A Fun Blog and Savory Sunday Dinner

First off, I absolutely must advise anyone who enjoys puns to check out the blog called "A Good Forking" (www.agoodforking.com), written by "Paris Stilton." Her actual name is Emerald Bond, she is from Australia, and I saw her apartment hunting in Paris on an episode of House Hunters International. She mentioned starting a blog and gave the name of Paris Stilton, and that grabbed my attention right away. I looked her up and was immediately taken with her witty and pun-ny posts, which are also very pithy and informative.

I love a good pun, and my family has seemed to evolve into these plays with words, puns and groaners all through childhood and on into adulthood. When my sisters and I get together it is just one round of hilarity after another with puns and word play flying fast and furiously. When I married my first husband, a Guatemalan, his English and understanding of nuance was less than perfect. Every time I used a pun or played with a word, it fell absolutely flat. It was so dispiriting. I had to learn to skip the innuendo, the puns and learn to speak very precisely and literally. And I did, but oh, how I missed that fun with words. 

My ex and I, far right, in 1968

As a matter of fact, on learning Spanish and living in Guatemala for a few years, I was able to not only understand Spanish puns, but make some of them myself. I was (I believe justifiably) proud of myself. My husband never could pick up on the puns in English, even after 18 years. So imagine the thrill when I met my current husband almost 25 years ago and I started to warn him that around my family he would be hearing a lot of plays on works and puns and he said, "Oh, so you all 'Pun-ish' each other?" Ahhhhh. He SO got it. And what a relief to go back to my puns and know they would be understood.

So, "Paris Stilton" really caught my attention. She writes about different places she has eaten and what they were served, what the presentation was like and the flavors. She is living in Paris, so most posts are from there, though there are some from London and Australia. Her photography of the varying foods is just superb, so you sit reading with drool just dripping down your chin. In the main, she really enjoys her food (and wine and drinks) and writes most favorably. In case you are curious if she ever gets a bad dish or a lousy place to eat, she has a category called "What the Fork?" to cover those. There are only 3, at this time. I am getting nothing by writing about and recommending her blog, except a real love of all she represents. She doesn't know me from Adam.

And Dinner!

On another topic, dinner last evening was just magnificent, in a very homey way. I had gotten a boneless pork shoulder roast when shopping last and it was in the freezer. I wanted to braise it in my Guatemalan Green Sauce, also frozen. It just didn't occur to me to get them out earlier, and I got both things from the freezer at noon yesterday. I unwrapped the roast and set it in my enameled cast iron pot. I set the unwrapped frozen green sauce beside it in the pot. The lid was slightly askew as neither item was remotely malleable enough to push down into the pot. I set the oven for 275 degrees and set the pot with lid askew so that it would (hopefully) fall properly onto the pot once the foods started to melt.

Pork Shoulder in Green Sauce with Cheesy Chive Polenta

I have had very good results with frozen roasts so far. Either in the oven in that heavy enameled cast iron pot or in the slow cooker. So it went yesterday. I checked the pot once at about 1:30, when I began to smell the food cooking, and added in some salt, bay leaves and a little oregano. I covered it and replaced it in the oven until 4:45 PM, when I got it out. The roast was not, quite, falling-apart tender, but very close. It was certainly cooked through, and I cut away the little elastic mesh around the meat and sliced it. The meat was wonderful and more moist than if the roast had cooked longer. I thickened the green sauce with some masa harina and it was good to go. 

As for an accompaniment, I really wanted to make polenta. I love polenta, though my husband is definitely not wild about it. When my kids were visiting a couple of weeks back, I made a beef roast in green sauce and had a tube of polenta in the freezer that I needed to use. I knew my husband didn't care for polenta, but assumed my kids would, as they are very adventurous eaters. I did make some rice to go with the meal, just in case. As it turned out, my son also said he didn't care for polenta, and served himself rice. For his second helping, he wanted to taste it with polenta. And shock! He loved it, and said it tasted better with the meal than the rice. This was no surprise to me, but I was very pleased. So last evening I decided to make polenta from scratch. It was equally great, if not even better with the green sauce (Salsa Verde).

Pork Shoulder in Green Sauce

Pork Shoulder in Green Sauce

Serves 6 to 8

1 (4-pound, approximately) boneless pork shoulder roast
2 1/2 to 3 cups Green Sauce / Salsa Verde
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 - 3 bay leaves

THICKENING:
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup masa harina (tortilla flour)

If your roast is frozen, set the frozen roast in a large heavy duty pot or slow cooker at least 5 hours before planned serving time. Add the green sauce, salt, oregano and bay leaves, cover and cook in a very low 275 degree oven or on low in a slow cooker for a longer period. Once roast is cooked through, slice and set aside. Mix together the water and masa harina flour and add to the green sauce and bring to boil to thicken the sauce slightly. Serve the pork and sauce over rice or polenta.

Cheesy Chive Polenta with Pork in Green Sauce

Cheesy Chive Polenta

Serves 2 - 4

3 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
¾ cup cornmeal
3 - 4 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons butter
¾ cup "3-Cheese Italian Blend" shredded cheese

Bring the water and salt to boil in a medium saucepan. Once boiling, with whisk in one hand and dry cornmeal in the other, slowly pour in the cornmeal while whisking briskly until all the cornmeal is incorporated. Remove the pan from the heat. Continue stirring with the whisk or a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens considerably, 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the butter and cheese until melted, then add the chives and stir well. Serve immediately.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Pork - that Magical Meat

I love pork. I guess if you eat meat, and pork is not kept off your menu for religious or vegetarian purposes, it is a favorite of most. Bacon makes everything taste good. My sister-in-law quipped once that "Bacon could even make cardboard taste good." I'm not sure I would go quite that far, but I expect you know what I mean.

There are so many parts of the animal that are usable, though I usually stick to the more common ones. Bacon, of course, pork loin roasts, pork tenderloins, pork chops, pork ribs, other pork roasts, ham. Once in a while I will cook something like a boneless pork shoulder roast to use in things like a barbecue for summer sandwiches. Pork Barbecue is one of my more favorite things to serve on a bun. The terminology is different in some places. My mother-in-law called what I would term Sloppy Joes, "barbecue". But when I say Pork Barbecue, I mean the wonderfully tender shredded pork roast with barbecue sauce. Yum!

I have made pork barbecue occasionally for many years, though I never thought to set down a "recipe" as such. I rectified that lately, and put the recipe on my website. I used my own Sweet Tangy BBQ Sauce recipe for the sauce, and it is just insanely good. Still, any preferred barbecue sauce will work. In past, I have used a regular red barbecue sauce alone, or used a combination of a red sauce combined with a honey-mustard variety. Whatever your preference, it will be good, I am sure. It is a simple meal to prepare. The only messy part comes when you have to remove all the fat from the cooked roast and shred the meat. Obviously, a pork shoulder roast is fatty, and will cook down a fair bit. I just place it into a pot with water nearly to cover and add in some salt, bay leaves, pepper. Sometimes I add an onion, sometimes not. I allow the roast to cook, covered for up to 3 hours, or until it is falling-apart-tender. Remove from the cooking water and let it cool. Breaking it up a bit will speed the cooling process. Then remove fat and shred the meat and you are almost done with no real work involved.

Pork Barbecue

Pork Barbecue

Serves about 6 - 8

3 - 3½ pound boneless pork shoulder
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 large onion, chopped
3 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Sweet Tangy BBQ Sauce, or other barbecue sauce

Place the pork roast into a pot large enough to accommodate without crowding. Add water to almost cover, then add in the salt, bay leaves and peppercorns. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook slowly for 2½ to 3 hours, or until the pork falls apart easily. Remove the meat to a plate until cool enough to handle.

Once meat has cooled, remove all fat and discard, then shred the meat, cutting across the grain to make some strands shorter and more easy to eat. Set aside. In a large skillet, fry the onion until golden brown. Add the garlic and fry for a couple minutes more. Add in the meat and the BBQ sauce; toss to combine and heat through.



Pork Chops with Sage & Currant Jam

Pork chops are a favorite standby. I make them in various ways. One of my favorite go-to-recipes for pork chops is to place the chops into a cold skillet and bring up to fairly high heat. Brown that first side and while it is browning, sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper and then use either fresh sage or rosemary. Chop the herb of choice very finely and sprinkle that all over, along with some minced garlic. Once the first side is browned, flip the pork chops and repeat with the seasonings. Once the second side is browned, place about a tablespoon of Marion Blackberry Jam, or currant jelly on top of each chop. Cover and simmer for about a half hour. The jam/jelly will have made a wonderful sauce around the meat and given great flavor. These are a particular favorite with my husband and his sister. Recently, when I made some "Champagne Pink" Currant Dehydrator Jam, while the jam was too tart for serving on toast, it was fantastic on these pork chops.

I make pork tenderloins all summer long on the grill. I love using the marinade for either chicken or pork tenderloins. I usually clean any fat and silver skin off the tenderloins, then cut them on a bias across the grain into three pieces. They are then about the size of a chicken breast. This marinade is so exceptionally good on either chicken or pork. The meat is great after a half hour of marinating, but can easily be left overnight if it is a time crunch. This is the recipe:

Pork (Chicken or Turkey) in Indian Spices

Pork in Indian Spices

1½ to 2 pounds pork tenderloins (or boneless chicken or turkey breasts)
 
MARINADE:
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons coriander seed, ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cardamom, ground
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup olive oil

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a zip top bag or other container. Prepare meat: For pork tenderloins, trim any silver skin and slice the tenderloin diagonally into 3 or 4 pieces. If using chicken breasts, leave whole if small. If large, cut them lengthwise into two pieces. For turkey breasts, cut them lengthwise into 2 pieces each. Place the meat of choice into the marinade and allow at least 1/2 hour of marinating time, turning often so all sides of the meat are in contact with the marinade.

Once the meat is marinated, remove from marinade and grill to desired doneness. It is wonderful with a side of rice. 


I could go on and on, but all this is making me hungry! I hope some of these ideas will give you new avenues to explore.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.