Brunswick Stew

Growing up in the South I have always had a love for Brunswick Stew. The mix of barbecued chicken, pork, & beef mixed with corn, tomatoes, and lima beans just can't be beat. If you've never had Brunswick Stew from a deep south BBQ joint you are truly missing out. This recipe is my attempt to match come as close as possible to the Brunswick Stew at your favorite BBQ joint. It's easy and delicious!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 - 6 hours
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 can BBQ pork
1 can BBQ beef
2 (16 oz) packages of Lloyds BBQ (pork, chicken, or beef; use any combination you please).
1 can creamed corn
1 can white shoepeg corn
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cups lima beans
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Turn the heat to low and cook for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally. (Yes that is all the instructions... incredibly easy right?!?) 

Serve with corn bread and a large glass of sweet tea! And there you have it, a true southern classic!

'Til next time,
Caroline  

Pork Chile Verde

For quite some time I have been wanting to make some Pork Chile Verde. It's a dish that originally stems from New Mexico and is quite delicious if I must say so. It can be served on it's own, over herbed rice, in a taco, on top of enchiladas... and the list goes on and on. Much like traditional chili, it is extremely versatile. I found this recipe on Food Network. After reading over the reviews and making a couple changes of my own, this is the resulting recipe.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 4 1/2 hours
Serves: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
4 lb. pork butt or shoulder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
flour for dredging
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 yellow onions
2 green bell peppers
3 poblano peppers
3 jalapeños 
3 garlic cloves
1 1/2 lbs. tomatillos
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil, place 3 onions chopped into 1 inch pieces, garlic cloves, green bell peppers cut in half, jalapeños, poblano peppers, and whole peeled tomatillos (Note: I used about 3 roasting pans for this). Once the oven has preheated, place vegetables and peppers in the oven for 30 - 45 minutes. Stir and rotate the peppers and vegetables every 10 - 15 minutes to ensure that they are evenly roasted. Set vegetables and peppers aside once roasted. 

While the vegetables and peppers are roasting, cut the pork into 1-inch bite-sized pieces, making sure that you are removing as much fat as possible. This is the slightly tedious step of the recipe. The more fat you remove here though, the less likely you are to get a fatty piece of pork when you eat the Pork Chile Verde. And nobody wants that! 

After the pork is cut, season it with salt and pepper and lightly dredge it with flour. You will probably use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour depending on the amount of pork you end up with. 

In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Brown pork on all sides in skillet, cooking them in small batches. Set aside once pork has browned. 

While pork is cooking, place onions and garlic in a food processor and pulse them 4-5 times. You want them to be a small dice but not a puree. Set onions and garlic aside. Remove the skin from the tomatillos and place them in the food processor. Puree until smooth. 

Chop roasted bell peppers and poblano peppers into 1 inch bite-sized pieces. Dice roasted jalapeños into a fine dice.

Combine roasted onions, garlic, tomatillos, and peppers in a large stock pot and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Next, add the pork, chicken broth, and spices into the stock-pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer Pork Chile Verde uncovered for 2-3 hours until the pork is fork tender, stirring occasionally. Note: If the Pork Chile Verde starts to get too thick, cover it for the last hour of cooking.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe!

'Till next time,
Caroline

Wonton Soup

Thinking back on some of the best soups that I have ever had, I was taken back to my family's vacation this past summer to Montreal, Quebec. While there, we had dinner at an adorable little Chinese restaurant. Tucked away in the heart of the city I ordered one of the best Wonton Soups that I've ever had. The broth was full of flavor and the wontons were tender and perfect! 

Trying to replicate this wonton soup, I searched the web and some of my favorite blogs for an authentic wonton soup. I stumbled upon Joy Zhang's blog joylicious. Joy was born in Shanghai, China and raised in Houston, Texas. Her beautiful blog showcases her Mother's Wonton Soup recipe. This recipe is as authentic as they come. It is so full of flavor and steaming the wontons gives them the perfect texture without overcooking them.  

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. raw shrimp, shelled and divined

1 lb. ground pork

1 package wonton wrappers

1 egg white

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 teaspoon fresh ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

----

10 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1 teaspoon salt

green onions and cilantro for garnish  

Remove wonton wrappers from their package and wrap in a moist towel and set aside. This will help to ensure that the wrappers do not dry out. Wash the shrimp and then dry with a paper towel. Coarsely chop the shrimp. In a medium sized bowl, mix together shrimp, ground pork, egg white, corn starch, sesame oil, salt, rice wine, 1 teaspoon minced ginger, and sugar. 

Place 1 teaspoon of the pork and shrimp mixture in the middle of the wonton wrapper. Any more than 1 teaspoon will make it difficult to fold the wonton. Dip your finger in water and trace the border of the wrapper. This water will act as a glue when you fold it to hold the wrapper together. Fold the wrapper in half and press down the edges. Fold the wonton in half again. Pinch the middle of the wonton and bring the end pieces of the wrapper together. 

Place the wontons in a bamboo steamer on top of lettuce or cabbage leaves. The lettuce or cabbage prevents the wontons from sticking to the bamboo. You can also use parchment paper. Make sure you leave enough room around the edge of the bamboo steamer so that the steam will be able to circulate and cook the wontons.

Fill a large skillet or saucepan with enough water to fill the skillet about 1-2 inches. I used between 2 to 3 cups of water. Place the bamboo steamer in the pan and turn the heat to high. Make sure that your water when boiling does not hit the wontons. You only want to steam them and not boil them. Steam the wontons for 10 minutes. 

*If you don't have a bamboo steamer you can boil the wontons in 5 cups of water for about 5 minutes.

While the wontons are steaming, combine chicken broth, white pepper, salt, and sesame oil in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Add cooked wontons to your soup bowl and pour hot broth over them. Garnish with green onions and cilantro. 

I hope you enjoy this wonderful soup! You can find Joy's original blog and recipe here. 

'Till next time,

Caroline