Pulled Pork & Cornbread Crepes

I spent the long weekend in Niagara on the Lake in a rented house with a group of amazing people.

We sipped wine in between bike rides, finished a keg, played a lot of drinking games, swam and sat in the sun (somebody got a serious sunburn. Hint: it was me).

We also did most of this in costume.

It was Frisky Business vs. Cherry Poppins vs. Teenage Mutant Drinking Turtles.

At Hinterbrook we did a tour of the facility and samples a riesling, a sauvignon blanc, and a very interesting franc blanc. John and I ended up buying a bottle. It's a white that is as hearty as a red.

Then we hopped back on our bikes and headed over to Strewn where we sampled a bit more and I bought a bottle of a gewurtz/reisling for the birthday girl.

It was a bit cold but riding with the wind in our faces in beautiful wine country felt amazing.

Especially since I was on 2 (seperate) hours of sleep and needed something to wake me up.

Night shifts...

Plus we had a bike 'gang' of 11 people and the guys kept trying to do tricks like stand on the seat, lie on the seat... in the picture you can see the guy in the middle has his legs up.

My team was the Turtles.

The other teams really coordinated their outfits and we took ...a different approach.

I did paint abs and a shell on my shirt though.

And I don't know why this picture is so stretched but.... ladies and gentlemen, your warning to always wear (and reapply liberally) sunscreen:

Now to your recipe.

I love pulled pork and try to make it about once a month. It lasts a few meals and you can use it in a lot of different ways - sandwiches, salads, etc.

I was inspired by a friend who had made pulled pork for her teams brunch on the weekend. She also did a pan of roasted root vegetables.

So I bought some potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and onion and roasted them in some olive oil and maple syrup.

I also wanted to go the cornbread route but with a different spin.

I made cornbread crepes!

But I had no eggs so I kind of just didn't add eggs...

They turned out a bit thicker than I was hoping which is my error cause I didn't thin them out enough in the pan. But they were still tasty!

Cornbread Crepes

(recipe courtesy of Southern Living)

3/4 cup cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• Process all ingredients in a blender until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides. Transfer to a bowl and chill 1 hour.
• Coat a 7-inch nonstick skillet with vegetable cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers bottom of pan. Cook 3 minutes or until top is set. Turn out onto wax paper; cool. Repeat with remaining batter.

Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Sage

Appologies for the lack of posts recently...I'm back in school and placement full time so my time is unfortunately not as free as it once was. And it's only going to get worse because I haven't even started back to my fall work schedule yet.

My placement is going really well so far. I'm in a social services office (social assistance, employment placement and referals, job training workshops, etc) and I've discovered that it's something that really appeals to me.

I got to sit in on an employment placement workshops, I sat in on an info session facilitated by a public health nurse for an amazing initiative called Investing in Families, and today I sat in on an initial intake interview for social assistance. It's amazing that there actually are systems in place to provide resources to the people in our communities who need it.

I can definitely see myself becoming a part of this field later on.

John and I, after an entire weekend apart and a less-than-pleasant Monday night (due to stupid stupid circumstances), went out for dinner last night. Nothing fancy - Jack Astor's - but a much needed date night. It's easy to forget what a great partner you've got when you forget to do fun and exciting things together.

If I can offer up any advice to keeping a long-term relationship fun it is this: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF DATES!

As promised, I will do my review of this month's Martha (LOTS of great Halloween ideas!) but I've been slowly going through it while mainly focusing on finishing all those pesky nursing readings for my classes.

Never fear, I've got tomorrow eeeevening and the weekend to write it up and also to pre-write some posts for the week!

As I mentioned previously, I made a pork-on-pork dream come true at my parents place last weekend.

It was delicious.

Bacon makes the meat so tender and bacon in and of itself is so good.

Here's the recipe from the Autumn 2010 Food & Drink from the LCBO

Enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin with Apples & Sage

(photo from LCBO website, recipe by Marilyn Bentz-Crowley)

YOU WILL NEED:

2 large pork tenderloins,total about 2 lbs (about 1 kg)
10 fresh sage leaves, very finely chopped,or 1 tsp (5 mL) dried rubbed sage
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly groundblack pepper
9 to 10 slices thick-cut bacon
Kitchen twine
3 to 4 large apples such asCortland or Spy
1 large cooking onion
2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour
1½ cups (375 mL) chicken broth or stock


1. If any silver skin on loins is present, cut away and discard. Sprinkle sage, garlic, salt and pepper all over loins. Place loins closely together lengthwise, with thick ends meeting thin ends, to even out roast thickness.
2. Lay out slices of bacon snugly together on a cutting board, forming a rectangle. Place loins across bacon so bacon ends emerge from each side. Beginning at one end, lift a bacon end up over loins at a 45° angle. Then, alternating sides, continue lifting bacon ends down the length of roast forming a chevron pattern of bacon on top.
3. Cut five 12-inch (30-cm) lengths of twine and one 30-inch (75-cm) length. Place 5 shorter lengths of twine under loins widthwise. Working out from roast centre, firmly (but not causing deep indents to form) tie up each piece of twine, spacing evenly apart. Then tie up roast lengthwise with longer piece of twine. Trim twine ends; discard. (Roast can be prepared, covered and refrigerated for up to half a day. Add 10 to 15 minutes to roasting time.)
4. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Lightly brown roast on all sides, about 15 minutes in total. Transfer to a baking pan lined with a rack. Place in oven; set time for 30 minutes. Check and continue roasting until a meat thermometer reads 145°F (63°C). Remove from oven: transfer to cutting board. Cover roast with foil; let rest 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, peel core and slice apples. Thinly slice onion.
6. Drain most of fat from frying pan; place back over medium heat. Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth; add apple slices. Bring to a boil; simmer, covered, 5 to 10 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce is lightly thickened. Add more broth if too thick; keep covered and hot.
7. To slice pork roast, snip off lengthwise string. Then slice about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, removing crosswise strings as they are encountered. Place a few saucy apples on each warm serving plate, top with a couple of slices of roast and drizzle with more sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes and a steamed julienne of carrot and kohlrabi.

Pulled Pork Done 2 Ways

Feeling like I hadn't seen my friends in awhile, and having not been allowed to go into placement this week, I invited my neighbours over for dinner on Wednesday night.

And I was craving pulled pork.

John picked up a pork tenderloin. Then on Wednesday I went for a walk to run a few errands and stopped into the grocery store. Thinking it wouldn't hurt to grab another tenderloin to make sure we had enough and maybe some extra for lunches, I wandered into the meat section. Lo and behold, I found the elusive shoulder/picnic cut of pork that is recommended for making pulled pork! And it was only $7!

So I snatched it up quickly and headed home with my treasured find.

I've made pulled pork before with tenderloin but I'd never done it with pork shoulder.

Martha, as always, led me down the right path. The right and very delicious path. I did add more ingredients than her recipe called for (taking my cues from Mike & Andrea who made it 2 summers ago at the Cottage Cook-0ff).

So whether you're using a leaner (therefore healthier) tenderloin or a slightly more fatty shoulder, I've got you covered. Here's what you'll need to do to make delicious pulled pork!

Pulled Pork: Tenderloin

[click here if you want to compare Martha's recipe to my version]

(Appologies because I didn't have time to take a nice picture that would do it justice - the guests had arrived and I didn't want to taunt them by artfully arranging the serving bowl and taking multiple photos of it while their stomachs were rumbling)

1. In a large pot, add 1 container of halved cherry tomatoes (probably about 30 of them), 1 diced red onion, 3 cloves of garlic (finely diced or if you're like me just thinly slice it so you can still see the peices of garlic), 2 tbsp spicy mustard, 1/4 cup barbeque sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, 3 tbsp worcestshire sauce, 3 tbsp brown sugar, and 1/4 cup molasses. Add tenderloin. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the pork is cooked.

2. Once pork is cooked, remove from the pot and allow to cool for several minutes. Using 2 forks, shred the tenderloin (see photo below)

3. Return the shredded pork to the pot and mix back into the sauce. Heat and serve!

Pulled Pork: Shoulder

(Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart)

*This method requires significantly more time than the tenderloin but if you've got the time it's SO worth it.

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Make cuts in the fat (on the top) of the shoulder, scoring to make diamonds. Season the meat with salt and black pepper. Put the shoulder into a roasting pan with 1/2 cup water. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes until browned.
2. Remove pan from oven and turn heat down to 350 degrees. Tightly cover the roasting pan with tin foil and return to the oven. Allow the shoulder to cook at 350 degrees for 4 hours.
3. Remove pan from oven, remove tin foil, and allow meat to cool slightly. Using two forks, shred the meat. The meat should literally fall off the bone - you almost don't even need to shred it yourself.

4. Add the shredded pork to a pot filled with the ingredients for the sauce described in the first recipe and mix to coat all of the pork.




The combination of the tenderloin and the shoulder made for pulled pork that was a bit healthier but with forkfuls of melt-in-your-mouth tender meat. I served it with ciabatta bread that I baked about 10 minutes before the guests arrived and with green and yellow zucchini that I roasted with about 2 tbsp of butter. We made open-faced sandwiches and ohhhhh man they were good.

If you've got a lazy weekend coming up and want to try something new for dinner, go find a pork shoulder and cook that bad boy for 5 hours. If you've got a busier weekend planned, grab a tenderloin and enjoy healthier pulled pork!

P.S. I made the pumpkin fudge - to rave reviews - so I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Pulled Pork Sammy's & (faux) Bellinis

I am sleepy.

But the weekend is here!

I have lots of exciting plans lined up for this weekend - AND on top of all that, this upcoming week is my reading week!

Here are my plans:

Sleep, sit for hours in bubble baths, and make fancy drinks.

I'm really craving a Bellini and I'm hoping that the place I'm going for dinner tonight has them on the menu. The one's from Moxies are by far the best. Swiss Chalet, though, does make a mean bellini also. I ordered one in a fancy Italian restaurant in Stratford and they gave me an actual bellini - proseco and peach juice.

I want the frozen kind that comes loaded with various liquors splashed all up in there.

Perhaps tomorrow, or Sunday, or Monday night, or Wednesday night of next week I will attempt to create my own. Maybe I'll even do it on all of those days.

If you want to make your own (faux/slushy) bellini here's what you should do:

Mix together:

• 1/2 shot white rum
• 1 shot peach shnapps
• 1 shot sparkling wine
• 1/2 cup sprite
• 1/2 cup soda water
• 1/2 cup peach juice

Pour all of these into a blender, add ice, and blend away then finish with 1 shot of sangria poured over the top.

This year for Valentine's day dinner I bought some heart-shaped pasta from Costco. Cheese and spinach filled pasta. Mmmmmm. John said he would make a sauce for it. I kind of want a rose sauce. He makes good ones.

Soon, my darlings, soon you'll meet your fate in my stomach.

Now, tonight I'm going out for dinner with John and some friends from work. We're going to the Memphis Smoke House and boy howdy my stomach is excited. I'm mulling over my menu options and I keep coming back to pulled pork.

I had a pulled pork sandwich for the first time this past summer during the Martha-Cottage-Cookoff-Competition when my cousin and his wife made them. Heaven.

I thought I'd find a recipe for it and mayhap one day try to make it all on my own. For now I will dream about eating it in mere hours.

(Lighter) Pulled Pork Sandwiches

(I forgot where I done stole this photo from - oops)

Martha says that for this recipe you will need:

1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound), cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 head small green cabbage, shredded
4 whole-wheat rolls, split

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together tomatoes, sugar, garlic, mustard, and 1/2 cup water; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; add pork, and simmer, covered, until tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate to cool. Simmer sauce over medium, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 20 minutes
2. Meanwhile, make slaw: In a bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon vinegar, celery seed, and 1 tablespoon water; season with salt and pepper. Add cabbage, and toss to coat.
3. Shred pork with 2 forks, and return to sauce; stir in 1 teaspoon vinegar. Serve pork on rolls, topped with slaw.
   
   I'm going to go start getting ready for this big dinner. Do my stretches, etc.