Squash Challenge

I have always like contrasts in my food. The hot with the cold, sweet with the savory, crunchy with the mushy, and onwards. Its a bit of fun to have a bite of one then of the other before bravely mixing the two in altering proportions to fine that one perfect mouthful. For today's challenge, rather than simply using zucchini as the star I chose it as the balancing half to my yin yang plate. On one side is the piping hot savory salty meatiness of a chicken drumstick, on the other are thin delicate strands of squash briefly pickled in a sweet and sour vinegar still chilled from its time in the fridge. The balance is beautiful. The sweet sour crunch of the squash helps cut through the fattiness of the drumstick. I don't give a recipe for the drumstick here since this is the squash challenge after all and well, *ahem* I cheated. I bought a bottle of "chicken marinade" which looks just like a dark soy sauce in a bottle available at most asian markets. All you do is dump the drumstick in a simmer until done. Its the no fail easy way to soy sauce chicken success.

Refrigerator Pickled Zucchini

1 medium zucchini cut into thin noodle like strands (I did this on my mandoline)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tblsp sugar
1/2 tblsp salt

Combine vinegar, sugar, and salt over medium heat and stir until all sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool. In a non reactive bowl toss shreds of zucchini with vinegar and leave in fridge for at least 1 hour tossing occasionally. Drain strands and serve chilled.

Beer Challenge

Whoo! Its been busy. I totally skipped a weekend because my relatives from DC came to town and we headed to the Cape. Came back for a memorial day and made a simple but phenomenal looking brunch. The worst part? I was in such a whirlwind I didn't take a single pic of the food! It was a great success though and everybody had fun laughing, talking, drinking and eating. Then this weekend rolled around and I knew I had to buck up and make some time even though there wasn't much. To save time and meet the beer challenge I turned to my trusty crock pot and did my own little east meets west spin on beer braised pork shoulder by flavoring the brew with some lam yue. If you've never had it, its kind of an odd looking block of fermented bean curd floating in a raspberry colored liquid. Doesn't sound appealing? Give it a chance. Its full of umami flavors and when used as a seasoning in either braises or stir frys, it will lift even the simplest concoctions to lofty heights of deliciousness.

East Meets West Beer Braised Pork Shoulder

1.5 lbs pork shoulder
3 squares lam yue
2 bay leaves
10 pepper corns (note that I am THE spicy wimp)
1 bottle Heineken beer (or similar)

Real simple. Throw it all in the crock and set it on high for 6 hours or until shoulder is tender and fall apart. Come back ever 2 hours or so to flip the shoulder and ensure that it all gets time soaking in the liquid. When done shred with a little bit of the broth. I served mine over buttered noodles and it was amazing!