Pulled Pork Sliders - Part 2 and Blue Cheese Coleslaw

has been a busy, busy week and I had a great time with our friends last night.  Lots of food, lots of wine, lots of good times.  The Pulled Pork Sliders were a great hit, and I just realized I still needed to tell you all what to do with your pork after it marinated with the spice rub over night.

Well, it is pretty simple.  Put it a slowcooker, set on low, and go to bed.  Yep, that`s pretty much it.  Ok....I add in a small bottle of a porter beer to the slowcooker (the one we used came in a stubby and was called Black Irish Plain Porter), but anyone will do.  A chocolate porter works very nicely or even a Guinness.  It is best, but not essential, to flip the pork over once during cooking.

And when you wake up, this is what you will have waiting for you:

Drain the pork well - as you can see on the plate above, there will be a lot of fat in the liquid in the slow cooker and you do not want that.  I use two forks to shred or pull the pork, removing any skin or visible fat as I go.

Drain any liquid from the slow cooker - you definitely want to keep this to moisten the pork.  I usually pour it into a gravy separator to separate out the fat from the delicious brown liquid that is a marriage of pork and porter.

Add back in the de-fatted liquid from the cooker, and then the BBQ sauce (about half a cup at a time), seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.

What you will end up with looks something like this:

Serve the pork on large or small buns.  You can top with coleslaw or serve it on the side.

Here`s a great recipe for Blue Cheese Coleslaw, that started as a Bobby Flay recipe, and then went through the Sandra mill.  It also works very well as a potato salad dressing with a few small changes.

Blue Cheese Coleslaw

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/2 cup light sour cream
2 tbsp  Dijon mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 package coleslaw mix
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled - you can add more if you like

Directions 

Combine all ingredients in a very large bowl. Stir well to coat. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve cold.

Pulled Pork Sliders - Part 1 (Spice Rub and BBQ Sauce)

Every summer I seem to be taken over by a particular dish or a particular ingredient and it ends up becoming a central focus of whatever we are eating either at home, camping or at the cottage. Last year was the summer of blue cheese. It made its way into everything from coleslaw, to potato salad (I'll post that baby one day soon - it is awesome) to topping our steaks.


The summer of 2010 was the summer of pulled pork for us. I tried recipe after recipe trying to find the perfect combination for us. I found I prefer a good bbq sauce the vinegar sauce that many recipes called for, and that also rubbing the meat with spices and letting it sit over night added dimension to the tastes. Once we ate the Beer Bistro pulled pork sandwhich (It is one of the best in Toronto), we also started adding a chocolate porter beer to our slow cooker instead of a bit of water.

So the recipes that follow are a compendium of recipes pulled from here and there, adjusted for my tastes and ingredients removed in favour of friends with certain allergies (like garlic). 

Pork

3-4 lb. pork shoulder or other well marbled cut

Spice Rub 

1 tablespoon mild paprika 
2 teaspoons light brown sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons hot paprika 
1/2 teaspoon celery salt 
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (optional) 
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 
1/4 teaspoon salt 

Combine the mild paprika, brown sugar, hot paprika, celery salt, garlic salt (if using), dry mustard, pepper, onion powder, and salt in a bowl and toss with your fingers to mix. Rub the spice mixture onto the pork shoulder on all sides, then cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, preferably 8, or even overnight if possible.

BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 
1 medium-size onion, minced 
1 clove garlic, minced (ommitted for this recipe) 
1/2 cup ketchup 
1/2 cup tomato sauce 
3 tablespoons cider vinegar, or more to taste 
3 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce, or more to taste 
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke, or 2 tablespoons meat drippings 
2 tablespoons molasses 
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, or more to taste 
2 tablespoons prepared mustard of your choice 
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
Salt to taste 

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion (and garlic if using) and cook until softened but not brown, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the ketchup, tomato sauce, cider vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice, hot sauce, liquid smoke, molasses, brown sugar, mustard, black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer, uncovered, until thickened, about 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little water.

Remove the barbecue sauce from the heat and addi salt to taste and more cider vinegar, hot sauce, and/or brown sugar if needed; the sauce should be highly seasoned. I find this combination to be perfect for our tastes - it is tangy and has zing but T-Rex doesn't complain that it is too spicy (too spicy?!?! whose kid is he really...can't be mine....)

Transfer the barbecue sauce to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature. The sauce will keep, tightly covered in the refrigerator, for several weeks.


To be continued tomorrow when the pork is ready to be cooked.  Pictures to follow.....

Recipe Test: White-ish Hummous Perfected

After several attempts and tests, I have finally arrived at a recipe for a "white hummous" for my holiday party table.  As with the other hummous recipes I have posted, I am using the term hummous very loosely.  In fact, this one really has no relation to hummous at all.  And it really isn`t white either.  Actually it is kind of caramel coloured.  Oh well.  My first attempt made use of organic canned white kidney beans. I found the resulting texture way too mushy and smooth, and I was looking for something a bit more rustic. In my second and third attempts I used dried white kidney beans, which I soaked over night and then cooked in lots of water for what seemed like an eternity the next day.

Dry beans do tend to expand to about 3 times their original size once soaked, so you need to factor this in when measuring out your beans to soak and cook. Basically, this means planning that about 1 cup of dried beans will yield about 3 cups cooked beans, 2 cups of dried beans will yield approximately 6 cups of cooked beans and so on....

Before soaking the dried beans, I recommend placing them in a colander, so you can sort through them and remove any tiny pebbles or other miscellaneous debris, and then rinse under cold water. You then need to soak most beans in three times their volume of cold water for 6-7 hours before cooking.

Once the beans have soaked, drain and rinse them, and add 2-3 times the volume of the beans in cooking water to the pot. Bring the water to a slow boil and let cook for approximately 60-90 minutes or until the beans are tender. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the beans you are using.

One important thing to note is to NOT add salt to the beans while you are cooking them, as this will cause the beans to harden. Also don’t add any acidic acid ingredients (such as tomatoes, vinegar or wine) until the beans have cooked through and are soft. Once your beans are cooked, you can cook with them right away or freeze them for future use.

White Hummous with Caramelized Onions & Thyme

1.5 cups cooked white kidney beans
1/4 cup chicken stock
2-3 spigs of thyme, pulled and finely chopped (rosemary is nice here also)
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large cooking onion
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat a small to medium sized frying pan over medium-high heat. Peel, half and thinly slice onion. Add olive oil to the pan. When a drop of water sizzles when dropped onto the pan, add onions and stir to coat with the oil. Add a pinch of salt to the cooking onions, as salt can aid to draw the moisture out of the onions and cause it to evaporate, thus speeding the caramelization process.

Continue to cook onions, stirring frequently, watching the onions become softer and their colour become browner. This is a good thing. Brown stuff = flavour. Add in cloves of garlic and continue cooking. If onions and garlic start to stick to the pan, reduce heat slightly and add in a few drops of water. Continue cooking until onions are very reduced in size and quite brown and crispy but not burnt. Remove from pan, and set aside to cool slightly.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine kidney beans, thyme, chicken stock and caramelized onions. Process until all ingredients are combined and desired texture is reached, approximately 1-2 minutes.

Serve with pita chips, lavash or whatever other cracker you have on hand. Enjoy!

Recipe Test: Chicken Skewers with Rosemary & Balsamic Vinegar

Well I am back!  My knee is feeling a bit better though it is a lovely colour of black, blue and purple and I have felt the pressure of being on my feet quit a bit this past weekend partaking my annual pre-Black Friday shopping trip to Grove City, PA.  Ice, Aleve and a glass of nice white wine will help ease my pain LOL.  I always knew that I would suffer for fashion, but I didn't realize until recently that I would suffer for the sake of cooking also!  The show must go on and I do have a party to prepare for and I do not like serving un-tried recipes to friends.  

This recipe is kind of a combination of two different chicken skewer recipes I found on http://www.epicurious.com/ which is one of my favourite sites to find new recipes ideas on.  As usual, I ended up taking what I like from one recipe, combining it with what I like from another and then throwing a bit of "Sandra" into the mix for interest sake.  I really like the flavours of balsamic vinegar, rosemary, figs and black olives together.  If you threw in blue cheese, I probably would be the happiest camper around to be honest.  

Chicken Skewers with Rosemary & Balsamic Vinegar

• 
  
• 6 boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips for skewering
• 1/4 cup olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary (2-3 tbsp)
• 4 tbsp. fig preserves (I used President's Choice Fig & Black Olive Tapenade)

Cut each chicken breast half lengthwise or on an angle into 6 thin strips. Thread each strip completely onto 1 skewer, leaving at least 1/2 inch of skewer exposed at 1 end. Divide skewers between two 15x10x2-inch glass baking dishes, stacking skewers if necessary.  Pour oil into bowl. Whisk in next 5 ingredients. Pour marinade over chicken. Marinate 1 hour at room temperature, turning often, or cover and chill overnight if possible.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove skewers from marinade and arrange on 2 large rimmed baking sheets; reserve marinade. Bake chicken until just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer to platter.

While chicken is cooking transfer reserved marinade to medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until reduced in half, about 15 minutes. Cool marinade slightly and strain if desired.  Brush reduced marinade over chicken right before serving.  Garnish with additional rosemary sprigs if desired.


Yummy.