We are lucky enough to have good friends who asked us to go in halvsies on a pastured, organic pig! Both my dear wife and I were raised on locally-grown meat, and we get a little nervous buying that stuff from the supermarket in styrofoam trays, so this was all very exciting for us.
We ended up with just over 100 pounds (2 coolers worth) of chops, roasts, ribs, ham, bacon, and ground pork. Here it is taking up a good portion of our 11 cubic-foot upright freezer.
I just had to fry up some of the bacon right away. I could tell almost instantly that this was real smokehouse bacon because as soon as the pan got warm the whole kitchen smelled like hickory. I cooked it just barely on the crispy side of the crispy/chewy line. Wow! Rich and tender with a substantial meaty taste and just the right amount of salty/smoky goodness.
Now that the weather is nice enough that I actually want to be outside, it’s nice to throw as much of the meal as I can on the grill. This meal is a great example of how you can do both your meat and veggies on the grill and boost the flavor of both.
12 bratwurst
2 medium onions, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup beer
1 tablespoon olive oil
A couple of grinds of back pepper
Set your grill up for a direct cook over medium heat (350°F).
Toss the veggies, oil, and pepper together in a flame-safe pan (I used a foil 9×13 drip pan). Put the pan in the grill and cook, turning often, until the peppers have softened and the onions are getting nice and brown (about 10 minutes). Add the beer and let the veggies simmer in it for about 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the grill and keep warm nearby.
Bump the heat up to about 400°F and toss the brats on. Grill, flipping often, until brats are firm with a just a little char on the ends (about 15-20 minutes).
Remove the brats from the grill and load them into the veggie pan. Arrange so that the brats are partially submerged in the beer and veggie goodness.
Put the pan with the brats and veggies back on the grill and let simmer for a couple of minutes until everything is heat through. Serve with sauerkraut, brown mustard, and some baked beans or potato salad.
The Verdict: How can you go wrong with brats? Just by themselves they are little porky wonders, but add the beer and roasted veggies and you’ve got a real winner. But the biggest plus was enjoying that for once the weather wasn’t trying to do me in.
This dish is way more Tex than Mex, but it was a lovely way to use up some leftover carnitas. I threw this together in a hurry, so some of the measurements may be approximations ;).
1 1/2 pounds carnitas
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour (I used Pamela’s Gluten-Free Baking Mix)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (4-ounce) can green chillies
1 big handful whole black olives, chopped
2-3 big handfuls shredded “Mexican” cheese (any Colby-Jack blend works fine)
1 handful of pickled jalapeño slices
Glug or 2 of salsa
Pre-heat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chili powder, and cumin. Stir to combine. Add the milk, oil, egg, green chillies, and a handful of the cheese. Stir to combine.
Pour half of the batter into the baking pan. Distribute the carnitas in a more or less even layer on top of the batter.
Cover carnitas with the remaining batter. Top with olives, jalapeños, salsa, and the rest of the cheese.
Bake about 45 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
I served it up with some sliced tomatoes and guacamole, and topped it with a little crema and Valentina Salsa Picante.
The Verdict:
I had zero aspirations for this recipe, other than to use up the tasty carnitas and get a quick dinner on the table. This dish delivered in a hugely non-authentic way. The fat in the carnitas really crisped up the cornbread. Almost like Yorkshire pudding.
I finally got a chance to try out the lovely 4.2 qt Dutch oven that Emile Henry sent me on the Big Green Egg. For its maiden voyage, I decided to try a batch of carnitas. To make these tender, yet crispy bites of porky wonderfulness, you need to provide a nice, even heat while the fat is rendering from the meat. Then after the fat has rendered, you need to reduce the liquid and crisp up the meat.
4 pounds pork shoulder roast (aka Boston Butt)
Juice of 3 oranges (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Set your grill up for a 5 hour cook over indirect heat at 350°F. On the Big Green Egg I used an inverted plate setter with a trivet on it to diffuse the heat and keep the bottom from burning.
While the grill is heating up, cut the pork into big (4 to 6-inch) chunks, discarding any nasty pieces of connective tissue, but keeping all of the fat.
Combine all of the ingredients in a Dutch oven, and stir to combine. Cover the oven with a lid and set it on the grill. Let it simmer for an hour. The hot juice should have started to break down the fat in the meat.
Remove the lid and let it simmer for another hour. Keep checking and stirring once an hour until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pork has started to fry in its own fat (about another 2 hours). Then check it every 15 minutes to make sure the meat is getting crispy, but not becoming dry or burned. Total cook time for this batch was just over 4 hours.
The Verdict:
I dearly love carnitas, and this batch was one of the better ones I’ve made. Making a smaller batch (just 4 pounds) and cutting the meat into larger pieces gave me a better crisp/tender ratio. There was lots of nice crunchiness, but the meat didn’t break down too much or dry out. Perfect.
The Emile Henry Dutch oven performed flawlessly. The lid sealed nice and tight to keep the heat and juices in for the braising part of the recipe, yet the pot is wide enough to let the liquid evaporate when I wanted to crisp the meat. This is part of their Flame-Top line, so even when the fire got a little too hot at one point, the pot handled being “flame-licked” just fine and provided nice, even heat.
I really like the design of the lugged handles and the knob on the lid. They really fit the hand and it’s easy to get a good grip on them, even while wearing grilling gloves. I’m sure looking forward to more cooks with this great Dutch oven.
I had this velvety meat sauce a while back at an Italian restaurant and knew immediately that I needed to figure out how to make it at home. But months pass, and I kinda forgot about it. Then Chris over at Nibble Me This posted about a similar dish, Milk Braised Pork, and I am inspired.
Ragù alla Bolognese is a (lotsa) meat and (not so much) tomato-based sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. By simmering ground and cubed meat in tomatoes, wine, stock and milk for a long time the meat softens and begins to break down into the sauce. It takes some time to make, but the results are so much more than worth it.
4 pounds pork butt, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds ground sweet Italian pork sausage
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon Italian herb mix (I used Penzey’s mix of oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme and rosemary)
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 pound pasta (Mrs. Leeper’s gluten-free corn pasta)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Season the cubed pork butt with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, oven-safe pan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the pork butt, about 3-5 minutes a side. Remove the browned pieces to a large bowl and add the sausage to the pan. Crumble and cook until it is just no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
Add onion and garlic to the sausage and cook until the onion is soft and the sausage has started to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, browned pork butt, and any juices from the bowl. Stir well and cover the pan. Cook until the tomatoes have started to break down, about 10 minutes
Uncover and stir in the herbs, red pepper, and milk. Let mixture come to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the milk combines with the tomatoes and starts to soften the meat, 40-60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Stir in the wine and stock and bring the pan back to simmer over medium-high heat. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has been absorbed, and pork butt cubes have completely fallen apart, about 3 hours. If the sauce starts to dry out before the meat is tender, add a little more stock or water and continue cooking. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Cook pasta according to the directions on the package and drain. Return the pasta to the pan you cooked it in and add a couple of scoops of the ragú, toss well to wet the pasta.
Serve the pasta topped with more ragú and some grated Parmesan.
The Verdict:
The sauce was almost everything I had hoped it would be – rich and meaty with just enough canned tomato to add some sweetness and help pull the flavors together.
The 4 stars is for all the things I plan to do to improve the sauce. Next time Ill try a little spicier sausage, maybe half sweet and half hot. Some of the recipes I saw called for the classic Italian soffritto of diced celery and carrot in addition to the onion and I think this would make the sauce even more complex. Also, I’d cut the pork butt into smaller cubes, probably an inch or less to make the sauce smoother. Last, but not least, I’d serve it like I had it in the restaurant – over a bed of polenta.
P.S. This recipe makes a ton of sauce, almost a triple batch, which is fine because it freezes well and the only thing better than ragú sauce the first night is more ragú sauce the next night ;).
When I first decided to cook ribs for the weekend, it was a balmy 19°F and I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. By Saturday an arctic airmass had dropped in. When I took the ribs off the Egg for dinner it was 2°F and I was wearing my barbecue gloves more to protect against freezing than flames.
But I was dying to try out my new Sticky Hog barbecue sauce, so I turned the other frostbitten cheek to my wife’s concern, bundled up, and treated it as one of those “character building” experiences.
I set up my Big Green Egg for a direct cook at 225 to 250°F. I didn’t use a heat diffuser or drip pan, but I did set my grate on a Woo 2 to give me another 8 inches of clearance above the firebox. So the ribs wouldn’t get too crispy, filled my firebox about 3/4 of the way up and made sure I had a uniform layer of well- packed lump charcoal.
While the Egg was heating up, I seasoned the ribs with a generous coating of Dizzy Pig’s Dizzy Dust into both sides.
Once the fire was well-established across the entire firebox – giving me a low, even heat – I added a couple of chunks of smoking wood (guava and apple this time) and adjusted the vents to bring the temperature at the grate down to 225°F.
I arranged the ribs bone side down on the grate, closed the lid, and let them smoke undisturbed for an hour. I flipped them meat side down. I let them cook for another hour. I flipped them again so they were meat side up and let them cook until they had been on 4-1/2 hours total.
I started checking for doneness. Doneness with ribs is determined more by feel than it is by time or temp. A slab of ribs that are done will “break” or almost fold in half and start to crack when you pick up one end with a pair of tongs. The meat should also have pulled back from the bone at least half an inch from the end of the bones and tugging on a bone should show that it’s ready to come apart.
One of the racks was done at 4 1/2 hours, but the other two where lagging behind, so I slid the larger racks together, stacked the little one on top to protect it from the heat, and let them cook for another 30 minutes.
All of the racks where done at about 5 hours. I flipped them bone side up and brushed them with Sticky Hog barbecue sauce and let them cook for another 15 minutes. I flipped them meat side up sauced them again and let them cook for another 15 minutes. I gave them one last light coat of sauce, removed them from the smoker, and let them sit 10 minutes before serving.
The Verdict:
My dear wife proclaimed these to be the best ribs I’ve ever made. I thought they were just a touch dry, but who am I to argue with her ;). Doing them raised over direct heat makes them more crisp than tender. They didn’t fall off the bone, but they did surrender gracefully to the bite.
The sauce was pretty remarkable on the meat as well. It stuck (froze?) right to the racks and tightened up into a nice glaze. The tangy sweetness really complimented the meat. This is definitely a keeper sauce.
This is the dish I made exactly 16 years ago on the night I proposed to my dear wife. Well, this is actually way better than that dish – back then it would have been marinated in cheap bottled dressing and cooked in the oven until it was bone dry. In 15 years of marriage I’ve managed to become a better cook, and a better person. Thanks for loving me, hon!
Italian Pork Loin
1 4-6 pound boneless pork loin
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Put the loin on a cutting board, fat side up. Score the fat cap by making shallow diagonal cuts in a diamond pattern at about 1-inch intervals.
Toss everything, except the pork, in a blender and give it a buzz until it’s all blended together. Put the loin in a zip-top bag and cover with the marinade, toss to coat the loin and make sure to work the marinade into the fat cap. Squeeze the air out of the bag, seal it, and put it in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours, overnight is better.
You’ll need a flame-proof roasting pan (I use an old 9×13 baking pan) with a rack. Set the grill up for a 3 hour indirect cook over medium heat (400°F). On the Big Green Egg this means using about half a fire box full of lump charcoal, an inverted plate setter to diffuse the heat, and a trivet to set the roasting pan on.
Roast the loin until the internal temperature of the pork hits 140°F (about an hour). Move to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
The Verdict:
It was our anniversary dinner, so of course the meal was good and the company was lovely. I liked the way the fat on the loin crisped up, but it might get even crispier if I skip the roaster next time and do it direct on a raised grid. The marinade was just a little too sweet, so the recipe here reflects reducing the sugar to 1 tablespoon.
If I ever need to come up with a death row last meal request, this is it.
In my pre-gluten free days I used to make this at least twice a month. Since the Celiacs, I’ve tried a version over GF waffles that I call Country Eggs Benedict. Tasty, but not the real deal, so I kind of gave up making it altogether.
Ingredients
1 pound pork breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean’s in the case)
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I like Pamela’s Amazing Bread Mix or Gluten-Free Pantry Country French Bread Mix)
3 tablespoon pancetta, diced
1 tablespoon bacon grease
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Melt the bacon grease in a large skillet. Add the sausage and pancetta and cook until the sausage is uniformly brown and the pancetta is a little crispy. Do not drain. Add the sage, red pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Add the flour and cook over low heat for 5 minutes until it forms a roux and begins to brown.
Remove pan from heat and stir in milk a little at a time. Scape the bottom to get up any brown bits. Return to medium-high heat and stir occasionally until gravy comes to a simmer and starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle over warm biscuits.
The Verdict: Man, they were good! The pancetta added some crispy bits and porky goodness, while the bacon fat added a smoky richness. The red pepper and a shot of hot sauce warmed up the gravy, and the soft biscuits did a fine job of soaking up all that wonderfulness. Perfect. They could strap me in ol’ sparky tomorrow and I’d be a happy man.
Yet another excellent recipe I adapted from Adam Perry Lang’s BBQ 25: The World’s Most Flavorful Recipes-Now Made Fool-Proof. I cut these 1-inch thick chops from the rib end of a whole pork loin. Brining the chops adds a ton of flavor and keeps them very juicy.
The Brine 6 pork chops
Juice of 1 orange (about 1/3 cup)
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic
3 green onions, chopped
1 bunch fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
Put the garlic, salt, and onions in a food processor and pulse until the garlic and onions are minced. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chops, and give them a whirl until everything is well-combined.
Put the chops in a zip-top bag and cover with the marinade. Toss to coat. Squeeze the air out of the bag, seal it, and put it in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours, overnight is better.
The Baste Combine in a foil pan or heatproof pan and warm on the side of the grill:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
5 crushed garlic cloves
4 tablespoons finely chopped savory herbs such as rosemary, thyme, marjoram, oregano and/or sage
The Cook Set up your grill for a direct cook over medium (350°F) heat.
Remove the chops from the brine and put them on the grill. Grill the chops 5 minutes on one side. Then flip, baste, and grill another 5 minutes on the second side. Flip again, baste, and grill for 5 more minutes. Flip one last time, baste, and grill another 5 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pork hits 140°F.
Remove the chops from the grill. Baste one last time, and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
The Verdict:
Wow! These chops were incredibly moist and tender with very rich layers of flavor. The original brine recipe called for fresh coriander, which we were out of, so I substituted dried cilantro – not the same thing. I’d use fresh next time as well as maybe a little diced jalepeño.
Much of what I know about making ribs I owe to “Car Wash Mike” McKernan and his postings on the Big Green Egg forum. Mike recently passed away, and while I never met the man, I thought it fitting to join the rest of the Eggheads in smoking a batch of baby backs in his honor.
I started with 3 racks of baby back ribs. These were a little smaller than the ones I usually get from Costco, and looked to already have had the membrane removed. I rubbed both sides of each rack with Dizzy Pig’s Dizzy Dust about 2 hours before they went on the smoker.
I set up my Big Green Egg for an indirect cook at 250°F – filling the firebox with lump charcoal and using an inverted plate setter to diffuse the heat and a drip pan with a little water in it to catch the fat.
I lit the charcoal just in the center, and once the temperature hit 300°F in the dome, I tossed in a a couple of chunks of crab apple for smoke. I added the plate setter, drip pan and grate, then adjusted the vents until the temperature settled at 250°F.
I arranged the ribs bone side down on the grate, then closed the lid and let the BGE do it’s magic for an hour. I flipped the ribs bone side up, and let them go for another hour. I flipped them back bone side down and let them go for another 2 hours.
After the ribs had been on 4 hours total, I started checking for doneness. Ribs are generally done when a full slab will almost fold in half and start to crack when you pick up one end with a pair of tongs. These weren’t there yet, but the meat had really started to pull back from the end of the bones and it looked like it wouldn’t take much to pull a bone right out of the ribs.
Hmmmm…
I flipped a rack over and discovered that the bone side was covered with that membrane that I’d thought had been removed. Oops. It was all brown and crispy now. I grabbed one corner with the tongs and pulled it off – underneath was the juiciest rib meat I’ve ever seen.
I lifted the end of the slab and it almost fell apart. These ribs were well done and it had only been the membrane that was holding them together. I quickly removed the membrane from the other 2 racks and moved all of them off the Egg and onto a jelly roll pan. I sauced them on both sides with a little Sticky Pig Barbecue Sauce and told our guests we’d be eating a little sooner than expected.
The lesson? There are a lot of great teachers out there. Take their advice, but don’t be afraid to make your own mistakes and then pass the experience along.
