Barbeque Sauce

The Hungarians have arrived and the “to do” list is finally complete! Just in the nick of time too. We decided to start their visit off with a little welcome party but we all know it’s just my excuse to cook and feed my kin!!! I was fortunate enough to score a sizeable number of vine ripened tomatoes so I decided to make barbeque sauce because JT made a special request for Pulled Pork. The sauce turned out perfectly, sweet, piquant and zesty — cooking it with the pork tenderloin for 5 hours made the flavours all the more richer and balanced the vinegar very nicely. Like any low and slow cooked meal, I made the pulled pork a day in advance because we all know it tastes better the next day!

I’ve geared up a couple of posts for the following weeks, but I may be AWOL depending on how busy things get, so if I miss to comment on your blog or I don’t post, I apologize in advance. Thanks for understanding.

Makes 1.25 L (42 oz)

Ingredients:

• 200 g onions, coarsely chopped
• 50 g garlic, finely chopped
• 125 mL white vinegar
• 1.2 kg tomatoes, chopped
• 30 mL tomato paste
• 125 mL molasses
• 50 g sundried tomatoes (not in oil)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp of each sweet paprika, cumin, coriander and cocoa powder

Directions:

1. In a splash of canola oil, sauté onions and garlic until translucent, add dry spices and stir until fragrant.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Simmer for one hour or until dark and thickened.
3. Purée until smooth and press through a fine sieve.
4. May be kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or freeze for 3 months.

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Celeriac, Fennel, Carrot and Nappa Cabbage Slaw

Recently we were invited to a “slider” party. The invitation pictured one of those garden slides that you soak with the garden hose and take a running leap onto it and slide all the way down. But it wasn’t a party like that. We’re talking food sliders! You know, the tiny little sandwiches or burgers that you generally have a few of. The BBQ was hosted by that Titanic, Black and White and Bond party couple and it was the same five couples. Each couple was charged with bringing their own favourite slider for dinner. Yep, that meant we all ate five (FIVE) mini burgers! But it was great fun.

I figured there would be a good selection of burgers (chicken, turkey and beef) so I wanted something a wee bit different; I made our Whiskey BBQ Pulled Pork (previously posted here) with a celeriac, fennel and cabbage slaw. I was inspired by my friend Sissi over at With a Glass when she presented us with her own version of a fennel slaw with an ouzo mayonnaise, but sadly I happened to mention my intentions to JT and he gave me that look; you see, he likes fennel and he likes ouzo but felt that the two together might be a little too strong. I begged to differ but some things are not worth arguing about, so I kept the fennel and made a new dressing for it. It was a tasty slaw and it went very well with the pulled pork. I omitted the mayonnaise from this slaw as we were dining al fresco and I wasn’t sure how long the food would sit outdoors in the heat and sun. The lemon juice and zest were added to mimic the tangy flavour of mayo.

It was creamy without being heavy.

Makes about 10 cups of slaw but it depends on how large your vegetables are.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized celeriac
• 1 large carrot
• 1 medium sized fennel
• 1 small head Nappa cabbage
• 3/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2-4 tbsp honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Reserve 6-8 large cabbage leaves for presentation.
2. Grate the celeriac, carrot, fennel and cabbage using a fine grater, mix well. Set aside.
3. Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, zest and honey and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Mix the dressing with the slaw and serve chilled on a flat plate with the leaves spread around to hold the slaw.

Such a cute little slider, don’t you think?

I made tiny little pretzel buns for the pulled pork sliders.

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MLB Series Guest Post — Canadian Whiskey BBQ Sauce Pulled Pork Benny and Homerun-fries

We’ve been up north for a few days finishing off the mini reno; it sure doesn’t get easier as one gets older! A quick synopsis: wood panelling painted white, ceilings and gaping holes were caulked. Laminate floors installed and waiting for one more box (how did that happen? We are 6 pieces short, damn it! We both did the math, TWICE!) Baseboards have been cut but not fully installed (need to finish the floors under the couch first). New kitchen shelving installed with task lighting. New porch blinds installed with bottom hooks! Garbage packaged and stored for handy man removal. A few more décor items and we’re done! Just in time for closing ;)!
With all that standing up, sitting down it feels like I’ve completed a marathon, but not really, I’m just a spectator of sports. And we all know what a crazy sports fiend I am, I just can’t get enough of it ;-). In fact, I have every single tuner in the house tuned into different sports channels or talk radio channels just to keep on top of it; then there are the push notifications every time a player does something worthy — like fart, for instance! OK, I may be BS’ing a little but I do get a little drawn in particularly when the sport is baseball and we’re talkin’ about our beloved Jays! Blue Jays that is!

My good friend Jed from Sports Glutton asked me to do a guest post as part of his MLB Series (except that I kept calling it the MBL whenever I talked about it, drove poor JT nuts!) and I couldn’t resist. Thank you Jed, I’m not only honoured to do this guest post, but I am flattered beyond belief and I hope to have done your lovely gluttonous blog worthy with this post.

Our beloved Jays are due for a world series win; no — really, I’m serious. I’m told (and god knows I’m no authority) that this year the Jays have the most expensive players and one would think that with that kind of ‘quality’ we would get some wins…except it’s taking a bit of time — you see, those poor Jays had a bit of a rough start, but we’re back on track and as of writing this post, we’ve worked ourselves back within striking distance of first place in the division! Woohoo!
Even with the Jays resurgence the Jays should be hungry for more, I am 100% sure they would want a highly gluttonous meal like Canadian Whiskey BBQ Sauce Pulled Pork Benny and Homerun-fries, don’t you? I developed this recipe for Jed and there are a few things I would have done differently if it was for kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com, but because Jed was a little concerned; that I would make it too healthy, I really stepped it up a notch, within reason, of course! Thanks again Jed, I am truly honoured.
Please head on over to Jed’s blog to check it out, you will be surprised and delighted with what you see.

The Dijon Béchamel was just the perfect gluttonous addition.

Makes enough for 10-12 Bennies if you want to use it all on that, but the pulled pork is wonderful as leftovers in sandwiches, pizza and wraps.

Ingredients for the Pork and the Rub:

• 1lb or ~500 g Pork Tenderloin
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp granulated garlic (not garlic powder)
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the slow cooker on high.
2. Combine the spices and mix well, set aside.
3. In a very hot skillet, heat about 1 tbsp canola oil and sear the pork well. Set the pan aside — DO NOT WASH.
4. Carefully rub the spice mix on all sides of the pork and set into the slow cooker.

Searing the tenderloin; it’s so loud, I can’t hear the talk radio!

The beast has been seared, you can tell because the talk radio is fully audible.

Ingredients for the Canadian Whiskey BBQ Sauce:

• 1/2 cup of Canadian Whiskey
• Scant 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup strong black coffee (I used espresso)
• 2 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup chopped onion

Directions for the BBQ Sauce:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in the same pan you seared the pork in and bring to a boil, scraping off any of the bits left behind by searing the pork.
2. Pour the sauce over the pork in the slow cooker, cover and set the heat to Low and the timer to 4-5 hours.
3. Turn pork in the BBQ sauce occasionally.
4. The pork is done when you can take two forks and start pulling it apart.

Giving the BBQ sauce a good boil

The pork and the sauce are all cozy and ready for their 4-5 hour rest in the slow cooker

Ingredients for the Homerun-fries:

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) cubes.
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Directions for the Homerun-fries:

1. Boil or roast the sweet potato cubes until very soft.
2. Heat canola oil in a pan, pan-fry the sweet potato cubes, smashing them with a fork. You want a slight crispy texture on the exterior of the smashed cubes.
3. Stir in the chopped green onion.
4. Serve warm.

Ingredients for the Dijon Béchamel:

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp white flour
• 2-3 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/2- 3/4 cup of milk
• salt to taste

Directions for the Dijon Béchamel:

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook but don’t brown it.
2. Slowly stir in the milk, whisking to incorporate the flour butter mixture so it’s not lumpy. Keep whisking until you reach your desired thickness (it will thicken more as you cook it).
3. Add the Dijon and blend well.
4. Keep warm.

Assembly and serving for one:

• 1-2 perfectly poached eggs.
• 1-2 Whole wheat English Muffins per person, torn in half and toasted.
• 2-4 tbsp braised red cabbage
• 1/4 cup sweet potato
• Dijon Béchamel

The pork after it has been pulled

Notes:

• I seared the pork in my favourite cast iron pan and therefore could not use it for the BBQ sauce as the acidity of the sauce strips off the seasoning from the pan. Had I done it in my enamel cast iron pan, I would not have had an issue.
• We added the braised purple cabbage for more gluttony with the benefit of texture, colour and flavour, feel free to omit.
• To perfectly poach an egg, heat 10cm or 3.5 inches of water to a gentle boil. Add 1 tbsp vinegar (this helps to set the egg white so it doesn’t get all stringy) salt. Break eggs into individual cups or small bowls. Gently turn the egg into the hot water allowing the water to flow into the small cup or bowl, once the egg is setting, gently turn it fully out and giving it a summer-salt. Repeat with all eggs and set the timer for 2 minutes. The water should be gently boiling not roughly bubbling. When the timer goes off, remove each egg onto a paper towel to dry. Serve immediately.

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