wondering where I have been lately?

I've been in Kenya, visiting my parents, jump over to my mom's blog to read a little about it!

here

Pulled Pork again

So I have blogged about pulled pork before, but now I am doing it for real. This recipe is the ultimate feed a crowd recipe on the cheap. I am making it constantly. Blue and Gold banquet (oh cub scouting you are the bane of my existence), big family parties, and other events. Last weekend I made it for the camera crew that came to film the human sling shot at my parents house (I will blog about that later) I buy a pork shoulder from Costco, you know the big ones, I forgot the weight. First I make a rub--

Pork Shoulder Rub

3 T salt

2 T pepper

3 T brown sugar

1 T Paprika

2 t dry mustard

2 t dried sage

1/2-1 t cayenne pepper (depending on how spice you like things)

Before you rub it on the shoulder, give the meat a few liberal drops of liquid smoke. I am not really sure what liquid smoke is, but it does make it taste smokey, so just use it. Rub the rub all over the shoulder, focusing on the non-fat side. Most people like to put the meat fat side up (that is the classic way) however, I go fat side down because I don't eat the fat, and I want the parts I eat to be nice and browned and tasty, so I go fat side down. Then add 2 or three onions quartered, add 7 or 8 garlic cloves sliced or smashed, and about 8 bay leaves.

This is one package from Costco, two came in one bag

Put in the oven for about 45 minutes at 450 degrees, then turn down to 200 degrees and cook for at least 12 hours covering it half way through ( I cooked this one for like 18 hours, but that was because I was lazy) . If you want it a little quicker, just turn up the heat, add some water and cover it (like 325 for 5 hours would work). Low and slow is best. You know it is done when it falls apart. Pulling it is a matter of putting on some gloves and letting fall apart between your finger, and discarding the fat. Run the drippings through a sieve and spread it over the meat. Now in my opinion, putting the barbecue sauce all over is a crime. It tastes good on its own, and serving BBQ sauce on the side is a perfect compliment.

It is great to make in advance and just reheat it in its own drippings. You too can have a great Blue and Gold banquet! You deserve it for all those merit badges you earned for your kid!

Beet Obsession

I have just realized that I really like beets. It started the invention of the romance salad. Next, upon reading Tom Colicchio's recipe book that Kris bought me in Vegas, it has a recipe of roasted beets. So I bought me some beets at wally world (aka wall mart) for future roasting. That evening, I forced Fairb to take me to a new restaurant that I have been dying to try, Communal in Provo. (did I mention that Grandma Vicki saved spring break and let the kids have a 4 day sleep over at her house? She is amazing!) He had roasted beets on the menu.

As a review for Communal, I thought it was fabulous. The beets were great, Utah trout cooked perfectly, and my husbands pot roast was to die for. It is a great little gem. What I loved about it is that you can tell that the restaurant is the Chef's pride and joy and all his dishes are all his little babies that he is so proud of. He served his roasted beets cold with some creme freche.

The next day I roasted my own beets and ate them hot with with a little butter. Delish! I saved the rest in the fridge to put in the next salad.

Roasted beets:

Peel and quarter the beats. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil. Toss the beets with a little olive oil kosher salt and fresh pepper. Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 400 degrees. Serve warm with butter.

If you don't want red hands for a few days, wear gloves, which I did not do.

You will devour them, which will result in a surprise for you the next day when your are in the bathroom. Gross. I just ruined this blog post didn't I?

White Bean Soup

I know I have been neglecting you all, of which I apologize. Just to make you insanely jealous, I took a girls trip to Las Vegas. I lost a TON of money . . . . at awesome restaurants!! My number one goal for the trip was to eat raw oysters every day. A goal I met. My other goal was to eat at Top Chef judge, Tom Collichio's restaurant, Craftsteak. Holy smokes! It was the best food of my life!! If you have never had Wayngu Beef (also known as Kobe Beef) it is to die for! All I want for Christmas is a Wayngu cow in my backyard ( is that even possible?) It was fabulous food, not to mention great company and lots of laughs (the highlight was when the waiter humiliated Emily by asking her if they could be facebook friends, she was red in the face for the rest of the night!!). We also ate at one of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants for lunch (can't remember the name, sorry). I was skeptical, once a chef starts putting out frozen foods I get a little concerned. However, the food was great. My friend ordered a white bean minestrone, which inspired this soup.

It is spring break and there is a foot of snow in my yard! So soup season isn't quite over yet. Now the annoying part of this recipe I created is that you really won't get the same soup unless you use the braising liquid from some pork ribs. Once you have removed the ribs from the pot, let the liquid cool enough that the fat solidifies and you can skim it from the top. Then strain the liquid from all the other stuff. What remains is a perfect stock for soup! The moral of the story is always save any braising liquid, always!!

Recipe

1/2 lb white beans (northern beans) soaked overnight

4 c pork stock (or chicken stock)

1 can vegetable broth

2 c water

1 onion fine diced

1 c carrots fine diced

1 c celery fine diced

1/3 c flat leaf parsley minced

couple big handfuls of spinach

salt and pepper to taste

Start the beans cooking in the pork stock and water. Meanwhile, dice up the veggies (except spinach) and saute them in a little oil till fragrant season with salt and pepper. Add to boiling beans and turn down to medium low heat. Add parsley. Cook till beans are tender. Add spinach and cook a little longer. Taste for salt and pepper.

note: if you don't have your own fabulous stock, you might want to add some other seasoning like bay leaf, garlic, sage. . . .

Cheese Grits

Because I oversee the sunday school for the children at church (aka P. Prez) when the phone rings Sunday morning I usually cringe because I fear it is one of my primary teachers calling me to tell me they won't be there, and I will have to scramble to come up with a solution. Often though, I am wrong and it is someone calling me with a cooking question. When I take the call, I myself am usually putting my own Sunday dinner in the oven. So am so happy it's a cooking question and not a primary emergency! This Sunday, I was making a new recipe, cheese grits, that I got from my friend Dierdra. She is a very cautious and thoughtful person, the kind of person that ALWAYS writes a thank you note (I am the person who NEVER writes a thank you note). She is very sweet and mild mannered, but in moments (like bunko moments) goes wild and I have seen her fight like a pit bull for her children, she is great. She is also really fun to tease. So just as I was making the recipe she shared with me , the phone rang. It's Dierdra. Of course, as the polite person she is, she has to go into the, "so sorry to bother you" stuff. No bother, what is up? She was making my baked chicken and wanted to know if she could transfer the chicken into the crock pot after she had browned it in the oven.

"Ya, you can, but why not just cook it in the the oven?"

A hesitation.

"Oh Deirdre! You don't like to leave the house when the oven is on? You mean to tell me you have never left the house with the oven on?"

I continued to ridicule her, then I assured her that I leave to oven on EVERY Sunday when I'm at church. It was time for her to take a walk on the "wild side."

When I saw her at church, with a smile on her face, knowing I would be so proud, she told me that she was cooking the chicken in the oven. To which I said,

"Wait, you don't have a gas oven do you?"

The blood drained from her face . . .

I was just lucky she really did have a gas oven, or I wouldn't be able to tease her!

"Just kidding!! you'll be fine! Don't worry!!" She laughed, but in the back of her mind I could see she was imagining her house engulfed in flames.

Anyway, so this is Deirdre's Baked Cheese Grits recipe. What's great about this recipe, with addition of eggs, it kind of makes it like a soufflé. Really great.

1 c quick cooking cheese grits (cooked according to directions)

big handful of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 t granulated garlic (approx. according to taste)

1 stick butter

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 c milk

Once grits are cooked, add cheese, garlic and butter. Give them a taste test. Let them cool. Once cooled, combine eggs and milk and add to the grits. Pour into a 2 quart buttered casserole dish. Optionally, sprinkle with paprika. Bake uncovered at 375 F for 1 hour. Top should be brown, and should look puffed up. Serves 8.

Shrimp Jambalaya with Chicken Sausage

So I am a newly minted member of a cooking club. This is a SERIOUS club, I mean it has a list of rules and everything. Which makes nervous because I have never been one to follow the rules, let alone read a list of rules. (speaking of, I better go read the rules!) What is great about the group, I don't even really know these people, but they are all major FOODIES. So last week we had our second get together which was southern cooking. I really didn't have any southern cooking recipes, so I asked the host to assign me something, and I would create a recipe. She gave me Jambalaya. This is something that I had never eaten, nor cooked. So I read a bunch of recipes and watched a few youtube videos and off I went to create a really great recipe. The meal was SOOO good, and I will be using some of the other recipes very soon . . . . . I just cut and pasted the recipe the way I brought it to the club meeting.

Shrimp Jambalaya w/ chicken sausage

Original recipe by Natalie Fairbourne

hobblecreekkitchen.blogspot.com

1 lb chicken sausage; sliced

1 med onion diced

1 small green pepper; diced

1 lb small shrimp (cooked or non)

1 small red pepper; diced

3 celery stocks; diced

1½ c long grain rice

1 lb small shrimp (cooked or raw)

28 oz can diced tomatoes

4-5 cloves garlic; minced

2 t salt

1 t pepper

2 t smoked paprika

¼ t cayenne pepper

2 c water

Heat oil in large skillet or pot that has a lid. If using raw sausage, begin by browning the sausage, add veggies and garlic and sauté till fragrant and soft. If using cooked sausage, add now and brown a little. Next add dry rice and toast the rice briefly. Add tomatoes seasonings and water. Heat to a simmer and cover with a lid and cook for about 20 minutes till rice is tender. Stirring occasionally. If using raw shrimp, add 5 minutes before rice is done. If using cooked, add just long enough to heat throughout before serving.

I used raw sausage and didn't slice it until it was cooked ( I fished it out of the jambalaya at the end and sliced it). As far as sausage goes, you could use any kind you want, just don't use an Italian, I think the fennel would throw off the flavors. I got my sausage at the Sunflower Market in Orem, they have an awesome selection of house made chicken sausages.

The recipe that shames me: Beef Stroganoff aka "slop"

I have been doing this blog for over a year, and I have never blogged about this dish. We eat this dish at least twice a month, and I have never blogged about it. It is my children's FAVORITE dinner, and I have never blogged about it. I often pre cook it and take it on family vacations because it is such a crowd pleaser, but I have never blogged about it. It is easily the quickest, yummiest way to to use leftover roast beef from sunday dinner, but I have never blogged about it. Why you ask? See the can? It shames me. Mormons all over the country have cases of these cans in their basement, and I am no different. To make matters worse, not only does the recipe call for "cream of mushroom soup" but a package of "lipton onion soup" a double wamie of bad Mormon cooking. Sure, I could make a great Beef Stroganoff from scratch with fresh mushrooms and onions, cream etc . . . but sometimes you just have to have a dish in your recipe box that is easy, no frills, no thinking, just feed your family and be done with it. That is what this recipe is the definition of "semi homemade" Now the only time I make this dinner is when I plenty of left over roast beef from sunday dinner. I ALWAYS cook more roasts then I will need for two reasons, 1) you never know who is showing up for dinner. 2) leftover roast beef is gold because it can be used for so many easy quick meals for the rest of the week. Beef stroganoff is one of those meals. So I am only describing how to make it in this context, you've got to have leftover roast beef and gravy, about the equivalent to about 2 lbs of meat.

Ingredient list

Leftover roast beef with gravy (about 2 lbs)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 pkg lipton onion soup

1 t dill

1 1/2 c sour cream

a little water if needed

Add everything but the sour cream into a sauce pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add sour cream. Serve over cooked rice.

The sad part is, its the dish I am the most ashamed of, and it is easily my family's favorite meal. I weep . . . . . Don't get me wrong, I like it too, but mama likes to show off her skills!!