Friday, July 22, 2011

Coconut Lemongrass Braised Pork

This one was certainly an adventure and Nana and I both
enjoyed trying many ingredients we had not cooked with before. 
Of course the fact that I read the calendar wrong and was prepping
for the berry terrine (until Nana mentioned she had picked up
lemongrass and celery root) kept it a lively week as well. 
The results ?  Surprisingly mixed.  Nana loved hers while I will
not be revisiting these pages again myself...... 



Per Nana~

When the temperature reaches 95 and above,
 you should check with your elderly neighbors.  
 Well, if your elderly neighbor is lucky enough to have
 air conditioning...... "forgetaboutit".  
 She is probably busy cooking.
This week I made good on all my cooking
 promises (and I had made a lot...)
 
 A blueberry tart and a Nutella pie for both grandsons,
 and an Apricot tart for hubby.  
Also in the mix was this week's recipe of coconut-
lemongrass braised pork.  Let me tell you, by
 Thursday evening I didn't want to know about food.  
( Thank Goodness we have a 50th Anniversary affair to
 go to on Saturday  and  "yay"  -I don't have to cook)

This recipe was fantastic and definitely will be revisited.

One of the things I love about cooking with Dorie
 is learning  about new ingredients.  I have never used
 lemon grass, celery root or coconut milk before.    

Dorie suggested a pork butt for the recipe, but I
 only know of smoked pork butts so I decided on
 a pork tenderloin, which worked wonders.  
I found the cutest tiny potatoes at Wegman's,
 used a few carrots, and at the end I threw in some left
over fresh corn kernels, and fresh string beans
all from the farm stand.  Great way to use leftovers.
Hubby was chomping at the bit about the delicious
aromas coming from the kitchen so I cut him a break 
and we had an early dinner.  We both loved it.

Can't wait for that apricot tart with a little whipped cream.
Tomorrow we diet.....

Per Tricia ~

While I do not plan to cook this recipe again,
it is not because we "didn't like" it. 
 It was simply underwhelmingly.
  With all the new and wonderful exotic ingredients
 (ok, at least to me.....) that went into that pot ~
 I was very disappointed that the results tasted so bland. 


 Tumeric, cardamom, exactly 6 coriander seeds....not
 to mention a host of others, I was expecting quite the results. 
The only thing we could taste was the tumeric and curry.


 Just keeping it real. 
 I still enjoyed the whole process and the kitchen
 smelled amazing.  And Nana and I shared a great laugh
over the consistency of Coconut Milk ~ we both
 expected it to "pour" out of the can like condensed milk.


  The best part of the effort - I got to enjoy the lovely
 aroma of fresh lemon grass. I LOVE this stuff and made
 everyone in the house come and sniff it
(the part that did not go into the pot :)
  When they are waiting for "Dorie food" to cook, I
 can get them to do just about anything.......


P.S.- the "best" part of this French Friday ?  Nana and I bit
the bullet and booked a September trip to France !!


20 comments:

  1. Woo hoo - trip to France! Yeah for you.
    Love that you made everyone come smell it.
    & Nana - look at you with all those dessert! Can I come live with you?

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  2. Both of your stews look fantastic, although it received mixed reviews. Your desserts look fantastic!

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  3. Oh, wow! How fabulous to go to France together! Such a great post you two. So glad you liked the dish Nana and so sorry you didn't Tricia, but that is the way it is sometimes. They both look great and that pie and tarts...!

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  4. Trip to France- now that's a good idea!
    I needed more lemon grass flavor in my stew-I thought the curry overpowered the stew. The stews both looks good but I think I would have a small portion so I could load up on dessert ;-). I like the corn in there, great idea for summer.
    I spiced my stew up and added fresh herbs, just couldn't resist, I also couldn't bear to boil the veggies, yuck- had to cook in olive oil with garlic before putting in the stew. There are some cooking habits that just can't be changed;-)

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  5. Wow, Nana - you have a great hand for baking! We really enjoyed this recipe, too.

    Tricia, tickets to France must make up for a lacklustre recipe this week!

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  6. Nana had me up in stitches with "Tomorrow we diet". Tricia - I definitely agree with you. I thought the turmeric was too overpowering. This time I stuck with the recipe and while it was okay, at minimum I think I need to double the lemongrass and add some heat next time.

    Oh France! I went for the first time last September and it was gorgeous and everything I wished it could be. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time, especially Nana.

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  7. Wow! You ladies have been busy! First off, the Blueberry Tart is lovely! I love the addition of other vegetables. We liked this one, but it may have to do with the fact that the Rogan Josh seasoning has a bit of a kick to it. Have a terrific weekend!

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  8. It's such a pleasure to pop in and see your varying opinions on our Dorie dishes. We had mixed reviews, too...picky hubby picked up on the curry taste immediately. Oh, well...can't win them all!

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  9. First of all, hooray for your trip to France! Hope you and Nana have a temps merveilleux! Sorry you didn't like the curry, I found it rather plain as well even with all the spices. Love Nana's way of using up leftovers in the stew.

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  10. Would love to meet you in France, you lucky girls ;-)

    I can relate on getting your fill of cooking, but those tarts and pie look and sound well worth the effort.

    Tenderloin was definitely the way to go in this dish, and I wish I could have found the lemongrass at our local market, but didn't feel like going back off the island to an Asian market. This wasn't my favorite FFwD recipe thus far, but we do enjoy curry and the added heat and flavor of the green curry paste helped.

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  11. Have a great trip to France! I'm jealous.
    I was on Tricia with this one, underwhelming despite the exotic ingredients. I so wanted it to be more than it was. Hope things are cooling down your way. You commented that it was 104 where you are yesterday. This might make you laugh. My sister lives in Villanova and emailed me about the heat. She had tickets to the Phillies game last night and said it was so hot, she would go naked if necessary. LOL. I'm sure she kept her clothes on, but I think that was a great comment on the weather. Stay cool, ladies. Have a great week.

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  12. Tricia I love the relationship you have with your mom! In my mind I'm often talking to my mom about each dish and know if she were still alive she would love to be involved in this. And now for the two of you to go to France....I'm insanely jealous! I'm with Nana on this recipe. We loved it! Hope you are still surviving the heat!

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  13. Great blog, as usual. Always enjoy it. So lucky going to France. I hope you can blog from there!

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  14. Nana - I want some of that blueberry tart! It looks wonderful! Tricia - we were a little underwhelmed as well. How exciting to be going to France!

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  15. I love the power of "Dorie Food!" This wasn't my favorite either. Did you love the onions though?

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  16. Oooh a trip to France! How fun! If you need any Paris suggestions, let me know!

    Both your dishes look wonderful but I hear you about the blandness. I loved it but I also upped the spices... You can't love everything, good on you for having a go!

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  17. Lovely post... my mouth started watering after seeing the blueberry tart, looks absolutely delicious! And kudos to you for cooking in such heat, I generally refuse to turn my oven on once the mercury goes above 80.

    And have fun planning your France trip!

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  18. I am so excited that you are going to France. I brought this guidebook with me, http://chocolateandzucchini.com/books/ wonderful

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  19. While you both may not be making this dish again - i'm betting now that you've tried coconut milk that it won't be the last time you pick up a can! So good in savory dishes, and dessert - it makes a great dairy free ice cream when sweetened up a bit too. Post the Nutella Tart recipe please Nana when you can - looks wonderful!

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  20. Nana, you did a wonderful job using all those exotic ingredients or the first time. And the resulting stew looked superb! And what's up with all those gorgeous tarts, they made me hungry looking at your post :-).

    Tricia, sorry to hear that you found the dish bland but I hope you'll try it again sometime in the future. Like Mardi, I increased the spices (spoonful of coriander, two stalks lemongrass) because I instinctly knew it wasn't enough for my tropical palate. As for the two of you going to France, it looks like all the Doristas would like to join you....me included!

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