A bierock—German stuffed bread—is not now, nor has it ever been haute cuisine, it is essentially a workingman’s lunch. When you are working, traveling, or having some kind of festival event, you do not always have time to sit down for meal. Having a meal in a neat, sealed package that you can slip into a pocket or pouch is a solution that many cultures have discovered.
Karl’s Volga German Bierocks
Filed under Beef, bread, German, Main Dishes, Pork
When Safeway has a half price sale on hams (after a holiday) I buy a half a ham and cut it into ¾ inch ham steaks to freeze for later. A ham steak is pretty much just a slab of meat. The trick is what glaze do you put on it to dress it up.
Karl’s Ham Steak
With Cranberry Orange Marmalade
Filed under Broiling, Main Dishes, Pork
While we lived in China—1988-1990—we would occasionally be invited to a family meal by our Chinese friends. One Chinese New Year, Mrs. Wong made us lion’s head meatballs—with her own family’s recipe. Lion’s head meatball is one of the good luck dishes of Chinese New Year’s. The big round meatball is meant to represents the lion guardian spirit that will protect you through the next year.
Karl’s Lion’s Head Meatballs with Baby Bok Choi
(Shanghai Meatballs)
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork
February 13th was Fat Tuesday and wife Jan asked for Louisiana food for dinner. As much as I try to avoid “add can A to can B” recipes, I will sometimes make do for a weekday meal. Of course, the brand of canned food matters.
Karl’s Red Beans and Rice
Filed under Beans, Main Dishes, Pork, Rice
Several month ago, Eilene asked me to make Mac and Cheese sometime when her friends came over. While I have made this dish several times for her friends, this time she wanted something different. She wanted me to use pancetta, brie, apples, and almonds—instead of the usual cheddar or Emmentaler cheese. She also did not want me to use macaroni, but some kind of spiral pasta. Since, I am always sneaking in more vegetables, I also added some leek to the mix.
Karl and Eilene_s Brie and Pancetta Mac and Cheese
Filed under California Fusion, Main Dishes, Pasta, Pork
Wandering through Trader Joe’s, wondering what I was going to make for dinner—this is actually not an uncommon occurrence. I saw a package of pre-cooked pork carnitas. I could do a quick pork taco with that, but I make tacos almost every week. Walking down another aisle, I saw Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce, and it clicked—pork enchiladas!
Karl’s Trader Joe’s Pulled Pork Enchiladas
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork, Sauces and Spices
A meat and carbohydrates heavy Thanksgiving dinner calls for at least one green vegetable side. This year, I decided on Brussels sprouts, one of Jan’s favorites. However, being a holiday meal I wanted something more than just plain steamed sprouts.
Karl’s Brussels Sprouts with Wild Rice and Pancetta
Filed under Holidays, Pork, Rice, Side Dishes, Vegetables
Note: This recipes for Xiao Long Bao is very complex, basically an article—10 pages—rather than a post. Jan and daughter Miriam suggest that blog readers generally do not like such long posts. This recipe is actually four recipes in one, so I will post three of these as separate posts with an introductory and concluding post. For my readers who do not mind reading a long post, I will also post the entire article separately.
Karl’s Xiao Long Bao (the complete recipe in one post)
Karl’s Xiao Long Bao (aka XLB or Soup Dumplings)
Note: Of particular interest—to anyone wishing to make Chinese dumplings—will be the discussion of the science of dumpling dough. Continue reading
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork, Shrimp, Steaming
Since it is impossible to pour hot soup into a raw piece of dough, there had to be a trick to making these soup filled buns. The secret is to turn the soup into aspic—a meat jelly. Many of the “quick” recipes call for using powdered gelatin. The more traditional recipes call for boiling pig skin for hours to break down its collagen to make the gelatin. If you are using this technique, it is advisable to begin making the soup the day before you plan to make these dumplings.
Karl’s Xiao Long Bao (the complete recipe in one post)
Karl’s Xiao Long Bao (aka XLB or Soup Dumplings)
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork, Shrimp, Steaming
The most of the fillings, I found, for XLBs were fairly standard for Chinese dumplings. Pork or pork combined with shrimp with the usual set of seasonings—ginger, green onion, salt, soy sauce, and a touch of sugar. This is not to say that than you cannot make chicken or vegetarian versions of this dish.
Karl’s Xiao Long Bao (the complete recipe in one post)
Karl’s Xiao Long Bao (aka XLB or Soup Dumplings)
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork, Shrimp, Steaming
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 