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Pulled Pork Lasagna

This week we are happy to share one of our new found inspirations.  The NY Times columnist Melissa Clark.  Not only is she smart and makes great food, check she’s also funny and cute!!!  Yes we are totally crushing on Melissa Clark.  This last weekend she inspired us to to make two things.  Quick caramelized garlic and small-batch pulled pork.  Both were quick and easy to make.  We used the garlic in a lasagna, information pills by adding it to the onions and sausage, along with putting it in the sauce.   Our guests we had over on Friday night were loving the it so much I am surprised there was any left!  I would have to say the garlic was a big part of that.

Our second dish of the weekend was the small-batch pulled pork.  This was really amazing and easy to cook.  The ingredients are things most people have in there pantry.  Which made this super easy to make.  Also the pork is boneless so it took a lot less time to cook.  We put it on some potato buns with cornichons and paired it with our famous coleslaw.  It was so good we couldn’t wait for the next day to have leftovers!  Well, it looks like it’s going to be another great weekend and we are really excited to see what Melissa has in store for us.  For the recipes and video’s we talked about, check out Melissa at the N.Y. Times website link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/05/10/dining/100000002217020/small-batch-pulled-pork.html

 

 

 

 

 

Pork Shoulder with Fennel Slaw

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So I came up with this recipe one night when we had some friends come over and convinced them to stay for dinner.  We were already three hours into making a pork shoulder but hadn’t decided what else to go with it.  I looked around the kitchen as I usually do to see what we need and I found a fennel bulb and thought, medical hmmmmmm what can I do with this?  I was already making and Asian inspired pork shoulder, for sale   Why not continue that theme with a fennel coleslaw?  So here is the recipe for both!!!

Asian Pork Shoulder with Fennel Slaw
Author: 
Recipe type: Main and Side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 3-4 pound pork shoulder
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup rice wine vinegar
  • ½ cup fish sauce
  • ½ cup dark agave nectar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon Sriracha
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • SLAW
  • 1 medium to large fennel bulb
  • 1 large carrot
  • ¼ quarter of red bell pepper
  • 4 green onions
  • Dressing
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ¼ tablespoon of fish sauce
  • ¼ tablespoon of white wine vinegar
  • Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Score shoulder
  2. Smash garlic and place cloves in scored pork
  3. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl
  4. Place shoulder in plastic bag
  5. Add marinade
  6. Refrigerate from 6 hours to 24 hours
  7. When done marinating preheat oven to 400
  8. Place shoulder and marinade in roasting pan
  9. Cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil
  10. After 30 minutes lower heat to 300
  11. Cook for 4 hours
  12. Take off parchment and foil
  13. Cook for another 20-30 minutes for crispy skin
  14. Check with meat thermometer, should read 185 degrees when done.
  15. Remove from oven cover with foil again and let sit for 20 minutes before serving.
  16. FENNEL SLAW
  17. Julienne fennel bulb, carrot and red pepper.
  18. Chop onion
  19. Toss in bowl
  20. Mix dressing and pour over slaw
  21. Toss slaw to coat with dressing
  22. Salt and pepper to taste
  23. Serve immediately at room temperature.
Notes
Cooking time and temp varies with each oven. Keep an eye on your roast and baste the shoulder with juices. I like to check and baste every 30minutes or so. You don't want a dry shoulder. Dressing for slaw - taste and add more fish sauce or vinegar for your preference. Prep time does not include marinading time. If it's already too hot for you to have the oven on for 5-6 hours then use a crock pot for the roast. Just cut the fat off and pierce the meat then put the garlic cloves in the holes before you marinade. Also since you've cut off the fat, keep a good eye on it so it doesn't get dry. Cook on low for about 4-6 hours. You will know when it's done, it should fall off the bone.

It all started with Meatballs

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balls potatoballs riceballs onionschicken

It started as a possible trip to IKEA for meatballs.  Then we realized we had some in the freezer, cure all we needed was the gravy.  A quick search on the internet and presto we had the recipe.  I then started to look at what else we had to go with these delicious round balls of meat.  We had left over mashed potato’s, rice, veggies, kimchi and beets.  It was beginning to look like things were shaping up. I had a flashback to when I lived in LA and my roommates and I had watch the movie Mermaids one too many times and started to have appetizer nights.  We called this a mermaid dinner.  If you’ve seen the movie you’ll understand.  If not, then watch at your own risk.  I started to imagine our dinner was all round and how fun that would be and what a challenge it would be with the ingredients we had.  So we started with the potatoes and took the left over onions and peppers and made Coroke,  a side dish a different roommate I had back in San Bernardino used to make.  Usually you would make them into small patties with meat and onion and fry them, but tonight it was veggie rounds.   I also had made Teriyaki chicken a couple night’s before(also a recipe from the same roommate) and used the chicken, added some ginger, red onions, garlic, egg and presto fried rice.  We used our  microwave egg poacher(more on that in another post) to make them.  Next the ice cream scooper and a spoon were perfect for the kimchi.  We now had everything, put it all together and  had a great time being silly, making our evening well rounded.

On a Sunday Afternoon

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What did you do this last Sunday?  Jason went camping and I stayed at home to learn computer stuff.  Sounds boring doesn’t it?  Not really.  I expanded my brain with knowledge and did some, physician (a long time coming) slow cooking.  I made chicken stock and pinto bean soup.  It may not sound like much but both are long, but relatively easy tasks.  I had the makings for stock sitting in the freezer for way too long and finally had the time to make it.  There’s a reason most people buy their stock from a store.   That’s not to say I don’t like homemade stock, quite the opposite.  I love it!  But don’t always have the time to make it.  Another issue is I don’t cook mine as long as some people, or chefs, simply because I’m too impatient.  That’s probably why my stock is very strong and usually cloudy.   I did come across an article on how to make a quick chicken stock and can’t wait to try it.  I will let you know how it turns out.  If it’s as good as it looks then I may never buy chicken stock again!!!  Hahaha, not likely, but maybe I will make more at home.

Now, what did I do with that chicken stock you ask?  I made cauliflower soup!!!  I took six cups of stock, a couple ribs of celery, two carrot’s, a medium onion and a head of cauliflower chopped them up and put them on the stove to simmer for 20 minutes(after bringing it to a boil) and next thing you know lunch was served!

One of the other things I did  was make Pinto Bean Soup.  This is something I had learned from my grandparents.  It was my grandfathers favorite soup and my father’s least favorite.  I first got to taste this hearty goodness when we were living with my grandparents one winter when I was young.  I remember paying attention to how it was made but not really understanding what I was seeing.  It all happened so fast.   My biggest memory is that when it’s done you must add pepper and very finely minced onion.  Something my grandfather took pride in doing.  My father always said it was tasteless soup.  I beg to differ.  The earthiness of the beans and the cloudy stock made smokey from the bacon and the tender cooked onions melt in your mouth, while the fresh onions provide a nice crisp sweet freshness that is to me, pure heaven.  I don’t have the exact recipe just what my father told me as he finally made it one day, after months of begging.   He made it from memory and since he only made it once I had to learn quick.  It’s a very simple soup and there really is no measuring, which is probably where I get my cooking method from.   I’ve asked lots of friends and family about this soup and how they make it.  Everyone seems to make it mostly the same way, soak the beans overnight then rinse them, put back in the slow cooker and cook for several hours.  Some of the other ingredients people added were bacon, onions,  celery, carrots, garlic, a ham hawk or what ever there mother/grandmother use to use to get it just right.  My version is simple with bacon, onion and garlic.   I like to make a couple times so I have  it  on hand all winter for those long cold days and evenings.  Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

 

 

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