Corn Bread Bites

Mike spotted these tasty little mini-muffins in a recent copy of Cooking Light. They're distinctively different than standard cornbread since they include sharp cheddar, a little sour cream and green onions. But what makes them really special is the additional corny-ness and moistness from the use of canned creamed corn (and, of course, their diminutive size).

It seems we never prepare a recipe completely "as-is" and we have modified this one just a tad as well. First change: no creamed corn. Instead, we use regular canned sweet corn and coarsely puree it in a food processor along with a little of the canned corn's liquid. It's not quite as sweet as creamed corn and it adds great texture.



Our second change is the addition of green chiles. We buy canned whole green chiles and then rinse them before giving them a fine dice. And occasionally, a couple tablespoons of finely chopped poblano chile or a minced serrano gets thrown in as well. Another small change that makes a big difference is salt -- use at least 1/2 teaspoon instead of only 1/4.



Something about their size, moist texture and flavorful add-ins make these little Corn Bread Bites (aka Crack-Muffins) pleasantly addictive.

Eggs In Purgatory

Ok, ok -- two Mario Batali recipes in a row risks revealing us for the fanboys we are, but Eggs In Purgatory sounded really good this morning. The recipe comes from Mario's Holiday Food cookbook and you can find the recipe here. We make it mostly without modification (other than omitting the olives -- I'm not a big fan).



The key technique, which gives the recipe its name, is cooking the eggs in the sauce by making little nests and dropping the eggs in.



As a variation on this recipe, we also do a Mexican-flavored take. We substitute cilantro for the basil, add some chiles and serve it with black beans.

October In Review

Whew! It's been quite a month. Here is October in review. As always, you can roll over any of the images and click to see a larger picture. If you would like the recipe for any of the dishes we didn't blog, just let us know.

Does not display in RSS readers

Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage and Fennel Ragu

We've been in love with this dish ever since we had it as an appetizer at Lupa in Manhattan. Lupa is a former Mario Batali joint, and is now run by Mark Ladner (who you might recognize as one of Mario's sous chefs on Iron Chef America).



The basis for the ragu is Mario's basic tomato sauce. We use this sauce a lot as it is very versatile. We always make a good sized batch, divvy it up into 1- and 2-cup portions and keep it in the freezer.



The fennel part of the sauce comes from both fresh and dried fennel.



The fresh fennel bulb gets finely chopped up, and the dried fennel seeds get toasted and ground. Both are sauted along with some red onion, carrot, celery, garlic, red chile flakes and sweet Italian sausage removed from its casing and broken up. The ragu comes together after a long simmer with the basic tomato sauce.



The gnocchi start with ricotta cheese that has been drained overnight. Mario's recipe calls for goat-milk ricotta, which is great if you can get it, but standard cow's milk ricotta works for us.

After adding a bit of flour and egg you form football shaped quenelles with a pair of spoons. The dough is light and moist, but fairly easy to work with.






The gnocchi only take a few minutes to cook. They sink initially and are nearly done once they float to the surface.



Perfect versions are delicate, with an almost velvety texture when you bite into them. Their simple seasoning of salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg is a nice counterpoint to the aggressively flavored fennel and sausage sauce.



The Lupa recipe can be found here, but we use the Molto Mario version of the recipe and add double the tomato sauce to loosen the ragu a bit. Note that this recipe make a *lot* of sauce. We generally make a half batch of the ragu and still have some leftover (which isn't a problem -- it's great as a pasta sauce).

Mu Shu Pork Butt

We really like Mu Shu Pork, and we have lots of left over pulled pork on our hands (a 7 pound butt makes a lot of pulled pork...), so we thought why not combine the two?



We made a filling much like our normal Mu Shu recipe, but omitting the eggs, bamboo shoots, fungus, lily buds and, of course, the pork. Rolled up in a Mandarin pancake with hoisin sauce and some of the pulled pork, it was similar to, but interestingly different from regular Mu Shu.

Beer-Braised Lamb Shanks

Our friends Oren and Jill have been on a cooking-with-beer kick recently. Talking beer and food with them over a few pints at the Liars' Club got us inspired. We have a number of bottles left from our second attempt at a San Diego Pale Ale. That particular batch had a much more malty character than we were going for, but we figured it would be a good beer to try cooking with.

Braised lamb shanks are simple to prepare and one of our favorite fall foods -- using our beer as the braising liquid made perfect sense.



First I seared the shanks until well browned to deepen the flavor. Carrots and onions were browned in the same pan, followed briefly by minced garlic and finely diced tomato.



Then I added the beer a little at a time, scraping up caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan. We added a little stock to bring up the liquid level and brought it to a boil, then we put the lid on and popped it in the oven for an hour to braise.

It came out beautifully. The lamb was perfectly cooked -- coming off of the bone easily, but still with some structure left and with that lovely stickiness that comes from collagen breaking down.



The sauce was a bright, burnished orange and had great flavor. The hint of bitterness from the hops in the beer added an intriguing note.

Here's the recipe. We used a modified version of recipes we found online.

Beer Braised Lamb Shanks

4 (3/4 pound) lamb shanks
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 small onions, quartered
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large tomato, cored and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (22 ounce) bomber malty beer
Approx. 1 cup beef stock

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil over medium high in a large dutch oven. Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper, then sear in the hot pan until well browned on all sides, 10-15 minutes total. Remove shanks from pan and set aside in a bowl.

Brown the onions and carrots in the same pan, stirring occasionally. When lightly browned (about 5 to 7 minutes), reduce heat to medium and add the tomato and garlic. Stir and cook about 2 minutes. Add one third of the beer then scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to incorporate any brown bits into the sauce. Add the remaining beer and bring to a boil.

Simmer the beer and vegetables for a couple minutes, then nestle the shanks into the pot, adding any juices from the bowl. Add enough beef stock to immerse about 3/4 of the shanks. Put the lid on the dutch oven and place in the preheated oven for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. The shanks are done when the meat pulls easily from the bone and is very tender. Remove shanks from the pot and skim excess fat from the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper, return the shanks to the beer broth and serve.

Pulled Pork Tacos

Our current pulled pork delivery vehicle of choice is the taco.

Rolled in a mini corn tortilla and topped with a fresh salsa and red cabbage, the smoky pork really shines through. The masa flavor from the tortilla and the acid bite of the salsa complement it perfectly.

Pulled pork sopes are pretty amazing, too...