Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Slow cookers came onto the scene in the early 1970's. Yet, for some reason, I'm still not sure about them. What do I mean by that? To answer that question, we must take a little trip down neuroses lane. First stop: Natalie.

I realize that I'm quirky (or as Joe puts it: insane). I might just be a *little* obsessive about certain things. Like how I like right angles- only. You will find very few circular things in our house. Or, how I need symmetry in my life. Not figuratively, literally. I can't deal with things not being symmetrical. While we could go on and on...and on about my little tendencies, I will get to the point: what's wrong with a slow cooker?

First of all, I feel like it's cheating. I love to start something as soon as I get home from work, and let it cook all evening, stopping every few hours to stir or smell the lovely scents. But, there are some recipes that just take too long. So maybe it's worth it. But is it safe? Since slow cookers have been around for so long, they must be safe. Surely, they would have pulled them off the shelves if houses were burning down..right? But, I take issue with plugging in an appliance-then leaving my house for the day. I realize that I'm over analyzing, but I would really hate to burn down my house because of a pork craving. So, I compromised. I borrowed my mom's old crock pot (I didn't even know she had one!) and used it on a day that Joe would be home to supervise.

I'm happy to report that (a) we are all still alive - burn free and (b) the pork was friggin awesome. I'm keeping that crock pot!


Pulled Pork Sandwiches
6 lb Boston pork butt
1 qt chicken broth
1 qt water
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. whole peppercorns
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. allspice
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. mustard powder
salt and pepper
your favorite barbecue sauce

First, I cut the pork butt in half so that it would fit into the slow cooker. I then liberally coated the pork with salt and pepper on all sides. The pork went into a frying pan over medium-high heat so that I could brown the meat on all sides.





In the slow cooker, I put the onions and garlic in, followed by the pork. I covered it with the remaining ingredients and stirred everything around. You want to make sure that the meat is mostly covered, so adjust the liquids to fit your needs. Turn the cooker on, and walk away!

I cooked my pork for 10 hours, but just cook it until the meat falls apart after you poke it with a fork. It all depends on the amount of meat you are cooking.




Take the pork out of the slow cooker and allow it to cool a bit. Using two forks, shred the pork.





Here is where we come to a crossroads. I don't like fat in my meat. I know, I know- I'm picky. But, this is why I made pulled pork at home: so that I could control what goes into it. I chose to throw away the fat (GASP!) but please, feel free to include it if you so desire. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Place the shredded pork in a small pot and add your favorite barbecue sauce. Since this was a weeknight, my favorite barbecue sauce came out of a bottle. If it were a weekend, I would have made my own. If you would like to make it yourself, here's a pretty good recipe. Mix the pork with the barbecue sauce and cook just long enough to heat the mixture.



Serve on hamburger buns.




note: While I cooked all 6 lbs of pork in the slow cooker, I only served half of it. This made 4 sandwiches. I shredded the rest of the pork (without sauce) and froze it for future purposes. So, pictures you see above of shredded meat only depicts half of the entire amount cooked.

This pork would also be a tasty option for preparing most Mexican or Cuban dishes. Carnitas anyone?

Also, I apologize for the bad pictures, but my camera is still on the fritz...

Just give me 10 minutes...

That's right. 10 minutes. That's how long it took to prepare dinner the other night. From opening the package of meat to the dinner table- 10 minutes. Here's how:


I worked late the other night and was very hungry by the time I got home. I decided to make a version of a stuffed steak I used to see years ago. I don't think the original called for flank steak, but that's what I had, so that's what I used. Also, Joe hates blue cheese, so I nixed that as well. Turned out great.

I took a 1 pound flank steak and butterflied it:



Yes, there were a few holes, but they didn't really matter.

Then, I layered about 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese all over. On top of the cheese went fresh baby spinach. I put a few handfulls, whatever fit on top of the steak.




I would have put green onions on top, but I grow chives in my garden so I chopped up about 3 tsp. worth and added them in.Finally, I layered on 1/2 c. grated Mozzarella cheese.




I then rolled the whole thing up and used skewers to hold it in place. I rubbed Montreal Grill Steak Seasoning around the outside and sliced the steak between the skewers. I sliced them unevenly, as Joe likes his steak more rare than I do. This way, I can cook them all at once.



I used two skewers to hold together the pieces that had small holes in them. Lastly, I coated the steaks in olive oil.






They took only a few minutes to grill! I served them with corn and a quick salad.
Yummy!!

One Year!

It's the one year anniversary of my blog! I have had such a great time trying new things and meeting new people. This is just a short post to say thank you for reading. Here are a few of the things I've been making:

Vanilla Pound Cake




Individual Baked Zitis


Grilled Shrimp Picatta





Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Chicken Stock (and soup too!)

A few weeks ago, I decided to make a batch of homemade chicken stock. I had done this a few times before, but I always used it up straight away. I never had the room in the old freezer. Now, I have the room to make a big batch to freeze in small portions.

In the past, I had used whole chickens. But to tell you the truth, it's just too expensive. I generally buy about a 5 pound chicken to make 7 quarts of stock. After cooking the chicken for hours, it's not that great to eat. So you end up tossing the whole bird. This time around I went to the butcher at my local supermarket and asked him if he had any carcasses or gizzards to sell me. He told me that he had just packaged up a few packs of gizzards and necks. For about $3.50 I got 5 pounds of stock worthy chicken. Great!

I used my very tall stockpot to do this job. First I added the following to the pot:
7 carrots, not peeled, chopped
3 onions, quartered
4 head of celery, chopped
1 head of garlic, not peeled, chopped in half
5 pounds chicken (parts or whole chicken chopped up)
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. whole peppercorns

Then I added as much water as I could fit in the pot. For my pot, this was 7 quarts. I then added a ton of fresh herbs from my garden. You can add whatever you like, but I used:

1 1/2 c. flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 long stalks of Rosemary
5 stalks of Thyme
1/2 c. of chopped chives

I let the mixture simmer for about 4 hours. Every half hour or so, I would skim off any fat that had risen to the top. After 4 hours, I poured the stock through a strainer into a cheesecloth lined bowl. (You don't have to use the cheesecloth, but I find that it really helps to remove any of the finer particles that may have passed through the strainer.) I then allowed the stock to cool before putting it in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I skimmed off all the fat that had separated from the stock. There will be a lot, don't worry! I then transferred the stock into food storage bags. I put 2 cups of broth in each bag. I then put the bags in the freezer, lying them flat to conserve room. I used 7 quarts of water and ended up with about 6 1/2 quarts of stock. Not bad! Cheap and delicious!

Well, the hubby is feeling a little under the weather this week. Time for soup! I took out 2 bags of broth (4 cups) from the freezer and let them defrost a bit. I then put the stock in a pot over medium low heat to finish defrosting. When the stock was warm, I added a chicken breast that I had cut up into bite sized pieces. I would have normally added carrots as well at this point, but the patient didn't want them in there. I also added 1 cinnamon stick to the pot and a bit of lemon juice to taste. I used about 2 tsp.

I let the soup cook for about 5 minutes before removing the cinnamon and adding a few hand fulls of broken egg noodles. The soup cooked for just another few minutes, until the noodles were done. Soup was delicious!

What I like about making my own stock is that it's easy. Time consuming, but easy. But, I just put the stock on to simmer away while I'm watching TV, cleaning, etc. So, it's not that bad. I also really enjoy getting to control what goes into the broth. It's exactly what I want. And I can alter the ingredients to fit the mood I'm in. Finally, it's really nice having a freezer full of stock! Since I use chicken stock all the time, it's both a cheaper and a healthier option for us. I just pop a bag of broth into the pot and my meal is halfway done! I also use chicken broth to flavor rice and vegetable dishes. I'm getting a ton of use out of $3.50 worth of chicken parts. And when all else fails, a good cup of homemade soup is only 10 minutes away.

Enjoy!

Mmm....pizza.....

Our herb garden is out of control. The herbs grow at such a rapid rate, I can barely keep up! Over the weekend, we noticed that the basil plant was so full, it was starting to lean. I picked a whole bowl full of basil, and the plant is still 1/2 full!



Smelling that fresh basil led to a whole list of ideas. After a very busy weekend, I wasn't in the mood to experiment. Instead, I made pizza. My favorite pizza dough recipe is here. I cut my batch of dough into two pieces. I like to make my pizzas smaller so they cook faster (or so I think, at least). I don't own a pizza stone, so I just dust turn a large baking sheet upside down and dust it with cornmeal.

The thing I love about pizza is that it is so easy to make, and I can usually do it without a special trip to the grocery store. YUMMY!

Pizza Sauce:
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. olive oil
dash of oregano
a few leaves of fresh basil

Brown garlic in olive oil. Add tomato sauce and herbs. Allow sauce to simmer for at least 15 minutes.


Assembly:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough on a well floured surface. Transfer dough to the underside of a cookie sheet/cake pan that has been dusted with cornmeal. Bake for 5 minutes or until the dough has set up. Remove from the oven and add toppings (I used sauce, diced tomatoes, fresh mozz, and fresh basil). Brush olive oil onto the edges of the crust and return to the oven. Bake until the crust is golden, about 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Want S'more Brownies?

Ham Porter: Hey, Smalls, you wanna s'more?
Smalls: Some more of what?
Ham Porter: No, do you wanna s'more?
Smalls: I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?
Ham Porter: You're killing me Smalls! These are s'more's stuff! Alrite now pay attention. First you take the graham, you stick the chocolate on the graham. Then you roast the 'mallow. When the 'mallows flaming... you stick it on the chocolate. Then cover with the other end. Then you scarf. Kind of messy, but good!

I love The Sandlot. Great movie. One of my favorites. It reminds me of my childhood, when my brother and I would ride our bikes around to meet up with our neighborhood friends. A pickup game of baseball was usually on the agenda. We all watched baseball, we played baseball, we grew up on baseball.

So, naturally, any movie centered around baseball was a must-see. Sure they weren't all great movies (Rookie of the Year?), but I still can't go a week without a few lines from The Sandlot or Major League. (The poor hubby- he's not as much of a baseball guy. So, most of my references go unnoticed) And hello?? Can anyone hear "This Magic Moment" and not think of Squints and his kiss with Wendy Peffercorn??

I've probably seen The Sandlot a few dozen times by now. It was on the other night, and I got to thinking about S'mores. Growing up in South Florida, there weren't many chances to make these delicious treats. Most of the time, they were made over the BBQ after the parents were done making dinner. Since I wasn't going to break out the BBQ just to satisfy my craving, I decided to make a s'more flavored treat.

Now, I will admit that I didn't make these brownies using my regular (cherished) brownie recipe. I used a box. That's right- I used a forbidden boxed mix. I didn't have a lot of time left in the evening after the trip to the grocery store for marshmallows and graham crackers. So, I piced up a box of brownie mix and decided to just jazz it up a bit. Next time, I'll be sure to go back to my recipe. I like homemade brownies so much better!

I broke up the graham crackers into crumbs using my mini food processor (love that thing!) and added 1 c. of the crumbs into the batter. Once the batter was set in the baking dish, I covered the top with marshmallows. The marshmallows browned nicely in the oven.

The brownies tasted good, but not like s'mores. The taste of the graham crackers was not apparent. I think next time, I will make a graham cracker crust to bake the brownie mix on. That way it will be more like a s'more. Without the graham cracker taste, it just tasted like brownies with marshmallows on top. It lacked purpose. They still tasted good, but I will definitely be giving this idea another try.

Vegetable Tians

I love tians. They are yummy, easy to prepare, and look beautiful. I also like to make them with very savory dishes, as it provides a light compliment to an otherwise heavy meal. You can switch the vegetables to include your favorites, but make sure to slice every vegetable so that the slices are all the same size. This helps with cooking time and presentation.


Vegetable Tian

2-3 Medium zucchinis, sliced
4 Medium potatoes, sliced (I prefer yukon gold)
8 plum tomatoes, sliced
6 sprigs of thyme
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Medium onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp. Olive oil, plus 1 tsp. reserved
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Saute garlic and onion in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until the onions are translucent. Transfer mixture to the bottom of your baking dish. Spread the mixture so that it evenly coats the dish.

Arrange vegetables in the baking dish, alternating with each slice. Try to stand the vegetables up on a slant, so that they will stay in position while baking. Sprinkle the sprigs of thyme on top of the vegetables and drizzle the remaining 1 tsp. of olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. Remove the aluminum foil and the sprigs of thyme. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and return to the oven. Allow the tian to cook for another 20 minutes. Serve.