Love2Chow

Cookbooks

Riffing the Cauliflower Steak: Restaurant Cooking at Home

October 25, 2020

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Fall Foliage at the PA Grand Canyon (Pine Creek Gorge)

October 19, 2020

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Shortcut Pork Ramen: One Pork Shoulder, Many Meals

September 03, 2020

Pork shoulder has got to be one of my favorite cuts of meat. It is the starting point for Chinese char siu bbq pork, Mexican carnitas, Carolina bbq and other forms of pulled pork and a variety of stews. Even after all the meat has been enjoyed, a rich broth made from frozen bones, mushroom stems and onion scraps yields another round of deliciousness. With the help of an Instant Pot, I've developed a simple version of chashu pork ramen, complete with marinated ramen eggs and a flexible array of vegetable toppings.

Pork ramen dinner#1 with marinated eggs, pickled ginger, crispy button mushrooms, zucchini/onions and Shanghai bok choy sum

Chashu pork is a Japanese adaptation of the Chinese char siu 叉燒 barbecue pork. The Chinese version yields crisp, succulent browned chunks of meat in a sweet-salty glaze. It is quick to cook, adaptable for indoor broiling or outdoor grilling. In contrast, the Japanese version of chashu consists of slow braised, melt-in-your-mouth slices of fatty pork flavored with soy sauce, sake and sugar. Traditionally, chashu takes a long time to make, marinating in sauce overnight after being braised for a few hours. It forms a succulent topping for springy golden ramen noodles in a rich broth.

At the beginning of the pandemic shutdown, I was able to get a fresh 10-pound pork shoulder, cut in half, from Goodness Grows Farms. We have, thus far, enjoyed multiple dishes made from one of the halves, ranging from a saucy stir-fry served over crisp noodle cakes to cellophane noodles, sticky rice or homemade broad rice noodles enriched with char siu pork. With the shoulder bone, combined with a prior bone from making char siu pork, I was able to make enough stock to support several rounds of ramen, each time with slightly different toppings.

Ramen Dinner 2. Freshly fried pork cracklings, mushrooms, chashu pork, pickled ginger and leftover vegetables from the night before.

The stock is best made the day before, so that you can skim the flavorful fat from the top for other uses. I decided to apply the marinade for the ramen eggs to the meat removed from the soup bones after the stock was made, as the ingredients are similar to those used for braising chashu. This worked amazingly well! On the day of serving, you can prepare the other toppings and season the broth in advance. When ready to serve, simply cook the noodles, and heat the broth to a boil before assembling the most delicious ramen bowls!

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Carefree Basil Eggplant 九層塔茄子 and Beyond

August 13, 2020

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Laurel Highlands PA

Kayaking the Yough, Ice Cream Cupcakes & the NEOWISE Comet

July 19, 2020

Getting out on a river -- the perfect activity for a hot summer day. It's a great way to get together with friends for a mini-"corona-cation" break. As the typical kayak paddle is 7-8 feet wide, you are naturally spaced out. The fresh air, blue sky, tree-lined slopes, waterfowl (and occasional adrenaline-rush as cooling waves come crashing into your lap) truly serve to lift the spirits. And in lieu of the more social post-river ice cream tradition, coming back to homemade ice cream cupcakes, followed by a nap and some comet gazing, is almost as good.

Map showing named rapids in blue (maroon dots). Red dots show where we pulled off to watch for our group coming through the rapids.

Working and living with coronavirus-mandated social isolation has inspired many people to refine their cooking skills, leading to a delicious gain in confidence. I never would have thought it would be so easy making restaurant-worthy dishes such as Malaysian Turmeric Salmon, free-form vegetable tarts (crostada or galettes), General Tso's cauliflower, Chinese barbecue pork, Hot & Sour soup, deep dish pizza or Dan-dan noodles. Gordon Ramsey's basic and elevated MasterClass lessons played through my mind while improvising, adapting and using every scrap of food to create beautiful and delicious dishes such as harissa-spiced cauliflower or clean-out-the-fridge veggie pasta basted in browned butter.

Ice cream cupcake, iced with two frostings. Jump to Recipe.

Yet worrying about friends and family, and not being able to easily interact with parents and grandparents can really get you down, especially after canceling spring break and summer vacation plans. Fortunately, with the long summer days capped by pleasantly warm evenings, there are many outdoor opportunities for exercise, recreation and just enjoying the natural beauty of our world. Nothing beats getting outside, soaking in the sun and appreciating glimpses of wildlife, while enjoying the desultory breezes, green hills and flowing water.

Stargazing on a warm summer night

The Youghiogheny River in southwestern Pennsylvania offers something for everyone, from placid float trips to advanced whitewater, and everything in between. The river extends 134 miles from West Virginia through Maryland to Pennsylvania, before joining the Monongahela River that runs south of Pittsburgh.

The rapids are most difficult in the Maryland portions of the Yough. In Pennsylvania, the Lower Yough downstream of the famous Class IV Ohiopyle Falls, is the most popular stretch of whitewater east of the Mississippi. There have been a few deaths on this Class III section of river, most often at Dimple Rock, so selecting a responsible outfitter is important. Further downstream, near Connellsville, the river is placid, without rapids, and good for float trips.

For our day trip, we selected the Middle Yough, a 9-10 mile stretch from Confluence to Ohiopyle. Water flow is controlled by dam release upstream from Confluence, PA, and conditions can vary depending on river height. So do check the gauge before setting out. The river was at 2.8 feet for our trip. It was a sunny, cloudless day, with a high temperature of 97°F.

Upstream of Ramcat

Just downstream of Confluence, PA, the Ramcat boat access point in Ohiopyle State Park features an ample parking area with men's and women's outhouse restrooms. After crossing the bike trail, we carried our kayaks down the ramp to a nice shady, beach-like launch site. We were among the last members of our group of 9 adults plus 2 dogs to push off. We paddled across to the right half of the river in preparation for our first challenge: the Ramcat rapids.