This week the Steelers took on the Oakland Raiders. Oakland doesn’t really have a particular food for which it is known (at least not that we could find), but since it is located in Northern California, we decided to look to that region for a cuisine to cook in this week’s Steeler Opponent-City Challenge (S.O.C.C.) When we think Northern California, we think about our trip to Napa, where we discovered the world’s greatest tri-tip sandwich (among other amazing food.) We’ve grilled tri-tip before (the classic Santa Maria style), but wanted to try a new recipe this time. Not so coincidentally, I found this recipe after searching the Internets for Oakland Raider tailgate food. We adapted the marinade by using red wine and orange slices for sangria-esque flavor instead of sangria, and we reduced the quantities since we were using about 2 pounds of tri-tip to feed 2 people, rather than 18 pounds of meat for 54 servings as contemplated in the original (tailgate) recipe. Aside from doing the math to reduce the marinade ingredients, the second most difficult aspect of this recipe is having to wait to eat it. We marinated the tri-tip for about 18 hours (it doesn’t need to marinate that long, but at least for a few hours), and it was hard to be patient after smelling the marinade ingredients mixed together: red wine, soy sauce, jalapeno, shallot, garlic, ginger and orange slices. These components combine well to impart complex flavors to the beef — a nicely pungent heat from the jalapeno, shallot and garlic; some saltiness from the soy; richness from the wine; and bright freshness from the ginger and orange. The marinade would be just as good with other cuts of beef too (top sirloin, london broil or flank steak maybe) if you can’t find tri-tip, which can be costly and/or difficult to find outside Northern California. The key is the delicious marinade. Much like the key to the Raiders’ win this week was the field goal in the final seconds of the game (sad face.)
Category: Main Courses
Orecchiette w/ Pulled-Pork Sugo (w/leftover pulled pork)
“Sugo” means sauce. Cooking an entire pork shoulder on the smoker means a lot of leftover pulled pork. Combining the two and adding veggies and delicate, ear-shaped pasta seemed like a pretty good idea. So we adapted this recipe and were delighted by the resulting dish that is reminiscent of bolognese, but with different texture and more smoky barbeque flavor. We also appreciated how easy it was to make — especially using leftover pulled pork (although the original recipe includes instructions for roasting the pork if you don’t have any leftovers) — with basic ingredients: onion, celery, carrot, garlic, dried oregano, tomato paste, white wine, chicken broth, cannellini beans, cider vinegar, a bay leaf and orecchiette pasta (you could use other types of pasta, but the little orecchiette cups soak up the sauce really well.) As delicious as pulled pork is on its own, we really liked the flavor and texture that the shredded pork brought to this unique pasta dish.
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Manhattan Clam Chowder
The Steelers played the New York Jets this week. Continuing with our Steeler Opponent-City Challenge (“S.O.C.C.” for short), it was a little daunting to try to pick a dish indigenous to New York, a city known for its food and diversity of cuisine. When we think New York, no singular food automatically comes to mind. The city has entire neighborhoods centered around different types of cuisine, from all over the world. Ultimately, we decided to go with a dish that purportedly originated in New York, and is named after its oldest, and perhaps most well-known borough. Not to be confused with its creamy cousin from New England (hmmmm, do the Steelers play the Patriots this season??), this version of clam chowder has a clear broth base, with tomatoes to provide its signature red color. Famed chef and food writer James Beard supposedly once characterized this version as “that rather horrendous soup called Manhattan clam chowder . . . resembles a vegetable soup that accidentally had some clams dumped into it.” We respectfully disagree. Although we were initially a lot more familiar with the New England style of chowder (and like it very much), we found the Manhattan chowder to be equally good in its own way, with sweetly rich tomato flavor balanced out by the salty clams. Just as there are die-hard fans of particular football teams, there are people who likely side with Chef Beard in their unwavering preference for New England clam chowder versus the Manhattan version. But we feel there is room for both in our little food world. (Unlike our feelings for other teams in our little football world — suck it Jets, Steelers win!)
Grilled Bison Steaks w/ Cabernet Sauce
If you’ve spent any time at all around this little blog, you probably know that Dan is a die-hard, life-long fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Football season is his favorite time of year, and after growing up in Central Pennsylvania and graduating from the University of Pittsburgh Law School, he bleeds black and yellow. Sadly, he married an apathetic-at-best football “fan” who has been known to refer to football season as “shopping season.” In my defense, I do wear Steeler garb on Game Days (as long as it’s cute) and I “watch” the games (while multi-tasking with magazines and/or blogging and/or online shopping and/or doing my nails) to support the Team. In an effort to get me at all more interested in football, we decided to try something new this year: The Steeler Opponent-City Challenge. For as many weeks as we can manage, we’re going to cook something from the city or region playing against the Steelers that week. To begin the season, the Steelers played the Denver Broncos. The first Denver-indigenous food that came to mind (after granola) was bison. We decided to try bison steaks, fancied up with a red wine sauce, just in case we didn’t like the bison as much as we like beef steaks. Turns out that the grilled bison was really good on its own, but the sauce was also decadently delicious and would taste great with beef steaks or other proteins as well. Win-win. (Unlike the outcome of the Steeler game against the Broncos, unfortunately.)
Crispy Beef Tacos
Living in Texas, we appreciate a really good beef taco. Until recently, however, we didn’t bother trying to make them at home, believing that the home-cooked version couldn’t possibly be as good as the tacos we get at our favorite Tex-Mex joints. Turns out we were quite mistaken. We found a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated that is even better than what we had previously considered the best tacos around. Although these tacos require more ingredients and steps than the home version made with the store-bought flavor packet, the beefy end result is well worth the (minimal) extra effort.
Update: We’ve made these tacos with ground turkey (93% lean) instead of beef, and honestly cannot tell the difference. So if you’re craving beef tacos, but trying to eat less red meat, this is the recipe for you.
Smoked Pulled Pork
Anyone else feel a little nostalgic this time of year? The beginning of a new school year signals the end of summer, even while temperatures remain hot and sunny days abound. Although we have long since outgrown the months-free, schools-out summer vacations we enjoyed as kids, summer’s end brings a sense of wistful yearning for those long, lazy days. The upcoming Labor Day 3-day-weekend is an excellent time to bid farewell to summer with cooking that epitomizes the season: low and slow barbeque. Transforming a giant slab of meat into tender morsels of smoky pork perfection is just reward for the 20 or so hours it takes to get there, and is a fitting ode to the warmest season with the longest days of the year. We adapted this recipe, and highly recommend the dual seasoning techniques of injecting the meat and applying a dry rub prior to smoking. No matter your personal barbeque style, cook some meat over open flame or coal at the lowest temperature you can go, take your time to get it done, and enjoy the heck out of your Labor Day weekend.
Slow-Cooker Japanese Pork and Ramen Soup
The dog days of summer can also be the dog days of television. With many of our favorite shows on haitus or running seemingly endless re-runs, “there’s nothing to watch” is a common refrain around our house these days. When all else fails, we can almost always count on Anthony Bourdain’s show “No Reservations” for entertainment, even when it’s an episode we have previously seen, and especially when it involves one of Bourdain’s trips to an Asian country. Of all the different cuisines from all over the world featured on the show, it’s the noodle bowls from Asian regions that always seem most appetizing. With rich steaming broth, thin slurp-worthy noodles, succulent pork (or other protein) and fresh indigenous greens and vegetables, watching Bourdain enjoy the heck out of these noodle bowls like it’s his job (it is!) always makes us want to travel immediately to that location and eat what he’s eating. In the meantime, we’ll make do with this substitute, adapted from a recipe in the book “Slow Cooker Revolution.” It’s easy to make with the following ingredients — onion, garlic, ginger, chicken broth, shiitake mushrooms, pork, ramen noodles, white miso, soy sauce, mirin (rice wine), sesame oil, spinach, green onions and sesame seeds — and consuming it involves zero jet lag.
Skillet Fajitas
Sometimes you feel like a meal with grilled meat flavor, but don’t feel like grilling. Or you’re all set to grill, only discover that the propane tank for your gas grill is empty (or maybe that’s just us?) Perhaps you don’t have the time it would take to heat up the charcoal for a charcoal grill. Whatever the reason, this recipe is a quick and easy way to come close to that cooked-over-open-flame taste, with no grilling required. Befitting its speedy preparation, the recipe comes from the Cook’s Illustrated book “The Quick Recipe” and uses just a few simple ingredients: skirt (or flank) steak, salt & pepper, cumin, lime juice, vegetable oil, red bell pepper and onion, with tortillas and garnishes of your choice for serving the finished fajitas.
Olive-Oil Baked Shrimp
To keep our weekly menus from becoming boring or routine, we’re always keeping an eye out for good, new-to-us recipes, from a variety of sources. One surprising (to me anyway) place where we’ve found several great dishes is People Magazine. I’m sure someone out there will poke fun (you know who you are), but I’m not afraid to admit that I am a subscriber to People and have been for years. I’m not trying to say I subscribe to People just for the recipes (the magazine also features reliable reviews of books, music and shows, human interest stories, and of course, celebrity photos and gossip), but every couple of months I find a recipe there that looks interesting enough to tear out and save in our “to try” recipe folder. Given how much we love shrimp and how often we eat it, the magazine page with this recipe (by former Top Chef winner Hung Huynh) didn’t sit in the folder long before we tried it and loved it. We adapted it a bit by adjusting the seasonings and cooking time, but were quite pleased with the buttery (without actually using butter), fresh and slightly spicy end result that was super easy and quick to prepare. And speaking of easy, I’ll save you the trouble of composing your own joke by freely admitting that yes, I do happen to glean much of my knowledge of current events via E! News. You’re welcome.
Zucchini and Feta Fritters
This was our first foray into fritters, and we felt they turned out fairly well. If you’re not familiar with them, fritters are basically flattened little patties held together with egg and flour and flavored with various main ingredients (depending on the type of fritter) such as corn, apple or, in this case, zucchini. Adding feta cheese, dill and green onions gives a little flair to the fritter flavor with a bit of tang and bite. Fast, easy to make and relatively healthy, zucchini fritters are a fun, filling, meat-free alternative main course — especially in summer, when you might be feeling like having lighter fare than you would during the more frigid months of the year.