Pulled Pork and Pickles
I actually don't remember when I first had a BBQ pork sandwich with pickles. It definitely wasn't something I had as a kid - and probably not something I had before I turned 50. It may have been a sandwich we briefly sold at work quite a few years ago. While I may not be sure where I first had one, seeing it a few days ago reminded me of it.
I don't need an excuse to make sandwiches - I have always been a sandwich-kinda-guy. A few years back on Food network, they had a guy win the Next Star program who specialized in sandwiches. I think I could have done better.
But while I'm always ready to take a sandwich one step over the top, tonight I decided to make it pretty basic.
I had picked up a couple of bone-in pork roasts on Monday, and one went right into the freezer and the other went into a pot. I added water, garlic, onion, and some Mojo Chipotle marinade and let it simmer for almost 4 hours. I took it out of the simmering liquid and let it cool for about an hour. I pulled the meat off the bones with a fork and it chunked and shredded perfectly. Into the 'fridge it went.
For dinner, I merely added some bottled BBQ sauce and made it hot. Yes. Bottled. It wasn't a national brand and it didn't have any garbage in it.
I served them on mini-rolls with - pickles. Victor looked at me like I had three heads, but I told him to trust me on this one. He did and was amazed at just how well they went together.
On the other side of the plate were scalloped potatoes.
These aren't something I make that often, but I do like them a lot and I thought Nonna would appreciate them with her sandwich. She definitely did. We all reached the "Oh, I'm stuffed, I can't eat any more. Just one more bite." A few times.
First, I made a thin white sauce with butter, flour, and milk. I added some shredded cheeses (fontina, cheddar, and monterey jack) and then a splash of worcestershire sauce, a few dashes of Tabasco, garlic powder, sat & pepper. I thinly-sliced the potatoes on my trusty mandoline and layered them in a baking dish with the cheese sauce. I covered the dish and put it into a 375° oven for about an hour, taking the foil off for the last 15 minutes.
Yum.
Salads and Sandwiches
A sunny Saturday - what a concept! The perfect weather for a trio of salads and sandwiches.
The salad concept was a bit of clean-out-the-refrigerator necessity. The eating patterns have changed a bit and I'm still trying to get a handle on it all. Naturally, I'm producing too much food, because if I made too much for two, adding another person just means I have to make even more. Never mind the fact that if I didn't increase my amounts at all, all three of us would still eat and Cybil would still get leftovers.
And it's not like I'm not trying to cook less. I am. It's just that some things have a habit of getting away from me.
Like salads.
My first salad today was a beef and bean. I had some tri-tip left over, and I thought a little Mexican-inspired salad was in order.
I cubed the beef, added a can of black beans and a can of shoepeg corn, and then I thought some diced tomatoes would be good, some chopped roasted red pepper, salsa... Next thing you know I have a big bowl of salad. I didn't start out making a big bowl of salad, but...
Beef and Bean Salad
- 1 lb cooked beef, cubed (Give or take. Amount can vary significantly.)
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can shoepeg corn, drained (or any canned corn or 1 cup frozen)
- 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, diced
- 3/4 cup salsa
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mix ingredients thoroughly. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
This really is a clean-out-the-refrigerator salad. You can add bits and pieces of anything you like. The salsa dressing pulls it all together.
And then, because I had fennel that needed using up, I thought I'd make a salad from the fennel and lentil dish I made a while back with pork tenderloin. I tweaked things around a bit and it made a good cold dish!
I really, really like lentils and was rather hoping Nonna would, too. She likes lentil soup but the jury is still out on the salad. I'll probably be doing some lentil side dishes without a lot of other things in them to get her used to the idea.
Lentil and Fennel Salad
- 1 cup dried lentils
- 1 fennel bulb, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 6 basil leaves, minced
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- olive oil
- sherry vinegar (or vinegar of choice)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook lentils in 3 cups water until done - about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving a bit of the cooking liquid.
Meanwhile, saute diced fennel, diced, onion, diced carrots, and minced garlic until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add a half-cup or so of the lentil cooking liquid and stir and cook until liquid evaporates and vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and mix in lentils.
Add basil, cranberries and chopped pecans (or any fresh herb, dried fruit, and nut combination you have) and mix well. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar to taste. You definitely don't need a lot.
Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
This worked well. The lentil/fennel concept can be taken a million-and-one ways - hot or cold. I see it happening, again.
And then, because I really wanted to make sure there was at least one salad Nonna liked, I made a basic macaroni salad.
Elbow macaroni, celery, mayonnaise. I forgot to add the hard-cooked eggs. Oh well. She didn't miss them - and she ate a hefty helping!
Macaroni Salad
- 1/2 lb elbow macaroni
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 pickle, minced
- garlic powder
- mayonnaise
- sour cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook macaroni. Drain and cool. Mix in celery, carrots, pickle, and a bit of garlic powder. Add about 3/4 cup mayonnaise and 1/4 cup sour cream. Mix well. Add more mayo or sour cream iof salad seems too dry.
Check for seasoning and add S&P, as needed.
Nonna tried the other two but this was the one she liked the best. There's something to be said about familiarity...
The sandwiches were thin-sliced chicken breast drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then quickly grilled. Served on whole wheat burger buns.
Nonna had tomato and mayo. Victor had lettuce, tomato, and mayo, and I had avocado, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. A perfect soft, ripe, and creamy-luscious avocado.
Yum.
Did I mention I also made an apple pie for dessert?
A Reuben and a Corned Beef Special
A Reuben and a Corned Beef Special. Just like I made last year, except last year I actually made them on St Patrick's Day.
I was much more eloquent last year, with a bit of history about the sandwiches and the like. In fact, since I was about to say pretty much the same thing, again, I'll just copy last year's post and be done with it!
Ah… St Paddy’s Day… A truly Irish-American holiday. And my grandfather’s birthday! He was born March 17, 1896. Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
The Irish never celebrated St Paddy’s Day as we do here – and they most certainly didn’t eat Corned Beef and Cabbage! They still don’t. You’ll now find it in tourist restaurants, but it has never been an Irish staple. Corned beef has been produced in Ireland for hundreds of years – but it wasn’t for the Irish. it was all owned and exported by the British. The cattle industry actually played a huge role in the potato famine. The best land was owned by the English and used for grazing. The people were forced onto marginal lands where not much would or could grow. The potato became the sole crop and food – and when it failed… well… we know the history…
Big parades and celebrations for St Patrick are a relatively new thing in Ireland, as well. So many people would come to Ireland expecting a huge celebration that they finally gave in and started having one.
And that brings us back to Corned Beef and Cabbage.
The closest Irish dish would be bacon and cabbage – not the same bacon we have with our eggs in the morning – but in America, corned beef was a lot less expensive. It was more than likely introduced by Jewish butchers, since the Irish and the Jews shared a lot of ghettos in those early years. We have a long history of not being very nice to immigrants.
But fast-forward many years and the concept of Corned Beef and Cabbage on St Patrick’s Day is firmly entrenched in our culture. It’s everywhere.
Except our house.
Victor really doesn’t like cooked cabbage. I’ve made it and he’s eaten it, but it really was more back in those early days of the relationship when people will just do anything for the other. Closing in on 18 years later, we’re a little more open and direct.
So what does one do on St Patrick’s Day?!? Make Reuben’s and Corned Beef Specials!
Victor won’t touch a Reuben, either. Sauerkraut?!? He’d rather put pins in his eyes. And a Corned Beef Special is lost on me. Cole slaw on a corned beef sandwich sandwich?!? Meh.
So we ended up with vastly different sandwiches that were both comprised of the same four main ingredients: rye bread, Russian dressing, cabbage, and corned beef. To his I added the aforementioned cole slaw. Raw cabbage is not an issue. For mine, I added swiss cheese and sauerkraut – and then grilled it to a crusty-crunchy golden-brown.
The Corned Beef Special has its roots in Philadelphia. It’s an east coast thing. The reuben, on the other hand, probably traces its roots to the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha. A defunct deli in New York also claimed ownership, but my father was from Omaha. I’m going with the family connection.
Dinner was fun. Both of us were in gastronomic heaven with our favorites.
A great – if slightly non-traditional – St Paddy’s Day, indeed!
Leftovers
What does tonight's dinner have in common with last night's dinner?!? Just about everything. The beef, the rolls, the mashed potatoes... We had them all last night, albeit in a slightly different format.
I had cooked up a few extra potatoes that were beginning to show their age with the idea of making potato pancakes tonight. Mashed potato pancakes are really a treat from my youth. My mother made them now and again and I always liked them. Slightly crispy on the outside and light and creamy on the inside, they turn leftover mashed potatoes into a great side dish.
The basic is pretty easy - cold mashed potatoes, a bit of flour, an egg, salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. A little finely-minced onion can be added, if desired. Drop scoops onto a hot buttered pan, let cook, flip, cook some more - and eat.
And then we had roast beef sandwiches with horseradish sauce. With lettuce and tomato.
Horseradish sauce is another quick and easy - and really flavorful - accompaniment to roast beef. And another easy-to-make sauce from ingredients probably already in the house. It starts off with a bit of mayonnaise, a bit of sour cream, and a hefty amount of horseradish - the exact amount will vary depending upon how spicy you want your sauce. Next comes a bit of worcestershire sauce, a few shots of Tabasco, and salt and pepper. It's good enough for holiday prime rib and easy enough for deli roast beef.
Same main ingredients, totally different outcome. Mom would be proud.
Skirt Steak Sandwiches
I tell ya... I'm so old I remember when skirt steak was cheap. Then it got trendy and the price went up. Same thing happened to flank steak. Yep. Flank used to be cheap, too.
Both cuts are really flavorful and take marinades and seasonings really well. I usually like skirt steak for fajitas but tonight I was looking for a sandwich. I had seen a recipe for a skirt steak sandwich with corn mayonnaise that seriously intrigued me. I've mentioned more than a few times that I love sandwiches and coming up with different ways to put things between a couple of slices of bread. This one was right up my alley.
I first marinated the skirt steak in a bit of olive oil, red wine, garlic, and salt & pepper. Later, I grilled it to a nice medium-rare and set it aside.
The original recipe called for grilling fresh corn on the cob, grilling red onions, grilling red peppers... I was having none of that. First off, I don't buy fresh corn in December. It's not fresh. Second, it's 35° outside. I'm not standing outside if I don't have to.
I made the corn mayonnaise with a cup of thawed frozen corn, a half-cup of mayonnaise, a minced shallot, splash of red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and a hefty pinch each of basil and oregano.
To assemble, I sliced the rolls in half and hollowed out the top half and filled it with the corn mayo. On the bottom I laid out strips of jarred red peppers and then the thin-sliced beef. Covered with the top and Voila! a sandwich was born!
The potatoes came from Fine Cooking magazine...
I cut a russet potato into 8 wedges and boiled them until just barely done. I drained them and set them on a sheet pan and brushed them with olive oil and then rolled them in bread crumbs. On top, I sprinkled shredded parmesan cheese and baked them at 425° for about 15 minutes. The magazine picture doesn't show what a pain in the arse it is trying to get shredded cheese to stay on a breaded potato wedge.
But they came out really tasty.
That's it for now... Victor baked Ricotta Cookies and I think we need to sample them. Again.
Patty Melts
I wanted a burger. I also wanted homemade fries. I reached up into the onion and potato basket and found lots of onions - and only a couple small red potatoes.
My burgers became patty melts with caramelized onions. The fries came out of the freezer.
Patty melts are great. They're grilled cheese sandwiches with hamburger and onions - and how can that be bad?!?
I know that traditionally, a patty melt is made on rye bread, but... any old port in a storm, right?!?
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
A year or two ago the Food Network Star was a guy who made sandwiches. Over-the-top, bizarre sandwiches. I generally don't watch these shows because I don't believe in cooking as competition. The shows are totally unrealistic with unrealistic goals for situations that would just never exist. I'd rather watch black and white reruns of The French Chef.
But I liked the sandwich concept. I'm a sandwich kinda guy. I really like the idea of putting tons of stuff between slices of bread or rolls. Unique stuff. Interesting stuff. Stuff you wouldn't necessarily think to put between slices of bread - but once bit into, realize it's a natural.
Tonight's dinner idea started with the rolls I made yesterday. Homemade bread does not have a lot of holding power - it's really meant to be eaten within a couple of days. We use it up - bread salads to bread crumbs - but it's always best as bread. And for me, that meant sandwiches.
Sandwiches. The very word conjurers up visions of so many sandwiches past... plain bologna between two slices of bread - a favorite of childhood, and one I still like now and again. Fried, gooey triple-decker Monte Cristos at the Red Chimney, open-faced Turkey with dressing and gravy at the Old Post Office, the Kentucky Hot Brown at Vencor Hospital, or that fabulous mushroom and cheddar cheese with caramelized onions that Ruth made years ago - that I still make on a regular basis.
Sandwiches. Love 'em. In all of their various manifestations.
I especially like sandwiches that not only take two hands to eat, but make such a mess that they're impossible to put down. The kind that no number of napkins will do. Tonight's sandwich met most of those criterion - a two-handed mess that was almost impossible to put down - and no amount of napkins could cleanse the hands.
It was a rather simple sandwich, too... the split roll covered with chipotle mayonnaise (mayo and a bit of chipotle in adobo) and topped with sliced tomato from the garden, grilled chicken breast topped with melted pepper jack cheese, and a ton of fried peppers.
The green hot peppers came from our yard. I fried them up yesterday and today fried up 8 sweet red peppers to balance them. They were hot. They have a great refrigerated shelf-life - not that we have them around for too long since they go in everything from sandwiches to salads - and everything in-between.
I actually considered adding bacon and avocado to the sandwiches tonight but decided they would be messy enough without them.
Maybe next time.
Panini and Potatoes
Last night I roasted a chicken in honor of Julia Child's 100th Birthday, tomorrow. I'm still doing physical therapy, and between it and work tomorrow, I really wouldn't have had the time I wanted tomorrow and still eat at a decent hour. I figured Julia would understand.
I thought a simple roasted chicken would be the best tribute to her. It's one of the easiest and most intimidating of dishes. Easy, because what's difficult about putting a chicken in the oven? Intimidating, because they rarely come out as planned.
But this is about the leftovers. My tome to Roast Chicken is tomorrow...
With chicken in the 'fridge, sandwiches were my first choice - but not just any sandwich... grilled panini loaded with all sorts of fun things! I mean, would you expect a plain ol' chicken sandwich with mayo on squishy white bread?!? Not that I don't have a place in my heart for turkey and squishy white bread sandwiches the day after Thanksgiving, but that's still a few months away...
These panini started with a Tuscan pane. If you're gonna go Italian, go Italian, right?!? Then came a sharp imported provolone. Atop that went slices of fresh tomatoes from our garden. Next was the aforementioned chicken, topped with fried peppers, also from the garden. Next was a Locatelli with peppercorns, and then the final slice of bread. Both slices were liberally (I love the word Liberal) doused with olive oil and placed on the panini maker.
Meanwhile, I made Italian potato pancakes. I got this idea from La Cucina Italiana. I've been making potato pancakes for as long as I can remember, but these were really, really simple. They were just mashed potatoes - with nothing added - mixed with shredded provolone cheese, salt, pepper, and minced fresh basil. I formed them into patties and cooked them on a griddle with just enough olive oil to keep them from sticking.
The perfect leftover meal.
A Cross-Cultural St Paddy's Day
Ah... St Paddy's Day... A truly Irish-American holiday. And my grandfather's birthday! He was born March 17, 1896. Happy Birthday, Grandpa!
The Irish never celebrated St Paddy's Day as we do here - and they most certainly didn't eat Corned Beef and Cabbage! They still don't. You'll now find it in tourist restaurants, but it has never been an Irish staple. Corned beef has been produced in Ireland for hundreds of years - but it wasn't for the Irish. it was all owned and exported by the British. The cattle industry actually played a huge role in the potato famine. The best land was owned by the English and used for grazing. The people were forced onto marginal lands where not much would or could grow. The potato became the sole crop and food - and when it failed... well... we know the history...
Big parades and celebrations for St Patrick are a relatively new thing in Ireland, as well. So many people would come to Ireland expecting a huge celebration that they finally gave in and started having one.
And that brings us back to Corned Beef and Cabbage.
The closest Irish dish would be bacon and cabbage - not the same bacon we have with our eggs in the morning - but in America, corned beef was a lot less expensive. It was more than likely introduced by Jewish butchers, since the Irish and the Jews shared a lot of ghettos in those early years. We have a long history of not being very nice to immigrants.
But fast-forward many years and the concept of Corned Beef and Cabbage on St Patrick's Day is firmly entrenched in our culture. It's everywhere.
Except our house.
Victor really doesn't like cooked cabbage. I've made it and he's eaten it, but it really was more back in those early days of the relationship when people will just do anything for the other. Closing in on 18 years later, we're a little more open and direct.
So what does one do on St Patrick's Day?!? Make Reuben's and Corned Beef Specials!
Victor won't touch a Reuben, either. Sauerkraut?!? He'd rather put pins in his eyes. And a Corned Beef Special is lost on me. Cole slaw on a corned beef sandwich sandwich?!? Meh.
So we ended up with vastly different sandwiches that were both comprised of the same four main ingredients: rye bread, Russian dressing, cabbage, and corned beef. To his I added the aforementioned cole slaw. Raw cabbage is not an issue. For mine, I added swiss cheese and sauerkraut - and then grilled it to a crusty-crunchy golden-brown.
The Corned Beef Special has its roots in Philadelphia. It's an east coast thing. The reuben, on the other hand, probably traces its roots to the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha. A defunct deli in New York also claimed ownership, but my father was from Omaha. I'm going with the family connection.
Dinner was fun. Both of us were in gastronomic heaven with our favorites.
A great - if slightly non-traditional - St Paddy's Day, indeed!
The BLTA Cheese Burger
That's a Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado, and Colby Jack Burger. With mayonnaise, ketchup, and pickles.
One of the most perfect food-combinations on the planet.
I usually have at least an inkling of an idea in the morning of what I'm cooking for dinner, but this morning I was a blank. And about midway through the day - with the weather approaching 70° - burgers and fries seemed to be just the thing. And ripe avocado, hot-house tomatoes from New York - no Florida tomatoes in this house - and bacon and lettuce and ... and ...
I really love an over-the-top burger. A 6+ napkin monstrosity that is so messy I need a shower after eating it. Heaven.
To even begin to eat this thing tonight, I had to cut it in half. And once you pick up a half, you're committed. There's no putting it down. It's a roll-up-the-sleeves-elbows-on-the-table-hunched-over-the-plate-slip-sliding dining experience. Miss Manners would frown - until she took her first bite!
Here's to warm weather!
Monday Mash-Up
I have been remiss in my blogging. All of these pictures of all of these meals have been languishing away on a camera chip.
That just won't do!
I've been channeling my energies into a couple of other websites, designing one and working on a re-design of another. It's fun, but it can keep me away from the other fun stuff if I don't watch myself.
It certainly hasn't kept me from cooking, though.
The above picture is really thick pork chops. I bought a whole loin and cut thick chops, a roast, and some pieces for a carne asada or pozole. Vacuum-sealed and into the freezer. I ♥ my vacuum sealer.
The chops were marinated in white wine (Pino Grigio) and a bit of olive oil, garlic, and Greek oregano. I browned themn in a skillet and then into a 350° oven for about 20 minutes.
The potatoes were cut in half, rubbed with olive oil, garlic, and paprika and went into the same oven - also for 20 minutes.
Real good.
Friday saw a small filet roast with more oven-roasted potatoes. But these potatoes had a twist - a cheesy twist.
After the potatoes were done - roasted at 350° with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper for 20 minutes - I placed them in a bowl and mixed in chunks of Cambozola cheese until it was melted and the potatoes were cheesy-gooey! Oh yum.
Cambozola is a blue brie, for all intents and purposes. It's name is a combination of Camembert and Gorgonzola. It is a rich, triple-cream cheese with a silky texture and a mild blue flavor. Oh yum, indeed.
Today's lunch was a simple sandwich; ham, turkey, bacon, fontina cheese, and arugula on whole wheat. I would have loved a thick slice of tomato on it but... I rarely buy tomatoes this time of year and I most definitely will not buy a Florida tomato. I read Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit . You should, too. It is an excellent book.
But I digress...
After lunch, I baked another loaf of bread and then put a pot roast on to simmer.
I really like the rye, buckwheat, and white flour combination of this dough. I'll be making more of this, for sure.
And it was the perfect vehicle to sop up the gravy from tonight's Pot Roast!
This is by far, the easiest pot roast in the known universe. Brown your roast, add 1 chopped onion, brown it with a couple of cloves of minced garlic, add 1 cup of red wine (I used a very nice Merlot,) and then add a quart of roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Cover and simmer a couple of hours. 45 minutes before serving, add potatoes, carrots,, and celery. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as required.
Seriously easy. And seriously good.
And just because we were dessertless, after taking the bread out of the oven I made a buttermilk cake.
If it tastes half as good as it looks, I'll be really pleased.
Pork Loin Leftovers
The pork roast from last night was re-purposed tonight. When I was cooking it yesterday, I was trying to figure out a meal for today. We're a waste-not-want-not kinda place here. No-regrets shopping. We buy it - we eat it. It makes for some interesting meals now and again.
Winter is good because a pot of soup or a casserole can hide a multitude of sins. Spring and summer salads hide the fresh bounty.
It works for us.
So tonight, the leftover pork simmered in a bottle of store-bought BBQ sauce and served on little rolls was the perfect leftover meal. Store-bought frozen french fries completed the plate.
Yes, even moi takes shortcuts now and again. I don't always have to grow and mill the wheat and bake the bread in order to make a sandwich. Not every time, anyway.
I have to get lots of good eating in this week because Victor is heading to London on Sunday for 5 days. My otherwise stellar eating habits go straight to hell when he takes off for a business trip. Cybil and I live on chili dogs and corned beef hash with fried eggs for days on end.
The other part of his going away for a few days is coming up with a secret household project while he's gone.
I have a couple in mind right now...
Stay tuned.....