Slow-Roasted Pork Burritos

I didn't get a chance to get a lot of pictures. Having guests for dinner makes it a little hard. But next time I make this (and there will be a next time), I will chronicle it all in photographs. I *did* get a picture of the roast just before it went into the oven. But then events overtook me and I didn't get a chance to record the rest of the process.



I did the black beans in my cast iron skillet and let those cook on the gas grill because I have only one oven, and that was taken up with the pork roast. I also made lime-cilantro rice, guacamole and pico de gallo. I bought the largest flour tortillas I could find, some sour cream and a package of 4-cheese Mexican Blend.

Oh. My. God. Five of us ate, and there was enough meat left for another five people. I still can't believe I paid only $.99/lb for that beautiful piece of meat.

The beans, by the way, were *outstanding*, and could easily be made vegetarian with a good vegetable stock without any loss in flavor. The chipotles brought a nice depth and smokiness, and just the right touch of heat.

This is also great party food, because everything can be done ahead of time, including slicing up the meat. It can be kept warm without any loss of quality. Then just put everything out and let folks build their own burritos.
This evening we used up the leftovers.

The Recipe

From Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World website.



Steve Els's Slow-Cooked Pork Shoulder Burritos

MAKES 15 BURRITOS
TIME ABOUT 3-½ HOURS, LARGELY UNATTENDED, PLUS OPTIONAL MARINATING TIME

This may sound oxymoronic, but the best fast food can take a while to make. Take Steve Els's killer burritos. Once you've prepared the components, the burritos themselves takes about a minute to assemble. But the reason they'll be some of the best burritos you've ever eaten is that the pork shoulder (one of my favorite cuts of meat) has spent three hours in the oven, getting tender and developing a swoon-worthy crust. The black beans get the oven treatment, too, which makes them unusually smoky and delicious.


2 tablespoons salt or to taste
1 tablespoon pepper or to taste
5 tablespoons finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1 (4- to 7-pound) pork shoulder (picnic or Boston butt), trimmed of excess but not all fat
1 ½ tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound dried black beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked in water overnight
1 teaspoon roughly chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo
2 dried bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock
15 flour tortillas

1. Combine the salt, pepper, and 3 tablespoons of the chopped chiles. Pierce meat all over with the point of a knife. Rub the chile mixture all over the exterior of the pork; if time allows, wrap in plastic or place in resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. If not, proceed.
2. When you're ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 F. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the thyme leaves all over the pork. Put the pork on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side down, and put in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, or until the pork begins to brown, then lower the heat to 350 F and add one cup water to the bottom of the pan. Continue to roast, basting the pork with the pan juices and adding water to the bottom of the pan if it threatens to dry out, for about 3 hours, or until the interior temperature of the pork reaches 150 F on an instant-read thermometer. Let the pork rest for at least 45 minutes. (Or longer, since it is best served warm or at room temperature.)
3. While the pork cooks, prepare the beans. Put a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Add onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to brown. Add the oregano, remaining ½ tablespoon of thyme, chile puree, and bay leaves, and stir. Then add the beans, stir, and add the stock. Put skillet in oven, and cook until beans are just tender, at least 1 ½ hours. The meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is difficult; rather, cut it as thinly as possible so that the meat is almost shredded.
4. Warm the tortillas, either by wrapping them in foil and putting them in a 300 F oven for ten minutes or by heating them individually in a large skillet over medium heat, flipping them when they begin to blister. Spread a portion of the beans on each tortilla and top with a portion of the pork. (You can add rice, sour cream or Mexican crema, guacamole, and pico de gallo, as you wish.) Roll up and serve.

Crab Cakes with Corn and Avocado Salad

Crab Cakes

1 lb lump crab meat
4 medium scallions, sliced thinly
2 tblsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
1-1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

(note: if you can't get fresh lump crab, Costco sells 1 lb cans of Phillips brand lump crab for a very reasonable price, and it works beautifully in this recipe.)

Gently mix crab meat, scallions, parsley, Old Bay, bread crumbs and mayonnaise, being careful not to break up the crab meat. Gently fold egg into mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide mixture into 6 equal portions and form into cakes. Place on cookie sheet covered with waxed paper or parchment paper. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper. Chill for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours.

Put panko crumbs on a flat plate or pie plate. Press crab cakes on both sides into panko crumbs. Heat oil in non-stick pan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Fry crab cakes until hot through, crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes each side.

Corn and Avocado Salad

2 ears fresh corn; steamed, roasted or grilled, then cut from the cob
1 ripe avocado, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 scallion, green and white, thinly sliced
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients. Chill.

I took two ears of white corn and trimmed the tops and bottoms, then grilled over high heat on the gas grill, in their husks, for about 20 minutes, turning every five minutes, until the husks were charred. Cooled until I was able to handle them, then stripped the husks and silk, then cut the corn from the cob, then added to the bowl after the kernels cooled.

Grilling added a bit of smokiness to the corn. I think next time I'll shuck the corn and grill, letting the corn brown a bit. But this version was pretty good; the corn was sweet but still crisp, and it went beautifully with the crab cakes.

Seafood Pasta

I had sea scallops. I had prawns. I had spinach fettuccine.



Measurements are approximate.

1 lb sea scallops
1 lb raw prawns, shelled and deveined
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh basil, minced (or 1 tbsp dried)
3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, minced
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup sherry, shao shing wine, or dry white wine
1 cup half-and-half
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
9 oz fresh spinach fettuccine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Season scallops with salt and pepper. Sear scallops in olive oil, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and keep warm. Add butter to hot oil. When foam subsides, add prawns, garlic, basil and 2 tbsp parsley. Sautée prawns until nearly done. Remove from pan and keep warm. Deglaze pan with wine. Add lemon juice. Cook down until syrupy. Whisk in half-and-half and bring to a boil. Cook down, whisking occasionally, until sauce begins to thicken. Add lemon zest and pepper flakes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta. As soon as pasta goes into the water, return scallops and prawns, along with any accumulated juices, to pan. When pasta is nearly done, using a pasta fork or skimmer, add pasta to pan with sauce and seafood and toss together until pasta is coated with sauce. Remove from heat and toss with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Garnish with remaining parsley. Serve immediately on heated plates.

Cioppino

Well, it's been awhile. Hi!

CIOPPINO
adapted from a recipe at epicurious.com

Makes 6 servings.


4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice


2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 (28-oz) can whole plum tomatoes, drained, reserving juice, and chopped
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup chicken broth




1 Dungeness crab, cracked and cleaned (I used the legs only; the body meat went for a crab cocktail appetizer)
18 small (2-inch) hard-shelled clams (1 1/2 lb) such as littlenecks, scrubbed
1 lb halibut fillets, skin removed, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 lb large shrimp (16 to 20), shelled (tails and bottom segment of shells left intact) and deveined
3/4 lb sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil





Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning.



Add clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Add crab legs, fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil.

Serve cioppino immediately in large soup bowls. ( Next time I'll add a bit of lemon zest at the end.)

Happy Autumn

Autumn is in the air. Pie pumpkins are plentiful. I wanted a soup that was rich, flavorful, and filling enough to be a main course. So I went searching, and wound up taking the best of several recipes to come up with dinner.

Served with freshly-baked Challah (recipe below). Several hours later my house still smells heavenly.

Creamy Pumpkin and Bacon Soup
6 servings









6 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 large sweet onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small pie pumpkin (about 1-1/2 lbs), roasted (see notes)
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1 tsp chicken demi-glace
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream and fresh sage leaves for garnish
Pan-toasted pepitas for garnish (see notes)

Directions:
In a large pot or dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pot and drain on paper towels. Remove all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.

Add the onion and garlic and olive oil to the pot. Cook until onion is translucent. Add potatoes. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, then stir in the chicken stock, demi-glace and pumpkin. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender.

Remove soup from heat and puree using a stick blender or in batches in a jar blender. Return soup to heat and stir in bacon, herbs and cream. Heat gently and season to taste.
Garnish with with sour cream, sage leaves and pepitas.

NOTES:
To roast pumpkin, remove stem and cut pumpkin in half. Scoop out seeds and string. Place cut side down on cookie sheet or shallow roasting pan and roast in 350F oven for an hour or so, or until very soft. Let cool, then scrape pulp from shells.


For pan-toasted pepitas, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 cup raw shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt to pan. Cook and stir until most of the seeds are lightly browned and they're popping. Remove from pan to paper-towel lined plate and let cool. Snack on them while making soup, but be sure to leave enough to sprinkle on top. (These can also be done with the addition of chili powder. Be warned, in either case they are extremely addictive. Trader Joe's sells 1lb bags of organic raw pumpkin seeds. Just sayin'.)





Challah
From The KitchenAid Cookbook
Makes 2 loaves





4-1/2 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 package active dry yeast
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup very warm water (120F to 130F)
3 eggs, room temperature
1 egg white, room temperature
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon cold water
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Place 4 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast in bowl. Attach bowl and dough hook. Turn to Speed 2 and mix 15 seconds. Combine butter and water. Gradually add warm liquids to bowl and mix 1 minute. Add eggs and egg white and mix 2 minutes more. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans side of bowl. Knead on Speed 2 for 2 minutes longer. (At this point I turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead by hand for a minute or two until really silky.)

Place in a well-buttered bowl, turning to grease top. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk; about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Divide each half into three pieces. Roll each piece to a 14-inch rope. Braid three ropes together, tucking ends under, and place on a greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk; about 1 hour.


Beat egg yolk and water together. Brush loaves with mixture and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 400F for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

Hi Ho Fifty, Away!

All righty then.

Now that I'm settling solidly into middle age, I'm beginning to appreciate being on the trailing edge of the Baby Boom. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who are older than I for wielding the machete through the jungle of life. From Feminism's Second Wave to Civil Rights to Gay Rights to home computers to some kick ass culture to "natural" childbirth to a whole lot of other stuff, I often feel that I'm walking behind a long line of investors, inventors and innovators. Battles are being fought at the front lines that will make my life easier down the road.

I am grateful. I am humbled.

And sometimes I'm amused.

Drowning in Tomatoes

My tomato plants have gone completely crazy, and all the tomatoes are ripening at once. Yes, I know, such a problem!

This is what I did with some of them. Served with focaccia; recipe follows.

Tomato Pasta Sauce



2 dozen home grown tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonade
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
1 lb button or crimini mushrooms, sliced
Good splash red wine
Good splash marsala wine
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 lb dry pasta (in this case I used linguine)

Sweat onion and garlic in olive oil in large pot. Add tomatoes and herbs and bring to a simmer. Add wines and sugar, salt and pepper, and bring back up to a simmer. Simmer for two or three hours until thick and lovely. Add mushrooms. Simmer until mushrooms are tender. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add pasta to pot and toss with sauce. Serve with freshly grated cheese such as parmigiano reggiano or romano.




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Focaccia
From "Baking with Julia"
Recipe by Craig Kominiak



Equipment: This recipe assumes you have a stand mixer. You'll also need a single-edge razor blade and a spray bottle of water to produce steam in the oven during baking. A baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles are nice but not essential. A pizza peel is nice but not essential.

Makes 3 focaccias.

2-1/4 - 2-1/2 cups tepid water (about 90ºF)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
6 - 6-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons salt

Mixing the Dough Whisk 1/2 cup of the water and the yeast together in the bowl of a mixer. Set the mixture aside for 5 minutes, until the yeast dissolves and turns creamy.

Meanwhile, pour 1-3/4 cups warm water into a large measuring cup, add the olive oil, and whisk to blend; set aside. Whisk 6 cups of the flour and salt together in a large bowl and set this aside as well.

Pour the water-oil mixture over the yeast and stir with the whisk to blend. Add about half of the flour and stir with a rubber spatula just to mix. Attach the dough hook, add the remaining flour, and mix on low speed for about 3 minutes, or until the dough just starts to come together. If the dough appears dry and a little stiff, add a few drops of warm water, scraping the bowl and hook if necessary to incorporate the water and create a soft dough. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and continue to mix for about 10 minutes, scraping down the hook and sides of the bowl as needed, until you have a soft, slightly moist, extremely elastic dough that cleans the side of the bowl. You will know that the dough is properly mixed when a piece can be stretched, without tearing, to create a "window", an almost transparent patch of dough.

First Rise Transfer the dough to a work surface and form it into a ball. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn it around to cover it with oil, and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Second Rise Fold the dough down on itself to deflate it and let it rise again until doubled and billowy, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Shaping and Resting Fold the dough over on itself again to deflate it (as you do this you can hear the bubbles squeak and pop) and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a metal dough scraper or a knife, cut the dough into 3 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball.

The dough needs to be refrigerated for between 24 and 36 hours. (It is this long refrigerated rest that gives the focaccia its characteristic chewy texture and surface bubbles.) Place each ball in an oiled gallon-size lock-top plastic bag and refrigerate.

About 1-1/2 hours before you plan to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and gently take the balls out of the oiled bags. (If you have a problem, cut the bags open with scissors to release the dough.) Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, dust the tops of the balls with flour, and cover loosely but completely with plastic (to avoid having the tops go crusty). Let rest for 1 hour, until the dough reaches a cool room temperature and feels spongy when prodded.

THE TOPPING

Herb-infused or other olive oil
Chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary and/or thyme), 2-3 tablespoons
Coarse sea salt
(Other toppings can include sauteed and cooled onion, slivers of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, olives - I used chopped fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes.)

Cornmeal

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 450ºF. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven and preheat it too; dust a peel with cornmeal. Or line two baking sheets with parchment paper and dust the paper with cornmeal; set the baking sheets aside. Fill a spray bottle with water and set it aside as well.

Shaping the Dough Use your palm to press down gently on each piece of dough, causing bubbles to appear on the sides, then slit the bubbles with a single-edge razor blade to release the gases. Gently pull and stretch each piece of dough into a square about 10 inches across, taking care not to overwork the dough or handle it too roughly -- you don't want to knock out the bubbles you've worked so hard to create. Let the dough relax, covered, for about 10 minutes, then tidy up the edges with your hands.

Baking the Bread Transfer the focaccias to the cornmeal-dusted peel or the parchment-lined baking sheets. Use a single-edge razor blade to slash each square, cutting a tic-tac-toe pattern, or making three slashes in the center of the dough and enclosing them in 4 slashes to form a square with open corners. Brush the focaccias with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh herbs and coarse sea salt and any other toppings, and put them into the oven.

Bake the breads for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden with a heavy speckling of small surface bubbles, spraying the oven with water three times during the first 8 minutes of baking. As soon as you remove the focaccias from the oven, brush them with a little additional olive oil and transfer them to a rack to cool before serving.



Storing The focaccias are best the day they are baked, but once cooled, they can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Thaw the breads, still wrapped, at room temperature and warm them in a 350ºF oven before serving.