Char Shu Pork

Once again we made Jar Restaurant’s Hosin-Marinated Pork Chops. It is a great dish. The trick is that the Chops need to marinat for several days. This is dish we make several times per year and always love it. The chops make great leftovers or the meat can be used for a Pork Fried Rice. You can get the recipe from our blog of: July 30, 2012. Click the date to get the recipe.

With the chops we served a Rice Pilaf from The Balthazar Cookbook by McNally, Nasr & Hanson. We are really using this cookbook a lot these days!

Rice Pilaf

The Balthazar Cookbook

McNally, Nasr & Hanson

French food is based on creating layers of flavors, usually starting with onions and butter. Rice doesn't escape this treatment. In the classic French method, the rice is covered with a wax-paper lid cut to fit inside the pot and rest on the rice, allowing for just a bit of gentle evaporation. In the contemporary home kitchen, a pot with a tight-fitting lid will do just fine.

SERVES   6

1-1/2       cups long-grain rice

3       cups Chicken Stock

8       tablespoons (1 stick) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1       medium yellow onion, minced (about 1 cup)

2       garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1       bouquet garni

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Wash and rinse the rice in cold water. Drain and set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil, then turn down the heat to the lowest simmer.

In a large ovenproof pot, melt 8 table­spoons of the butter over medium heat until it foams. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes; if it begins to take on color, lower the flame. Add the drained rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, making sure that each grain is coated with butter.

Add the bouquet garni and the hot Chicken Stock, cover, and transfer the pot into the oven.

Cook for 25 minutes, remove, and let the pot stand for 15 minutes. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butler and use a fork to fluff the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.