Pulled Pork

We tried a great but very simple pulled pork recipe for the crock pot.  The basic concept is to take a pork butt (about 6-7 pounds for our crock pot) and simply dump a can of ginger ale over the top and cook it for about 8 hours or until it's cooked enough to start pulling it apart all the way through.  We added a large chopped onion as well, but no salt pepper or other spices. After the pork is cooked, take it out of the crock pot and let it cool down a little bit.  Chop and shred it up and mix it with your favorite barbecue sauce, or make your own sauce, mix it all together and put it back in the crock pot for about 2 more hours.  Turned out great!  After checking into this recipe further, a lot of different people have tried beer, Coca Cola, Orange Soda, or just about any carbonated liquid.  In the future I would like to try a brown ale, or a smoked porter. 

Thanksgiving Spread

A great spread made from goat cheeses and tofu cream cheese covered in a cranberry compote and roasted walnuts.  Greta will have to describe it in more detail.

Steak with Gremolata Sauce

This Gremolata sauce was a great find from a cookbook by Lynn Rossetto Kasper.  This gremolata could be used on all kinds of things as a great marinade or a way to intensify grilled meats or over vegetables or salads.  The basic concept is to take the zest of 1/2 a lemon and mix it with chopped parsley, a crushed salty garlic clove, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Use about 1/2 cup of olive oil and about 2 table spoons of lemon juice.  Add more garlic if desired.  The bottom photo shows a bowl of a great pesto sauce made from roasted walnuts and Asian basil.

The steak was grilled at two different temperatures.  First, it was cooked on a higher heat for about 2 minutes on each side.  Then the heat was reduced to low and cooking continued for about 6 minutes on each side.  The steak was a New York strip and it was about 1 1/4" thick.   After cooking, the steaks were bathed in the gremolata sauce and allowed to rest for about 10 minutes, covered.

Chicken Kabob Pitas

Chicken Kabobs marinated in a improvised barbecue sauce and grilled with zucchini.  Served on pita bread with "green" rice and smothered in a garlic hazelnut yogurt sauce.

Soba Noodles

• cut up chicken (1.5 lbs) into thin slices, small pcs of turkey bacon, garlic
• heat canola oil in a skillet on relatively high heat, add some worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, chili paste, pepper, ginger, and some sesame oil -  saute garlic, add turkey bacon, add chicken
• cook over high heat, add some chicken stock as needed to keep moist
• set aside in a separate bowl
• heat 6 quarts of water, add 12 oz soba noodles, cook for about 3 minutes, rinse in cold water, set aside
• in the same pan that the meat was cooked in, add chopped onion, red pepper, carrots, and celery - add more canola oil, worcestershire sauce, chili paste, rice wine vinegar, pepper, chili powder, etc.
• cook for a while, add chicken stock and rice wine vinegar if needed, cook and set aside
• add broccoli, mushrooms, and cabbage - other vegetables if desired
• once the final vegetables are all cooked, add everything together and toss over heat for a few minutes
• mix soba noodles and the meat/vegetable mixture together in a large bowl
• top with chopped green onions and add garlic chili sauce, soy sauce, etc. to taste

Labor Day Weekend Harvest

This weekend tapped into the abundance of fall and a lot of great things happened in the kitchen including making grape juice (from our garden grapes), canning tomatoes, and a luscious apple pie baked from our garden apples.  I was happy to invent another marinara based sauce that taps into the flavors of fried eggplant and garlic yogurt.  Here are some notes.

Fried Eggplant, Lamb Marinara, and Garlic Yogurt with Hazelnut Pasta

Marinara Sauce

·         Fresh tomatoes – with the skin peeled off

·         Onions and Peppers – sauté in olive oil until caramelized slightly

·         1 can of Tomato Sauce – 14 oz

·         Various Herbs and Spices, Salt, Pepper

·         Garlic – sautéed in olive oil

·         Ground Lamb – sauté separately, drain grease and add to the sauce

·         Sugar – a small amount to taste

·         Red Wine – add to taste

Fried Eggplants

·         Soak zebra striped slices of Asian Eggplant in salt water for at least ½ hr, fry in canola oil until brown, don’t overcook/burn

Garlic Yogurt with Hazelnuts (from Classic Turkish Cooking P. 71)

·         2 oz hazelnuts

·         2-3 cloves of garlic

·         Goat Yogurt

·         Olive oil

·         Lemon juice

·         Fresh parsley

·         Salt and black pepper

Lamb Burgers with Tomato Salad and Grilled Vegetables

Last night we grilled up a bunch of vegetables that were laying around the kitchen - onions, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, and some garlic.  Next time, the perfect topping will be goat yogurt with a little chopped garlic added to that.  The lamb burger was good but had a little too much cumin - should reduce the amount to about 1 t.  We added cumin, black pepper, red pepper, salt, egg, some dry bread, and a little ketchup.  Fresh chopped Italian parsley would have been good but we didn't have any.  To top the burgers we made a fig, goat cheese, and onion.....

The tomatoes had fresh cucumber from the garden, garlic, fresh basil, chopped walnuts and ......  A great combination of flavors. 

Abundance

Far from being "crapped up", these fruits of our gardening labors may be perfect the way they are. The tomato plants are close to resembling trees and the golden beets are ready to eat!

Grilled Lemon Chicken

This is one of those recipes that when you get the chicken cooked just right, it’s “wet your pants” good.  The chicken rub is essential and the grilled lemons are the secret ingredient that puts the flavors over the top.  The trickiest part is to get the chicken grilled just right so that is does not dry out.  The cooking time may be shorter or longer depending on the thickness of the breast.  Check the temperature often near the end to make sure it doesn’t overcook.

Lemon Chicken

·         Use bone in Chicken Breasts with the skin on

·         Mix 2t salt, 2t pepper, and 2T lemon zest (scraped from fresh lemons)

·         Rub chicken with this, all over and under the skin – sit for 30 minutes

·         Grill on indirect heat for about 60 minutes, grill temperature should be 350-400.  Chicken should not be directly over the flames – turn the chicken occasionally.  Try tenting with aluminum foil to maintain juiciness.

·         Cook until internal temperature is about 160 F.  Cooking time depends on the thickness of the breasts. 

·         Let chicken rest for about 10 minutes before eating.

Vinaigrette

·         Cut 3-4 fresh lemons in half and grill for 5 minutes face down on the hot part of the grill

·         Turn over and grill for 3 more minutes right side up

·         Squeeze lemon juice from the grilled lemons into a bowl – about 2/3 cup of juice

·         Take 1 garlic clove and mash thoroughly together with 1/2t salt into a paste

·         Mix with lemon juice

·         Add 2 t fresh chopped parsley

·         Add 2 t Dijon mustard

·         Add 1 t sugar

·         Add ½ t black pepper

·         Wisk in 2/3 cup of olive oil, mix thoroughly until it emulsifies

Pour the Vinaigrette over the cooked chicken and add to a side salad

Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Meatballs

Last night I made a fresh batch of marinara sauce from the first garden tomatoes of the season.  The secret was to grill the ingredients before adding them to the sauce, to add fresh chopped basil and oregano on top at the end, of course fresh "real" garden tomatoes, and a good quality pasta.  The result was an amazing blend of roasted sweet grilled flavors and the fresh punch of the herbs.  My brother Joel wolfed down two large bowls of it, barely looking up from his plate.  He said it was, "the best meal I can remember having in a long time."

1. Grill between 6 and 10 tomatoes, depending on size.  Use thick slices to keep them together while turning them.  Oil the grate to prevent sticking - which can be a problem.
2. Grill 1 whole green pepper and 1 whole red pepper whole.  Peel and rinse the skin off after grilling, and chop up.
3. Grill one large thickly sliced onion.  Chop it up before adding it to the pot.
4. Saute several chopped garlic cloves in olive oil.  Add the tomatoes, peppers, and onion.
5. Add dried herbs and salt - 1/2T salt, 1T black pepper, 1/2T red pepper, 1T Italian spices, 1/2T thyme, 1/2 T tarragon
6. Add 1 - 8oz can of no sodium tomato sauce
7. Cook gently for about 1/2 hour.
8. In the meantime - prepare about 1 lb. of small round meatballs from ground Italian pork sausage.  Place a square of lightly oiled tin foil on the grill and grill the meatballs about 3.5 min on each side so they are not overcooked. 
9. Add the meatballs to the marinara sauce to finish.  Adjust seasoning as needed.
10. Cook pasta.
11. Chop about 1 cup of fresh basil and 1/4 cup of fresh oregano.
12. Serve pasta with sauce, herbs, and fresh Parmesan cheese on top.

Mojitos

Here is the recipe for the mojitos that we have been making this summer.  Refreshing and delicious!

1. Step one is to pick some fresh mint from the garden.  Luckily we have an abundant supply.  Strip the leaves from the stem and keep them whole.  Wash and rinse and put them in the bottom of the glass.  Use a small bunch - about 7-10 leaves.
2. Add about 1/2 to 1 T sugar, depending on what you prefer.
3. Cut one lime into quarters lengthwise.  Squeeze the juice from 2 of the quarters into the glass and drop the rind into the glass as well.  Add a few additional squirts of "pre-squeezed" lime juice if you prefer.
4. Using a pestle, gently crush the lime, sugar, and mint together in the bottom of the glass. 
5. Add about 2 oz of clear rum, depending on the preferred strength.
6. Mix with a spoon, add about 5-6 cubes of ice and fill the rest of the glass up with soda water or lime flavored fizzy water, like Mendota.  Mix again with the spoon to blend all of the ingredients together.
7. Enjoy!