Pulled Pork That Will Make You Want to Slap Yo Mama!

Pulled Pork That Will Make You Want to Slap Yo Mama!

1.5 cups white sugar
1/4 cup salt
2.5 tablespoons ground black pepper
3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne (or more if you are spicy)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
Pour all of this into a plastic baggie and keep in a cool dark place.  This will last you through several recipes. 

The Pork

1 pork shoulder roast (boston blade or butt - doesn't matter)
I like to use a bone-in roast, because I prefer the meat right along the bone.  Boneless roasts work just fine though. I use the largest roast I can find that will still fit in my crock pot.
1 beer (dealer’s choice)
1 whole onion - chopped

Rub your pork liberally, on all sides, with pork rub.  Place in a large bowl (well covered) or bag and refrigerate 12-24 hours. Remove pork from fridge, place in crock pot with the onion.  Pour beer around roast.  The liquid should only come an inch or two up the sides of the roast. 

Cook for at least 12 hours.  If you have a smaller roast, it will be done before that.  Most roasts can cook a lot longer if you're leaving it overnight.  About an hour before you serve, open the lid of the crock pot and use a pair of tongs to slip the bone out. Drain out any excess liquid in the pot.  Use the tongs, or a pair of forks, to shred the meat.  If it doesn't shred easily, either force it with a knife or cook it longer until it submits.

At this point, you have a pot full of really succulent pork that you can serve at least 2 ways.  As carnitas, on a tortilla with some onions and cilantro.  Or with some bbq sauce as pulled pork.

For pork BBQ, after you shred the meat pour the sauce into the crock pot and let it cook for another 30-45 minutes.  Then serve on buns with cole slaw.

borrowed from Babycenter...

Homemade Granola - You'll Thank Me in the Morning!

Well, today the weather is cold.  Rainy.  Thunder.  :(  My youngest is at camp and I have been to the market to buy fruit to pretend like it's summer.  Cold and rainy weather tempts me to stay inside and make warms things.  I'm sure I'll bake something before the day is through.  I have a batch of this already in my pantry but I should make it about once a week. (I just went to the pantry to get out the granola and snap a picture of it and guess what - it's all gone.  Looks like I'm making granola, cleaning out the refrigerator, and doing the laundry today!)  My family loves to eat it for breakfast and snacks.  A special shout out of thanks to Gramma Judy for teaching me how to make it.  She doesn't measure anything (well neither do I) so I had to make it a few times to get the measurements right.  This is good for you, feeds your body, and grows your brain.  Make it today and you'll thank me in the morning.  :)

 

Granola by Kandi (and Gramma Judy!)

7 cups oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut shavings
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup pepitas
8 ounces sliced raw almonds
Pinch of Salt
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup olive oil
4 tablespoons Honey
¾ cup Grade B Maple Syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375º and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Mix oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, pepitas, almonds, salt, and brown sugar together in a very large bowl.  In a smaller bowl, whisk olive oil, honey, maple syrup and vanilla extract until it emulsifies which means just mix it until it all blends together.  Emulsify is a kitchen word for mixing it all together.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir well to incorporate.

Divide the mixture on the two baking sheets and spread it out to an even layer.  I line my baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with a non-stick cooking spray.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, depending on how golden you would like your granola.

Cool completely.  Stir in a cool, dry place.

Variations:
If you would like to add dried fruit, do so after the granola has cooled off.  I like to add cashews, pecans, walnuts, or pine nuts.   You can also add spices like cinnamon, cloves, ginger, or nutmeg.

Strawberry Lemonade

On July 4th, we had strawberries and lemons in excess, oh and sun.  We had sun.  Supposed to see it this weekend but we'll see.  Anyway, I digress.

It was the mother lode and I racked my brain to come up with something to make with both of them.  Okay so it didn't take that long to come up with the lemonade idea.  I figured out with my own recipe and hoped for the best.  It was really good and greatly refreshing on a hot day.  I can't remember what that was like...  Here's what I did:

Strawberry Lemonade

1 cup of Sugar
1 cup of water
1 1/2 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Strawberries for the glasses
1/2 gallon pitcher

Combine the sugar and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil.  Gently boil until the sugar dissolves.  Set aside to cool.  When the sugar syrup is cool, put it in the pitcher with the lemon juice.  Add water and ice to the pitcher to fill the pitcher so you have 1/2 gallon of lemonade.  When you are ready to serve it, put your strawberries in the glasses (I used 4 or 5 per glass) and gently mash down with a pestle or smush with a spoon.  Pour the lemonade over the strawberries.

Variations:  You can use raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or any berry you can think of.  I think it would fun to try a combination.  

I hope you make this on a sunny day.  It was fabulous.  Please let me know if you try it!

Slow Roasted Baked Beans & Molasses with Bacon on Top - Yum!

I made these beans for the first time on July 4.  They were so great.  It was a bacon, molasses, food experience.  Yowza.  Enjoy!  You'll be thanking me tomorrow!

Slow Roasted Molasses Baked Beans with Bacon on Top - Yum!

8 slices bacon - halved
1 onion diced
3 large cans pork & beans
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat to 325 degrees.  Fry bacon in a large pan until it is partially cooked and has released 1/4 cup drippings.  Remove bacon from the pan and place on paper towels to drain.  Reserve bacon grease and drippings (you'll be glad you did).  Add onions to pan and saute until tender - approximately five minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan (but not the bacon).  Bring to a simmer and then pour into a 9 x 13 ovenproof pan.  Top with the bacon and bake until the beans are bubbly and the sauce is the consistency of pancake syrup.  This is about 2 hours.  Let rest and then serve warm.  (Don't dip into the molten hot beans or your will burn your lips off - voice of experience here.)

The original recipe calls for bbq sauce and green pepper - neither of which our family was jumping up and down about.  But the recipe is amazing.  AMAZING.  Bacon tastes like candy on top.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Original Recipe from Pioneer Woman

Pickles - DIY Style

I found this recipe by accident on the Backyard Chicken forum.  Okay, so it wasn't an accident that I would be looking at recipes on a forum dedicated to raising chickens in your backyard.  Since I have chickens and I love recipes.

I decided to give it a go.  I had the jars on hand and the salt.  All I needed to purchase was the pickling cucumbers and a couple of the spices.  The whole shebang was less than $10 and seeing as the Claussen Pickles are $5 a jar at my grocery, I think I got out ahead. 


Here's the recipe:

Claussen Kosher Pickle Copycat

Ingredients

    * 1 gallon cucumbers
    * 1/3 cup dehydrated minced onion (I used 2/3 cup fresh diced onion)
    * 2 teaspoons dehydrated minced garlic or 6 garlic cloves, minced (I used fresh)
    * 1-1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
    * 4 teaspoons dill seed
    * 1 1/2 quarts water
    * 2 cups cider vinegar
    * 1/2 cup canning salt…(I used Kosher salt)
    * 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns (I added that - I remember seeing it in a jar of Claussen Pickles.)

Slice cucumbers lengthwise into quarters add to jars.
Boil liquids and seasonings for 5 minutes to dissolve the salt and wake up the flavors, then cool. Pour over pickles and let sit on counter for three days turning them occasionally. Then refrigerate. They will keep for a year.


Please do not try to use the regular grocery store cucumbers, they have wax on them and they will not turn out. You can use grocery store pickling cucumbers, as they are not waxed.

Here is the link to the original recipe:
Claussen Pickle Copycats

Corn Chowder

I won a Vitamix last week and it came in the mail yesterday.  With a stroke of luck I was at the doctor's office (actually I was not lucky at all to be at the doctor's office), and came across a corn chowder in the blender recipe (lucky part) in the Martha Stewart Living Magazine.  I decided to give it a go.  However, her recipe called for lobster and since lobster wasn't in our budget...  I went with a less expensive variation of her recipe that I made up as I cooked it.

I would link to Martha's recipe but it's not up yet.  It's in the August 2011 Martha Stewart Living Magazine.  Really pretty with the yellow corn and lobster floating in it.

Here is my version:

Corn Chowder

5 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 whole onion – diced

1 tsp of thyme

4 cups of corn

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Sauté the onion in the olive oil until soft and glisteny.  Add chicken broth (and corn cobs if you cut the corn off) and bring to a simmer.  Add ½ the corn and cook for 5 minutes or until the corn is cooked.  Remove the corn cobs (if you put them in there) and strain the soup so you put the all the onion and corn into the blender.  Add about 2/3 cup of stock that you cooked with to blend until frothy and smooth.  Add back to the broth and add the remaining corn.  Bring to a simmer and simmer for 3-4 minutes until all the corn is cooked to the point you want it to be cooked.  Salt & Pepper to taste.  You can totally add all then corn at the beginning and then blend all the corn and onion if you want a bisque like soup.

Thanks for the inspiration, Martha. 

I didn't take a picture of this but I will start taking pictures.  Promise.  I'll try to start taking pictures.  Promise.  That's better.

Recipes, Ideas, Inspirations

I decided to start a blog.  This is not new.  I have decided that many times and even started a few.  This time might be different and it might not.  I'll do my best to keep adding recipes and such to keep you inspired.  If there is something you want a recipe for, email me at kandidodrill@gmail.com and I will do my best to get it for you.