Superbowl Pulled Pork

Go Broncos!!!!

I've never been a huge football fan until just this year.  I mean I've always enjoyed cooking food for the super bowl, don't get me wrong, but I really never could have cared less about who was playing what until recently.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I realized this year how much of a die hard Vikings fan my boyfriend is...and how much fun it is to bring up the Packers around him!!  He would always shut me up fast though with his superior football knowledge, so I had to keep learning more, one thing led to another and now I feel I know more about football than most of the guys I know.  Oh well, it sure is easier to talk smack about them Vikings though!!!

I have to digress though, I still don't really have a strong allegiance to any one football team.  I rooted for the Broncos this year because I like Peyton Manning's nationwide commercials-and I want him to be able to retire on a high note.  That being said, my favorite part of the super bowl is still the food!!  Normally my recipes are all vegetarian, or can at least be made vegetarian easily.  The super bowl is an exception though, when I have a house full of meat hungry, beer drinking men, a falafel salad just won't cut it.  So that's when I bring out the big guns!

This pulled pork is not just your average BBQ pork.  I am a firm believer that you shouldn't have to drown something in sauce in order for it to be edible.  That being said, it's not an 8 hour crock pot meal either, this baby takes two days!!  Before you shake your head and move on, hear me out.  It may take a little bit longer than your average pulled pork, but it is also ten times tastier.  What really makes this unique is the fact that I soak it in a mixture of spices, sugar and salt for a day before cooking it over very low heat overnight.  Because the pork has been brined, I am able to cook it in the oven and it doesn't dry out.  It also gives the spice mixture an opportunity to penetrate and tenderize the meat instead of just coating it.  I've always wanted to try this on the grill, or in a smoker.  Maybe sometime I will get the opportunity to do so and post my results, but in the meantime, this is the absolute best way I've found to make it.  It falls apart as soon as you touch it and according to all of the meat eating folks last night, and every other time I've made it, it's fantastic!!!

You will need a large roasting pan to make this, if you don't have one, they sell super cheap disposable ones at Cub Foods, Rainbow and pretty much any other grocery store that will work just fine.  You also need something to brine the meat in.  I normally use food-safe bags, the kind that you cover sheet trays with in restaurants.  I like these because I can tie the tops shut and I don't have to worry about meat juice exploding everywhere in my fridge...you could also use a large gallon or two gallon sized ziplock, but you'd want to use a freezer one (the heavy duty ones), and then put the bagged butt (LOL) in the roasting pan in the fridge, just in case it decides to start leaking on you!

Superbowl Pulled Pork

6-7# Bone in Boston Butt (Pork Shoulder)

Spice Mixture:

(I put in about a TBSP of each of these spices, if there is something that you really like, or really don't, feel free to adjust to taste, don't worry about the cayenne, it seems like a lot, but it mellows out in the brine)

Cumin

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Black Pepper

Smoked Paprika

Chili Powder

Cayenne

1/3 cup brown sugar

Mix these together and then get out a medium (3-4 quart) saucepan and start preparing the brine.

Brine Mixture:

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup br. sugar

2 bay leaves

Stir these together in the saucepan and then pour in about 4 cups of water, bring the water to a simmer whisking constantly to dissolve all of the salt and sugar.  When everything is dissolved remove the mixture from the heat and add about 4 cups of ice to bring the water to room temperature.

I like to pour this brine mixture into a juice container so that it is easier to handle in the next step.

Take your shoulder and thoroughly cover it with the dry spice mixture.  If you are using a 7# shoulder you will want to use all of it, if it's a little smaller, don't use quite as much. 

Put the shoulder into the freezer Ziploc, or food safe bag and carefully pour all of the brining liquid into the bag as well.  I have found that it's easiest to do this if I prop the bag up in my sink, that way just in case it spills my house doesn't smell like a pork shoulder for two weeks...

Once you have poured in all of the liquid seal the bag shut, put it in the roasting pan, and stick it in the fridge.  The way that I like to do this is to put it in the fridge in the evening, the next morning before work I flip the roast over so that it gets evenly brined, and then when I get home from work, 24 hours later, the roast is ready for the oven!!!

No matter how exactly you do it, the shoulder should sit in the brine for 24 hours.  After 24 hours take the shoulder out of the bag and put it back into the roasting pan (fat side up).  Pour a little bit of the liquid that it was sitting in into the pan, I normally do about 1 1/2 cups.  Preheat your oven to 250, and stick the roast in.

Now we wait.

As a general rule a well brined Boston butt will take about 1.5 - 2 hours per pound.  I have found that for my 7 pound roasts 12 hours is perfect, which also works out great, because my oven automatically shuts off after 12 hours!!  Perfect or what!?

What I would recommend is start at 1.5 hours per pound.  After that, take the roast out of the oven, stick a fork into it, if it doesn't just start falling apart, and stick it in for another hour.  You will know it's done when a fork stuck into the meat can easily pull it apart.

Once the roast is fork-tender turn off your oven, prop the oven door open and let the shoulder sit for an hour to really distribute the juices.

That's it!  Remove the thick layer of fat on top and then pull that baby apart with a fork or your hands (don't forget to remove the bone!) and you are ready to go!  I know it looks like it takes a long time, but there is barely any effort involved besides mixing up some spices and boiling some water - and it is soooo worth it!!

I hope you love this shredded pork!!

Homestyle Molasses and Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

My mom has always made every bit of bread that our household consumes from scratch.  Honestly sometimes I think she may take it to a bit of an extreme, but what can I say?  I grew up knowing the basics of bread making and thinking it was something every kid knew.  To this day bread making is still one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen.  There's something about the process involved that makes me feel connected to all of those women throughout the years who have slaved away in hot kitchens, feeding hungry mouths, making the world go round.  Even though we have high tech machines now that can plop out loaves of 'wonder' bread ever 3 seconds, there's still something so much more satisfying about pulling a hot, fragrant loaf out of the oven.

However, I don't eat bread much, neither does my man.  So in order to get my baking kick in, and not waste food, I typically turn to quick breads, or on the rare occasion, dinner rolls.  My mom had these amazing dinner rolls that she used to make all the time with oats and whole wheat flour that were so savory and fantastic in soups and stews and with butter, and by themselves hot out of the oven.  The problem was is that she never actually wrote down a recipe that I know of...so I set out to recreate them on my own.

First off, as much as I love and appreciate whole wheat flour and the texture and health benefits that it brings, I can't justify using it 100% in my bread.  Too much whole wheat flour and I start to lose that light, fall apart-in-your-mouth texture that I crave in my breads and rolls.  So I compromised on these, enough whole wheat flour to give them that hearty flavor I crave, but not to much to turn them into crumbly disasters.

The dough will be smooth when the gluten is developed

The second element that I knew I was going to have to modify was the sugar.  I'll be honest, I'm not even sure where my mom got some of the strange sweeteners that she used, but I'll be damned if I ever saw her put white sugar in a single thing she made us!  Unfortunately the average household these days (or grocery store) does not have unrefined sucanat or palm sugar on hand, and I'm not about making recipes that you have to travel halfway around the globe to gather ingredients for!  So I experimented with swapping in some basics:  molasses and honey.  I had to experiment with the proportions a bit, but in the end, the yeast proofed perfectly and they turned out with a hint of deep molasses flavor, and no highly processed white sugar.

I would recommend a heavy dark 9x13 pan for these or a glass pan.  Also adding the butter on towards the end of baking is optional but it will give them a nice brown sheen and a little extra butter flavor.

These rolls are definitely best when hot, just like pretty much any other loaf of bread, but they are also fantastic cut in half, with a little bit of butter and some cheddar and thrown under the broiler for a minute.  I'm weird and I like pickles on my cheddar cheese, but if you're normal just cheddar and butter and a quick hit with the broiler will make a fantastic light lunch!!

Hope they turn out as amazing for you as they did for me!

I'm no professional photographer, but even with my shaky iPhone pics they still look delicious!

Honey Molasses and Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

                2 Cups Unbleached Flour (Plus extra for kneading)

                1 package active dry yeast

                ¼ Cup (½ stick) of butter

    1 Cup Whole Milk

                ½ Dark Molasses

                1 TBSP Honey

                ½ tsp salt

                2 Large Eggs

   ¾ Cup Whole Wheat Flour

   ¾ Cup rolled oats (I recommend Quaker's quick oats.  They're inexpensive and worked perfect)

Butter shaving to add on during cooking (optional)

1.  In a large bowl mix together the unbleached flour and yeast packet.

2.  In a heavy bottom saucepan over low heat melt the butter, add the milk and then the molasses and honey.  Dissolve the salt in the mixture.  DO NOT BOIL.  If the mixture boils the milk will get funky and you’ll have to start all over.  As soon as everything is combined and melted together turn off the heat.  Cool the milk mixture to 115, or in less technical jargon: until you can stick your pinky finger into the milk and it doesn’t burn at all.  It should feel a little warm, but that’s it.  This is very important because the yeast is a living organism and if the milk burns you it will burn the yeast and it will die.  And your bread will fail.

3.  Once the milk mixture is at the right temperature slowly pour it into the flour and yeast and stir together.  Let it set for 5 minutes.

4.  Add the eggs and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.  Pour in the whole wheat flour and the oats and mix that up too.

5.  At this point you should have a fairly wet dough that smells amazing.  Sprinkle in about ½ cup more unbleached flour or until the dough is workable.  It’s still going to be pretty wet, but it needs to be thick enough to hold together.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes.  Try not to add more flour than is necessary.  Too much flour will make the dough tough and tasteless.  You will be able to tell when the gluten has started to develop when the dough gets a smooth top on it, and if you poke it gently, it will spring back into place.

6.  Spray the bowl it came out of and the top of the dough with some cooking spray and drop the dough in the bowl.  Cover it with a towel and put it in a warm place to rise for about 1.5 hours, or until doubled in volume.

7.  After the dough has risen turn it out of the bowl and punch it down.  At this point I would recommend grabbing a sharp knife to help you cut the dough into roll sized chunks.  Cut the dough into two equal pieces and then cut each of those pieces into 8 more equal pieces.  I find that it’s easier to roll the two chunks of dough into cylinders and then cut them in half and then cut those pieces in half and so on.

8.  Once you have the pieces cut out form them into rolls but pulling the dough down around the sides of the roll and pinching it into place at the bottom of the roll.  I do this process several times to make sure the top of my roll is perfectly smooth.  Place the rolls in a greased 9x13 pan, cover them up again, and let rise for another 30 minutes or so, once again until doubled in size.

9.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Once the rolls have finished rising put them in the oven for ten minutes.  Pull them out and drop some shavings of butter all over them.  Put them back in the oven for another 2 or 3 minutes.

As soon as the rolls come out of the oven they are good to go!  Just be careful, they will be hot!

I’ve had these with pasta, soup, stew, as a sandwich, you name it, they are fantastic!  If you need to store them they can be kept in a plastic bag for about a week.  I wouldn’t recommend freezing them as it will alter the texture.  If you want to serve them later you can pop them back in the oven for about 5 minutes at 300 and they will come out just as good as they were the first time!

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Fresh Start

It's been a long time since I've had a moment to sit down and actually write down a recipe.  But lately I've had some very positive employment changes that will enable me to finally have a little extra time!

One of my favorite activities is browsing through pinterest and drooling over every perfectly photographed scrumptious bite.  I love to cook, everyone who knows me will agree with that.  I also love to experiment...maybe a little too much.  I'll be honest.  I rarely get it perfect the first time.  As much as my boyfriend is a sweetheart and eats everything I put in front of him, I know not everything I serve him is delicious...(in fact I'm not even sure everything should even be classified as edible...)

But that doesn't stop me!  As I scroll Pinterest's plethora of brightly colored, attractively photographed recipes I can't help but have my mouth watering on every other recipe.  With the recent advent of so much more recognition towards not just vegetarian lifestyles, but also vegan, pescatarian, lacto-vegetarian and so many other choices, it's impossible to NOT find something I want to devour!

However, I struggle when it comes to following the recipe.  I'll see the picture, briefly scroll through the ingredients, and then make it.  For some reason it's almost impossible for me to just sit down and follow a recipe, even though I know my food would turn out 99% of the time if I would just follow the damn recipe!  I just can't though!  It's like I'll look at the recipe, agree that whoever made it up was really on to something, and then do everything in my power to change it to make it EVEN BETTER!  Sometimes I'll hit gold and it really does turn out fantastic.  Most of the time it comes out tasting about the same as it would have if I would have just followed the recipe.  And occasionally... well... let's just say I wind up ordering Pizza and taking the batteries out of the smoke alarms.

One of the reasons that I am so damn persistent in doing things my own way is because if I don't clearly understand the process being used then I want to try a process I do understand instead.  Or, if I have time, experiment with the one being implemented until I understand the WHY and the HOW of what I'm doing.  One thing that I did learn from my years of culinary school is that cooking is not just an art form.  It's also a chemistry project.  Baking soda, yeast, alcohol, vinegar, whipping, beating, folding.  Even choosing between a copper pan and an aluminum pan.  There is a lot that goes into cooking that most people don't even know about.  And honestly, if I could just follow the goshdarn recipe, I wouldn't run into so many of these problems!

I have come to accept however that I cannot follow a recipe.  It's just not in my nature.  And well that may mean that we occasionally dine on Papa John's three nights in a row, it also means that I have some damn good trial and error tested recipes under my belt.  I'm always getting more too - especially now that I have normal, boring, banker hours again!  More than just having absolutely tantalizing, delicious recipes however, I also know WHY and HOW.  I don't just have a list of ingredients and an order that you put them together, I have a process, and I know how much flexibility I have in that process which in a way is very freeing, and inspiring.  I know that I can make countless variations of my spicy stir fry sauce, change quantities, switch out vinegars, add extra lemon zest ect.  But if I switch the sesame oil for olive oil, I'm going to have a burnt smelly mess on my hands!

I come from a family of damn good cooks:  My mom made everything from peanut butter, to pickled beans to a hot loaf of bread from scratch when I was a kid.  My grandma made the best strawberry jam on the planet, my aunt has molasses cookies that will make you happy to put on your holiday weight.  The culinary streak has continued with my generation as well.  My cousin married a fantastic cook, and my brother makes a mean bowl of mashed potatoes (among other things).  I feel it's the least I can do to chronicle some of these tried and true recipes.  If anyone uses them once and it brings a smile to their face, or the face of a loved one I'll consider it a success.  I'm going to try to post at least one recipe a week that I have made multiple times, the most recent being that week.  We'll see how that goes.

On that note I will leave you with the coolest thing I have seen all year so far (I think his license plates were expired, but still, that's one hell of a ride!):

Happy Cooking and May the Force be With You!

P.S.  I am a vegetarian, so most of my recipes are going to follow with that, however I live with a voracious meat eater, as are most of my friends and family, so most (not all) recipes will have meaty options.