Category Archives: Pork

Fusilli with Italian Tuna, Nduja and Spinach

Diane

New Year’s Day Tradition

Hi Everyone,

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After Bob and I spent New Year’s Day out and about in the beautiful 53-degree weather (unheard of in the Northeast in January), we came home and had our traditional Italian “good luck” foods to bring in the first day of the new year.

The Italian food tradition for Good Luck in the New Year all comes down to eating lentils and some sort of pork product. Pigs symbolized prosperity so my family would eat “cotechino” which is a traditional pork product for this holiday.

Cotechino is an Italian, large pork sausage requiring slow cooking. Usually, it is simmered at low heat for several hours. It is made from pork, lard, and other spices but was never a favorite of mine because it is very fatty.

This is what cotechino looks like if you have ever seen it in a grocery store or Italian butcher and wondered what it was.

New Year Traditions Italy — **Courtesy of google.com**

As I said, not a favorite of mine so I substituted it with another pork sausage- this time a pork sausage ring mixed with cheese and parsley as the spices.

I roasted the pork sausage with red grapes- a fabulous combination. A fantastic recipe was given to me by my friend Marie Renello (from Proud Italian Cook- great website, check her out ). She is a fabulous chef and I will post her recipe below.

Lentils are the next good luck food and they are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity so we had our traditional lentils & honestly, I love this dish so much, I could easily eat it every day (recipe below).

The shape of lentils represents a coin and they say that each lentil is a penny so the more you eat the more money comes your way. In addition, I added broccoli rabe (spinach can be substituted) which also brings good luck and prosperity because it is the green color of money.

I made lentils this year with another pork product for extra good luck and that is pancetta made from pork belly.

Not to be confused with prosciutto which is made from the hind leg. Pancetta is similar to bacon but is not smoked.

There are a few other traditions that we followed.

On New Year’s Day, Italians make sure they start the new year right by having some money in their pocket or wallet. This tradition is based on superstition.

Apparently, if you leave home with money in your pocket on the first day of the year, you’ll always have something in your pocket to spend every day of the year.

My grandmother would give each of her grandchildren five dollars on New Year’s Eve to carry in our wallets. She wanted to make sure we had enough cash in our wallets at all times.

I know it sounds odd but even today after all the years that have passed since grandma gave us cash on New Year’s Eve, I always tuck the New Year’s Eve money in a compartment in my wallet and I call it the “emergency fund”. I make sure Bob and my son still have extra cash in a compartment in their wallet for their emergency fund and we carry it for the entire year. Some family traditions just don’t go away even after years and years.

The next tradition that we followed when my grandmother was alive was to ” Frighten away spiteful spirits”.

Some Italian families have fireworks for this reason (especially true in Naples, Italy where my maternal side is from). Instead of fireworks, we went out into the streets in front of our homes banging pots and pans with wooden spoons to scare away evil and spiteful spirits that were supposed to be lurking in the shadows during the transition from the old year to the new year.

As children, we loved to just make lots of noise and not get in any trouble for 20 minutes or so (it helped that grandma was front and center)….ahh, the good old days.

The last tradition that was introduced to us as children by my grandmother was to wear red undies on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck to you for the full year to come.

I had to research the reason behind this (courtesy of google) because grandma stopped at “it brings good luck”.

“Lots of market stalls and shops in Italy sell red underwear on the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Apparently, in order to get the most out of this good fortune, Italians only wear red underwear on December 31st.”

“For the red underwear to be really lucky, it should only be worn on NYE and thrown out the next day. The reason behind this New Year’s tradition dates back to the ancient Romans who wore red tunics during battle which represented blood and strength and instilled fear in their enemies”.

I know there are so many more Italian traditions but these are the traditions that my family practiced.

Have a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous Year with all the Good Fortune your heart can hold…. and thank you for being so supportive of my blog all year. I love sharing recipes, stories, and life’s ups and downs with you. Enjoy the recipes…

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Italian Sausage with Grapes

courtesy of Marie Renello from Proud Italian Cook

Ingredients

1 lb. Italian sausage, sweet or hot, good quality with fennel spice kept in a ring or rope style
red seedless grapes, 2 to 3 cups, stems removed, rinsed, dried, and left whole
sprigs of thyme
olive oil

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Skewer your rope of sausage together using 1 skewer through one end and out the other so it stays held together while cooking.
Heat a 10 or 12-inch oven-proof skillet, medium-high, drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan.
Add sausage ring and don’t move it until it forms a nice deep golden color, then flip it over carefully and continue cooking for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and sprinkle grapes around, be careful not to crowd them in because as they cook they release their juice, and if you have too many it becomes too liquidy and all will not caramelize like it should. I would say a good rule of thumb is to leave some space between the placing of your grapes.
Drizzle with olive oil and scatter some fresh thyme leaves around.
Place the whole pan into the oven, uncovered to finish cooking the sausage, ( keep checking for doneness, it depends on thickness) during the process your grapes will wrinkle and begin to release their juices.

Lentils

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 medium red onion, chopped

3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 (14 ½ oz.) can of diced tomatoes with their juices

1 bag of lentils (usually 16 oz.)

8 cups low sodium chicken broth (2 boxes) or homemade broth

4- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup grated cheese

Cooks Note: I always make lentil soup when I have the bone of a spiral ham. You could use a ham hock, bacon, or pancetta, or skip this ingredient entirely.

Directions:

Sort lentils for any stones, rinse with cold water – set aside
Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. If you are using the pancetta render the pancetta in the pan and then remove and set aside.
Add the red onion, celery, carrots, and a pinch of salt to sweat the vegetables.
After 2-3 minutes add the garlic and pinch of red pepper and sauté until all the vegetables are tender about 5-8 minutes
Add the tomatoes with their juices
Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes
Add the lentils and mix well to coat. Sauté 1-2 minutes
Add the broth, bay leaf, thyme springs
Bring to a boil over high heat
Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes
Discard the bay leaf and add the pancetta back to the pot.
Add salt and pepper and taste for seasonings
When serving, you can drizzle the soup with a little olive oil and serve it with grated cheese

Cook’s Note– salt the lentils at the end of cooking, rather than the beginning, so that they don’t remain hard.

I **************************

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs & Patriotic Pasta Salad

Diane

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Escarole, Beans and Pork Spareribs

2 Replies

Hi Everyone,

We had very odd weekend weather here in the Northeast this weekend. It was sunny and 60 degrees on Saturday and then it was 30 degrees and snowing on Sunday. It made you want to have ice cream in the park one day and then the next day crave warm comfort food.

Well, I chose one of my favorite comfort foods for Sunday and the cold weather and it was an Italian peasant dish that my mother used to make quite a lot when I was a child. It’s “escarole and beans” and you have probably tried it or have at least seen the dish on an Italian restaurant menu.

The escarole is wilted in chicken stock and garlic and cannellini beans are added with lots of grated cheese. It can be made a little spicy with the addition of red pepper. My mother used to make this dish quite often and on occasion added pork spareribs.

I found the most beautiful pork spareribs at my local butcher and this dish came to mind immediately. And the escarole I bought was beautiful and organic and I was all set. I had all the other ingredients I needed in my pantry at home.

It turned out to be a great Sunday meal and I served it with grilled olive bread (ciabatta would be perfect as well). I suggest you give this recipe a try on a cold day.

Escarole and Beans with Pork Spareribs – 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. pork spareribs (St Louis or country style)
1 quart of chicken stock (homemade or low sodium boxed)
1 medium yellow onion – diced
3-4 cloves of garlic -minced
2-4 tbsp olive oil– (enough to cover the bottom of the pot).
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 lbs. of escarole or 2 medium heads (it will shrink)
2 (14 oz) cans of cannellini beans (I prefer low sodium) – drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste
1/8 tsp of red pepper flakes or Calabrian chili paste (optional)
Parmesan rind (optional)

Directions:

In a large pot, coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil and brown the spareribs. Add chopped onions and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes or Calabrian chili paste plus a pinch of salt and sauté for a minute or two.

Add the tomato paste and sauté or toast it for a minute in the pan before mixing it well with the garlic.

Add the broth, cheese rind (if using), garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook on medium heat (partially covered) for 45 minutes to 1 hour to braise and tenderize the spareribs.

In the meantime, thoroughly wash the escarole (it can be very dirty and I wash it twice in water and baking soda than a good rinse). Cut the escarole into large pieces.

Add the escarole to the broth and cook until the escarole wilts to your liking (some like it with a little crunch some like it completely soft- your choice). Add another pinch of salt.

Stir in the beans (1 ½ cans whole and ½ can mashed) * you can mash by hand or in the food processor.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes

If extra liquid is needed, add a little more broth and let the flavors blend for a few minutes stovetop. Adjust seasonings.

Serve with a drizzle of more olive oil over each serving, add grated cheese and more red pepper flakes (optional).

In addition, serve this with a little grated cheese and grilled ciabatta bread to dunk in the broth.

Enjoy every bite…

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Please ask your family and friends to “follow”, “like” “share” and JOIN DishingwithDiane.com

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…

Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers

Diane

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Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers & Potatoes

1 Reply

(Click PHOTO to enlarge and then back arrow to return to original size).

Hi Everyone,

Here is another recipe that was requested from DishingwithDiane’s Instagram page.

When I was a child, my mother would make this dish for the family and I absolutely loved it. I think I was the only 10 year old that loved vinegar.

This dish is fantastic, but I haven’t made it in all the years I’ve been married. Bob is NOT a fan of vinegar. I would occasionally order it in a restaurant, but it never lived up to my mother’s version.

I recently found an article in The Daily Record featuring Chef Peter Bocchieri. He posted his recipe for the pork chops with vinegar peppers. The recipe looked simple enough and it brought back memories of my Mom, so I decided to give it a try. It was delicious, Mom would have loved it.

Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think.

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Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers and Potatoes

by Peter Bocchieri @ thedailyrecord.com

Ingredients:

3-4 pork loin chops, center cut, bone in
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups of Pastene Pepperoncini Peppers In Vinegar
1/2 cup of vinegar from the jar of peppers
3 fresh basil leaves
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin ( I used 4 potatoes)
salt & pepper to taste

Chefs Note– the brand of peppers listed above is Peter’s favorite brand. You can use any jarred peppers you like or use your own homemade pickled peppers.

Directions:

In a medium frying pan, fry the potatoes in half the oil till golden brown and tender. In a separate large frying pan, heat the remainder of the oil.

Salt and pepper your pork chops and dredge the pork chops in the flour, shaking off any excess flour.

When the oil is hot, with the heat high, brown the pork chops about 3 minutes each side.

Add the garlic and shake the pan to incorporate with the pork chops. Cook about 1 minute.

Add the peppers, reserving the vinegar they came in. Turn and cook the peppers with the pork chops for two minutes. Add the fresh basil and the reserved vinegar from the peppers. When the pork chops are done, do not overcook, remove them from the pan and place on a platter and keep warm.

Add the cooked potatoes to the vinegar pepper mixture and toss to mix well.

Cover the pork chops with the potatoes and vinegar peppers and serve immediately.

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

Thank you for visiting my blog.

If you enjoy the posts, please spread the word and ask your family and friends to subscribe to DishingwithDiane.com

Once you subscribe, you’ll never miss a post…

Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

Chinese Style Spare Ribs

2 Replies

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Hi everyone,

You know how I love to share a great recipe when I find one and here is another one to add to the list.

A member of one of my food groups posted a picture of Chinese style spare ribs that she made and they looked too good to be true.

She was kind enough to share the recipe that she found on the website, “Serious Eats” and I had to try making them. I cannot thank her enough. They were delicious.

The recipe has only FIVE ingredients!

Her name is Malia Ploughman and she is an excellent cook. All of her posts are mouth watering and her presentations are beautiful. Along with the spare rib recipe, Malia gave me her personal recipe for fried rice. Equally as delicious.

With her permission, I am posting both recipes for all DishingwithDiane.com members.

I completed my meal with wonton soup from a local Chinese restaurant.

Bob and I had a very interesting time shopping at the Asian market picking up ingredients for these recipes including a bag of chocolate fortune cookies for me.

I hope you find the time to try these recipes and enjoy them as much as we did.

Now I’ll have to find an egg roll recipe….

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane

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Recipes

Chinese style Spare Ribs

See my Cooks note below (you know I have to tweak every recipe)…..

Courtesy of “Serious Eats” by way of Malia Ploughman

Note: You can add a few drops of red food coloring to the marinade if you want a deeper red hue on your ribs. Baby back ribs will work just as well as St. Louis-cut. You can cook ribs the same day they are marinated, but for best results, allow to marinade at least overnight and up to three days.

Chinese five spice powder can be found in the spice section of most major supermarkets. If unavailable, you can make your own by combining 1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon, 2 teaspoons powdered fennel, 1 teaspoon powdered star anise, 1/4 teaspoon powdered cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon powdered Sichuan peppercorns (you can substitute ginger for Sichuan peppercorns for a different style of five spice).

YIELD:Serves 4 to 6
ACTIVE TIME:15 minutes
TOTAL TIME:1 1/2 hours (plus overnight marinade)

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 full rack St. Louis-style spareribs, cut into individual ribs (about 3 pounds total)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup shaoxing wine or dry sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup honey

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle five-spice powder evenly over ribs and rub into them until thoroughly and evenly coated. Set ribs aside.

Combine hoisin sauce, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and honey in a gallon-sized zipper lock bag. Add ribs to bag and mix until evenly coated. Seal bag, transfer to refrigerator, and let ribs marinate at least overnight and up to three nights.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375°F. Remove ribs from bag, wiping off excess marinade with your fingers (reserve the marinade). Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, set a wire rack in it, and spread the ribs evenly over the rack. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 1 hour. Remove foil, brush ribs with marinade, increase heat to 450°F, and continue to roast until charred, glazed, and sticky, about 20 minutes longer, rotating ribs and basting with marinade once more during cooking. Let rest 10 minutes, then serve.

Diane’s Cooks Note: Additional glaze can be made using the same marinade ingredients….. I used a fresh marinade to baste the ribs the last 20 minutes and as a glaze before serving.

Diane’s Cooks Note: If you buy the entire rack of ribs instead of already cut individual ribs from your butcher and need help learning how to trim it into St Louis style ribs, here is a video from “The Meatwave” blog to help with that process.

http://www.meatwave.com/blog/how-to-trim-a-rack-of-spare-ribs-to-a-st-louis-style-cut

Classic Fried Rice

Courtesy of Malia Ploughman

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups cooked jasmine rice

Pepper, carrot, peas and green beans etc….

Fresh ginger – minced

Fresh garlic – minced

Soy sauce – 1 tbsp.

sesame oil

Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

Sriracha or sambal (optional for spicy)

brown sugar or honey (optional for sweet)

2 eggs

Directions:

Just make your rice ahead of time. (The day before or in the morning) and let it cool. Never make fried rice with hot rice. It will be mushy. Jasmine rice is ideal but any medium grain will work.

Have any veggie you want to use diced and ready to go when you start cooking. I use peppers, carrots, green bean and peas.
I like a little fresh ginger and garlic in my fried rice. If you are using those, have them minced and ready as well.

Keep the sauce simple. Add a couple Tbsp of soy sauce, some shaoxing or sherry if you have it, a couple dashes of sesame oil, and sriracha or sambal if you like it spicy. If you like it a little sweet, you can add some brown sugar or honey. Totally up to your preference. But you don’t need much sauce. Like 1/4c for 2- 2 1/2 cups of rice.

Beat two eggs in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Place a wok (or large skillet if you don’t have a wok) over medium high heat. Drizzle with oil. Add eggs. You want to create a flare omelette. So let the eggs start to cook, then lift the sides of the omelette as it cooks and tilt the pan so the uncooked eggs run off to the side. Do this a few times. Then flip the omelette. Let cook 30 seconds more and remove from the pan.
Dice it into cubes.

Add a little more oil to the wok and add your ginger and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant. Add veggies and stir fry about 2 minutes. Add rice. Breaking it up with your fingers as you add it. Stir fry with veggies. Breaking up any clumps of rice for 2 minutes. Push aside. Add sauce to the pan and toss everything together. Off heat, stir in diced egg.

Diane’s Cooks Note: I love onions in fried rice, so I added some diced onions as part of my veggies and topped the rice with sliced almonds.

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Thank you once again to Malia for sharing her recipes,

and

Thank you for visiting my blog.

If you enjoy the posts, please spread the word and ask your family and friends to “follow”, “like” , “share” DishingwithDiane.com and please join.

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…

Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

Wishing you all the following………

Recipe- Sausage and Peppers

1 Reply

Well, I promised to post this recipe at the request of some of the DishingwithDiane followers.

This is another staple of my Italian cooking; and I make this quite often in the Summer.

Great on a hero, or with polenta.

I hope you try it and enjoy!

Until my next post, stay well and make every day a celebration!

Diane

Sausage and Peppers

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large skinny sausage ring- I use parsley & cheese (or 1 lb. sausage- sweet, hot, mixed- your choice)

¼ cup olive oil

2 yellow onions, sliced

5- 6 sweet bell peppers – mix of colors, sliced

5 or more cloves of garlic- minced

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper- approx. 1 tsp each

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tsp. garlic powder

½ cup fresh basil or parsley, chopped – your choice

3 tbsp. tomato paste (regular or spicy)

1 cup white wine

Optional Additions:

2 cherry peppers in the jar, finely diced

2 sweet peppadew peppers (found in an Italian deli), diced small

4 sundried tomatoes-diced

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage ring and cook until light brown on both sides, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

Add the peppers, onions, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper to the skillet and cook until they pick up some color and soften, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, garlic powder and garlic and cook for another minute

(Add any pepper additions at this time)

Make room in the center of the pan and add the tomato paste and stir for a few minutes to toast the tomato paste; then mix it well with the peppers and onions.

Add the white wine, ½ cup chopped fresh basil or parsley. Stir to combine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Bring to a simmer.

Cut the sausage into 1 inch piece and add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine.

Cook until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.

Can be served in a bowl or on a toasted hero roll. Serve immediately.

*Can also be served with polenta

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Dishing With Diane

RECIPES AND TABLESCAPES FOR ALL OCCASIONS… BECAUSE EVERY DAY IS A CELEBRATION!

Category Archives: Pork

Fusilli with Italian Tuna, Nduja and Spinach

Diane

New Year’s Day Tradition

Diane

Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs & Patriotic Pasta Salad

Diane

Escarole, Beans and Pork Spareribs

Diane

Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers

Diane

Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers & Potatoes

Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers and Potatoes

Diane

Chinese Style Spare Ribs

Diane

Recipes

Chinese style Spare Ribs

Classic Fried Rice

Recipe- Sausage and Peppers

Diane

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Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers and Potatoes

Diane

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Diane

Recipes

Chinese style Spare Ribs

Classic Fried Rice

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Diane

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