When we think Kansas City, we think ribs. Not barbeque or smoked meats generally, but ribs specifically. We’re not sure why, since we’ve never been there. Maybe it’s because Kansas City is renowned for slow-smoked meats finished with a tangy/sweet sauce, and ribs in particular are at their best when cooked via those methods. No matter the reason, we knew we would be cooking ribs in the smoker for the Steeler Opponent-City Challenge when the Steelers played the Kansas City Chiefs. And since Dan prefers to go Flintstones-style with quantity on the rare occasions we have ribs, we made them when my parents were in town for a weekend visit so we could share the smoky BBQ goodness. And my parents were gracious enough to don some Steeler garb for that weekend’s game and the S.O.C.C. feature photo (thanks guys!) While they are not die-hard Steeler fans per se, my parents are definitely big fans of their son-in-law (as he is of them) and were happy to support the team. And we were all super-fans of the delicious, mouth-melting Kansas City ribs. We didn’t as much enjoy the tough game the Steelers had against the Chiefs (even less so after Big Ben got hurt), but they managed a win nonetheless (in overtime, which is so not my favorite), bringing the current S.O.C.C. record to: Steelers 6-3, Foodie Lawyer 8-1
Category: Main Courses
New York Style Pizza
While the great City of New York boasts countless amazing restaurants and many diverse types of cuisine, the thin-crust pizza is ubiquitous there. From Famous Ray’s (not to be confused with (regular) Ray’s or Ray’s Original) to Lombardi’s to Grimaldi’s — with multiple locations of each throughout the city — it seems like you can get a decent slice on just about any block. So when the Steelers took on the New York Giants this week, homemade thin-crust pizza seemed like a natural choice for the Steeler Opponent-City Challenge. We’ve made homemade pizza dough before, but decided to consult our trusted source, Cook’s Illustrated, for a thin-crust pizza recipe that covered both the dough and the sauce. Although it wasn’t perfect (we might let the dough chill in the fridge for 2 days instead of 1 next time), the pizza was delicious and comparable to some we’ve had in NYC, so we consider it a win. The Steelers also won this week, bringing the S.O.C.C. record to: Steelers 5-3, Foodie Lawyer 7-1. It was far from a hollow victory — the Steelers battled the reigning Super Bowl champs, at the Giants’ home stadium, against several arguably unfair (so Dan tells me) referee calls and yet still won — but we nonetheless celebrate the win in a most humble and respectful way, mindful of Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath in New York and New Jersey. The people who have been affected will surely rally, rebuild their lives and recoup their losses, but it won’t be an easy or quick process (help if you can.) As much as we recognize and sympathize with the devastation, we believe in the resilience of the collective human spirit and in hope for new beginnings. And it is heart-warming to hear all the stories of people helping out so far — from the $23 million raised during the concert telethon, to the marathon runners putting their time to good use helping out in hard-hit Staten Island after the marathon was cancelled, to countless volunteers just showing up and asking what they can do to help. Even the Steelers did their part — flying in the morning of the game and foregoing hotel rooms for themselves so that rooms would be available for displaced New Yorkers in need. The Steelers may have beaten the Giants this week, but humanity wins overall when so many people — strangers, friends and family members alike — come together to take care of each other in the face of disaster. Well done.
Crispy Baked Wings in D.C. Mumbo Sauce
Wearing their “throw-back” jerseys, the Steelers played the Washington Redskins this week. Despite looking a bit like bumble bees dressed in prison inmate costumes (or maybe because of it), the Steelers made a strong showing and won with ease. Finding a culinary specialty from the D.C. area for the Steeler Opponent-City Challenge was not quite as easy. Our nation’s capital may be known for partisan politics, cherry blossoms and American monuments and memorials, but the district doesn’t seem to be famous for any particular food item or cuisine. After considering (and rejecting) an Obama vs. Romney favorite-food-face-off and briefly entertaining the culinary possibilities for donkey or elephant (not really), we settled on a D.C. “carryout” specialty — wings and “mumbo” sauce. According to our sources, D.C. has an abundance of Chinese carryout restaurants, and a staple of those eateries is a tangy, sweet sauce with a bit of spice that is typically served with fried chicken wings. A lot of our research described mumbo sauce as a cross between BBQ sauce and Chinese sweet & sour sauce, which didn’t really sound all that appealing at first. But we persevered and the mumbo sauce beat our expectations, much like the Steelers beat the heck out of the Redskins (unfortunate jerseys and all.)
Greek Panzanella
Sometimes a new recipe from a tried-and-true cookbook is a bit like the promise of a new day after a particularly trying one. Feeling confident that a dish is going to turn out delicious, even if you’ve never previously cooked it, can be as comforting as knowing that frustrations or disappointments of a previous day won’t seem nearly so grim after a good night’s sleep. We have that kind of confidence in Ina Garten’s recipes and cookbooks. The Barefoot Contessa knows her way around the kitchen, and she is often our go-to source when we want to try out a new recipe. This panzanella recipe is just one of many we have tried from her book, “How Easy is That?” and we have to say, not only is it pretty darn easy, but it’s addictingly good with fresh ingredients (rustic bread, cucumber, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion) and Greek flavors (olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, dried oregano, Dijon mustard, feta cheese and kalamata olives.) And just like that, we have a new favorite salad to add to our rotation.
Cincinnati Chili
When we saw the Steelers’ schedule and found out that they played the Cincinnati Bengals, we knew we would be making Cincinnati Chili for the Steeler Opponent-City Challenge. Cincinnati is famous for its chili — so much so that during the pre-game hoopla, they played a clip of this peculiar chili being spooned over spaghetti and hot dogs, we suspect from one of the most famous Cincinnati chili restaurants, Skyline Chili. Cincinnati chili is different than any other chili we’ve ever had, from the flavor (a mix of sweet, warm cinnamon, and spicy) to the way it is served, over spaghetti. We affectionately refer to this chili as “peculiar” without intending any offense — we liked the chili a lot, but initially had our doubts when we saw that the recipe we adapted called for boiling the ground beef and combining a pretty unusual mix of ingredients (e.g., cocoa powder and Worcestershire??) We had similar initial concerns about the football game (and Mike Wallace’s seeming inability to catch a pass), but both the chili and the Steelers ultimately turned out to be winners, bringing the current S.O.C.C. record to: Steelers 3-3, Foodie Lawyer 5-1.
Nashville Hot Chicken
In the Thursday game last week, the Steelers played the Tennessee Titans. Coming up with a food for which Tennessee is particularly well-known for the Steeler Opponent-City Challenge wasn’t easy. And apparently neither was playing the Titans, since the Steelers lost the game that they were heavily favored to win. Since the Titans play in Nashville, we focused our search on that city and discovered Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, which is famous for, you guessed it, their “hot chicken” — fried chicken sauced with a very spicy paste. Prince’s is also famous for the story behind the chicken. The current owner of Prince’s explains that she had a great-uncle who was quite the ladies’ man and once got caught by his live-in girlfriend after cheating on her with another girlfriend. To get back at him, the jilted girlfriend made him a breakfast of super spicy fried chicken. Her hot dish of revenge backfired, however, because he loved the chicken so much that he started serving it in his restaurant (and reportedly continued sleeping with other women.) The dish was a hit with the locals and became so popular that there is an annual city-wide festival and competition honoring it. Understandably, the actual recipe for Prince’s Nashville Hot Chicken is a closely-kept secret, but we found this recipe, which we adapted by using coconut oil instead of lard to make it a bit more healthy and about half the amount of cayenne pepper to make it tolerable for our delicate constitutions. Continue reading “Nashville Hot Chicken”
Shredded Pork Tostadas (w/ leftover pork)
Over the summer, we cooked an entire pork shoulder in the smoker, which resulted in a ton of delicious pulled pork, a lot of which we froze for later use. Always keeping an eye out for creative uses of leftover pork and other proteins (this sugo was a good one), we were excited to find a recipe using shredded pork in Cook’s Illustrated’s “Mexican Favorites” magazine. (What? You don’t get your thrills searching through magazines and cookbooks for innovative ways to transform leftovers into new dishes? Well then, you’re seriously missing out.) The original recipe calls for braising a pork roast with some onion, garlic, thyme and salt to make “tinga,” or Mexican shredded pork. Whenever we run out of leftover pulled pork (next year sometime?), we’ll try the tinga recipe, but until then, the smoky flavor of the pulled pork adapts well to the chipotle-infused tomato sauce for a flavorful tostada topping. In fact, we loved these tostadas so much that the next time we thaw some of our pulled pork, we’re going directly to this recipe. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not seek out other uses of pulled pork. Continue reading “Shredded Pork Tostadas (w/ leftover pork)”
Chicken Cheesesteaks w/ Chipotle Cheese Sauce
Following a bye-week, the Steelers played the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Despite being located in the same state, there is no love lost between these two cities and their football fans. Dan tells me that Eagles fans are so notoriously unruly that their former stadium actually had a jail and a courtroom in it, so that belligerent patrons could be dealt with immediately. Drunken violence zealous team support aside, Philadelphians know their way around a sandwich — specifically, the cheesesteak sandwich. Legend has it that the very first Philly cheesesteak was made by hot dog vendor Pat Olivieri in 1930, and became famous when a cab driver smelled the beef cooking, asked for a steak sandwich and spread the word to fellow cabbies. Although the original and truly authentic cheesesteak is made with beef, we decided to try a healthier adaptation using chicken for this week’s Steeler Opponent-City Challenge, inspired by the chipotle chicken cheesesteak from this sub shop. We used a chipotle cheese sauce also inspired by that sandwich, instead of the Cheese Whiz used in the authentic version. The chipotle adds a spicy, smoky flavor that takes the cheese sauce to a whole new level. Although different from the genuine Philly cheesesteak, we actually like the chipotle chicken version better. Much as we liked seeing the Steelers beat the Eagles with a field goal in the final 3 seconds of the game. Just don’t tell any over-served, hostile Eagles fans that our sandwich is better than theirs.
Continue reading “Chicken Cheesesteaks w/ Chipotle Cheese Sauce”
Breaded Pork Chops w/ Arugula Salad
We appreciate any recipe that incorporates a protein and a vegetable for a well-balanced meal in a single dish, especially on a weeknight. Although the combo of a protein and greens with a light vinaigrette isn’t all that original (we’ve made similar versions with beef, chicken and veal before), the components work well together, and when we find an easy, (relatively) healthy meal solution, we’re not afraid to run it into the ground by trying each and every possible variation. We found the original recipe in a magazine (“Glamour,” if you must know. So I should clarify that I found it, to preserve at least a little of Dan’s dignity) and adapted it slightly by using more shallot in the vinaigrette and adding tomatoes to the salad. We like how the arugula salad livens up the otherwise potentially plain pork and balances out the meal. And yes, I realize that this dish is basically just pork chops with a side salad, but combining the two in the recipe and on the plate fancies up the meal into more of a one-dish wonder, if you will. And we will.
Parchment-Roasted Fish
This fish dish is more technique than recipe. Mastering a few cooking techniques can really broaden your kitchen repertoire, perhaps more so than solely focusing on trying new recipes. Although I unfortunately couldn’t find the exact quote, Dan recalls hearing or reading an assertion from Chef Michael Symon concerning the importance of technique: Learn a recipe and you can cook 1 dish. Learn a technique and you can cook 100 dishes. Chef Symon’s premise rings true with this method of cooking fish. The first time we made it, we used this recipe from Ina Garten. We’ve made it about 4 different times now, varying the flavors and ingredients each time, but always achieving perfectly-cooked and delicious fish. The key is wrapping the fish (and whatever herbs or seasonings you want and/or thinly sliced veggies) drizzled with a little olive oil into a parchment-paper-package and baking it in the oven until the fish is cooked through — about 12-15 minutes (the perfect cooking time for this dish in our oven appears to be exactly 13 minutes.) And aside from being a foolproof method for properly cooking fish, the parchment package is an interesting way to serve the fish — almost like a present on a plate.