pork = love

after having dinner made for me on consecutive days (tuesday, bread pudding at 44, and wednesday, really excellent thin fettuccine with a roasted tomato and sausage sauce, at 24), i made dinner for 24 and 44. i wanted to do something fairly involved, so i did a chard tart from the joy that sonia had made a few months back - kind of like a quiche with much less egg and a whole lot of parmesan; braised pork ribs with sage and coriander seeds; arborio rice with onions and sage; roasted skinny asparagus; and a ginger cake with pears in a cognac-caramel sauce.

anyway, this was a totally unhealthy (ok, not that unhealthy, but it wasn't great for you either, what with the massive amount of parmesan and the ginger cake's caramel sauce) dinner, but it was really excellent - the coriander seeds and sage are a really excellent combination. after having made braised ribs more than a few times, they turned out especially well this time. and i think this was due to the cooking time, which was close to three hours. this is my favorite pork dish because it requires so few ingredients, and always tastes good, no matter what you do to it. this is essentially due to the cut of meat being pork that's bone-in - that's where all the flavor comes from. it's also a cheap dish to cook, as ribs often go on sale in all seasons, and are a cheap cut even when not on sale. add the onions and some herbs, and it's pretty sublime.

the chard tart was excellent as it was the other time i had it - it's a really easy thing to put together, like the pork - it turns out beautifully, as well, as it cuts neatly and is completely flat after being baked. the crust gets a special mention - the olive oil seems to make it extra crispy without generating too many crumbs - vaguely chewy and nicely crispy. the crust gets prebaked, and then baked with the filling inside. the filling is fairly dry for an egg mixture, so it doesn't soak into the crust too much, leaving the crust nicely crisp. even a day later, the crust is pretty excellent...mmm. this is one to make over and over again.

finally, a few words about the cake. i bought the pears at star market, and they were inauspiciously cheap (the cheapest, in fact) and pre-ripened. i wouldn't have bought pre-ripened fruit, but they were cheap...so i did buy them. but these pears turned out to be juicy even after sauteed, retaining their firm texture despite being cooked through. the cake was pretty good - not too heavy, and sufficiently ginger-y to overcome the molasses that provided much of the cake's moisture. it gets more gingery as time goes on, fyi. anyway, we had the cake with whipped cream - which, with the cake the pears with their caramel sauce is nothing short of a fantastic combination. i failed to read the recipe before i made it, and was expecting a cake that had the pears baked into it, but this was just as good. also, seemingly like everything else i made that day, really easy to make.

braised pork ribs
2T butter
1-2 T coriander seeds
1/2 package sage, chopped fine
3 large onions, halved and sliced into thin strips
chicken stock or water

2T butter
salt and pepper
2-3 lbs assorted pork ribs (country or southern style), bone in

1. pat the ribs dry and rub with salt and pepper. heat the butter in a large skillet and sear the ribs over high heat to brown. remove ribs to a plate with tongs.

2. reduce heat to medium-high. melt the remaining 2T butter in the skillet and saute onions, sage, and coriander seeds until onions are translucent and slightly browned, about 10 minutes.

3. add ribs and any accumulated juices back into skillet and add chicken stock/water until ribs are covered or skillet is almost full, whichever comes first. bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat and let simmer 1 hour. turn heat to medium and simmer 2 more hours. for the last 15-30 minutes, turn heat to medium-high to thicken the sauce.

[serves 4-5]

ginger cake with pears and caramel sauce
1/2c unsulfured molasses
1/2c sour cream
1/2c brown sugar, packed
1 stick butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
3T microplaned grated peeled fresh ginger
1t lemon zest
2c flour
1t baking soda
1/2t salt

pears with caramel sauce
8 medium pears
1T lemon juice
6T butter
3/4c sugar
12T water
3T cognac
12T heavy cream

1. preheat oven to 350F. butter and flour a 10-inch round baking pan.

2. in a bowl whisk together molasses, sour cream, butter, brown sugar, egg, ginger, and zest until smooth and add flour, baking soda, and salt. stir batter until just combined and spread in baking pan. bake 25 to 30 minutes until done.

3. peel, core and slice the pears into eighths. melt 3T butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and saute half of pears until mostly translucent, about 5-8 minutes. add half of sugar and saute a few more minutes. remove pears with tongs or a slotted spoon to a bowl. add the remaining butter and saute remaining pears. add remaining sugar as before, and remove pears to bowl. caramelize sugar until dark amber. add water, cognac and cream; the mixture will foam and bubble frighteningly but will dissolve within a few minutes. let boil for a few minutes, then reduce heat to medium and add pears back in. simmer for 5 minutes, then keep warm over low heat.

4. serve slices of cake with pears and sauce, and whipped cream if you really want to punish your heart. if you like pears, you might want to up the pears per serving.

[serves 10-12]