another foray into the world of pork

as you know, i like pork. last week carrien and josh had gone to market basket to procure beef to grind it at home for burgers, and they picked up some pork ribs as well. ...unfortunately, by the time that i actually had the time to cook it, it had gone slightly green and iridescent, a good sign for something, i'm sure, but not meat. luckily, i had bought extra pork ribs at star to augment the ones in the fridge, and not that many people came to dinner, so it was fine.

i've been a little scattered with respect to cooking, having not been in the mood to do anything all that adventurous. accordingly, i'm afraid i was a little bit neglectful of what i made on friday evening: barbecued pork ribs, cornbread with corn, corn on the cob, onions, and ham in it, peas with thyme and onions, and apple "strudel" (really, apple turnovers). most of the neglect came from not really planning it out with respect to timing - oops. luckily, it all worked out anyway. i would say that if i did it over again, i would pay more attention to the ribs. i had picked out a recipe i used some time ago (maybe last fall?) but i couldn't remember exactly how much of the recipe i had used until after i made them the second time... it turns out that while i stuck more to the recipe this time - basically, you steam the ribs en papillote with pineapple juice for an hour, then baste them with the glaze on a grill for a short period of time - as opposed to the last time, when i had no pineapple juice and not much honey, so i just roasted them in the oven and kept basting them. luckily, it takes rather a lot to ruin pork, so i would say that the disappointment i felt was really from the fact that my expectation of the final product was not what i actually got. but in fact, both versions were good: the original version i made was crispier on the outside and benefited flavor-wise by the basting, while the second version was more punchy with the flavor and was really tender from its steaming in the foil packets. i would say that you would want to use a medium-fat pork rib if you're going to steam them, otherwise the fat doesn't have enough time to completely render out of the pork and they end up a little greasy. i would say that the consistency of the glaze was also a bit gloppier than i wanted because they were in the oven and not on a grill; also, i had added the pineapple puree to the glaze after i strained out the juice to steam the ribs in, which i think made the glaze slower to cook and crisp.

luckily the evening was not without a culinary hit - the strudel was really quite good. i didn't have a recipe except for the basics: apples for the inside and phyllo for the outside. making real strudel dough is fun, but really only if you have many people or it gets old quite fast. as a rule, i don't like adding spices to apples, which generally make them taste less like apples and more like canned apple pie filling, so all i did to the apples was really toss them with sugar and lemon zest, and saute them in a bit of butter until they were browned. then i wrapped small handfuls of the apples in phyllo, two sheets to each handful. a sprinkling of sugar, then they went in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes - and presto! some really apple-y turnovers.

apple strudel
1/2 package of phyllo
6-8 large apples
~1/2c sugar - enough to coat the apples
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 stick plus 1 1/2T butter

1. peel, core, and slice the apples (the slices should be on the thick side). place in a bowl and toss with the lemon zest and juice. toss the apples with the sugar.

2. melt half of the 1 1/2T butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; when it foams, add half of the apples and saute until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 minutes. let the apples get good and golden brown - they'll taste better. repeat with remaining apples and butter. let apples cool to room temperature.

3. preheat the oven to 350. melt and cool the stick of butter. unroll the phyllo and mound some of the apples on the top sheet. brush with butter and roll/fold up, making sure that all layers of phyllo are stuck together with butter. try to work relatively quickly so the phyllo doesn't dry out, or rip from the moisture in the apples. use two to three sheets of phyllo per apple packet. when done wrapping, brush the packet with butter on all sides, and place on a baking sheet. sprinkle the top with sugar. repeat with remaining apples.

4. when done making packets, bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown. eat immediately. let any leftovers cool completely, then pack into an airtight container. to reheat, toast in a toaster oven - strudel can get soggy.

[makes 10-12 individual strudels]