Readers,

We’re returning to our original Thursday release schedule for Five Dollar Feast articles. Blogs will once again come out Thursday mornings starting this week with Grilled Peach & Fennel Pork Chops.

Thanks,

Ed Robinson & Jodie Younse

Dear Readers,

Due to a new work schedule, I will be changing the release day of the weekly blog from Thursdays to Sundays. I hope you all continue to enjoy my blog and recipes continuing on every Sunday.

Thank you,

Ed Robinson

During our honeymoon on the Yucatan peninsula, Jodie and I took a day off from relaxing on the beach of our resort to take a day’s tour out to Chichin Itza, the most famous of the Mayan ruins. After an amazing day climbing the stairs of the pyramid (which you can’t actually do anymore. So sad.) and getting great photographs, we got back on the bus at the appointed time to head back for more margaritas con hielo by the pool.

On the way back, our tour guide told us where we would be stopping for lunch. It was a locally owned water park (which turned out be a small pool and a waterslide) that would have a buffet set up in their restaurant. He went on to explain that while there would be American options, he recommended (raved about, might be more correct) the local dish that they were famous for preparing.

Jodie and I didn’t really catch the name, but he explained that it was pork marinated with orange peel and cooked in banana leaves. Jodie and I glanced at each other. We knew what we were having for lunch. (I’m a fan of things cooked in leaves, I’ve noticed: Greek dolmas and Hawaiian lau lau both top my list of favorite foods.)

When we entered the restaurant, we passed by the ‘American’ buffet. It was full of processed chicken nuggets, cardboard pizza, and dried out spaghetti with what appeared to be canned tomato sauce.

Jodie and I mentioned to each other that it was sad that’s what they thought American food was. Of course, there was no way anyone was going to eat from that buffet, with the beautiful oven in the corner. Two women were making fresh tortillas and serving pork straight from the banana leaves. It was amazing. One of the best meals we’ve ever had and easily the most memorable from our honeymoon.

When we were done ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing‘ over our food, we came up for air long enough to see how our bus-mates were enjoying this heavenly pork. What we saw saddened and dismayed us. Not a single American had tried the pork. In fact, only one other family on the bus had, and they were of latin descent themselves. We tried to talk the people near us into trying the local cuisine, but they all told us that it was too adventurous for them. The latin family talked to us briefly and told us they were enjoying it as much as we were, and we all went back for seconds (and thirds for some of us.)

The problem was we never caught the name of the dish. I’ve described it several times and searched for the ingredients on google, but with no success. Finally, I recently heard Chef Micheal Symon describing his favorite Mexican dish, cochinita pibil. I was amazed to hear him describe pork marinated in orange juice and cooked in banana leaves! I made sure to write down the name and searched the internet, now armed with the name of the dish, and I found several recipes!

I read through several of these recipes and then took a trip to Superior Grocers, our local Mexican grocery store to see what I could find. I was shocked to find banana leaves for just under two dollars, as well very affordable pork. I also located achiote paste, which is essential to give the pork the flavor I remember so well from the Yucatan. I combined several recipes that sounded the most affordable and the most like what I had tasted in Mexico. None of them actually called for cooking with the orange peel, but I remember that our tour guide was very clear on that, so I made sure to add actual peel into the marinade, which gave the pork a bright crisp taste I loved.

Cochinta Pibil

The pork needs takes at least 24 hours to marinate and 4 hours to cook. This is special occasion food, make sure you have the time!

2 large banana leaves

tin foil

3 to 4 pound shoulder pork roast, cut into 2” cubes

marinade: (sour orange juice is the most traditional, but it’s easily recreated by adding lime juice to the OJ.)

1 ½ cups OJ (start with the fresh squeezed from 1 orange and then supplement with a carton of OJ to save money)

½ cup lime juice

3 ounces of achiote (or annatto) paste

5 garlic cloves, minced

The peel of 1 orange, broken into several chunks

1 tsp cumin

1 cinnamon stick

salt & pepper to taste

1. Dissolve the achiote paste into the orange juice and lime juice. Add the garlic, orange peel, cumin, cinnamon stick, salt & pepper. Add the cubed pork. Cover, and marinate in the fridge for 24 hours up to 48 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
3. Warm the banana leaves over the stove or a grill briefly to make them more pliable. Be careful to flip them repeatedly as you do not want to burn them.
4. Place one or two banana leaves on the bottom of the casserole dish. Add the pork and marinade to the leaves.
5. Wrap the leaves as much as you are able over the pork. You will probably need to add another leaf over the top and tuck it in around the sides of the pork. Cover the whole assembly with tin foil and roast for 4 hours at 300 degrees or until fork tender.
6. Unwrap the pork and serve. It’s great over rice or served in a tortilla that has been lightly grilled or cooked over an open flame on your stove. Top with grated queso fresca and your favorite salsa. (Perhaps my roasted tomato salsa recipe)

I’m afraid I got so busy this week I almost forgot to post a new blog. Please enjoy one of my favorite past blogs. Weekly blog will be back next Thursday, Feb. 16th: Asparagus Lemon Pesto.

As I noticed recently while writing my weblog on Chicken Marsala, I have written 6 Italian recipes and 0 French recipes. While, I’ve tried defending myself by pointing out that this is a budget blog specializing in cooking meals for under 5 dollars a head, not all of French cuisine is foie gras and escargot. In fact, I think most of the really great French cuisine is elevated peasant food: Coq au Vin, Beef Bourguignon, ratatouille, and crepes.

So, it is a bit of a travesty that I have been blogging for a half a year now, and not posted one French dish. I mean, let’s face it, France really is the father of modern dining. With that in mind I have decided to post a French-inspired recipe of my favorite meat of all time: lamb. (Say it with me now, with your best Homer Simpson impression, mmm…Lamb.)

Lamb is a lovely meat. Depending on the cut it can be seared rare, roasted, or slow cooked. I love them all. It’s not the cheapest meat of all time, though unless you live in Australia (where it is cheaper than chicken, I swear.) The shanks (the leg meat) is affordable when you are lucky enough to find it. I am not sure why most grocery stores only carry it about half of the time, but whenever you do find it, is one of the cheapest cuts of lamb.

I remember the first time I bought lamb shanks, I had no idea what I was buying. I was living in Australia with Jodie at the time, and, like I said, lamb was dirt cheap. I had made lamb many ways while we were there. This was when I was very young and had very little experience cooking, mind you. So, I bought two lamb shanks took them home, and promptly seared them rare in a skillet. If you know anything about shank meat, it takes hours for the connective tissue to break down and become the tender amazing flesh we are used to having. Otherwise you are trying to chew on what amounts to gristle. Let’s just say that pizzas were ordered that night.

This is why the French invented braising. Braising is when you take a tough piece of meat full of fat and connective tissues and cook it long and slow until it melts into the meat and creates a tender, buttery sensation in your mouth that English doesn’t have proper words to describe. Peasants often used this method because these cuts of the meat were not considered as desirable to the upper class (who were clearly lazy and dumb.)

Now, if you have been reading my blog, I hope you have noticed that I like to take very traditional foods of any culture and give them my own modern  twist. The same is true with my lamb shank.

In France it is traditional to braise your shank with Burgandy wine. (That is there way of saying Pinot Noir, basically…more on that another time.) While I like cooking in wine…I love cooking in beer. So, I replaced the wine with a dark porter or stout. (Such as Guinness or Murphy’s.) Don’t worry, wine fanatics, the resulting shanks will still pair very well with a Pinot Noir. I would recommend Cambria if you can spring for it. Of course, it also pairs perfectly well with whatever beer you cooked it in. I like to serve it with the coarsely chopped vegetables I cooked the lamb in over cous cous. One of my favorite meals I know how to make. Divine. (While I travelled in Europe, my favorite food was Italian in general, but the best meal I had was in France. It is similar in my own kitchen. I prefer Italian, but some of my absolute favorite recipes are French.)

Stout Braised Lamb Shanks

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

4 lamb shanks

flour for dredging

2 leeks, halved lengthwise and chopped 1/4” thick

6 cloves garlic, halved or quartered

2 carrots, chopped ½“ thick

2 celery ribs, chopped coarsely

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle stout (such as Guinness®) or porter

1 ¾ cup beef broth

8 to 10 mushrooms, halved or quartered

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh rosemary

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Dredge lamb shanks in flour.
2. Heat oil in a dutch oven or large, wide pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the lamb shanks in the hot oil on all sides until well browned, about 10 minutes. This can be done 2 lamb shanks at a time, if all 4 do not fit in your pot at the same time.  After browning, remove lamb shanks and set aside.
3. Pour the excess grease from the Dutch oven, if necessary, reduce heat to medium, and stir in the onions and garlic. Cook and stir until the onions have softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the carrots, celery, and tomato paste; continue cooking 5 minutes more.
5. Return the lamb shanks to the dutch oven, and pour in the stout beer and beef broth. Add thyme and bay leaf and bring to a simmer over high heat.
6. Once the lamb shanks begin to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lamb is very tender and nearly falling off of the bone, 2 to 3 hours. Stir the lamb occasionally as it cooks, and add water if needed to keep the cooking liquid from becoming too thick (I rarely find this needed.) You want the cooking liquid to have reduced into a nice sauce by the time the lamb shanks are done. Stir in the mushrooms, rosemary sprig, and salt and pepper to taste during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove rosemary, thyme sprigs and bay leaf before serving. Serve shanks and vegetables over cous cous or orzo pasta immediately, passing the remaining sauce.