Sunday dinners #3: Pulled pork and cohort love

My cohort in graduate school is a pretty tight-knit group. Six women, working hard to survive graduate school and support each other, in work and in life. We'll drag each other across the finish line. Even though there are only six of us (most cohorts in our department have 10-12 students), it's not easy to find time for all of us to come together. But when we do, we throw some amazing potlucks. We always have an exciting mix of food, catch up on what's happened in our lives since the last time we all were together, celebrate each other's life events, and have interesting conversations (what is a hipster, really?). Technically our most recent potluck was held on a Saturday, but I think about Sunday dinners as a concept, a big wonderful meal shared with great people, on Sundays or any other day of the week. 

For my third cochon dinner, I decide to make some pulled pork. This recipe is so easy I can hardly believe it. That seemed to be the theme of the night -- everyone was almost embarrassed at how easy their dishes were to prepare, but each one was simple and delicious. I made cabbage salad to accompany the pork. My friends brought udon noodle salad, steamed egg custard, cous cous with vegetables, crostini with olive spread and cucumber feta spread. For dessert, I made a berry crisp to use up more of my blueberry stores (inspired by this breakfast crisp recipe), which we enjoyed alongside espresso chocolate from one member's recent trip to Switzerland.

Photo taken by my friend Carly

So easy pulled pork
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Time: About 5 active minutes, at least 8 hours to marinate, at least 6 hours to cook
Serves: You and 5 guests, with plenty of leftovers

Ingredients
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used beet sugar)
1/4 cup paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt

Picnic roast or pork butt (2-3 lbs or more)
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (I used Lillie's Q Smoky)

Method
1. Mix your spices together to make the rub.

2. Cut you meat into quarters and dry with paper towels. Rub with the spice mixture and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours (up to 24).

3. After it has marinated in the spice blend, unwrap the meat and place in your slow cooker. Cover with barbecue sauce and cook on high for about 6 hours or on low for about 10 hours.

4. When the meat is done cooking, shred with two forks and mix so that it is fully drenched in sauce.

5. Serve on its own, over mashed sweet potatoes, or on a roll or some white bread.

Mixed fruit crisp
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Time: About 10 minutes to prepare, 35 minutes or so to bake
Serves: You and 5 guests

Ingredients

1 peach
1 large handful cherries
2-3 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons sugar (up to 6 if you'd prefer a sweeter crisp)
Generous sprinkle of cinnamon
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 of a stick)
6 tablespoons sugar (again, I used beet sugar)
Sprinkle of salt 
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Handful of almonds and cashews, chopped

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Perfect if someone was already using it to toast some crostini.

2. Chop the peach and cherries into small pieces (about the size of a large blueberry) and add with the blueberries to an 8x8 baking dish. Mix with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice.

3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. When the butter is melted, stir in the sugar, flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly and spread over the fruit. It won't look like much, but it will cover the fruit. Sprinkle the nuts on top.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before digging it; the fruit will be hot. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I liked this crisp so much that I made it again the next day (since there were no leftovers). I love crisp topping, so I increased the proportions and subbed out regular flour for whole wheat flour. It came out ok, but not as good as the original version.

Lamb with wine and blueberry sauce

It must be blueberry season. Every time I go to the store, blueberries are cheaper. First a few pints appeared, then a large box for $8, then the same large box for $7, then two large boxes for $5. And finally an entire case of blueberries (12 pints!) at Stanley's for 98 cents. Not all of them were great, as is typically of large quantities of fruit that cost less than a dollar. I picked through to remove the moldy ones, but the vast majority were good. Well worth the effort for a good price on a seemingly endless supply of blueberries.

So now I need to find some uses for all of these blueberries. Most of them are in my freezer, destined to become smoothies and scones and cobblers. Some of them are in the fridge for snacking, and some got cooked up with some lamb medallions. I found a recipe from Martha Stewart that looked promising (I always trust Martha), and swapped out the prescribed olive paste for some blueberries to inject some summer into this dish.

Lamb medallions with wine and blueberry sauce
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Time: About 30 minutes
Serves: 2 (with leftover potatoes)

Ingredients
Fingerling potatoes (~1.5 pounds)
8 sprigs rosemary, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced/pressed
1 pound lamb medallions
1/2 cup red wine
Handful of blueberries
Handful of arugula

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Toss with half the rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil on a foil-lined baking sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Check halfway through and shake them around a bit.

3. Meanwhile, dry off the lamb medallions with paper towels and toss with garlic, the other half of the rosemary, and olive oil. Let the meat marinate for at least 20 minutes. 

4. Coat a small skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the lamb pieces and any residual olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes per side. Don't crowd the pan - if you have a lot of meat, cook it in multiple batches.

5. Remove the meat and let it rest for a few minutes while you make the sauce. Add the wine to the pan and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pan. Let the wine reduce. Recipes usually say to reduce until the liquid is half the volume, or has thickened so that it coats the back of a spoon, but I usually reduce until I have run out of patience (roughly 5 minutes).

6. Add the blueberries to the pan and continue simmering. Cook until the blueberries have softened but are not falling apart, less than 5 minutes.

7. Top the potatoes and lamb with the blueberries, sauce, and arugula. I added some extra salt from my fancy pink salt grinder.

Slow cooker pork chops

I have a standard recipe for pork chops. Salt and let sit at room temperature, bake in the oven, finish on the stove. This is a great method for thick-cut pork chops. But for the thinner pork chops I found in my CSA share, I decided to try something a little different. 

I found a recipe for pork chops in my slow cooker cookbook. Two thin pork chops looked a bit silly in my giant slow cooker, but this recipe was so easy that I wasn't really bothered. I served these pork chops with mashed sweet potatoes (to catch the sauce that develops) and sautéed greens.

Pineapple pork chops
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Ingredients
1/2 a package of frozen pineapple chunks*
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 bone-in thin cut pork chops

Method
1. Stir together the pineapple, vinegar, soy sauce, and spices in the bowl of your slow cooker.

2. Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel. Cut a few slits into the fatty side of the pork chop (this is supposed to prevent the chops from curling while they cook) and season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the pork chops to the pineapple mixture. Cook for about 7 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

*The actual recipe calls for one can of pineapple chunks. Apparently Trader Joe's no longer carries canned pineapple. I used a bag of their frozen pineapple instead; no need to defrost before using!

Hot Doug's hooky

"We all wait ... and with a sense of gratitude that there are still things on this planet worth waiting for."

--Hot Doug's: The Book

I'm not a very patient person, but I will wait for hours for Hot Doug's. I have arrived before they opened, and still waited in line for over an hour. I have battled intense summer heat (last year's 4th of July heat wave springs to mind), winter's bitter cold (the only time I've ever been to Hot Doug's on a Saturday), and the stark depths of my own hunger. I pack a bag -- sunscreen, plenty of water, a snack -- and tuck in for a long wait. The line at Hot Doug's is the perfect spot to catch up with friends, or just enjoy a beautiful summer day.

And then I finally move inside. No longer braving the elements, I make my final decisions so that I arrive at the counter and place my order without hesitation. The line behind me is too long for hesitation. At least two sausages, usually two of the daily specials, though occasionally I yearn for a classic, a brat or Polish sausage.

Hot Doug's is my favorite place for a hooky day. Everything tastes better on a hooky day. Sometimes the wait is more manageable, but I think my longest wait ever was on a Friday hooky day. At least 90 minutes, but surrounded by good friends on a gorgeous day, how could I mind? That day I tried the foie gras dog. So much foie gras. 

About a month ago my officemates and I met up for a Thursday hooky lunch as part of a post-dissertation defense/pre-going away celebration. Barely any line at all! I hardly knew what to do with myself.

Right: Polish sausage, charred with everything - pickle, mustard, tomato, celery salt, onions, neon green relish.

Left: Portobello and Swiss pork sausage, topped with sage mustard, smoked blue cheese, drizzled with honey and shiitake mushrooms sautéed in duck fat.

And then a few weeks ago I saw that Open Books (a cool non-profit bookstore) was hosting a talk and book-signing for Doug's new book about the restaurant. With snacks! I'd met Doug before -- he takes every order every day that Hot Doug's is open -- but never really had the chance to talk to him before. He strikes me as the Louis CK of the hot dog world. It was exciting to meet someone who really seems to love what they do and be satisfied with life. I've always been hesitant to whole-heartedly embark on a career in food. What if I destroy my passion by turning it into my work? I asked Doug for his thoughts on this issue. His advice was to make a plan, stick to it, stay focused. 

So for now my plan is to keep writing, roughly every Wednesday and Sunday, and continue to be thankful that there are still things in this world that are worth waiting for.

Moroccan goat chili

I love my slow cooker. Just drop in some ingredients in the morning, and by the time I get home from work there is a hot delicious dinner ready. As a single woman who lives alone, coming home to a hot meal is such a luxury. I used ground goat in an adaptation of the Moroccan Beef Chili recipe in my America's Test Kitchen slow cooker cookbook, a resource I use often. The recipe calls for a panade (a mix of white bread and milk that is meant to keep ground meat tender), but I find it hard to justify buying an entire loaf of bread just for one slice, or opening a container of milk for a couple of tablespoons. I left it out this time, and the chili turned out just fine.

To accompany this chili, I decided to try my hand at cauliflower couscous. It's pretty easy. Pulse some cauliflower in a food processor until the cauliflower is chopped to about the size of cous cous. One important lesson I learned during this first pass is that an entire head of cauliflower does not fit in my food processor (and mine is relatively large). Don't force it. You'll just get a bunch of cauliflower mush in the bottom of your work bowl and some big cauliflower chunks.

Moroccan goat chili
Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Ingredients
1 pound ground goat
2 onions, diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon (the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon, but I like cinnamon)
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can whole tomatoes (15 oz), diced
1 can chickpeas (15 oz)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
A large handful of golden raisins
A few sprigs of mint, roughly chopped
Juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon

Method
1. Coat a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions, tomato paste, garlic, and spices. Cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

2. Add the goat to the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to combine, breaking up any large pieces of ground meat. Cook until the meat is no longer pink; this can be a little tricky to see with the paprika, but should be about 3-5 minutes.

3. Stir the tomato sauce into the meat mixture and scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Carefully transfer to your slow cooker (this can be a messy step).

4. Stir in the diced tomatoes (it tastes better when you buy whole tomatoes and dice them yourself), chickpeas, and soy sauce. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3 to 5 hours on high. I generally stick to the middle of the range (7 hours on low, 4 hours on high), but get to know your slow cooker and adjust accordingly.

5. When you return home, enjoy the delicious smells filling your house. Stir in the raisins, mint, and lemon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cous cous (regular or cauliflower-based).

Cauliflower cous cous

Ingredients
1/4 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of water or stock
Generous sprinkle of smoked paprika
Juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon
A few sprigs of mint, roughly chopped

Method

1. Add the cauliflower to the work bowl of your food processor. Pulse until it turns into the consistency of cous cous.

2. Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the cauliflower to your pan. Cook for a few minutes, until it is beginning to brown.

3. Add the water/stock, paprika, and lemon to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook until the water is absorbed into the cauliflower and it resembles the consistency of cous cous.

4. Add the mint and season with salt to taste.