Monday, September 10, 2007

Pulled pork again

Had a pork shoulder in the fridge, started to smell a bit, but decided to cook it anyway last night.

Rinsed it well, let it soak in a brine bath (with a bit of sugar) for 30 minutes, which seemed to lessen the smell (will have to try the lemon juice or vinegar trick for the same thing in the future).

Did the Wolfgang Puck rub, covered with foil, put in the oven overnight (8-9 hours or so) at 205 degrees. In the morning (about 830a), internal temp hit around 195, which is good. Uncovered it for about 30 minutes at 205 degrees to help a bit with some crust formation & help dry it out, then threw it in the fridge. Will heat it up tonight to finish, for maybe 1 hour covered, we'll see how it turns out! Hopefully it's not totally spoiled, and if so, oh well, $7 down the drain.

UPDATE 9/10: turned out great! Totally delicious. Beckey really liked it this time. Ate them on roasted garlic bread with tomatoes and mayo (wish I had cabbage and mayo for coleslaw!) Made two custom sauces to go along:

Vinegar sauce:
  • 1/2c. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • Pinch of red chili flakes
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • Few dashes Tabasco
  • Few dashes worcheshire
  • 1 tsp. soy sauce
  • 2-3 drops of liquid smoke
  • 1 tsp. pork rub
  • Process: combine all, bring to a boil and remove from heat
Pan sauce:
  • Pan drippings, cooled and skimmed of fat
  • Splash of vinegar sauce
  • 1 tsp. Garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. Onion powder
  • 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • Process: combine all and heat to a simmer, reduce volume by 1/2. Add extra water/stock if too salty.
My Puck Rub recipe, lest I forget it:

4 tb brown sugar
4 tb onion powder
4 tb garlic powder
4 tb thyme
4 tb oregano
2 tb mild paprika
2 tb hot paprika
4 tsp cayenne
4 tsp ground coriander
4 tsp ground pepper
2 tb kosher salt
1 tb dry mustard

Mix to combine.

wonton soup revisited

Made wonton soup last night, as I felt a bit of post-nasal drip, and was tired and sluggish. Well, seems to have worked. Wonton soup is easy, esp. if you have made/purchased frozen wontons in advance. I especially liked this week's version, and I just got to eat some leftovers for lunch. Buillion cubes were a short-cut; you can certainly use chicken stock instead, but you may need to adjust the salt.

Wonton Soup Revisited
Serves 4

1 box low sodium chicken stock
2 cups + 1 cup water
2 chicken buillion cubes (I use Knorr)
3 scallions: green parts cut into 1" nuggets, white parts finely chopped
1.5 tbsp. garlic, minced
2-3 ginger "coins", smashed with flat side of knife
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cups broccoli rabe leaves, washed and cut across the leaf into 1" strips
2 slices ham, cut into 1/4" ribbons
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil (optional); I prefer Spectrum Organics to Kadoya
12-16 frozen won-tons

  1. In a large pot, add chicken stock, and 2 cups water.
  2. Bring to a boil, and add buillion cubes, scallions, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes, and boil for about 2 minutes, until buillon cubes dissolve.
  3. Add broccoli leaves and ham, and boil for 1 minute.
  4. Add frozen wontons all at once + 1/2 cup water + soy sauce.
  5. Over high heat, bring soup back up to a boil, stirring once or twice, then add remaining 1/2 cup water, remove from heat, and cover.
  6. Let sit covered off of the heat for 10 minutes, when wontons will be fully cooked.
  7. Season with additional soy sauce, salt and pepper as desired.