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Slow Cooked Pork with Ginger Beer BBQ Sauce

September 14, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 11 comments

My blog is fixed! The below post was meant to post last Friday after a truly dreary week. Over the weekend, with lots of crazy work stuff and the anniversary of 9/11 happening, along with my blog being down, I got to take some time to let go, not really by choice, but it was kind of nice and reminded me how great my life is. It’s something I am trying to remember every day, and I am really happy to be back blogging.

I am loving the below recipe, which will be perfect for these chillier nights.

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Well, despite my best efforts to ignore the change, summer seemed to slip away this week, bringing unnecessary rain and cold. The downside? Rain and cold. The upside? It was a perfect time to do some slow-cooking of something I had a major craving for, pulled pork. The vegetarian in me is always surprised, but I do love well-spiced pork, cooked for a day, falling apart in a spicy sauce.

I picked up a pork roast at Market Basket over the weekend and put the rub on over 24 hours before cooking. My rub was a mix of all sorts of things: cinnamon, cayenne pepper, Tyler Florence’s brown sugar pork rub, garlic powder (lots!), My Spice Sage BBQ seasoning, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.

dry rub

Once the spices were mixed, I gave the roast a good rub, liberally coating it with the mix. It smelled amazing.

dry rub

On cooking day, I pulled out the pork, already hanging out in the slow cooker bowl. To the slow cooker I added a can of Gosling’s ginger beer (also perfect for cocktails) and a whole can of tomato paste.

ginger beer

I also chopped up a small handful of the beautiful local peppers I bought for my cod dish. I’d done a quick pickle to preserve them, and they added a bright, spicy, and vinegar-y touch to the pork. I also poured in about 1/2 cup white vinegar.

pickled peppers

The ginger beer and tomato paste broke down into a rich, spicy sauce with a hint of sweet and made for some of the most tender pulled pork I have ever had.

pulled pork

We ate it atop salads with a homemade peach salsa, mountains of cilantro, and Greek yogurt, and again the next day in Tortilla Land tortillas with the same toppings. It was the stuff that chilly fall Sundays are made of, and I will definitely be repeating this recipe.

pulled pork

Annnnd I am glad that the weekend is going to be warm and sunny. I refuse to acknowledge the end of summer until the boat is in winter storage.

Are you still with me in summer, have you moved to fall or are you feeling somewhere in between?

Tags: cooking, Food, pork, recipe, salad

Caribbean Pork with Mango Salsa

January 28, 2011 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 6 comments

I don’t reserve my best cooking for the weekends, I love to find easy to prepare, healthy dishes on the weekdays too.  There’s something so satisfying about coming home and cheffing something from scratch, rather than having to rely on leftovers.  I came across this Caribbean Pork with Mango Salsa in Real Simple’s January 2011 issue.  Amidst a ton of other pork recipes, this one called my name for it’s simplicity and it’s inclusion of Mango Salsa.

I know, I know.  Mango salsa isn’t entirely in season right now.  But amidst all the winter kale and squashes and over kill of pumpkin and peppermint from the holidays, it feels so good to go against the grain.  So fresh.  So summer-y.  Wouldn’t you like a taste of summer right now?

Caribbean Pork with Mango Salsa (as adapted from Real Simple)

  • 1 mango, chopped
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  • salt for tasting
  • 1 pound of pork tenderloin, or chops
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground corriander
  • salt to taste

As usual, I was hesitant to think the Mango Salsa was going to have any flavor as the ingredients seemed too simple.  For some reason, I can’t get over it in my head that sometimes less ingredients really can blow your socks off.  It’s true though.

mango salsa ingredients

These simple, simple ingredients came together to make one of the most refreshing mango salsa’s I have had.  I love the flavor and was ready to just eat a bowl of it straight up.  I know it’s wrong, but sometimes a girl can’t help herself.

mango salsa

As for the pork, it’s easy to throw together.  The recipe calls for broiling, but I am huge on pan searing lately.  So, at nearly room temperature, I patted my chops dry and seasoned as the recipe called for.  I heated 2 pans on medium high and added a bit of EVOO. (I don’t have a pan large enough for two porkchops without crowding. If you crowd, you could lose the chance for them to get a sear.)  Once fired up and heated, I tossed the porkchops into the pans.

You’ll be tempted to touch.  To peek.  To check.  Resist.  Resist harder.  Have faith that four to five minutes untouched on each side with create a delicious sear.  Once they were seared, I tossed them into the oven at 450 degrees and cooked futher another 10 minutes or so, until the middle was no longer pink.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before slicing to preserve the juices in the meat.  If you slice too soon, they juices all run out and you lose some of the moisture.  Just say no to dried out meat.  Especially pork.  Pork gets a bad rap for being boring, but I think when it’s done right, it’s amazing.

Slice pork and top with Mango Salsa.  Serve with a freshly made salad, side of roasted veggies or some brown rice.  Dive in.  There’s so reason you can’t have a freshly made, healthy meal on busy weekdays!

pork with mango salsa

Want more delicious food photos and recipes? Visit Kelley’s blog!

Tags: Food, healthy recipe, mango salsa, pork, recipe

Taco Tuesday

November 23, 2010 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 15 comments

I make the best salsa. It is seriously some addictive stuff, and a few days ago, I put my salsa-making skills to great use by setting up a make-your-own taco bar with slow-cooked pulled pork.

I don’t cook pork very often; this particular pork roast was my very first, and I was nervous and excited to be making something I knew my husband would love.

I started with a big ol’ pork shoulder that was organic, hormone free, and humanely raised. You won’t see meat in our house otherwise.

Pulled pork isn’t pretty.

But I will tell you about it anyway. I started with one of my Foodbuzz Festival freebies, Tyler Florence’s Brown Sugar Pork Rub.

Brown Sugar Pork Rub

My fear of trichinosis means that I wasn’t touching the pork with my bare hands, no way, no how. I instead used the back of a spoon to rub the spices into the pork. In addition to the Tyler Florence mix, I also rubbed in cumin and garlic powder. I then placed the hunk of pork in my trusty slow cooker, poured in 2 cups of water, and added about a half a can of frozen tomato paste. I also added a small yellow onion, chopped, a few chopped jalapenos, and a few cloves of crushed garlic.

jalapeno, onion, garlic 

Cover and cooked on low for hours and hours, checking in every now and then. Once the meat was cooked through, I used forks to shred it in the sauce.

Like I said, pulled pork isn’t pretty! But oh my goodness, did this taste good!

pulled pork

Now for the salsa.

homemade salsa

My salsa is simple: a can of fire roasted tomatoes, 1/4 red onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 jalapenos, and a generous sprinkling of cilantro, all tossed in the Cuisinart and chopped until the desired consistency. I have probably said it before, but if I had a choice, salsa would most definitely be part of my last meal.

I served up the pulled pork in whole wheat tortilla wraps from Trader Joe’s, topped with salsa, guacamole, cheese, and lime juice.

guacamole

pulled pork tacos

I added a few extra jalapenos to mine since I am spicy like that Winking smile 

I have an appointment this afternoon, then am planning a tough elliptical workout followed by wine class. And tomorrow is the big Thanksgiving travel day! I can’t wait to see my niece and nephew and my cousins who moved to Ohio last year. I love this week because everyone slows down for family time and of course because of all of the great food, the Christmas music, and the holiday buzz in the air.

What is your all time favorite holiday and/or holiday tradition?

Tags: pork, recipe, salsa, tacos

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