Work those thighs and butts

At seven A.M. on Sunday I fired up my new smoker. It's the Brinkmann, cheapo model but I wanted to test out smoking meat before I got any deeper in the sport. And sport it is, just visit our good food blog friend, Sylvie at Soul Fusion Kitchen and see all the honors her group has taken. I used her site as a tutorial for my new project. Many thanks to her for the encouragement and all the great into.

My first impression of using this smoker is how much smoke it put out. Yikes, I'd neglected to mention to my neighbors my plans and when I filled the neighborhood with smoke I quickly found one or two to assure them we neither cooking crack nor burning down our house. It does tame down after a while, whew, a relief. Here is something I learned later, wait until the smoke changes color before putting on the meat. Thanks to Jeff at Shifty Squirrel's BBQ for that one.

So what did I cook? I looked at three stores for a pork butt but all I could find was a 7 lb pork shoulder. I think they are pretty much the same thing. I'd promised daughter Maltese Parakeet, lil bird, and her beloved pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and I was aiming for that end. I'd also added a few chicken thighs just because I have two levels of grilling.

The pork roast was rubbed and it rested in the refrigerator overnight wrapped in plastic. My rub might have been a tad bit salty for my taste so I'll adjust next time. Rubs are a matter of personal taste. I did trim off some of the heavier layers of fat. After the fire got going I put the pork on the bottom grill and spent the next nine hours adjusting the fire. Only once did it get under 200 and not for long. I was like an old mother hen watching that thermometer.
Editors note: A remote thermometer was my birthday give from lil bird so I don't have to run outside so often to check, cool.

Chicken was the first out and after they cooled they went into the fridge for another meal. I used the same rub I'd used on the pork but I also brined the thighs for about two hours. They only cooked about four house and were very tasty.
The pork never got to that fall-off-the-bone stage I was looking for but when sliced it had a wonderful smoke ring, was tender and very tasty though I couldn't tell if it was smoky enough since I'd been breathing the smoke for nine hours. The family did agree it was smoky and quite good. I even gave my son-in-law a care package to take home.

Our menu was pork sandwiches with a coleslaw, I'll add that recipe at a different post because I thought it delicious, and baked beans. The bbq sauce was Rudy's, an import from Texas that lil bird picked up while in San Antonio. I've used their rub before, too and it's very tasty.

All in all I believe it was a success but I'll make some adjustments next time. I was very good not to lift the lid so I don't think that was the problem.

Things I did wrong:

• not enough coals in the beginning
• maybe a bit hotter temp
• cooled hot coals too quickly
  
• maybe longer cooking time
• different cut of pork

What's next? I love smoked turkey and can't wait to try it in my new smoker. So look for another post coming soon. Did I give up on the outdoor dutch oven? Nope. I just wanted to branch out a bit. I'm looking forward to my next project, outdoor biscuits.

why you must brine

pork loin with grits
Originally uploaded by lornababy

one of the reasons i never used to cook pork that much was that it always turned dry and tough. alton brown taught me how to brine a turkey, but ming tsai taught me how to brine a pork loin. and now there is no other way for me to cook a pork loin.

here's my take on ming's recipe. i get a simple one pound pork loin from trader joe's, then throw it in a ziplock back with some kosher salt (maybe 1/4 cup), some soy sauce, some peppercorns, a knob of peeled ginger, some star anise and enough water to cover. let it soak overnight, then take it out, dry it off (pick off the peppercorns), rub some canola or olive oil on it and then roast in a 400 degree oven until the internal temperature is about 135. take the pork loin out of the oven, cover in some tin foil and let it rest about 15 minutes (the temperature will go up to about 140 or 145, which is what you want for medium). slice and serve. it will look a little pink in the middle, but that's because of the brine.

it's simple and flavorful and sure to impress. you could make a sauce to go over it to dress it up, but you really don't need to, because the pork is so flavorful. if you do want to make up a sauce, be warned, you won't be able to make a pan gravy with the drippings, because the pork is so lean and it doesn't give up any fat. with the asian flavors in the brine, i like to serve it with asian style vegetables with some soy sauce to pick up the soy sauce flavor in the pork. sauteed baby bok choi or, in this case, snow peas, work great. roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes (regular or sweet) or rice are also great sides, but this time i tried some grits with white cheddar (i wasn't thrilled with the result on the grits, for the record).

i got to meet ming at a book signing for his blue ginger cook book in december 1999. ming's brined pork recipe is in that cook book, btw. i generally don't like to post pictures of myself online, but it's pretty cool to have met one of my favorite chefs, so here it is...

What to do with leftover pork

One of my favorite things is to make stacked enchiladas. There is not a recipe just a method.

Gather together the following:

your leftover pork or even beef
grated jack or cheddar or both if you so desire
green enchilada sauce (I like green sauce with pork and red with beef but that is just my preference)
sauteéd onions

cilantro, chopped

No salt because there is plenty of sodium in the green sauce or you can make your own green sauce for future use.

I like to crisp up the pork by heating it up in a skillet then adding a bit of the green sauce.

Start layering first place a corn tortilla on a cookie sheet.
Add the pork, a few of the onions, a few tablespoons of the green sauce, cheese, cilantro, another tortilla.
Repeat those steps until you have reached, oh maybe five tortillas in the stack; top off with cheese.

Bake in a 350* preheated oven for about 20 minutes and the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

This method was first originated by my sister Moon and it's a real favorite with Mr Doodles


Please don't give me bad marks for this photo I know it is awful

Comfort in a 7 x 9 dish

The was just a bit of culinary medicine for me. My darling ate it but I prepared it for me. When one of my aunts told me she had no "comfort food", I was quite surprised. Yikes! Momma's had to include something with baked apples; mine, Chicken and Noodles or Pork and Sauerkraut. The later dish was something I could do with the broken wrist.

No recipe; comfort food is one of those dishes you've made so many times a recipe would be an afterthought. So here's my method with some pix thrown in.

• Sauté sliced onions, lightly. We are not looking to caramelize here. Layer in your baking dish.
• Now, in the same skillet brown the seasoned pork. I used the leaner loin steaks. Once they have color layer them over the onions.
• Next a layer of thick cut potatoes.
• For the sauerkraut I use one from the deli section in a plastic bag, Krrispkraut. No cans, that is just not crunchy enough. I drain and splash some water, not really washing it. This is the top layer, but wait, there's more.
• Fine chop about 1/3 cup of peeled apple and "poke" into the top layer of 'kraut. This will tame the sour. That tip was from my Mother-in-law, Ann. She would also throw in a spoon of caraway seeds.
  
• Remember that skillet? Deglaze the pan with about 3/4 cup of water, then pour that over the casserole.
  
• Cover with foil and bake about an hour 325 or until the potatoes are done.
  

I really should have taken a plated photo but it smelled too good to wait.

What's your comfort food? Is it something you alone make? Your momma? Something you eat at the local diner. Just let us know we are not alone.