Coconut-Lemongrass-Braised Pork - FFWD

For FFWD this week, we made Coconut-Lemongrass-Braised Pork and served it over Wehani rice. A huge hit here...my son and husband really loved it. I used Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder for the curry blend (very little heat) and it worked great with the lemongrass, cardamom, lemon peel, coriander, coconut, etc. For the pork, I used pork butt. For vegetables, I had carrots and quartered Cippoline onions. I did not pre-cook them and just added them to the pot before it went into the oven. Easy! Also, I doubled the recipe and there was a ton of extra sauce; I've been dunking leftover cold chicken into warmed (and even cold) sauce for snacking. Thank you, Dorie!

My husband had to eat and run so I  had to work the camera, to the detriment of the photo. In my defense, it was nighttime and the dish isn't the most attractive thing, anyway - but it still looked better in real life :).

Cold Melon-Berry Soup - FFWD

I am back with FFWD this week! Cold-Melon Berry Soup was very nice. A "fun" and summery starter that tasted pretty good - and simple to make with only six ingredients (I didn't add the wine).

I'll probably make this dish again, but in the future I'll pay closer attention to the ginger versus sweet melon...I had a good, ripe melon and I added all the ginger right away. I should have added it gradually and taste-tested as I went along because in the end the ginger flavor was a bit too strong compared to the sweetness of the melon.

Fruit soup was a first for me...as was making melon balls. Sounds un-American (and, apparently, un-French).

Chunky Beets and Icy Red Onions - FFWD

Another recipe that I never would have tried if it wasn't for FFWD. This was really good!

I used the fresh marjoram option and will cut that by half next time. It was just slightly too much marjoram flavor. The onions on top were a perfect foil for the richness of the dressed beets. We had this with sauteed monkfish. Great meal!


I wish the photo was better. The beets look a bit scary. Much prettier in real life.