Wild Ginger

Good Shao Mai are a delicious treat and make a wonderful appetizer. Then can be made ahead and frozen for up to a month, but are best steamed after being freshly made. The filling here is enough for about 16 shao mai, so you may double or triple the recipe depending on whether you're cooking for dinner with the family or doing a tray of hors d'oevres for a party. You can buy round dumpling wrappers - alternatively, you can use the 3 inch wonton squares and cut them round with a cookie cutter.

PREPARATION

1. Mix all filling ingredients in medium bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes to let the flavors mingle. Refrigerate until ready to make dumplings.
2. Holding a wonton skin in the cup of your hand, place two rounded teaspoons of filling in the center. Cup your hand with the filling filled wonton in your palm. Gather the side of the wonton wrapper up around the filling, gently folding small pleats around the side, gently pressing into the filling and forming a cup shaped dumpling. This is an open topped dumpling - you don't need to gather the edges together and close at the top.
3. If you have a bamboo steamer and a wok, then put three inches of water in the bottom of the walk, place the steamer above it and boil the water in the wok. Cut rounds out of wax paper to fit your steamer and generously poke with holes for the steam to pass through. Alternatively, you could use the traditional Napa cabbage leaves instea of wax paper. Cover the wok and steam until the dumplings are cooked, about five minutes.
   
   If you don't have a wok and a steamer, use a collapsable vegetable steamer basket, liberally annointed with cooking spray so the dumplings won't stick. Fill a dutch oven or stew pos with enough water to come up almost to the bottome of the steamer basket - cover and steam.
4. Serve, with dipping sauces.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. ground pork (preferably corsely ground pork butt)
1 cup finely chopped scallions
3 TB soy sauce
1 TB grated fresh ginger
½ lb. Chinese Napa cabbage, finely chopped
1 1 lb. package of gyoza (round dumpling) wrappers
Soy- Ginger Sauce (see below)

PREPARATION
In a large bowl: combine the pork, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil and fresh ginger. Mix well.
Add cabbage and combine thoroughly.
Do not combine all at once - you should add cabbage after all other ingredients are combined.

Making the dumplings:

• Place one dumpling wrapper on flat surface and place one slight tablespoon of filling in the center.
• Moisten edges of the wrapper with a little water, then fold wrapper over the filling to form a half-moon shape.
• Pinch center together first, then stand the dumpling up on edge and pleat one of the sides of the half moon twice - halfway between the outer edge and the center. Pleat the other side in the same manner and leave the dumpling standing up.
• Stand the finished dumplings on a baking sheet lined with wax paper - do not allow the sides of the dumplings to touch or they will stick together.
• Repeat using the remaining wrappers and pork filling

The dumplings can be made in advance and frozen for up to a couple of months in double, ziplock freezer bags. But they are best if cooked immediately - either boiled or pan fried.

Serve hot with the Ginger Soy Sauce on the side.

GINGER SOY SAUCE
¼ cup soy sauce (preferably Chinese)
¼ cup Chinese black vinegar (you may substitute balsamic if you cannot find black vinegar)
2 TB water
1 TB fresh ginger, finely chopped or julienned

I'm not from the South, let alone the Carolinas, so you'd be excused for saying "What does that white boy know about pulled pork or barbecue?" But not being Japanese has'nt stopped me from wielding a sushi knife, so I'm boldly venturing here because slow cooked pork is proof that God did not abandon the South. Full credit goes to Elise Bauer whose Pulled Pork Sandwich recipe is the basis for my own. I took one of her other ardent reader's suggestions to slow cook the pork in dry heat with a rub before combing with the sauce because I love the crusty texture and more taste that imparts. The rub's my own, as is the addition of chipotle for a little more complex, smokey zing.

INGREDIENTS
Sauce
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 chipotle chili's, finely chopped (dried or from a can packed in adobo are both fine)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
½ cup ketchup
2 teaspoons soysauce
¼ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup water

Dry Rub for the Pork
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup paprika

3 - 3.5 lbs of pork butt, trimmed of excess fat
Sandwich rolls or hamburger buns buns

PREPARATION

• Mix the ingredients for the dry rub and apply to outside of the pork butt.
• Place in a slow oven (250°) for 2 ½ to 3 hours until exterior has developed a crust and the interior is falling apart tender
  Even better: do this on your barbecue
• Place onion, garlic, chipotles, tomato paste, mustard, vinegar,soy sauce, ketchup, paprika, brown sugar and water in a blender or food processor - puree until smooth.
• Put sauce into a large pot, add bay leaf and bring to to boil and leave to simmer on very low heat while the pork cooks. Reduce the liquid to half its original volume
• When meat is cooked tender and ready to fall apart, remove from oven (or barbecue) and let rest for 20 minutes. Shred pork into small pieces with two forks.
• Add the pork back to sauce, incorporate well, and cook until mixture has is as thick or thin as you like to put on a sandwich
• Liberally load up your sandwich roll or bun and enjoy.

If you're the type of American who believes Chile was invented in Texas, than this dish isn't what you're expecting and might prefer to call it "Meat in Red Chile Sauce". This is a more traditional Mexican recipe that uses pork, not beef and no beans or tomatoes. Just good, toasted chilis and meat simmered to perfection. This is a dish well served in a burrito or tamale or just served in a bowl with hot, fresh tortillas. Props to Rick Bayless from whom this recipe is shamlessly swiped and minimally altered.

INGREDIENTS
8 medium (about 2½ ounces total) dried chiles de teierra
     New Mexico or California chiles,stemmed, seeded and deveined
3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
½ medium white onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. cumin seeds (or a generous ½ tsp. ground)
1½ tbsp lard or vegetable oil
1½ lbs lean, bonelss pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ tsp salt or to taste

PREPARATION
The chiles
Heat a comal or heavy skillet over medium heat and tear the chiles into flat pieces. Toast them on the hot surface a few at a time, pressing them down firmly with a metal spatula for a few seconds until they crackle and change color (they should turn very dark, even near black). Then flip them over and press down for a few seconds more. Remove from comal or skillet and put in a bowl, covering with boiling water - make sure to weight them down to keep them submerged, soaking for half an hour, then drain and reserve 1 cup of soaking liquid.

The sauce
Transfer the chiles and reserved liquid to a blender jar, adding garlic, onion and oregeno. Pulverize the cumin seeds in a mortar or spice grinder and add to the chile mixture in the blender. Blend mixture until smooth, then strain through a medium mesh sieve or cheesecloth.

Frying the meat
Heat lard or oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Make sure the pork is dry (use a papertowel if necessary), then lay in the hot skillet in an single layer without crowding the meat - fry in batches if necessary. Fry until meat is browned, about ten minutes, turning and scraping the pan frequently.

Simmering and Finishing
Add the puréed chile mixture to the pan and continue to fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom frequently until the purée is thick and notabley darker than when you poured it into the pan.

Scrape the mixture into a medium-sized sauce pan, stirring in salt and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, partially cover and simmer over memdium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the meat is very tender; if the sauce thickens beyond the consistency of heavy cream, add a little more water. Taste for salt and add if necessary.

Serve with warm tortillas - I like to add freshly chopped white onion and cilantro as a topping, with a wedge of lime on the side.

If there's a basic toolkit for Mexican cooking, it contains basic red chile and green chile recipes. This one is about as simple as it gets for a chile verde. You could substitute a medium sized tomato for the tomatillos if you like (don't bother roasting them beforehand as you would the tomatillos) - different but acceptable for gringos.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. pork shoulder cut into 1-inch cubes
4 green chiles, peeled and chopped
     long green chiles, not Serrano.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tomatillos
1 cup boiling water
Salt & Pepper

PREPARATION
The Tomatillos
Peel the papery husks from the tomatillos, wash them and stem them and cut them into quarters. Heat a comal or heavy skillet on medium-high heat and place the tomatillos on the fully heated surface. Cook tomatillos pieces all all sides until each side gets black spots on them. Be careful not to cook so long that they get too squishy to remove with tongs. Take out of skillet and place aside.

The Chile
Sauté pork in oil until well browned. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of oil/fat. Heat again and add chopped chiles, garlic, onion cooking for about 1 minute. Add tomatillo pieces and water, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover tightly and simmer 1 hour.

Growing up in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains east of Los Angeles, I was close to the primarily Latino areas of Eagle Rock and Highland Park. My sensibilities about Mexican food are shaped by the latinos I grew up with and the small restaurants and food trucks operated by people largely from the Mexican states of Michoacan and Oaxaca. My favorite dish was tacos al pastor - a delicacy from Mexico City with recipes so prized and guarded, its taken a couple of decades to approximate what I've come to expect from carne al pastor.

In Mexico City, you'll find whole taquerias dedicated to al pastor which is cooked and served much like a gyro: A large mass of marinated pork is turned vertically on a rotisserie while it cooks, with pineapple atop the skewered meat. Displayed proudly to call in the customers, the meat is carved right off the rotisserie on to the tortilla, making a small two-bite soft taco served only with white onion, cilantro and a little pineapple to adorn it. Hot sauce, too, of course.

This is a very flavorful dish and worth the trouble of buying and preparing five different types of dried chiles and the achiote paste. If you have trouble finding these in your local market, they're readily available via mail order.

INGREDIENTS
3 California chiles
1 ancho chile
1 guajillo chile
1 cascabel chile
1 chile de árbol
1 bay leaf
¾ cup orange juice
¼ cup pineapple juice
1 tbsp white vingar
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
¾ tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp Mexican oregano
¼ teaspoon achiote condimentada (seasoned achiote paste - you want rojo not verde)
1 onion, sliced thin, divided
5 pounds boneless pork butt, cut into 8 chunks
½ pineapple, peeled, sliced ½ inch thick,and cut into quarters

PREPARATION

• Combine 5 cups of water, the California, ancho, guajillo and cascabel chiles, the chile de árbol and the bay leaf in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain the chiles, discard the bay leaf and remove and discard the stems and seeds of the chiles.
• Place the softened chiles in a food processor with the orange and pineapple juices, vinegar, cinnamon, sea salt, garlic, salt, pepper, garlic salt, oregano, achiote paste and half the onion. Pureé until smooth.
• Pour the marinade into a large resealable plastic bag, add the meat and toss to coat. Refrigerate 24 hours.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place half the pineapple in an even layer in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the pork on top, followed by the remaining pineapple and the remaining sliced onion. Cover with foil and roast until meat breaks apart with a fork, about 2 to 2 1/2hours. Remove the meat from the pan, discard the pineapple and set aside the pan juices.
• Put the meat on a rack in a baking pan, baste it with the pan juices and place under the broiler to crisp the edges of the meat, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook for a few more minutes.
• Remove the meat from the oven and let stand until cool enough to handle, then, with a fork, shred and pull it apart and place on a serving platter. Spoon pan juices over to moisten. Serve with corn tortillas and condiments, allowing everyone to make their own tacos.

I modified slightly this wonderful slow-cooked recipe from Gourmet magazine. The mellow heat of the chilies fit melodiously atop the harmony of the sweet maple syrup and lime, supported by the bitter undertones of coffee.

INGREDIENTS
2 dried ancho chiles (also known as pasillio chilies), stemmed, seeded, and ribs discarded
2 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded, and ribs discarded
2 cups boiling-hot water
1 medium onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo plus 2 tsp adobo sauce
2 tbsp and 1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp salt
6 lb beef short ribs (bone-in)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup brewed coffee

PREPARATION

Soak ancho chiles in boiling-hot water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain in a colander set over a bowl. Taste soaking liquid: It will be a little bitter, but if unpleasantly so, discard it; otherwise, reserve for braising. Transfer chiles to a blender and purée with onion, garlic, chipotles with sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Pat ribs dry and sprinkle with pepper and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown ribs in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer as browned to a roasting pan just large enough to hold ribs in 1 layer.

Carefully add chile purée to fat remaining in skillet (it will spatter and steam) and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add reserved chile soaking liquid (or 1 1/2 cups water) and coffee and bring to a boil, then pour over ribs (liquid should reach about halfway up sides of meat).

Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and braise ribs until very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Skim fat from pan juices. Serve ribs with pan juices.

Cooks' note:
Ribs improve in flavor if braised 2 days ahead. Cool completely, uncovered, then chill, ribs covered directly with parchment or wax paper and roasting pan covered with foil. Remove any solidified fat before reheating.

Makes 6 servings.

Pork with fruit is incredible and a perfect autumn dish. Lavender and thyme impart a light harmony to enhance the harmony of the pears, figs and citrus. Sever with autumn or winter vegetables. The ingredient list is long and it make look laborious, but this dish is fairly easy to put together and well worth the trouble.

INGREDIENTS
Mustard Spice Rub (recipe follows)
12 pork loin chops, 1 inch thick
Lavender lemon marinade (recipe follows)
4 firm but ripe Anjou pears, peeled, cored and cut into thick wedges
½ cup soft dried figs
½ cup sugar
1/3 pear nectar or apple juice
1 tsp dried thyme
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted

PREPARATION

• Prepare the spice rub and rub into the chops on both sides. Place in large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.
• Prepare the marinade. Measure out 1 cup of marinade and refrigerate until needed. Pour remainder over the pork and turn to coat all sides. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight turning the pork occassionally.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Transfer pork to a roasting pan large enough to hold the chops in a single layer; discard marinade. Surround the pork with the pears and figs. Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a chop registers 150-degreesF.
• Transfer pork and fruit to a platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Pour the pan juices into a small bowl and skim off any fat.
• Place sugar in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until sugar melts and becomes mahogany in color. Do not stir; just gently swirl the melted sugar in the pan to evenly color the syrup. (Caution: sugar syrup is very hot and can burn, so be careful)
• Whisk in the pan juices, pear nectar, thyme and the reserved 1 cup marindae. Whisk over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until reduced to a thick sauce.
• Pour sauce over the pork and sprinkle with almonds.

MUSTARD SPICE RUB
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp brown mustard seeds
1 ½ tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ tsp anise seeds
5-6 juniper berries

Toast cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder and add remaining spices. Pulse until freshly ground.

LAVENDER LEMON MARINADE
½ cupport wine
¼ cup lavender vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp grated orange zest
¼ fresh orange juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup finely choped shallot
6 slices Preserved Lavender Lemons (recipe below), finely chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp dried culinary "Provence" lavender buds, finely ground in a spice grinder
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients

PRESERVED LAVENDER lEMONS
8 large lemons
2/3 cup coarse sea salt
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp dried culinary 'Provence' lavender buds
Extra-virgin olive oil

• Bring large saucepan of water to boil over high heat. Prick the skins of the lemons 5-6 times with a fork. Add to sacuepan and boil for 5 minutes.
• drain and set aside until cool enough to handle. Cut the lemons lengthwise into quarters.
• In a small bowl, mix salt, sugar, garlic and lavendar. Start layering the lemon wedges in a wide mouthed 2-3 quart glass jar. Sprinkle each layer lightly with the salt mixture. press down lightly on the lemons and pour in enough olive oil to ocver them by ½ inch. Cover securely and refrigerate at least 3 days or up to 1 month before using.
• Store in refrigerator

Another gem from the Williams Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook that was a supper club hit. Cherie and I love the smokey, earthy flavor of chipotle and the extra hit of heat really makes the barbecue sauce.

INGREDIENTS
Chipotle Spice Paste
4 chipotle chiles, packed in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 ½ tbsp sweet Spanish paprika
1 ½ tbsp ground cumin
1 ½ tbsp dried oregano
1 ½ tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground cloves

Coarse salt
3 slabs baby back port ribs, about 6 lb total weight
1 cup store-bought mild barbecue sauce

PREPARATION
Spice Paste

• Combine all spice rub ingredients plus 2 teaspoons of the barbecue sauce in a food processor. Pulse until a smooth paste forms.
• Brush the paste over the ribs, coating them evenly on both sides. The ribs can be cooked now, or, for more intense flavor, cover them loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerator overnight.

Prepare the ribs

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. If the ribs have been refrigerator, remove them from the refrigerator 15 minutes before cooking.
• Place the ribs in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, overlapping them slightly if needed. Roast, turning occasionally, until tender, about 2 hours. (The ribs can be prepared up to this point a day in advance, covered, and refrigerated. Bring the ribs to room temperature before continuing.)
• Prepare a charcoal or gar grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Oil the grill rack and position it about 6 inches from the heat source.
• Brush the ribs with ½ cup of the barbecue sauce.
• Grill the ribs, turning once, until heated through, about 5 minutes on each side.
• Transfer the slabs to a cutting board and cut into 1-rib portions.
• Arrange the ribs on a platter, brush with the remaining ½ cup barbecue sauce, and serve at once.