add vegetable oil and onions. Stir frequently until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Add the pork, and brown all sides. Once browned, add tomatos, broth, oregano, and chipotle chiles. Bring to a boil  then cover with a lid and place in the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, about 3-4 hours.

Remove the pot from the oven, remove the meat from the pot and shred the pork until smaller chunks (not too shredded). Return the pork to the pot, add the hominy and simmer for another 30-45 minutes until all of the flavors have melded together.

Serve with garnishes.

tomato

Beautiful green tomatos from boobies garden..

I wish I had some of these for the pizza I made a few days later .. had to settle for some trader joes colorful heirloom tomato minis instead ..

sundried tomato pesto pizza + artichokes, kalamata olives and pancetta

for the pesto

16 oz. of canned sundried tomatos (with oil)

1 cup of fresh basil leaves

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoone tomato paste

1/2 cup of water

1 tsp chili flakes

for the pizza

prepared pizza dough (from trader joes or whole foods)

mozzarella

pancetta, sliced

chopped artichokes (marinated)

kalamata olives, halved

cherry tomatoes, sliced

pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the pizza dough and place onto two greased pans. Bake the pizza dough for about 7-8 minutes, or until turning a slight golden brown. Remove from oven.

In the mean time, heat the garlic and red chili flakes in a little bit of olive oil. Add the sundried tomatos, tomato paste and water. Simmer for about 4 minutes. Add the basil, then transfer to a food processor and blend. Pesto should be a slightly chunky.

Spread the pesto onto the par-baked pizza dough, add mozzarella and all toppings and bake for another 10 minutes until ready.

DELICIOUS.