Fortsättning följer på denna.

Vidare pulled pork, kanske inte lika gammalt, men trenden i Sverige började väl iaf för minst ett år sen (då jag åt det sist). Här har jag kommit längre,  jag smaksätter den som jag vill. Den här gången med en uppsjö av kryddor såsom korianderfrön, mängder av paprikapulver, soja mm. Och jag hade fyra gamla märgben som också åkte med, mest för syns skull. Jag körde alltihop på 62C i ca 5 timmar (medan jag gick och såg the Hobbit) och med facit i hand skulle jag kört på 70C kanske, då hade jag nog bara vågat se en kortare film.

/JG

www.tupelo02139.com (617) 868.0004

*In Inman Sq. in Cambridge at the intersection of Cambridge and Tremont St

Seth & Ren, +3 guests

• –Drinks–
• Cote du Rhone
• Abita Amber
• Monk’s Blood
• Ommegang
• Peak Organic x2
• Abita Turbodog
• zombie killer
• Mulled Red Wine
• –Plates–
• Fried Oysters w/ Tabasco aioli and house pickles
• Pork Belly Corn Dog(!!!) *Night Special*
• Triple-Fried Chicken wings *Night Special*
• Deep fried Crispy Grits squares
• Small Cajun Gumbo w/ pulled chicken, fresh okra and smoked andouille sausage
• Southern Fried Chicken w/ hominy mashed potatoes, collard greens and pickled red cabbage
• Crawfish Chowder *Night Special*
• BBQ Pulled Pork w/ collard greens and hominy mashed potatoes
• The King’s Favorite Meatloaf w/ jalapeño mac&cheese, collard greens and pan gravy
• Texas Style Beef Chili w/ cheddar cheese, sour cream and pickled jalapeño peppers
• –Dessert–
• Apple-Pear-Cranberry Pie
• Mississippi Mud Pie
• $211.86 w/tax ($65 in Drinks)

Average Price/Person: $20-30 w/ Drinks: $30-45

Seth: Back out to Cambridge we went to check out some Southern food this week. Our search had put us to this location as well as a spot on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We had a reservation and arrived a little late but was promptly sat. Our server was energetic and excited about our dinner. We decided on splitting four appetizers and got our first round of drinks. I had Peaks organic first and was especially excited about the Pork Belly Corn Dog(!!!). When it came it was delicious but the pork wasn’t as tender as I was hoping for. The oysters and wings were really good and I liked the originality of the deep-fried grits squares. For my entrée I decided on the meatloaf. It had good flavor and was tender enough. The accompanying collard greens were perfect and the mac & cheese was good though reminiscent of Velveeta. Bites of the Southern fried chicken highlighted the tasty crust and the Chili was good spicy, nice and hearty and flavorful. Ren’s BBQ pulled pork was cooked well and with one of the pickles proved an enjoyable mouthful. I had a another beer as I finished off my dinner and once again, though quite full, we decided on splitting a couple of desserts. I really liked the pie, which had a fantastic crumble on top. The Mississippi mud pie was decadence and too much for me after a couple small bites. My favorite thing: Either the pulled pork or those fried oysters

Ren: The smell of BBQ and the yearn for grits brought us over to Tupelo in Inman Square. Southern style comfort food is just what we needed to warm our bellies and incite conversation. I started the meal with a delicious Saison. For appetizers we split a pork belly corn dog, deep-fried grits, triple fried wings, and fried oysters. Everything was incredibly delicious, succulent and paired with excellent sauces. For my entrée I chose the bbq pulled pork with collard greens and hominy mashed potatoes paired with a cherry mead. The collard greens were the best I have ever had and the rest was pretty good. Everyone else’s dish was very good especially John’s craw fish chowder with Gruyère biscuits. We ended the meal with a slice of cranberry apple pie and a slice of mud pie. Both were a little sweet for me but definitely tasty so I ordered a glass of mulled wine to finish my meal. Tupelo is definitely worth a visit for anyone looking for delicious southern food. My favorite thing: the wonderful crawfish chowder

Food: Seth 8.5 Ren 8.5 Food Average:  8.5 *Certified Dericious* Delicious appetizers, great concepts of the food, some Southern classics and some modern updates. Execution on a few dishes fell a little short, but awesome overall

Service: Seth 8.5 Ren 8.5 Our server was friendly, original and gave us as much advice and recommendations as we asked for, plus some. The service was timely and he worked with our requests for timing and bill splitting

Decor/Atmosphere: Seth 7.5 Ren 8.5 A cute little place in Inman Sq. Good place for a date. I’m glad they took reservations as the place was pretty filled up. Decor on the walls was well done

Total Average: 8.333 Really good food, fantastic service and another great Date Night spot

One bad thing: A couple of food execution errors. The Southern Fried Chicken was a little over done and the Chowder may not have been seasoned as well as it could have been

Related articles

• Tupelo Honey Cafe Holiday Recipe Contest (familyfocusblog.com)
• 7 EASY Steps: BBQ Pulled Pork in Your Crock Pot, PEOPLE! (jennyonthespot.com)

Confession: I have a pulled pork obsession. Its not the only one, of course. It snuggles in nicely right along side some other obsessions in my quirky, neurotic bed-geuze, light and airy baguettes, guacamole, Nabokov, spectators and defending Hall and Oates; many of which came out last evening at a wonderful little dinner party thrown by yours truly and my good friend Dave (far right: in line at the margarita station, catching shit from our brewmaster).

I love dinner parties. The genesis of this “blog” stemmed from these little get-togethers and has proven to be a serious jam time and again. The reason for this soiree? Two fold: Dave’s desire to make fish tacos (which could only be achieved on a large scale, obviously) and our not having to work a 12 hour day at the brewery afterwards. It also gave me a chance to exercise my pork obsession as it is a great thing to make for parties (Cheap. Delicious. Holds well.). Normally when we cook, we follow our two little flowers of ideas and nurse them to fruition separately and there was no exception here. He made some bitchin’ fish tacos and cabbage that I will include on another post so as not to burden you, dear reader. Tacos are also a great party food, I found out. There is something entirely communal, but still individualistic about the taco spread at a party; everyone comes together to play in the snow fall of taconess, but like each individual snowflake, each taco comes out a little bit different.

Pork:

Each time I’ve done a pork shoulder/boston butt/whatever the hell else its called I’ve gotten successively more complicated. This time it was a chocolate-ancho rubbed butt that was brined first using a slight twist on the simple brine from Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s Charcuterie. Check it out, its a great book with tons of amazing tips, stories and recipes. After the brine, the pork was cooked for 6ish hours in an oven at 275F, then pulled using a friend and two forks. Its a little time consuming up front, but once its done, you can take it easy. Drink Beer. Carouse.

The Brine:

For my first one, I wanted to keep it fairly simple, but ended up just tossing in whatever sounded good:

• 1 gallon of water
• 1 cup of salt
• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 2 TBS of paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 smashed cloves of garlic

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a simmer. 
2. Chill the brine. I used the old-homebrew-ice-bath-in-the-sink method (Sink. Ice. Water. Submerge pot, but make sure it doesn’t scale the wall of your tasty creation.)
3. Submerge meat into the brine. I would also do this in the sink as you are definitely gonna displace some brining liquid. Set a plate that can fit in the pot with the lid on it, on top of the meat so it will stay submerged (I failed to do this, but it turned out well). 
4. Refrigerate for 24ish hours. It really depends on the size and make of the meat, but for a 8.5 butt, 24 hours worked great. 
5. After the earth has made its rotation, drain the brine (don’t reuse) and then put the meat back in the fridge for ANOTHER turn of the earth. You gotta let that shit distribute back evenly through the pork. Let it rest. Its worth it. I went ahead and used that chocolate-ancho rub during this rest time. I’m really not sure if this hampered the distribution of the briney juices, but I doubt it as it was still damn tasty (*note-I am so not a professional). 

So after cooking, and a good 30 minute rest on the counter, this pork was supa-tenda. Take the time and try it. It is the only way.

Some good pork-prepping tunes? Tears For Fears. Also, this.

Whatever you do, do not skip the glaze! It is oh-so-wonderful, the perfect mixture of tangy and sweet. Of course, Chris liked his glaze mixed in with a little ketchup for more of a “barbeque” taste, but I thought it was just fantastic on it’s lonesome. I served this pork loin with my roasted vegetables, onion roasted potatoes, and rolls.  The leftovers made great sandwiches too!

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin (adapted from C&C Marriage Factory)

1 (2 pound) Boneless Pork Loin (or pork tenderloin)
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove of garlic- minced
1 cup water

Combine salt, sage, pepper and garlic. Rub all over pork, making sure to completely cover. Place in crock pot, fat side up, with 1 cup of water, add water first to help ensure that the pork doesn’t stick to the bottom of the slow-cooker. Cook on low for 8-12 hours (I know most people will not cook for 12 hours, but this is just what happened when I made it!). About an hour before you plan on serving, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a small sauce pan. (Do not add dry cornstarch to a hot mixture, this will cause the cornstarch to clump!) Heat and stir on low to medium low until mixer thickens. Brush or spoon on roast two or three times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with extra glaze.

Address
Preble County Fairgrounds
722 South Franklin Street
Eaton, Ohio 45320

http://porkfestival.org/

The good thing, besides some great eating, about doing a Pork Shoulder in the crock pot are the great leftovers! I used the Pork left over from yesterday’s dinner. Served it on a Healthy Life Sandwich Bun and topped it off with a couple of splashes of JB’s Fat Boy Haugwash Sauce. As a side I had a serving of Ore Ida Steak Fries. For a dessert/snack later a bag of Jolly Time 100 Calorie Mini Bag of Pop Corn.

We’re also adding sides to the menu. We’ve added coleslaw, sweet potato fries, and Cowboy Pintos. We’ll be adding potato salad soon and might be adding corn bread. We’ve kept french fries and all the possible combinations like cheese fries or chili fries.

What I want to talk about right now is Cowboy Pintos. The beans, not the horse or the car. Okay, so ya’ll get the horse, right? But, car, Will? Huh? Remember the Ford Pinto? It was an underpowered, but somewhat sporty compact from Ford, trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Mustang. They made lots of ‘em. Okay, so what does this have to do with Cowboy Pintos, you ask? Well, just like Ford, we make Pintos, Cowboy Pintos, and we make a lot of them. And like the Ford, our Pintos are sporty and have some zip.

Honestly, when we started adding BBQ to our menu, I couldn’t wait to add these beans. They belong with BBQ. When I think of the perfect BBQ meal, I think of Brisket or Pulled Pork on a good bun, creamy coleslaw or potato salad, and beans. Beans show up everywhere with BBQ.

There are tons of bean recipes out there. Some use kidney beans, black beans, white beans, and combinations of the above. There are many styles of beans, as well. We call ours Cowboy Pintos, because they’re very simple and very much like the mess of beans you might have been served on a cattle drive. Simple and filling, with lots of flavor, and not like any other beans you’ll find out there.

Now, some of you love beans but they don’t love you. You know who you are and you know what I mean. Well, our beans don’t produce much of that infamous side effect because we know how to cook them properly. Beans contain oligosaccrides, very complex sugars that don’t break down very well until they hit your large intestine, where bacteria break them down, producing, as a by-product, gas. There are commercial products that can be ingested with beans to counter the gas, but the best, and simplest way is to cook them properly in the first place.

To cook beans properly is very simple: put beans in a large container with water to cover by 4 inches , soak over night in the refrigerator. Pour water off and add as much water as recipe calls for. The important thing to remember is to pour off the water you soaked them in. That water contains a very large percentage of the oligosaccrides and you sure don’t want to use it to cook in.

Cowboy Pintos

Ingredients

1 lb dried Pinto beans, soaked overnight and then drained

8 cups cold water

12 oz Dr. Pepper (okay so on a trail drive this would be molasses, but I love Dr. Pepper)

14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 medium onions, chopped

4-5 slices thick cut, smokey bacon, chopped

3 Tbsp Chili Powder

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp Ground Cumin

4 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 fresh serranos or jalapenos, or combination, chopped

Burnt-ends of Brisket (that wonderful, dark, crunchy part of the brisket with so much smokey/beefy flavor) to taste

Salt to taste

Method

Soak beans over night in the refrigerator. Drain beans and discard water

Add everything but salt to pot, heat to boil, reduce to simmer. Reduce until thickened, but still soupy, adding salt toward end of cooking time.

These beans are great right out of the pot the first day, but for the best results cool them overnight and reheat the next day. You’ll be glad you did, since all the flavors combine and meld together overnight. They’re a perfect accompaniment to your summer grilling or any time of year. Easy to make and great tasting. Or, perhaps you want these Cowboy Pintos but don’t want to go through the hassle. Come on over to Smokin’ Will’s, we’ve usually got a pot of these ready to go.

Mustard based BBQ sauces were developed by German immigrants who came to the region in the 18th Century. They were used to that type sauce back in Germany, so they brought it with them. Well, everyone in that part of the country cooks a lot of pork. I mean a lot of pork. And those German immigrants combined their mustard sauces with the pulled pork and an amazing transformation occurred! That smoke cooked pork, already an amazing taste treat by itself, moved up to an alternate plane of existence! The bite of the mustard and the fruitiness of the apple cider vinegar combined to make an awesome sauce that made the pork shine like gold, okay the yellow mustard accounts for the gold color, but it still shines!

Our sauce is based on several recipes. I couldn’t find one I really liked, so I combined two. It’s sweet, tangy, and has a bit of a bite to it. This stuff was designed specifically for Pulled Pork, but is pretty good on anything you would put mustard on. We have people who put it on hot dogs and rave about it. There is also a growing number that dip their french fries in it. But, seriously, it doesn’t matter what you put on, it’s just plain good!

Caroline Style Mustard BBQ Sauce

Makes 2 cups

1 cup yellow mustard, any inexpensive yellow mustard will work

¼ cup honey

¼ cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup apple cider  vinegar

½ teaspoon coarse black pepper

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne

Combine everything in a sauce pan large enough to hold it. Whisk everything together until well combined and put on heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer about 10 minutes or until reduced by 25%. Cool, bottle in a squeeze bottle, and refrigerate. Avoid the temptation to use it for 24 hours, so the flavors can blend together.

If the sauce sounds like something you want to try, but you don’t want to make it yourself, come on in and you can put it on anything on our menu!

Smokin’ Will’s

821 N Roselle Road

Roselle, IL 60172

Phone – (630) 980-2333

Smokin’ Will’s is a hybrid Hot Dog Joint/BBQ Shack. We’ve only owned the place since May 6, 2011 and we’ve been feeling our way about, since. Smokin’ Will’s is the start of fulfilling my dream to serve BBQ to the masses! Hear that, masses? I expect you all to be lining up in long lines to just get a whiff of the BBQ! You’re just hearing about it now because things are starting to fall into place for us. We have  Facebook page (Smokin’ Will’s. Go ahead & push like. You know you want to) and a website soon to follow. Tee-shirts have been designed and a menu is being written to incorporate the BBQ to the Hot Dog menu. It’ll be completed shortly.

Okay, back to the Pulled Pork sandwich special.  You get a large Pulled Pork sandwich, large fries and large soda for $7.49. Very good price, if you check around, and it’s a good sandwich (modesty keeps me from telling you that it’s AWESOME). I’ll tell you how to cook the pork later because I want to tell you how to make the sauce. This is really good sauce. It’s sweet, smokey, thick, and spicy. And it’s made right here at Smokin’ Will’s!

There are several types of BBQ sauce that work well with pulled pork: Golden Mustard style (made with, you guessed it, yellow mustard), Vinegar based, and Kansas City style.

Odds are that if you like real BBQ, then the sauce you’ve put on your Q has been a Kansas City (henceforth simply KC) style sauce. Do you like KC Masterpiece? How about Sweetbaby Ray’s? Ever eat at Famous Dave’s? If you like those sauces then you like KC style sauces. They are, by far, the most popular type of sauce. You can go to the store and pick up a bottle of KC style sauce cheap, but you’re reading this because cheap and easy isn’t really fun, is it?

You’ll need to assemble some spices and a nice sauce pot to make this lovely stuff. The ingredient list is below:

Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce

Makes about 4 cups

2 cup ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

4 tablespoons molasses

4 tablespoons dark corn syrup

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon minced onions

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot large enough to hold them. Put on heat and cook until reduced by 1/3. Cool and refrigerate before using.

There, wasn’t that simple? The only thing that’s more simple than that is driving over to Smokin’ Will’s, where the sauce is already made and there’s pulled pork to put it on!