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