Pork Belly Ravioli

Would you believe I got lost in the grocery store for the past 5 months? Okay 50+ hours a week at the restaurant did not leave a lot of time for writing. But hey I do have a good stockpile of recipes now that I have tested.

Everywhere you turn these days I feel as though you see Pork Belly this and Pork belly that... If you don’t want to see another Pork Belly recipe, look away now.

The current Pork Belly hype is all for very good reason. It is a relatively easy cut of meat to cook, and you get some amazing results. I fully admit that this is not the dish to prepare if you are on a low fat diet, but I have never been accused of being on a low fat diet, so there.

This recipe started when I was watching TV the other night, and an idea for a dish to prepare for a client came into my head (we will cover that one on another day). I was thinking about the protein for the dish, and thought "wow, this would be nice with pork belly." This thought meandered to “wow, I would love some pork belly ravioli.” No one I know makes it, so I researched it and decided to just make a batch and see how it came out. The results were pretty damn good. The only down side was I knew this particular client would never approve the dish for their menu, but I ate well that night!

Orange Ginger Striped Bass with Roasted Zucchini

I have to say it has been a busy month for me. It is not the lack of ideas that has kept me from posting but the lack of spare time. I work full time as a sous chef and part time as a server at another restaurant. Minimum 45 hours a week at one restaurant and picking up shifts at the other can take a chunk of time out of your life. I try to fit in all of my other obligations, but my recreational activities can take a hit...namely recipe testing and posting. But I can say I am still on track to make at least one recipe post a week.

Just because I am not posting as much as I would like does not mean I am not working on the recipes though. Not including this one, I actually have three in the pipeline ready to go as I type this. But on to things more important than my bitching about following my dream....WHAT'S FOR DINNER?!?!?!?!

Striped Bass.
This is a mild flavored, firm but flaky fish. This being spring, although Texas seems to have forgotten this and as usual jumped straight to summer, I wanted to go with a light citrus flavor. While tasting oranges at my grocery store (yes my grocery store does have fruit samplings), I found the oranges were really amazing. These had that perfect balance of sweet and sour that immediately made me think of adding ginger to them. The flavors here will be mild so they won't overpower the natural flavor of the fish, which makes this a light and delicate meal.

Egg Waffles with Blackberry Honey Butter

So there I was minding my own business surfing around the internet. Just doing some random reading of different things, and I stumbled on something. These little things called Hong Kong Egg Waffles. I did some research and found that they are actually called gai daan jai or eggettes. Well they intrigued me to say least.

After some careful thought out and very well executed prodding from my buddy (spoiled brat), I did a search as to where I could find one of these egg waffle/eggette pans. Well low and behold, it turned out you could get one right around the corner at Williams-Sonoma. I decided to take the plunge "in the name of research" and just for the fun of it and to see what I could come up with. You know, I am taking one for the team here, suffering for you and my art, feel my pain!!

Basil and Panko Crusted Chicken with Angry Garlic and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs...why on earth would I choose to use what is considered to be such a lesser cut of meat to a chicken breast? Well it could be that the thigh, being dark meat from a flightless bird that spends its life wandering the ground looking for food, has more flavor. Maybe it is for the low cost that you can get a boneless chicken thigh compared to a boneless chicken breast. It very well could be that due to the size of a chicken thigh, it would be easier to control the portions and therefore our food intake.

While all three could be very good reasons to use the thigh, none of them are the reason I chose to use it here. The absolute honest truth is that, as stated before, I hate to waste food. When I buy chicken, I prefer to buy a whole chicken and break it down myself. It really only takes a few minutes, and there is a significant cost savings. For example, if I were to buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts at my local store, I would pay around $3.00 per pound. When I buy a whole chicken, I spend around $1.00 - $1.25 a pound. So I save a little money, and I have enough chicken for a few meals.

This also has to be good for the environment as well in some way. What!?!   
I care about that kind of stuff. No, I really do. Stop looking at me like that.

Mango Pico de Gallo with Mexican Chicken

After the Blueberry Pancake recipe, I had a request from Shannon for more chicken recipes, which, from my perspective, is humorous as I am teased by several people about eating too much chicken. I admit I go through phases, but I always return to the pork. Anyway, in response to Shannon's request, I have worked on a couple of recipes. I thought I'd share the first one today.

While working on this, I tried to keep in mind that you might actually want to spend some time with your family rather than the stove and oven. I've noted a time saving option for this recipe that will not impact the overall flavor too much.

I was originally planning on making this a pineapple pico, but the mangos looked really great at the store. They are usually in season in May and before that are usually hard and not nearly as sweet. I will pass them, pick up one or two to test, then put them back and just move along. Today though, when I picked them up, they did not feel like a baseball, but more like....well a mango. If the mangos do not look good, or are too expensive, you could go with pineapple or another tropical fruit. I have even considered trying to do a pomegranate pico, just have not seen any pomegranates that jump out at me screaming "PICK ME, PICK ME".

Razza con Peperoni e Finocchi Arrosti

I was talking to someone earlier today and told them I was going shopping for dinner. When they asked what I was cooking, I responded with "I honestly don't know. I will just look around till I get inspired." When the response I got was, "I guess that is the hard part about creating recipes for a blog, you know, trying to get inspired." I hung up and was left thinking...was that a challenge?

I headed to the store not really knowing what I was going to cook. All I did know was I was in the mood for some real food after the week I had been through. I can honestly say it did not take long after entering the store to decide what I wanted to cook though. I was taking a glance at the seafood counter, and while trying to decide between Chilean Sea Bass, Shrimp or Salmon, I saw it.

Ancho Rubbed Rib-eye with Cilantro "Blue-naise"

So, before we were so rudely interrupted by the Red Snapper, I was working on this recipe. I wanted to bring together some spice, blue cheese and the richness and lightness of a Bearnaise sauce. Figuring out the best way to bring these together was the tough part. I mean you can't just throw everything into the mix and see what happens. Most of the time you end up with something that is better suited for your dog, or at least your local group of ...umm...errr... "smokers" who don't really care what they are eating when the munchies are at that level where everything is the best thing they have ever eaten. I actually know one of those guys who enjoys telling me all about his latest creation of mixing together this box of hamburger helper with this box of tuna helper and telling me how I have to try it. I will stick to the Rib-eye. But I digress... By adding the ancho powder to the rub for the steak, I brought a little spice to this dish. Replacing the tarragon in the Bearnaise with cilantro and stirring in some young blue cheese melded the flavors nicely.

As for choosing a steak, if you are going to offer me my choice, I will take the Rib-eye. I personally don't feel the Fillet has the flavor or the texture that I want. A Rib-eye on the other hand, being marbled with fat, carries the flavors better and is a more moist cut of meat. That said, please feel free to use your favorite cut of meat for this recipe.