Text 19843, 104 rader
Skriven 2009-01-18 23:43:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av CAROL SHENKENBERGER
Ärende: Re: Cooking habits 1
============================
-=> Quoting Carol Shenkenberger to Nancy Backus <=-

 CS> Momma crock is stuffed right now.  Pork shoulder....
 CS> It's going with about 1 cup OJ, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2-3 TB sweet brown
 CS> vinegar, and a red onion at the bottom.

By coincidence I did pork in the crockpot today too. But I took off
in a different tangent. I cut two racks of spareribs into 5 rib
chunks, rubbed them with my seasoned pepper (mentioned here a few
days ago), my seasoned salt (ditto), cayenne, cumin and powdered
chipotles. When they were almost cooked (about 7 hours on low) I
hauled them out and laid down layers of sliced potatoes in the
accumulated fat and broth, then a layer of onions, then a layer of
cabbage (which ended up above not in the liquid) and replaced the
ribs on top. Covered the ribs with BBQ sauce and let everything stew
for another hour on high until the cabbage wilted. It all turned out
nicely.

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Authentic Carnitas From Bayless And Dunea pt1
Categories: Mexican, pork
  Servings: 12

    1/4 c  fresh lime juice 
    1/2 TB salt
      3 lb boneless pork shoulder
      2 lb lard 
      2    dozen corn tortillas
           salt 

I was concerned about cooking the pork in what amounted to a deep
fat fryer, until he reminded me about the gentle art of confit. It
made perfect sense after that. Not sure if it is technically
accurate to call it that term, but it definitely helped me
understand the process.

By the time I fished the three pounds of pork hunks from the lard
and stacked them on the cutting board, far more guests had arrived
than I had originally planned.  It was a New Year's Eve party, but I
thought dinner would just be an intimate gathering of 5 or so, and
then we'd meet up with more friends later in the night.  But
apparently my calls for meeting up later meant that they should come
over right then and make me nervous.  I was also sick... but I tried
not to let anyone eating the food know that.  I was trying to be
brave.      

See, Blake and I were together for the first time since he had
skipped across the pond to Estonia.  I figured I'd fatten him up on
some delicious Mexican food, which he says is really bad or
non-existent over in Northern Europe.  Yet I worried no one would
fatten up on anything.  I feared I was possibly very close to making
the one grave sin a responsible host should never make: Not having
enough food.  I also worried, rather selfishly, that I'd wouldn't
get my fair share. 

Carnitas (chunks of pork shoulder that have been slowly cooked until
golden brown, slightly crispy, and very tender) are worth the greed.
Especially these very authentic ones.  To supplement the lack of
meat, I started the appetizers real early.  I made Blake's famous
blended guajillo salsa, my pumpkin seed speckled one, and a
tomatillo salsa which I figured would go well with the meat.  Elin
whipped up a batch of her famous guacamole, which quickly marinates
the onions in lime.  But I was still scared.   

When we confirmed the menu a few weeks previously I didn't know how
many people would be coming but I did know exactly which recipe we
would use.  Melanie Dunea's My Last Supper is littered with some
tempting recipes.  It consists of very famous chefs describing their
perfect last meal on earth.  But I've been eying Rick Bayless's
contribution since I first picked up the book.  For his send off,
he'd throw a canritas feast, which he insisted on frying slowly in
pounds and pounds of lard until golden browned and crispy. I had
never had enough courage to buy pounds of lard, but for a party I
figured it was time.  

I couldn't find much precedent for this cooking technique anywhere
else on the net.  Nearly every recipe first boiled the pork or slow
roasted it in an oven.  I actually did the latter last year while
using Dave Lebovitz's very good recipe.  But if Bayless recommends
something, I usually follow.  This also just sounded more absurd,
more reckless, and had the potential to be truly extraordinary. 

And we were not let down.  The outside of the pork got gloriously
crispy and golden while the inside remained as tender as the best
pulled pork.  When one bite managed to contain both textures, and
when sandwiched into a tortilla and slathered with bright tomatillo
salsa, there couldn't have been a much better way to ring in 2009.  

The best part?  Like really good bacon, a little bit goes a long
way, and the hungry group of 12 couldn't finish them all.

MMMMM



Cheers

YK Jim


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