Knead the Dough

This recipe is for Braised Pork for pasta.  It may not sound special but it’s a fantastic rich meaty sauce.  I don’t recommend serving with store bought pasta, so if you are not in the mood to make your own noodles, serve it over mashed potatoes or creamy polenta.

Braising is a great cooking method for a few reasons.  First its perfect for cooking tough aka cheap cuts of meat.  Secondly it’s a long and slow cooking process in the oven or a crock pot which means you don’t have to baby sit it.  Finally it follows a standard formula that can be slightly altered to reflect pretty much any cuisine. 

Essentially, this is a pot roast recipe with a few altercations.  When I made this recipe, I intended to serve it over pasta, so I added red wine, chopped tomatoes, leeks & extra garlic.  I also optioned not to dredge the pork in flour before searing because I wanted the sauce to be lighter and not cloudy.  I used pork but you could easily substitute stew meat, short ribs or even chicken.  If you use chicken you should substitute chicken broth or stock too and half or omit the Worcestershire sauce.  Remember to adjust the cooking time if not using pork. 

Ingredients:

3 lbs Pork Shoulder(butt), trimmed and cut in roughly 4X3X1 in. pieces
1 small onion, diced small
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, halved washed and sliced 1/4-1/2”
6 small carrots, peeled and cut in random 1” pieces
4 ribs celery, sliced 1/4”
2 bay leaves
1 cup red wine
1 Tbl. Worcestershire Sauce
2 cans beef broth or stock, low sodium
1 can tomato, diced
Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven safe pan (that has a lid or dutch oven) on stove over medium heat with about a tablespoon of cooking oil.  When oil is hot and wavy, place seasoned pieces of pork into the hot oil - DO NOT OVERCROWD PAN!  If the meat is too close together you will be steaming and the pork will never caramelize and your sauce will be light in flavor and color.  Sear all sides of each piece of pork till evenly brown, do this step in batches.  Allow seared pork to rest on a plate when complete but let the pan stay on medium heat.

Once pork is seared & resting, add the onions to the hot pan, season w/pinch of kosher salt and 7-10 turns of the pepper grinder and stir once.  Let cook about a minute and add the chopped garlic, stir and let cook about another minute then add the chopped leeks, season with a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper, and stir once then stir occasionally till leeks start to wilt and onions turn clear then add the bay leaf. 

When leaks and onions begin to brown, stir in the celery & carrots - season w/pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper.  Cook mixture until carrots and celery begin to appear soft, then add the tomato paste & stir to coat.  Allow the tomato paste to reduce and almost start to stick to the bottom of the pan.  When you notice the tomato paste beginning to brown, deglaze the pan with the red wine.  Make sure to stir the bottom of the pan to lift any stuck on bits (aka fond) then add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth.   Bring sauce to simmer and taste, you may need to add more salt and pepper.

Return seared pork to the pan, cover with lid or foil and place in 350° oven for 2.5 to 3 hours or until pork is fork tender.  Remove from oven and let rest about 15 min. before serving.  If you would like a thicker sauce, remove the pork, and thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry.

Serves 4 to 6 generous portions.

When I use the term baby entree, I am talking about protein rich foods to be introduced to your baby at around 6 months or when your doctor gives you the thumbs up.  Here are a few tips to get you started on making your kids second foods.  Once you understand the basics, you’ll have endless combinations for your little ones tummy.

1. Choose lean cuts of meat and trim as much fat as humanly possible
2. Poach proteins in H2O, reserve cooking liquid for pureeing process
3. Use twice as many grains as meat i.e. - 2 cups rice, cooked & 1 cup chicken, diced and poached
4. To puree, start with only solids, turn on and add cooking liquid very slowly till its at a suitable consistency
5. Introduce secondary vegetables like mushrooms, garlic, onions, celery & peppers via baby entrees. 
6. If your baby food is too loose, you can easily thicken w/rice cereal.  Too thick, just add a few drops of water.

Here are some of the combinations I have made and my son devoured.

Turkey Sausage & Barley

2.5 lbs turkey breast, diced & poached - reserve cooking liquid (remove any foam or solids)
12 oz. turkey sausage, removed from casings & poached then rinsed thoroughly
2 cups cooked barley

Add cooked turkey, sausage & barley to food processor.  Attach lid and pulse 3 or 4 times - until all pieces are about the size of an uncooked grain of barley.  Slowly add turkey cooking liquid  while processor is in motion.  You must go slow, at a drizzle, to make sure everything is smooth.  This may take up to 2 cups of cooking liquid.  If you run out of cooking liquid, use H2O.  Portion, label & freeze.  Serve this with sweet potatoes and red cabbage.

Black beans w/Cilantro & Lime

1.5 cups black beans, dry
1 small onion, diced
1 bay leaf
2 tbl. Cilantro, leaves only
1 small lime, juiced & zested

After you’ve checked for small rocks, rinse the black beans, add to large sauce pot w/plenty of H2O & bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn off heat and let sit at room temperature for one hour.  Drain beans and return to sauce pot with plenty of H2O plus the diced onion & bay leaf.  Cook over medium heat, adding H2O as necessary, until beans are tender & almost mushy.  Remove from heat, drain the beans, remove bay leaf & transfer beans to food processor.  Add cilantro & lime zest/juice.  Puree till smooth.  Add H2O if you need to thin the beans but it should be fine.  Portion, label & freeze.  This mixes well with apple sauce.

Chicken Mushroom & Rice

1 chicken, roasted, skin/bones removed then picked & torn in to 2 -3 inch pieces
1 large or 2 small packages of white button mushrooms, washed & sliced
1 small onion, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
3 cups, dry baby rice cereal

In large skillet w/a lid, heat a scant teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat till oil is wavy & viscous.  Add diced onion, stir well.  In about 2 - 3 min. add chopped garlic.  Continue to cook over medium heat until onions turn clear, add sliced mushrooms, stir & place lid on pot for 7 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  In that time the mushrooms will have released their juices, cook until mushrooms have shrunk about 50%.  Transfer chicken to food processor & pulse till chicken is in small bits.  Add mushrooms & juice, puree till smooth adding more H2O if needed.  Transfer to large mixing bowl and add dry cereal.  Mix together with a spatula adding H2O till entree is a good consistency (about 3 cups H2O).  Portion, label & freeze.  Serve with peas & carrots.

Beef Stew

1 lb beef stew meat, trimmed of excess fat and cut in to small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 bay leaf
2 small carrots, peeled & sliced 1/4” thick
1 rib celery, sliced 1/4” thick
2 small or 1 large potato, peeled and diced small
1/4 cup peas, frozen or fresh

Add stew meat, onion, bay leaf, carrots, celery & potatoes to large sauce pot.  Cover with water and bring to boil.  Cook until meat is no longer pink and potatoes are soft, add peas & remove from heat.  Drain & reserve liquid.  Remove bay leaf and place meat & veggies in to food processor.  Pulse until smooth adding cooking liquid as needed.  Portion, label & freeze. 

That should be enough to get you started. 

Happy Eating!