Cuban-Inspired House Rubbed Pulled Pork

Guest Entree Entry

2 tbsp Lime Riesling grapeseed oil (Oil & Vinegar, Greenville)

1 oz House Rub* (Spice it to a Tea, Brevard)

1 tbsp salt

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, ½ coarsely chopped ½ quartered

1 lime, juiced and strained

1 orange, juiced and strained

4 lbs boneless pork (roast/loin/shoulder)
 

Place the chopped onions in a Crock Pot. Mix the oil, rub, salt, garlic, and fruit juices in a medium bowl.  Cut off as much fat as you can from the pork.  It will only make it harder to pull the pork later if you leave the fat on.  Make slits in the pork and dip in the wet seasoning; coating thoroughly.  Place in the Crock Pot on top of the onions, pour remaining liquid over the pork and top with quartered onions.  Cook on low for 6 hours; flipping it once 1/2 way through.  Pull apart with 2 forks.  Put back into the Crock Pot to allow the juice to coat the pulled pork.

 

Verdict:  Melts in your mouth!  It was very tasty, full of many different flavors; all the spices coupled with the citrus fruits.  Absolutely delicious!  Plenty to freeze for a later date too.  I am very glad I had made it over to Brevard yesterday or else I wouldn't have had the House Rub to add to this dish; compliments of Diane! You have to go see her shop in Brevard, NC - Spice it to a Tea!  Well worth the trip over there, always! 

 

*Ground tea, brown sugar, Ceylon, curry powder, cumin, Szechuan pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, star anise, cloves, fennel seed, ginger, mace, sea salt

Simple Sprout Salad

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Brussel sprouts, 1 bag steamed, cut in ½

3 strips cooked bacon, chopped

3 oz Danish blue cheese, crumbled

1 cup whole walnuts

1.5 tbsp Marc de Champagne vinegar, drizzled

Salt + pepper to taste

Mix above ingredients. 

 

Verdict:  I think the whole walnuts were not a good idea; I would likely chop them in the future or try chopped pecans instead, perhaps even candied.  It wouldn’t hurt to have more bacon and cheese in this dish as well (that could be said about any dish, essentially).  Brian frowns on adding extra salt to dishes with bacon and/or cheese in them… I lightly seasoned this salad, but I would probably go a little heavier next time.  It’s missing something… an herb or a spice, maybe nutmeg and/or clove, especially if I change it to candied pecans.  The bitterness of the brussel sprouts prevailed; it was a good idea for a change up to plain brussel spouts, but I will have to keep working on this one.  I am very open to suggestions.  But I do think the presentation does look better than all the other ones I have posted! ;)

butternut squash and corn bisque

as a recurring theme, i recently obtained some butternut squash from my dad's garden.  in an effort to do something adventurous and experimental, i decided to make a soup with it.  and i'll admit, jackie's recent soup may have made me think about making something of that nature on my own.  also, i wanted to empty out my freezer a little bit...

this was a sort of time-consuming endeavor (about an hour and a half or so for total preparation and cooking), but soups aren't quick.  so i'm okay with that.  all told, there are probably about five brian-sized portions out of this pot of soup.

ingredients:
- 3 ears corn
- 3 butternut squash (one kind of smallish, two medium)
- chicken stock (about 4-5 cups)
- seasonings (nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme, cayenne/black pepper, salt)
- olive oil

the chicken stock was left over from making a pot of roasted potato soup awhile back, so i pulled it out of the freezer and made use of it instead of buying some stock or just using water.


preparation:
shuck the corn, coat with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and a little cayenne pepper.  place on a baking pan.  scrub the butternut squash, cut off the stem, and cut them lengthwise.  scoop out (and reserve) the seeds.  coat the cut side of the squash with olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne, and place face down on the baking pan with the corn.

roast the vegetables at 400°F for approximately 40 minutes or until the squash is tender to the fork-touch.  while the vegetables are roasting, wash the squash seeds and coat them with the olive oil and spice mixture (left over from coating the squash).  set aside on little pan for toasting (i actually used a small square of aluminum foil left over from some previous experiment).

once the vegetables are out of the oven, let them cool off for a few minutes (very important or else you burn your fingers...trust me, i'm all too familiar with the consequences).  cut the corn off the cob, scoop the squash out of the skin, and add it all to the chicken stock.  add salt, pepper (black and cayenne), some cinnamon and nutmeg, and some thyme.  simmer for approximately 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  while the soup is simmering, bring the oven down to 350°F and toast the seeds for about 10-12 minutes.  if you start hearing the seeds popping around in the oven, they're probably done.  remove from the oven and set aside.

puree the soup in a blender until reasonably smooth.  note to self: do NOT put too much in the blender...it may try to explode all over the place...danger, will robinson!  serve with toasted squash seeds sprinkled on top.


verdict:
we struggled on what to call it ("chowder" seems to be nominally a cream-based potato and/or seafood soup, and "soup" seems to be too non-descriptive), but we eventually settled on "bisque," which seems appropriate.  it was surprisingly filling, and it had a nice mixture of sweetness and spiciness; the cayenne gave enough of a kick without burning out the palate.  the addition of the toasted seeds was perhaps the most important part; it provided a textural contrast that was necessary since the vegetables were all pureed together.

for future reference, i may not have added quite enough thyme (that flavor wasn't particularly noticeable in the final product).  also, i think that ground cloves would have been a good addition to the flavor profile.

this is an interesting experiment.  i admit i made it mostly as a novelty, but it turned out well.  it's something i would probably attempt again, but it isn't what i'd go back to again and again.  and i'd definitely wait until fall/winter next time...as tasty as it is, it just doesn't work for a relatively warm summer night.

hash and eggs

i felt like experimenting tonight.  and what i ended up making was nothing like what i originally intended.  but that's okay because it turned out moderately successfully.

in this case, i put a spin on hash and eggs.  total time was approximately 40 minutes (prep plus cook times), and i can probably get two brian meals out of it.

ingredients:
- 1 medium eggplant (courtesy of dad's garden)
- handful of potatoes (also courtesy of the garden)
- 1 small onion (starting to see a theme yet?)
- 2 medium-ish tomatoes (yup...definitely a theme)
- 2 eggs (nope...he doesn't raise chickens)
- olive oil
- spices (paprika, rosemary, garlic powder, basil, salt/pepper)

preparation:
chop the potatoes and eggplant, and toss them in a bowl with olive oil.  for what it's worth, i quartered the eggplant lengthwise and chopped each sliver in about 1/2 inch chunks.  mix in the spices (sans basil) and stir until the vegetables are thoroughly coated.

in a separate bowl, roughly chop the tomatoes and mix with basil.

spread the potatotes/eggplant on a lined plan and roast at 400°F for about 22 minutes.  remove from oven and set aside.

add some olive oil to a large pan and bring to a medium-high heat.  stir in the tomatoes and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.  stir in the rest of the vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes.

cook eggs over-easy(ish) and serve on top of the hash.

verdict:
this was much better than i was expecting.  i've never been a fan of runny eggs (or so i thought), but it works amazingly well when the yolk coats the potatoes and eggplant.  the tomato cooks down and gives a little tang to the whole dish.  i'm not an expert on cooking eggs in this particular fashion (hence the less-than-stellar picture), but i guess i can learn.

however, i do have two mild complaints.  first, the potatoes were a little hard.  when i do this sort of thing again, i'll chop them smaller and/or roast them a little longer.  second, i had intended to sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on the mixture.  oh well...there's always next time!

Butternut Squash + Apple Soup

*Guest Entree Entry*

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp organic coconut oil
1 + ½ cups chopped yellow/white onions
2 tbsp curry powder certified organic, salt free (Spice It To A T, Brevard)
4 cups (2 medium + 1 small) butternut squash, peeled, gutted & quartered (compliments of Brian's dad's garden... Brian and I are becoming quite the "Peter Rabbits" of Farmer Richards' garden)
5 medium mixed apples (Mutzo, Honey Crisp, Gala), peeled, cored, & quartered
2 cups water
1 + ½ cups apple cider
Salt + pepper to taste

Mix butter, coconut oil, onions, curry, salt + pepper in a sauce pan and simmer over medium/low heat for 15 minutes until onions are soft.  Then add in squash, apples, and 2 cups of water.  Simmer over medium heat for about 35-45 minutes until squash + apples start to soften.  (It’s worth the wait.)

 

Then, transfer the mixture into a blender.  I used my Magic Bullet to blend about 1 + ½ cups at a time… the first blended batch created a vacuum in the blender container and I struggled for a good 10 minutes trying to get my precious soup out of it!  I was very close to knocking on the neighbor’s door at 10:30pm to help me open it!  Nevertheless, 3 minutes in the freezer helped loosen it up.  And now you are wondering why I was cooking this at 10:30pm… well, I decided I would be SMART and cook two soups simultaneously… modifying my Curried Tomato +Okra Stew (see below) with Red Thai Curry spice instead… and the prep of both soups started at 8:30pm… thank God I cut the Okra up this morning, but peeling 8 tomatoes, chopping 6 onions, chopping 3 cloves of garlic, peeling, gutting, & quartering 3 squash, and doing just about the same to 5 apples was a lot of work!  So, after about 60 minutes of prep between the two soups, I started rolling around 9:30pm, maybe not so smart after all… I digress, now back to the recipe… oh yes, so after pureeing the mixture, transfer it back into the sauce pan and add 1 + ½ cups of apple cider.  Simmer again over medium heat for another 5 minutes or so until well blended.

Verdict: This is an extremely unique soup, full of many different types of flavors.  It’s sweet but has a lot of heat at the same time.  I am speculating the cayenne from the curry powder is responsible for the magnitude of the heat. The texture is wonderful too, very smooth with a pleasant thickness.  I am interested to find out if clove sugar would work well in this as well (picked up from Spice It Up, Hendersonville).  But I am too full at the moment to try that extra ingredient.  Oh and this pairs very nicely with Clos du Bois Savignon Blanc!  YUM!  I definitely will be doing again sometime.