Meatloaf just doesn’t get any respect. It has never been able to rise above the ranks of “home cooked meal.” While other comfort foods such as mashed potatoes and mac and cheese have found their ways onto all but the most snobbish of menus, meatloaf hasn’t made many inroads. Sure, it has seen brief moments of popularity, and there are a few chefs out there that regularly menu meatloaf, but on a whole it has never caught on beyond home cooking.

That’s too bad, because meatloaf is one of those infinitely variable dishes. It can be made “old school” like Mom used to, with “ketchup glaze” and Lipton’s French Onion Soup mix or it can be flavored with any variety of herbs and spices, recalling the flavors of a world of cuisines, from Mexican to Indian to German.

Meatloaf is also great for busy families. It can easily be put together in the morning and left in the fridge all day long, while people are at work, then when someone arrives home, all that needs to be done is to toss it in the oven to bake. You can’t get much more simple than that.

I have to admit though, as much of a fan as I am of the humble meatloaf, I definitely prefer it the day after. It makes the perfect sandwich and it is one of the few leftovers that never spoil when I am around. This recipe makes exceptionally good sandwiches and my wife didn’t get much of a chance to eat this, beyond the first night.

Italian Meatloaf

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 oz. sundried tomatoes, rehydrated and chopped
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Saute the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil until they release all their juices. Add garlic and continue to saute until dry. Cool to room temperature. Combine with all remaining ingredients and form into a free form loaf approximately 5-6″ wide and about 12-14″ long.

Place in a preheated oven and bake, at 350°F, for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a thermometer, inserted into the center, reads 155°F. Remove from oven and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

It has been awhile since I last posted about ribs. I think it was back in September. Well, it’s high time I posted again about them as you can never have too many rib, rub, or barbecue sauce recipes as far as I’m concerned. Besides, it gives me a chance to play with my smoker yet again. Man, I love that thing! While have have gotten quite adept at barbecuing on my Weber kettle grill, life has become so much easier with my smoker. Now, instead of having to babysit my barbecue all day, I can load it up and let it go, checking it once an hour or so. The downside to that is I can’t use barbecuing as an excuse not to do things around the house. It won’t be long before my wife catches on, and the days of “tending the grill” all day, while sucking down copious amounts of beer will be at an end. If she hasn’t already caught on, I’m SOL now, as she reads this blog. Don’t worry though, I’ll find another excuse to waste away the day drinking beer and cocktails (if anyone has any good suggestions for such an excuse let me know).

Of course, if you have read this blog for any amount of time you are well aware of my love affair with all things pork – aka, god’s gift to all mankind. Grilled, roasted, braised, stuffed into sausage casings, cured, and/or smoked, there is nothing that can compare with a piece of well cooked pork. I feel for my friends who, because of religious or other reasons, are forbidden to consume the flesh of the pig. If they only knew what they are missing! While I think this nation as gone a little “bacon crazy” in the last few years, I am fully of the opinion that “everything is better with bacon,” a phrase I have uttered here numerous times, because if pork if delightful by itself, once you pair it with long, slow cooking in a smoke filled chamber it becomes absolutely divine!

In my personal heirarchy of pork, bacon reigns supreme, followed closely by pulled pork – slowly cooked over wood for hours on end. In close third comes ribs, the subject of today’s post. Today I’m just going to focus on a great rub and simple barbecue sauce to go with the ribs. I am going to assume you already know how to barbecue them. If you are not familiar with barbecuing then check out my earlier posts on pulled pork or barbecued ribs and it will walk you through how to barbecue on a kettle style grill. The most important thing when cooking in this style is to use an indirect method of cooking and making sure that your grill doesn’t get too hot. I like to barbecue between 225°F and 250°F. Depending on their size, baby back ribs will take you 2 1/2-3 hours to cook properly. Any shorter length of time and you will end up with dry or tough ribs. Talking about tough ribs, there is a misconception, here in the north, that ribs should be falling off the bone tender. I’ve got news for you, if they are then chances are they are dry, and that’s why so many places in the north end up drenching their ribs in sauce. Properly done ribs should still cling to the bone, yet yield easily when pulled, with just the slightly resistance before coming free.

Let your ribs rest for 2 hours to overnight after applying your rub

Depending on the thickness of your ribs, your should apply your rub anywhere from 2 hours to overnight before you commence cooking. This will help to ensure the development of the “bark,” or crust. As far a sauce goes, many regions of the US consider sauce to sacrilegious, but if you like sauce, like I do, wait until the last 20 30 minutes of cooking before brushing it on. If you brush it on too soon, chances are the sugars in the sauce will end up burning, creating an unpleasant bitter, burnt flavor to your ribs.

Rib Rub
enough for 4 racks of baby back ribs

1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Place in an air tight container and store for up to 3 weeks. To use, sprinkle liberally on both sides of the ribs and gently rub it in. Allow to rest for at least 2 hours or overnight before cooking.

Bourbon Molasses BBQ Sauce
enough for 4 racks of baby back ribs

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup bourbon or whiskey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 oz. yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer over medium heat until onions are tender, about 15 minutes. Blend then cook until thickened and reduced by about 1/3. Brush onto ribs about 20 minutes before ribs are done. Brush again with about 10 minutes. Serve any left on the side for people to add more. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

I have been blogging for just over a year now and I realized that I have not done a great job in promoting Wisconsin products, which is unfortunate as Wisconsin produces a lot of great food. Of course everyone thinks of cheese when they think of Wisconsin, and rightfully so. We produce much of the cheese found in grocery stores across the US. Most of this cheese is of the relatively bland, supermarket, let’s appeal to everyone, variety, but Wisconsin also produces lots of world class cheese, produced in small batches by farmers and cheesemakers whose whole philosophy revolves around the adage of quality of quanity. In fact, one of my favorite blue cheeses in the world is produced here in Wisconsin, in an Amish community where the cows, that make the milk for the cheese, are hand milked, twice daily.

Wisconsin also takes its pork seriously. We are a state that loves bacon, ham and sausages. A number of years ago, long before I moved to Wisconsin, I was introduced to Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon and it was love at first taste. This was way back when bacon was still “taboo,” and those of us uttering the phrase, “Everything is better with bacon” were looked upon as nutcases, to say the least, or as heretics. The pro-pork movement hadn’t yet made its backlash against the “remove all fats from your diet” mentality of 1990′s.

Having been raised on supermarket bacon, I was blown away by the depth of flavor the Nueske’s bacon possessed and I was quickly won over. Since then Nueske’s has been the bacon by which I have judged all others. That was until a few months ago.

My wife, in her job as an area manager for a cleaning company, picked up a few accounts in Wautoma, WI. She was then told by a colleague that she needed to check out Stoneridge Meat and Country Market. On that first trip my wife picked up a number of items but it was the bacon that took me by storm. Thickly sliced, this smoky, salty, slightly sweet bacon has quickly replaced Nueske’s as my bacon of choice.

Since she only gets out to Wautoma every few weeks, she makes sure she takes along a cooler and we stock up on their bacon. There are three varieties that we buy, the Pit Smoked bacon, the Hickory Smoked bacon and the Pepper Bacon. They might have a few more styles but these are the ones we usually get.

The bacon comes sliced nice and thick, between 1/8-1/4″ thick, and has a wonderful smokiness that supermarket bacon just never quite achieves. While salty, like any good bacon, Stoneridge bacons have a nice sweetness that compliments that saltiness, making it very easy to overindulge. This also presents the only downside to this bacon. Due to its thickness and slight sweetness, this bacon is easy to burn, if not closely watched. But cook it over medium heat and watch closely and you will be rewarded with a little bit of hog heaven brought to you by the folks in Wisconsin!!

If interested you can also find them online at Stoneridge Country and Meat Market. They do have online ordering, though I don’t believe bacon is on there. It would be worth a call though to see if they will ship some to you. Or if you know someone headed up this way, make sure they stop and pick some up!

I hate coming back to work after a fun holiday weekend. Work seems like such a let down after enjoying that time with family and friends but, unfortunately, this blog isn’t making me rich so for now I need to continue with my day job. One of the things I do enjoy about my job though is the drive to work. I have a 45 minute commute to work each day. Some people think that that is too long of a drive and it must bore me to death. It’s quite the opposite in fact. I love the drive. In the morning it gives me a chance to wake up and organize my day while at night, it gives me a chance to unwind after a stressful day. There’s no one there constantly needing something from me, calling my name, or asking me questions. It’s just me, the radio and the road.

The drive, itself, is nice though in winter it can get a little scary with blowing snow and icy patches, but in general its a beautiful drive through some of Wisconsin’s richest dairy land. The landscape is ever changing and each season brings with it its own beauty, from the lush green of summer, to the vibrant colors of fall, to the stark black and white palette of winter. Even after 1 1/2 years there is something new or different to see each day.

This recipe today is a recipe I have used many times in the past in all sorts of restaurants, from fine dining to sports bars. The bourbon in this marinade pairs especially well with pork, though chicken works well also.

Bourbon Mustard Marinated Pork Chops

1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard (most any kind of mustard will work)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 oz. Worcestershire sauce
1 splash hot sauce
2 green onions, chopped
8 boneless pork chops (loin chops) 3/4-1″ thick (use thinner chops if you want to use them for sandwiches like I did)

Combine all ingredients, except pork chops, in a large, 1 gallon zip lock bag and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add pork chops, seal and allow to marinate overnight. Prepare your grill for direct grilling over medium high heat. Remove chops from marinade and lightly blot dry. Season with a little salt and pepper and grill to desired doneness. I usually like my pork just slightly pink in the center so cook to about 150°F. Make sure to flip often as the sugar in the marinade has a tendency to burn. It should take about about 8-10 minutes to cook.

Barbecue…barbeque…BBQ; no matter how you spell it, that word makes me giddy. I’m not talking when it is used, in the generic sense, meaning any type of cooking on a grill, or over an open fire, but real, god honest barbecue; the kind done slow and low that can turn some of the toughest cuts of meat into melt-in-your-mouth morsels, bursting with smoke flavor. Not that I’m against cooking out, in any of its forms. In fact, a rather large portion of the food I cook is done one a grill, but there is something special about making true barbecue, whether it is ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork or any number of other items that benefit from a long slow cook while being bathed in smoke.

Let’s set the record straight though, before we begin. Grilling and barbecuing are not the same thing. Yes, they can both be done on a grill, but grilling is done over a relatively high heat, directly over the heat source. It’s this high heat that sears and chars the meat providing plenty of flavor, and it works best for tender pieces of meat such as steaks, chops, chicken, etc. Barbecuing is done at much cooler temperatures, away from the heat source, and requires hours of cooking. It is used on tough cuts of meat such as brisket, ribs and shoulder cuts to transform them into a tender finished product. While most people use the the words interchangeably, they really are 2 different styles of cooking, and believe me, the easiest way to tick off a serious barbecue aficionado is to talk on and on about how you like to fire up the grill and barbecue some steaks and burgers.

I am no barbecue expert. That’s evidenced by the fact that I do not, yet, own any type of barbecue pit or rig. I do all my barbecuing on my Weber kettle grill. There are those in the barbecue community that will scoff and say that I can’t truly barbecue with a set up like that, but I think I do all right. Sure, there are some issues to overcome, and I certainly won’t win any major competitions with my set up but it works for me and I like to believe that I make some pretty good ‘cue. And I have a number of fans that would agree.

While I am not a snob about barbecue, like some that I know, I will say that unless you own a smoker, barbecue pit, or at the very least a kettle grill, you can stop reading here. Sorry but a gas grill is not going to cut it for the recipe I have, nor will a regular grill, even if it has a lid. It needs to be a kettle style grill to create a proper smoke chamber. A regular grill keeps the meat too close to the coals and doesn’t allow for the proper convection of heat.

As for charcoal, lump charcoal is always the preferred charcoal of choice for those serious about barbecue (unless they are using logs to fire their pit), but for some people, in some areas, lump charcoal can be hard to find. If you must use the standard briquettes it is imperative that you always burn them down before adding them to your grill. If you don’t, the chemicals and fillers used in these things will contribute nasty, off flavors to your final product. Always start them out in a chimney starter and don’t add them to the grill until they have burned down and are completely covered with white ash.

A few more things before I get into the recipe. The recipe as written is for making 1 pork butt. Most of the pictures will show 3 butts being made. I was doing this for my brother’s wedding reception and was feeding many people. 1 pork butt should easily feed 20 people with some to spare, unless they are big eaters. Also, plan on making a day out of it as this is going to take about 6-8 hours to cook. You don’t need to sit there and watch it all the time, but you will need to regularly replenish charcoal and do a few other things as the meat cooks. You can do other chores, or even run a few quick errands, but you need to stay close. Or you can do like I do…make a big production out of it, convince your wife that this delicate procedure takes constant vigilance then sit around all day drinking beer with a buddy or 2 and watch the grill…don’t tell! Finally, it just dawned on me that some people might be wondering why the hell I would want to cook pork butt. In culinary terms pork butt refers to a cut taken from the shoulder area of a pig. Don’t ask my why they call it “butt.” I have no clue. Anyone want to chime in?

Pulled Pork

1 pork butt, 7-9 pounds, bone in
2 Tbsp. paprika
4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. black pepper, ground
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup apple juice
2 cups wood chips (your choice-I often use hickory, apple, cherry, mesquite, or hickory nut hulls)

Four hours before you want to start barbecuing, remove the pork butt from the refrigerator. Combine the paprika, salt, mustard, cayenne, black pepper, and sugar. Rub all over the pork, using every last bit. Allow the pork to remain at room temperature. Soak wood chips in water. 20 minutes before starting to cook, fire up about 25 charcoal briquettes in a chimney starter. When ready, and covered in white ash, place charcoal coal in a ring along the outer edge of the grill. In the center place an aluminum pan or pie plate (don’t use one of your wife’s good ones or there will be hell to pay) filled with a couple cups of water. Place the cooking grate on the grill and allow to heat up briefly. Place pork in the center of the grate.

Place about 1/2 cup of the soaked chips directly on the charcoal and cover the grill with the lid.

Sweet Smoke

For proper heat control and air flow, if you have bottom vents make sure they are only open about 1/3 of the way. You want to allow oxygen in to keep the charcoal burning but you don’t want too much oxygen to allow the fire too get too hot. On the top vent you want it opened about 1/2 – 2/3 of the way open. This allows the smoke a relatively quick exit, which you want. You don’t want the smoke to become trapped in the chamber for too long or it will deposit many of the particles suspended in it onto the meat.

After about 35-40 minutes of cooking you want to start another batch of charcoal, in the starter chimney. This time use about 15-20. When ready add to the grill, again placing them in a ring around the meat, on top of the almost spent charcoal. Add another 1/2 cup of soaked wood chips. This process is much easier if you have a grill grate with hinged sides. If not you will need to remove the whole cooking grate, pork and all to accomplish this. Do this quickly to prevent the pork from cooling too much and adding considerable time to your cooking.

Meanwhile, combine the vinegar and apple juice. Once you hit the 3 hour mark, brush the meat every half hour with this mixture, making more if necessary. Continue adding charcoal, at the same intervals throughout the cooking process. We are looking to maintain an approximate temperature of about 225-230°F throughout the cooking process. Keep adding the wood chips when you add new charcoal. Once the wood chips are gone don’t worry abou them anymore, the pork has probably taken in all the smoke flavor it’s going to anyway.

After about 5 hours start checking the temperature each time you add new charcoal or mop the meat with vinegar mixture. You are looking to pull the meat at about 190°F. This may seem awfully high, especially if you are used to cooking steaks and eating them MR to medium, but this temperature is important for a nice and tender product and don’t worry, with the amount of fat and connective tissue in this cut of meat it will still be plenty moist. A quick warning though, at about 180°F you might run into a problem with what some people refer to as the “stall” or “plateau” were the temperature refuses to climb. It is a waiting game, but the temperature will eventually start to rise again. If you seem to have a problem with an exceptionally long stall (over an hour) try adding an extra 5-10 briquettes the next time your replenish your heat.

Once the meat hits 190°F remove from the grill, cover loosely in foil and allow to sit for 15 minutes, at least. Once the meat is just barely cool enough to handle start pulling and shredding the meat by hand. If cooked properly this task can be done almost completely by hand, though you may need to use a knife to chop a bit of the innermost meat.

Serve however you like and with whatever sauce you choose, but I’m partial to the way they serve it in North Carolina, on a big, soft, white bun drizzled with a North Carolina style barbecue sauce.

North Carolina BBQ Sauce

1 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Combine all ingredients. in a nonreactive saucepot, bring to a boil, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

This sauce may seem rather sour compared to the sauces that most people are used to, but it’s a great sauce for pulled pork as it cuts through the richness of the fat laden meat. Just remember, you don’t need to dump it on like regular barbecue sauce. It just takes a good drizzle over the meat.

It’s getting close to midnight and although I sat down at the computer about 2 hours ago I’ve now started to type up this post. Instead of writing I got sucked into yet another bunch of political debates….okay, arguments. Without getting into politics here on my blog, let me just say that some people really piss me off. Our country has become so divided between the right and the left, the liberals and the conservatives, I sometimes wonder if we haven’t passed the point of no return. Of course, each side blames the other for spreading the hate and fear mongering, but both sides engage in this type of rhetoric and discourse. I have my political leanings but even those I support are part of the problem. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to vote them all out of office and start all over again.

But enough of my ranting. You haven’t come to a food blog to read about politics, but don’t worry, the recipe I have today is worth wading through that short sidebar. Once again, I turn my sites to the humble hog for inspiration, because, come on, what’s not to love about pig! Pork is such a flavorful and versatile product. Virtually every last bit of the pig can be used, literally from snout to tail and from the tops of the ears down to the hooves. And the pig has given us one of mankind’s greatest gifts – bacon!!!! What’s not to love about bacon; crispy meat, rich, juicy fat and a deep sweet smokiness. I truly feel for those people whose religion forbids them from not ever knowing the joys of bacon. But I digress, again. I blame it on the late hour and too much cyber debating.

Moving on. This recipe calls for pork chops. It doesn’t matter which type of chop you choose, but choose chops with the bone in. All chops come from the loin section, a part of the pig that lies along the middle of it’s back. This location doesn’t get used much by the pig, compared to other muscles so the whole loin is pretty tender and moist. My personal favorite for chops is a rib chop, which contains a large round eye of meat surrounded by fat on three sides and a rib bone on the other. But you may use whichever chop you like best or better yet, whichever type is on sale.

Coriander Crusted Pork Chops with Lime Glaze

4 pork chops, thick cut (about 6-10 oz each)
salt
pepper
coriander seed, whole

1/2 cup Lime Marmalade**
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. chili powder

Grind the coriander in a spice mill or mortar and pestle until coarsely ground, leaving some larger pieces in the mix. Season the chops with salt and pepper and generously season with the ground coriander.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling. Meanwhile combine the marmalade, vinegar, honey, cayenne and chili powder and stir to combine. Preheat your grill. Clean and oil the grates and place chops over high heat. Cook for about 6 minutes.

Flip and cook another 6 minutes. Remove to a cooler part of the grill. Brush 1 side with glaze, cover grill and cook for 3 minutes. Flip, brush other side with glaze and cook 3 minutes making sure the bottom isn’t burning. Continue this until all the glaze has been used up and the pork chops are cooked through, about 150°F. Watch the chops carefully as the glaze will burn if the heat is too high. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

**Note: Use the provided link to make your own lime marmalade or you can substitute any other marmalade for the lime marmalade. Any citrus flavor would compliment the other flavors in the recipe well.

I am amazed by many of my blogger friends out there. Where do you find the time to post so often? I try to post regularly but I often find life interfering with those plans. I try to get out 2-3 posts a week, usually, but, like this past week, I didn’t have time to get anything done. Between work, family and other writing assignments I just couldn’t fit it in. I know, I need to make it more of a priority, but sometimes other things just have to take precedence, especially family time. And, well, I felt that I needed a little break. I am constantly surprised by how much time is taken up trying to keep a blog fresh. Yes, I know, I’ve said that before, but its true. From recipe development, to cooking, to photographing, to photo touch up and writing, a post can easily take up a few hours.

But enough of my excuses for not writing. That’s not what you came here for; to listen to me whine. I’m back to cooking after a short break and surprise, surprise, this post is again inspired by Latin cuisines. I love the cuisines of Latin America, especially that of Mexico. Like so many foods from rural and less prosperous areas, much of the cuisine is simple and straight forward. That in no means implies that it is bland or boring. Quite the contrary, in fact. Foods from such areas are usually robust and full of flavor. They also have that comforting quality, that speaks of home, that often haute cuisine lacks. Not that all dishes are simplistic. Mexican mole is a great example. Ask any chef and they will tell you that moles can be some of the most time consuming and complex sauces out there. There are some mole recipes that contain upwards of 30 ingredients and require numerous steps in its completion.

The dish I offer up today is of the simplier variety though. Carnitas are one of my favorite dishes. Simple yet flavorful, it simply diced pork that has been braised then allowed to fry in the fat that has rendered out of the meat. Plenty of fat is what makes this dish so tasty so look for pork shoulder (butt) that hasn’t been trimmed of too much of its fat. Served simply with corn tortillas, a little pico de gallo and lime. It doesn’t get much better!

Carnitas

5 pounds pork shoulder (butt) bonless
water
salt
1 lime

Dice the pork into 1″ cubes, leaving most of the fat intact but removing any really thick silver skin that remains. Place into a pot and just barely cover with water. Season with salt and the juice from 1 lime.

Turn the heat on to medium and allow to cook for about 1 1/2 hours. At this point most of the water should have evaporated. Turn the heat to medium high. Allow the rest of the water to evaporate. At this point the only liquid left in the pot should be the fat that rendered out during the braising. Allow the pork to fry, in its fat, until it has browned and crisped up slightly.

Plate immediately and serve with pico de gallo, lime wedges and tortillas. That is plenty of a meal for me, but if you like accompany it with refried beans and rice, or maybe a few fried plantains.

It’s hard to believe that something so simple can taste so fantastic, but then again, pork fat can work wonders on just about anything!!!!

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I am very much a “traditionalist.” I like my roasted or grilled turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc. I don’t have nearly that same feeling about Christmas dinner. Sure, I am happy with a repeat of Thanksgiving, which often happens in my family, but I am also very happy to change it up. My wife’s family often follows a more European tradition and serves goose, with all the trimmings. Since her father is from Hungary that usually means an Eastern European flair to the meal with lots of sweet and sour dishes, plenty of starches, the giblets showing up in numerous recipes, and wonderful, earthy rye bread.

In my family, when we move away from turkey, we sometimes do a standing rib roast (aka Prime Rib), one of my favorites, but in recent years we have done a lot of pork, usually in the form of a Crown Roast. It usually gets filled with a stuffing of cornbread, sausage, dried cherries and pecans. This has become a favorite of ours and looks quite festive and elegant gracing our holiday table. Unfortunately, if you want to do a crown roast you either need to be feeding an army or be prepared for plenty of leftovers as these things are quite large. Luckily pork is very versatile and there are numerous, smaller cuts that can be turned into an elegant centerpiece for your Christmas dinner.

Pork loin is an obvious choice for a holiday dinner. Roasted, it makes a beautiful looking focal point to the holiday groaning board. It can be purchased is any size from 1 pound to about 8 or 9 pounds, making it a great choice for just about any size get together. Pork also goes well with many of the dishes people serve at Christmas time, many of which mirror people’s Thanksgiving spreads. To make it even more of a standout, I like to stuff it “pinwheel” style. Sliced and laid out on a platter, surrounded by Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and a few sprigs of fresh herbs, you have a dish that will wow friends and family alike. (continue reading…)

About 3 weeks ago I made my own sauerkraut for the first time. You can find the post about it here. For the last week, I have been checking and tasting it daily to see if it was ready. Today I decided it had fermented enough so I packed it up into smaller containers and refrigerated it. In hindsight, the next time I make sauerkraut I will let it go just a little further and get a touch more sour as I really like sour things, though my wife thought it had just the right amount of sourness. Either way I am very happy with the results. My homemade stuff is so much better than the store bought stuff, and it is so easy to make. I don’t know why it took me so long to attempt to make sauerkraut, but after this experiment I think it will become, at the very least, a yearly thing. Maybe next year I will make a larger batch and attempt to can some when it is done.

Of course, once the sauerkraut was ready I couldn’t wait to cook with it so I threw together one of my favorite dishes, Choucroute. Technically what I prepare is not truly choucroute as I use beer in my dish as opposed to white wine (usually Riesling) and I skip many of the traditional spices such as juniper berries, mace, nutmeg, etc. in favor of caraway seed, but choucroute sounds so much better than Sausages Braised with Sauerkraut. This dish can be made up pretty quickly, but I prefer to cook it slow and low for 1-2 hours as I find this long, slow cooking yields a depth of flavor that quick cooking just can’t achieve. (continue reading…)

I’ve been on a bit of a Latin kick recently and the other other day I decided to try my hand at making Pupusas. Pupusas are a snack popular in El Salvador and Honduras, that can best be described as a stuffed tortilla, though that description doesn’t quite do the dish justice. Traditionally, the pupusas are stuffed with either cheese or chicharron, or a combination of the 2, though it can be filled with many different things. I chose to fill my pupusas with cheese and shredded pork that I had braised in beer and salsa.

Making pupusas is easy, perfecting them is difficult and takes lots of practice. It’s fun to watch them being made by someone who really knows what they are doing, and it’s mind blowing that they can do it so quickly without allowing any of the filling to poke through. While mine turned out well, they could have been a bit thinner, bigger and rounder, but these issues didn’t affect the taste one bit.

Pupusas are usually served with curtido, a type of cabbage slaw that adds a wonderful, fresh crunch to the dish and a nice hit of acidity to liven it up. I didn’t make any this time and was sorry I didn’t as it really adds to the dish.

Finally, if you are not familiar with Latin foods, you must seek out Masa Harina, a type of corn flour, for this dish. It has become pretty common in most supermarkets nowadays as our Latino population continues to grow. Regular corn flour or corn meal is not an acceptable substitute as it doesn’t have the same flavor and doesn’t seem to hold together the way masa harina.

Pupusas

Filling:
1 pound Pork Stew meat, cubed
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
6 oz. Beer
1/4 cup Salsa (homemade is preferable)
1/4 cup Ketchup

Dough:
2 cups Masa Harina
1 cup Water

Cheese (A good Queso Blanco if you can find it, if not then use Monterey Jack)

Heat a skillet over high heat and add oil. When oil is hot add pork, season with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Add beer, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes. Add salsa and ketchup. Cover again and cook until pork is tender, approximately 20 minutes more. Uncover, and mash the pork with a spoon or whip to shred it. Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Allow to cool to room temperature. Once pork is cool make the dough by combining the water and the masa harina. Allow to sit for 8-10 minutes to allow the dough to fully hydrate. Divide into 8 portions. Pat each portion into a circle approximately 6 inches in diameter. Take 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the filling and 1 Tbsp. of the cheese and place it in the center of the dough circle. Bring the dough up around the filling, completely encasing the filling and sealing any cracks. Using your hands press the filled ball into a 6 inch circle again. It should be just under 1/4 inch thick. This takes practice to get them perfect, but is pretty easy to make a passable product. Heat a skillet (cast iron works the best) over medium high heat and cook, without adding any oil, for approximately 4-5 minutes minutes on each side. Serve immediately as these are best when hot and still crispy on the outside. Garnish with curtido or with a salsa of your choice.

Curtido

1 medium head cabbage, shredded
4 cups Water, boiling
2 small carrots, grated
1 small onion, sliced
1 each Jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water

Pour boiling water over cabbage and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Drain off water and squeeze most of the water out of the cabbage. Combine with all the other ingredients and stir to combine. Place in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours before serving.