Pulled Pork Sandos

Alas! I am too late for Labor Day, but for good reason.  Elizabeth and I enjoyed yet another “epication.”  What is an epication, you might wonder?  It is what the infamous Scott Sutherland (my father) has dubbed an epicurean vacation—a food-centric journey through a new place with people who love food and enjoy learning about different regions' flavors.  And so it is that we found ourselves in Seattle, indulging in local lore and dishes of the Pacific Northwest. But more on that later…

Bringing me back to my original point:  I had intended to post this for Labor Day, but time slipped away as it tends to do.  In the last six or so months, I've found myself consistently craving pulled pork sandwiches, for no apparent reason.  Truly, I'd never eaten them in my youth, nor had I previously given them much thought.  My, was I missing out!  Aside from the delicious flavor and wonderful texture of this dish, my favorite thing about it is it can feed about ten mouths rather inexpensively—ultimately, the perfect thing to serve when entertaining large groups.  Which is exactly what my good friend Kelsey and I did.  She was probably the biggest motivator in getting me to begin the pulled pork sandwich train. We enjoyed these on a perfect summer afternoon before a baseball game... a truly patriotic day!  Kudos Kels!

As I dined on pulled pork sandwiches this past week, my Grammy pointed out that pulled pork is just as satisfying (if not more) in the winter months. Dually noted, Grammy!  I like that this recipe can be done indoors, and therefore, enjoyed year round; there's no need to reserve this meal exclusively for summer. I find it satisfying and comforting, and have decided it would be equally enjoyable on a cold February night.  In fact, if you season the pork with just salt and pepper and omit the rub, the pork can be used for tacos, enchiladas, and plenty of other recipes.

Interestingly enough, it seems it was fate I post about pulled pork sandwiches after the holiday weekend.  While we did enjoy many of Seattle's culinary offerings, we had actually come to town for a fabulous wedding.  A post-wedding picnic was hosted the day after the festivities and, as luck would have it, what do you think was served? You'd be right if you guessed pulled pork sandwiches. As previously mentioned, I also had pulled pork sandos at my Grammy's house 4 days later. Must be pulled pork season!

Happy eating,

Lindsay

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Coleslaw

1 boneless pork shoulder roast, about 7 lbs.

3 tablespoons dry mustard

1 ½  tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Hamburger buns

½ head green cabbage, thinly sliced

½ head red cabbage, thinly sliced

1 carrot, thinly sliced

½ cup green onions, thinly sliced

Cilantro-Lime Aioli (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Combine dry mustard, brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne in a small bowl, breaking up any lumps.

Using a sharp knife, score the fat (but not the meat) of the pork in a diamond pattern.  Dry pork with paper towel and rub spice mixture all over the roast. 

Place pork, fat side up, in a large dutch oven with a ½ cup of water. Roast until some fat has rendered, about 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven and reduce temperature to 350°F. Put on lid, or if using a roasting pan tightly cover with foil. Cook until meat is very tender, about 4 hours. Remove from oven and let cool.

When cool enough to handle, remove fat from top of roast. Using two forks, shred meat into bite size pieces, removing any large pieces of fat. Toss with your favorite barbeque sauce*.

While pork is cooking, prepare the coleslaw. Generously salt the cabbage and drain in colander for 3 hours. Rinse thoroughly and dry. Mix red and green cabbage, carrot and green onion in a large bowl until well incorporated.  Starting with a half cup, add the cilantro-lime aioli to the cabbage mixture and toss until evenly coated.  Add more sauce to taste.

Toast the hamburger buns, if desired (this is a recommended step as it adds a crunchy texture to the other soft components of the sandwich).  Spoon a generous helping of the pulled pork mixture onto the bottom bun.  Top with coleslaw, and top half of bun.  Enjoy amongst friends!

*Unless you prefer homemade, I recommend using Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque Sauce... again.

Cilantro-Lime Aioli

Adapted from She Eats Bears*

1 egg yolk**

1 tablespoon Dijon

Juice of 2 limes

Zest of 1 lime

2 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

¾ cup cilantro, chopped

In the bowl of a blender, combine the egg yolk, Dijon, lime juice and zest, 2 cloves garlic, salt and pepper. Slowly add the olive oil of until the right consistency is reached (about 3/4 cup, but taste as you go!). Start adding the oil drop by drop as the mixer is going, then add as a slow stream. Toss in chopped cilantro just before serving. Add more lime juice if desired.

* She Eats Bears is a blog Elizabeth introduced me to as we began our research for Knife and Fork Adventures.  Some people like mayonnaise, others don’t.  I’m on the team that does, and I think this recipe is great.  Marysol, who writes the blog, suggests pairing the Cilantro-Lime Aioli with pork skewers, sweet potato fries and gai lan.  Next time I prepare this, I will definitely try it with the aforementioned goodies. 
** If you do not want to use raw egg, you can substitute for a 1/4 cup of mayonnaise.  If you wish for the aioli to be thinner, just add a little more lime juice.

Mmmm... Ribs!

There are some foods that you always have a hankering for. It varies person to person, as many crave chocolate, French fries, or pizza. Or if you are me (and Pat) you die for finger lickin’ good ribs.  Even though this summer has been unseasonably cool (even for San Francisco), I still feel the need for a good ol’ backyard barbeque.  But what to cook?  Burgers are always a crowd pleaser, fish tacos are fun… but there is nothing quite like ribs that are tender and falling off the bone.  

My friend Pat had been requesting we make ribs for months, but I never really felt quite confident enough in my barbequing skills to make ribs good enough to impress.  It was when I was discussing methods of barbequing with my friend Nat when I realized that this grill master would be the perfect companion to show me the way to the perfect rib.

Nat has a wealth of knowledge about grilling, and offered me a slew of recipes to choose from. After comparing various methods, I could not decide which to choose. And thus, the rib-off was born.  It came in the form of a goodbye party for a friend.  Nat and I decided to make two types of ribs, and have the crowd decide which they favored.  Nat’s ribs are no walk in the park, but the end certainly justifies the means. Both begin with the same rub, but the grilling methods are very unique from each other. Nat smokes his ribs for hours on a charcoal grill, whereas rib recipe #2 are steamed cooked on a gas grill. When the votes came in, most people preferred Nat’s ribs to the competition.  I was in agreeance for their juicy, smoky meat that was falling off the bone.

I recommend starting by first making the rub recipe. Then, rub the rub on the ribs and set aside in the refrigerator to let the flavors penetrate. Then begin to prepare the grill, and continue to follow the directions.

Just a couple of tips before you begin the journey: (1) It will take all day, so begin early in the morning to avoid eating at 11 o’clock at night. (2) Read all of the directions before you get started—there are a lot of steps. (3) Equip yourself with a lot of foil. You may even need a whole roll to make the ribs successfully. (4) You need a basting brush or large paint brush. We like this one, as can be thrown in the dishwasher and it is easier to clean. You also need a spray bottle. (5) If you do not have a table/tray attached to grill, set up a table next to it or nearby. (6) In terms of ingredients, exact amounts and quantities don't matter. Trust your judgement and cook without limits!

Happy Eating,
Lindsay

Nat’s Rub

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup non-iodized table salt*

1/8 cup brown sugar, dried*

4 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon onion powder


Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mix well.

*Brown sugar can be dried by leaving it on a baking sheet for a few hours or throwing it in a warm oven.  
*Nat recommends starting with 1/2 the salt and add more to taste.  

To build a charcoal fire:


I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into when I was emailed this illustration of  "the plan." It actually does a pretty good job of visually mapping out what to build. This particular process is what you use to steam the ribs, and is the technique Nat uses for his ribs.

To begin, make sure that the grate is flat in the bottom of the grill. Laying 2 or 3 fire bricks up on their side (available at most hardware stores), section off half of the grill.  Fill one half of the grill with a layer of unlit charcoal so that it fills the grill about halfway. Top with 5 or 6 fist sized wood chips, such as oak, cedar or applewood.

Next, prepare the bbq chimney. Roll five sheets of newspaper longways, and coil them on the out edges of the bottom of the chimney, making sure to keep the center of the chimney clear.

Set the chimney upright and fill with coals. Put the chimney in the empty side of the grill, and light the newspaper with a long match or lighter.  

Once you see the white ash forming on the coals at the top of the chimney, dump the hot coals on top of unlit charcoal and wood chips in the grill.  Fill a small aluminum pan with cool water and place this on the bottom grate opposite the charcoal. Put the top grate on top of the coals and the top on the grill so that it may heat up.  This method of lighting the coals on the top is called the Minion Method.  The coals on top will slowly ignite those below them and allow for a long, uninterrupted cook time.  (Ribs can be added right away at this point).

Nat's Ribs

An easy way to remember his method is to call it the 3-2-1 method (smoke three hours, steam for 2, finish in sauce for one). 

3 or 4 racks of pork ribs

Rub recipe

Jug of apple juice

Bbq sauce*

An entire roll of foil

Spray bottle

Pat dry the each side of the ribs with a paper towel. Check ribs to see if there is an extra membrane, which is a tough clear layer running over the bones along the bottom of the ribs. Do this by running a butter knife under the membrane to loosen it, starting at the end of one of the bones. If there is an extra layer, it will lift so that you can pull it off in strips. If it is too slippery to grip, try using a paper towel to properly grasp it. Cut the rack of ribs in halves or thirds so as to fit on your grill. Sprinkle each side of the ribs generously with the rub. As the ribs cook, their juices will run off a lot of the rub, so do not be afraid of being heavy handed.  Refrigerate ribs until ready to grill.

If you have a rib rack, using one to cook the ribs will yield the best results. Otherwise, lay each rib rib-side down on the grill, layering slightly if need be. Cover with lid. In order to let the ribs slowly smoke, the grill should always be kept between 250 and 300 degrees. To lower the temperature, you need to reduce the amount of oxygen getting inside the grill. To raise temperature, open vents to let more oxygen in. Keeping an eye on the temperature, let the ribs smoke for 3 hours.

The next step is to steam the ribs in individual packets, working one set at a time.  Tear off pieces big enough to completely wrap each rib--enough for each set of ribs.  Stack foil in a pile on top of each other to work most efficiently. Set one rib down on a piece of foil. Spray generously with apple juice, and securely wrap in the foil. Set aside and continue to spray and wrap each rib.  Once all ribs are wrapped, place all of the packets back on the grill, continuing to maintain the 250-300 degree temperature. Let steam in grill for 2 hours. (If you need to stack the packets, there is no need to rotate.)

Pull apart one packet to check and see if done. The meat should be pulled down about an inch from the top of the bone; when pulling two bones apart, you should feel the meat resist slightly before tearing away. 

If done, take all of the ribs packets off of the grill. Prepare a bowl of the bbq sauce to set next to grill. As you unwrap each rib, use a basting brush paint each side with bbq sauce. Place each sauced rib back on the grill, and let cook for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from grill, let cool 5 minutes, and serve!

*We used Sweet Baby Ray's, but any barbecue sauce of your choice is acceptable.

Nat's smoked ribs are on bottom, Matt's steamed/boiled on bottom.

Matt's Ribs

3 racks of ribs

Rib rub

6-pack of beer* 

2 onions, roughly chopped

Handful of fresh rosemary, leaves removed from stems

5 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

Aluminum roasting pan

Heat a gas or charcoal grill to 350-400 degrees (medium-high heat).

Pat dry the each side of the ribs. Check ribs to see if there is an extra membrane, which is a tough clear layer running over the bones along the bottom of the ribs. Do this by running a butter knife under the membrane to loosen it, starting at the end of one of the bones. If there is an extra layer, it will lift so that you can pull it off in strips. If it is too slippery to grip, try using a paper towel to properly grasp it. Cut the rack of ribs in halves or thirds so as to fit on your grill. Sprinkle each side of the ribs generously with the rub. As the ribs cook, their juices will run off a lot of the rub, so do not be afraid of being heavy handed.

Place the ribs into the roasting pan. Cover with the onions, rosemary and garlic.  Pour enough beer into the pan to fully cover the ribs.  Cover with foil, leaving a small opening in the side to let out steam as the ribs cook.  Put the roasting pan on the grill, and cover the grill. Leave to cook for 1-1.5 hours. 

After 1-1.5 hours, take the pan off grill.  One rack at a time, take out of cooking liquid. Brush both sides with bbq sauce and put on grill. Repeat with remaining ribs. Cook on grill over high heat for 5-10 minutes. Remove from grill, let cool 5 minutes, and serve!

*Although we used what we had on hand, I highly recommend using a good quality beer. As with cooking with wine, make sure it is a beer you would drink. Anchor Steam is a good choice. 

Southwest Stuffed Kabocha Squash

With all the rain and gloomy skies we San Franciscans battled this winter (and now continuing into spring), it’s possible I developed seasonal depression; I've come to long for San Diego's not-so-much winters. I guess that’s what I get for transplanting myself from Southern California to the state’s northern, and much chillier, hemisphere. However, the one thing I do love about winter is the squash that comes with it.

My new favorite this year is kabocha squash. The size is perfect for just one person and the taste is creamy, buttery and rich. Because squash improve after a few weeks, especially the kabochas, they begin to taste better as the starches convert to sugars. Therefore, I have concluded that squash are just as good to enjoy well into the spring months. After all, it's May and they are still making appearances at weekend farmer's markets and claiming real estate in grocery stores.

This recipe was developed as an ode to the last of the winter squash; savoring the last before moving on to those harvested in summer. I think it is the perfect recipe for that transition time (i.e. when you are between seasons of produce). The spicy southwest flavors get me thinking about the warm months to look forward to, while still comforting me from the brisk San Francisco fog. 

Squash can be difficult to shop for since you can't exactly gauge ripeness on tenderness. A heavy squash with dull, unblemished skin is one you want to take home with you when at the market. Cutting squash requires a sharp knife and a steady hand—so be careful! I find that cutting squash alone can be too daunting a task. For fear of amputating an arm, I sometimes roast the squash first and cut it later, once the rind has softened. For this recipe, you want to make sure you don't cook it too long; just enough to soften the skin. 

This Southwest Stuffed Kabocha Squash serves four. If you want to add another side for bigger appetites, try a nice tossed corn salad. Feel free to switch fillings up. For a leaner meal, use all turkey. For boosted flavor, mix beef and pork. For added authentication, switch out the Swiss cheese for Mexican cotija. 

Happy eating,

Lindsay

Southwest Stuffed Kabocha Squash

3 kabocha squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

2½ ounces ground turkey

2½ ounces ground pork

I small onion, chopped

½ medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups fresh cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed

1 cup shredded swiss cheese 

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in half horizontally. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Rub the cut-side of the squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper on each half. Place squash cut-side down on a baking sheet covered in foil. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, coat a large skillet with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil; heat over medium heat. Add the ground turkey and pork and cook, stirring and breaking up with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned; 3 to 5 minutes. Add the onions and red pepper and cook until just softened. Stir in garlic, chili powder and cumin; cook for 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, beans, ½ teaspoon of salt and hot sauce, scraping any browned bit from the bottom so that it incorporated into the mixture. Don't worry if a lot of brown bits have accumulated at the bottom of the pan. The tomato juice will break it up; just keep working your spoon to scrape it. Cover, reduce heat to to medium-low, and simmer until the tomatoes are broken down, 10 to 12 minutes.

When the squash are tender, remove from oven and reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Use tongs to flip over the squash, as they will be very hot. Divide the turkey/pork mixture evenly between the squash halves. Top each with a quarter cup or so of cheese. Place on baking sheet skin-side down and bake until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted, 8 to 10 minutes.