Carolina Style Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

Pulled pork in a 5qt dutch oven is easy and straightforward with a couple of minor exceptions. The first is to cook the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of 185F. At first thought you might think “Whoa that's 25 degrees higher than the USDA recommendation. Won't it be tough?” That might seem valid considering I usually cook pork at 150-155 but the higher temp allows the fat in the Boston Butt to render and tenderize the meat. The second thing is the resting time. Most would let it rest for about 15 minutes or so but I learned a technique from an avid BBQ guy about resting and when I say BBQ I mean slow cooking on a smoker. Wrap the Boston Butt in heavy aluminum foil and place it in a small insulated cooler with towels above and below the meat and let it rest for an hour or so.This step will continue the rendering and tenderizing process. Don't worry it will be steamy and warm when you pull it out of the cooler.
The Carolina style comes from the vinegar and mustard based BBQ sauce.

What you will need for six hungry people.
1 onion sliced
6 cloves of garlic slightly mashed with the back of a knife
1 – 18oz bottle of Carolina style BBQ sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
28 oz beef broth
½ tsp pepper
3 ½ lb Boston Butt
2 Tbs cornstarch and 3 Tbs water blended

Combine first seven ingredients in the dutch oven and stir well. Add the Boston Butt, cover and place in a preheated 275F oven. Cook for 3 hours, turning once halfway through. Remove the meat and let it rest for an hour in the cooler (see above). For the sauce, strain about 2 ½ to 3 cups of the cooking liquid into a saucepan, add the cornstarch water mixture and bring to a low boil for 4 to 5 minutes. After the meat has rested pull the pork into long shreds using two forks. Ladle the sauce over the pulled pork or pass separately.

For the slaw combine 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 2 Tbs sugar, 1/4 tsp celery seed and whisk until blended. Add 1/2 cup light mayo, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp ground pepper and whisk until smooth. Add a 16oz bag of Fresh Express 3 Color Deli Style Cole Slaw and stir to coat evenly.

Forget serving the slaw on the side. This is the way to eat BBQ!

Filet Mignon with Red Chile Sauce

Here is my version of Bobby Flay's Filet Mignon with Red Chile Sauce recipe.

Cooking the filet's was pretty straight forward. He did his on the grill and I used my cast iron skillet. Season the filets with salt, pepper and ground cumin. Place the filets in a hot skillet with about a tbs of oil and cook on both sides for about a minute and a half. Place the skillet in a 425F oven for about 10 minutes until medium rare as determined by the finger test. After you spoon the sauce over the filets, place a slice of goat cheese on top and use a blow torch to melt and brown the cheese. I used a Benzomatic MAPP gas torch but I'm sure there are more kitchen friendly models around ;)

For the chile sauce, seed all the peppers then toast them in a hot iron skillet for about 30 seconds per side. Be careful here as they will burn easily. Saute the onions and garlic in a medium saucepan until soft then add the chicken stock and peppers and simmer on medium low for 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon transfer the peppers and onions to a food processor then add 2 cups of the chicken stock and process until smooth. Pour this chile sauce into a medium hot saute pan snd simmer for about 8-10 minutes. Remove the saute pan from the heat and stir in the creme fraiche and maple syrup.

As for the red chile sauce, my peppers looked smaller so I used an extra ancho and New Mexico chili. I watched this episode on Food Network and he was ambiguous about how much of the stock liquid to add to the food processor so I added the stock until it looked right, about 2 cups.
The recipe says to strain the sauce but the picture on the Food Network site doesn't look strained. I have made this chili sauce a couple of times and I strained it the first time for a velvety smooth sauce. For this recipe I did not strain the sauce and it was a bit thicker which was also very nice.
The addition of the creme fraiche and maple syrup is a must as the sauce will have a raw unfinished taste without it. I was amazed at the price of pure maple syrup at $9.35 a bottle! Also creme fraiche is very hard to find so here are some substitutions. Use honey instead of pure maple syrup. For the creme fraiche use use 1/2 cup each of sour cream and whipping cream, let stand at room temperature for 12 hours then refrigerate.

What you will need for the chile sauce.
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
3 New Mexican red chiles, lightly toasted
2 quajillo chiles, lightly toasted
2 ancho chile, lightly toasted
6 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Southern Comfort

It doesn't get more southern than this. Chicken Fried Steak with cream gravy and mashed potatoes. Originating in Texas in the 19th century from German and Austrian immigrants who brought their Wiener schnitzel style with them and created a southern classic. You can use just about any cut of beef that has been tenderized. And by tenderized I mean beaten with a rolling pin like it's your bosses face.
I used cube steak for this recipe and tenderized it with a rolling pin between plastic wrap. The technique is simple, dredge in flour, dip in an egg wash, coat with bread crumbs and fry in an iron skillet. The only caveat is that in order to keep the coating on the steak you need a light coating of flour. Too thick a coating of flour will destroy this dish. After you dredge the streak in the flour shake off the excess flour so you have a light coating, dip in the egg wash and let the excess egg drain from the steak then a nice coating of panko crumbs and your skillet will be happy. Fry for four to five minutes per side and enjoy.

Steaks

A good steak doesn’t need much, just a cast iron skillet, a good rub and some high heat. The best steakhouses use Prime meat and a super high temp infra-red broiler. Cost keeps me from buying prime meat the majority of the time and cost definitely keeps me from buying an infra-red broiler! You can still cook a great steak at home though. Buy a good cut of Prime or Choice steak about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Stay away from Select meat. Make your own rub, heat up the oven and get your iron skillet smokin’ hot and you will be about 12 minutes away from steak nirvana. I am really spoiled cooking steaks this way. I rarely cook them on the grill anymore. After listening to Bobby Flay extolling the virtues of ancho powder numerous times I decided to try his recipe and I’m hooked! Well I tried my version of the recipe. Anyway, making the ancho powder was really easy and adds a great spicy flavor to the meat.
Fire up your cast iron skillet for a few minutes until smokin’ hot then add a splash of canola oil , the steaks and cook for about a minute on both sides. The rub should be cooked to a nice crust but not burned.
Place the skillet into a preheated 425F oven for 6 to 8 minutes until the desired doneness is reached as determined by the finger test. Enjoy!

What you will need for the steak rub.
• 2 TBS course ground peppercorns
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp ancho powder
Sprinkle the rub over the meat and press the rub into the meat with your fingers.

I’ll post soon on how to use your cast iron skillet to dry ancho chili’s to make ancho powder. Stay tuned.

Cheeseburgers

If you did indeed invent the cheeseburger Mr. Lionel Sternberger I salute you! Cheeseburgers are the near perfect food. Besides tasting great they have most of the food groups, meat, vegetables, dairy, grain and beer. Whether you fry them in an iron skillet or grill them on iron grates you will soon be enjoying a delicious piece of Americana, unless it’s the Four Year Old Cheeseburger or the Cheeseburger in a Can.

There is a growing trend of placing the toppings on the bottom of the burger. The theory is that the rising heat from the burger will diminish the freshness of the toppings. This might be fine in a fast food restaurant but the burgers I make at home don’t sit around for long so I’m not worried about it. Even Jimmy Buffet’s Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant is doing it. I don’t put the toppings on the bottom because I use some mayo on the bottom bun to mix with the cheeseburger juices to form a nice sauce, besides it just looks weird.

I guess you can tell that I like mine with lettuce and tomato….

Steak Sandwiches

These steak sandwiches are very tender and flavorful. There’s nothing worse than biting into what you think is going to be a tender steak sandwich then fighting with the meat for a minute before giving up and pulling back while the piece of meat flies out of the sandwich and slaps you in the face with a “HA!” I hate it when that happens so I make sure it never does with this recipe. Even if you don’t use the tender nicely marbled Flat Iron steaks called for in this recipe you can still achieve success by using a good cut of meat, marinating it, cutting it into thin slices and cooking it quickly in batches. The reason I use thin slices is that they cook quickly and evenly and if you are using any flavor ingredients as in stir fry they will cook nicely into the meat. Cook the meat in batches so as not to crowd the pan. If you dump all of the meat in the skillet the moisture from the meat and residual marinade will cause the meat to start to stew and you can’t stew in a few minutes. Stewing is a long slow process used on less tender cuts of meat. I recommend using the ciabatta rolls for this recipe as the soft somewhat chewy ciabatta soaks up the juices nicely and holds up well for a sandwich like this.

Marinate the steaks for at least four hours or overnight. Remove the steaks from the marinade, pat dry and place in the freezer for about ten minutes prior to slicing. This will make the meat easier to cut into thin slices. Caramelize the onions in a cast iron skillet and then add the roasted red peppers to heat through and set aside in a bowl. Wipe your skillet with a paper towel to clean and re-heat until just smoking and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to the hot pan. Cook the meat for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Brush olive oil on the insides of the ciabatta rolls and grill or broil for a few minutes until golden brown. Spread the Dijon mustard on the rolls; add the steak, onion and peppers and provolone cheese. Place the sandwiches on a cookie sheet and place in a 300F oven for about 5-7 minutes to heat and let the cheese melt. Enjoy!

What you will need.
• Two 1LB Flat Irons Steaks
• two onions sliced
• ½ bottle roasted red peppers drained and patted dry
• 4-6 ciabatta rolls
• Provolone cheese slices
• Olive oil
• Whole grain Dijon mustard
• Coarse Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
Marinade
• ½ cup oil
• 2 TBS red wine vinegar
• 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 TBS Oregano
• 2 cloves garlic minced

Fourth of July Weekend

The Fourth of July weekend, good friends, beef tenderloin on the Big Green Egg, a swimming pool, music and cold beverages is a beautiful thing! Kevin invited me over for beef tenderloin on the Big Green Egg and I was like “Yeah man I’m in!” That BGE is great for everything from slow cooking pulled pork at 235F overnight to cooking fine steaks at 700F so I knew this was going to be great. Plus we had the Tiki God watching over the BGE.

The beef tenderloin marinated and ready for the Egg.

An hour or so and it’s almost ready.

Dana made some great baked beans kicked up with ground beef and bacon. She also made some awesome dirty rice which I didn’t get a picture of. DOH!

The beef tenderloin sliced and ready to eat. The tenderloin was perfect! It was flavorful and oh so tender!

Kevin hands me my plate. I hope there's enough for everybody else.

Fajitas

Fajitas are a great way to jazz up a mid week dinner. With a little advance preparation they can be done and on the plate in no time. The bare minimum advance prep is to marinate your meat overnight. If you want to take it a step further and really save some when you start to cook, prep the vegetables in advance too. Start with a flank steak, skirt steak or flat iron steak and prepare the marinade. I used flat iron steak for this recipe. Place the meat in a gallon size freezer bag then add the following marinade ingredients, shake to coat and marinate overnight.
• ½ cup canola oil
• Juice of 3-4 limes
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp minced cilantro
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste
• Splash balsamic vinegar
When you are ready to start cooking, remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels, then place in the freezer for 10 minutes before you are ready to start slicing it. This will make the meat easier to cut into thin slices. For the vegetables, slice two onions and julienne one each green, red and yellow pepper. Sauté the vegetables a skillet for about fifteen minutes until they look like this.

While the vegetables are cooking slice the steak against the grain in finger length thin slices. Put the cooked vegetables in a casserole dish, cover and place in a 140F oven to keep warm.
Cook the thin sliced steak on medium high heat for about two minutes per side. It doesn’t take long for the thin sliced meat to cook. Cook the meat in batches so as not to crowd the pan. If you dump all of the sliced meat in the skillet it will stew and come out tough. It will probably take three or four batches to cook the meat. Put the cooked batches of steak in the casserole dish with the vegetables to keep warm.

Once the fajitas are done it’s time to heat the tortillas. Try to find fajita style tortillas as they are a bit smaller, thicker and handle the fajita juices better. Remove the fajitas from the oven and turn the oven up to 350F. Wrap the tortillas in foil and warm in the oven for ten minutes.
While the fajita style tortillas are warming prepare your condiments. Since this was a mid week family style, time saving recipe, I opted for store bought guacamole, salsa and sour cream. Shredded Monterey Jack cheese would be nice also. I served these with tortillas and salsa but I have a good recipe for black bean salad that would be great with this but that’s another post.

If you want to get fancy for guests or treat your family to an extra special presentation there are nice cast iron fajita skillets available for individual service. Place the fajitas on the skillets and place in a hot oven until they sizzle. When you bring them to the table, enjoy the ooh’s and ahh’s. If you use this method you will want to slightly undercook the meat as it will finish cooking in the sizzling skillet.

Big Skillet Burger

This one sort of goes into the category of yeah you can do it but why? I mean it tasted really good but I wouldn't eat it as a burger on a bun. If you cut that bad boy into quarters you will need some triangle shaped buns! It's more suited as a meatloaf style dinner. The next time I'll probably add some bread crumbs.



You will need about a pound of ground chuck, about a quarter of an onion minced, one egg, a few slices of cheddar cheese, four slices of cooked bacon and salt and pepper to taste. Mix the ground chuck, onion and egg together with your hands. Divide the mixture into halves and form into patty shapes. Top one of the patties with cheddar cheese and bacon. Place the other patty on top and form until the edges are sealed and you feel guilty. Season the top with freshly ground black pepper. Cook in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat for about 4 minutes then pop into a pre-heated 350F oven for about ten minutes.

Flat Iron Steak

Flat Iron Steak is an undervalued cut created by research done by the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. This research found this to be the second tenderest cut of beef after the tenderloin. Where in the heck has this jewel been hiding for all these years? It was nestled in the shoulder clod with a thick piece of tough connective tissue which lead to the assumption that it was a touch cut. Researchers developed a procedure to cut the steaks removing the connective tissue, yielding four tender inexpensive and flavorful steaks per cow. I bought these on sale for 3.99 per lb and each was just a little over a pound.

I whipped up a marinade with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, oregano and a splash of red wine and let them marinate overnight. Using the trusty 12” iron skillet I seared them on each side for about 2 ½ minutes then placed the skillet in a 400F oven for 15 minutes to finish. I topped each with sautéed caramelized onion, mushrooms and A1 sauce. Wow, what a great tender steak for two bucks!

Beef Shoulder Filet

Beef Shoulder Filet also known as Petite Tender Cut is a well-kept secret in the meat case. Developed on behalf of the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. it is a tender and inexpensive cut from the chuck. Equally at home on the grill or in a sizzling iron skillet it takes marinades and sauces well.

These were marinated with a teriyaki marinade. Don't use a sugar based marinade if you are going to grill because the sugar will burn long before the meat is done. Always add this type of marinade close to the end of cooking. I cooked these in a cast iron skillet on medium high heat to sear for 2-3 minutes per side. Then put the skillet in a pre-heated 400F oven for about 15 minutes until internal temperature is 140F for medium rare.

If you aren't lucky enough or willing enough to own a beautiful black as coal non-stick cast iron skillet, you can still cook with this method. Sear the meat in your skillet of choice leaving at least an inch or more between the pieces of meat. If the meat is crowded too close together it will stew and come out tough. Just before you start to sear the meat, place a casserole dish large enough to hold all of the meat with the 1-2 inch spacing in the hot oven. Once the meat is seared, remove the casserole dish with an oven mitt and transfer the seared meat to it and place in the hot oven. It might take a few extra minutes in the oven to reach to reach medium rare this way but the end result should be the same, a very tender and juicy petite tender!

No matter what cooking method you choose you should let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes to finish cooking and let the juices render back into the meat. The resting will raise the internal meat temperature 5 degrees or more. The meat was very tender but not as flavorful as traditional steak cuts from the short loin, such a T-Bone and Porterhouse.

I sliced some very thin and served with Hoisin sauce, soy sauce and a chili garlic sauce.The rest I sliced as rounds about an inch thick with A1 sauce.

The leftover thin slices made wonderful tender steak sandwiched the next day.