Pulled Pork with Mango Sauce

Aarti hits in another home run with this fantastic pulled pork recipe.  I've had great luck with her recipes in the past, and this one was no different.  Super tender pulled pork is stirred into a sweet and spicy mango sauce - the original recipe called it a BBQ sauce, but we didn't really think it tasted like BBQ.  That didn't make it any less delicious - topped with a tangy coleslaw (recipe here), this pork makes a fantastic lunch or dinner.  I really enjoyed all the different spices going on in this recipe - it made for a unique dish that didn't taste like the usual pulled pork sandwich.

Pulled Pork with Mango Sauce (adapted from Aarti Party)

For the meat
4 pounds bone-in pork butt
2 T brown sugar
2 T kosher salt
1 T paprika
1 cup chicken stock

For the sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 onion, finely minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 cups mango puree
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. Combine the brown sugar, salt, and paprika in a small bowl.  Rub all over the pork, and then place in a large bowl and cover with plastic.  Marinate overnight, in the refrigerator.
2. In the morning, place the pork into a slow cooker, along with any accumulated juices.  Pour the chicken stock over, and then cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the pork is falling-apart tender.  You may want to flip the pork once or twice during the cooking process.
3. Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan over low heat, until shimmering.  Add the cumin and fennel seeds.  Once the sputtering subsides, add the onions, garlic, and ginger.  Saute until they soften but don't let them brown.
4. Add the mango puree, lime juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil, and then cover and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer the sauce for about 3 hours to let the flavors develop.
5. When the meat is ready, remove from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. Add to the mango sauce and let simmer for about 30 minutes to let flavors combine.  Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary.

Honey-Oat Sandwich Bread

You know how you're never supposed to go to the grocery store when you're hungry? Well, that's probably because you'll come away with three kinds of fancy cheese.  :)  And since I don't like to eat fancy cheese with boring supermarket sandwich bread, I definitely had to make some homemade bread to go along with it.  I found this one in my list of bookmarks and decided it was just the ticket. The bread is soft in texture and has good flavor from the honey and butter without being overly sweet.  My favorite way to eat it was spread with the fig-goat cheese spread that I bought on my cheese splurge, and then topped with lightly dressed arugula (tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil).

Honey-Oat Sandwich Bread (adapted from King Arthur Flour)
Makes 1 loaf

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
2-1/4 tsp instant yeast
1-1/2 tsp salt
4 T melted butter
3 T honey
1 cup lukewarm water (more as needed)

1. Whisk together the flours, oats, yeast, and salt.  Stir in the butter, honey, and water until combined.  Cover and let sit 20 minutes for the oats to absorb some of the moisture.
2. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, adding more water if the mixture seems too dry.
3. Cover and let rise 60-90 minutes (the dough may not double but should be noticeably risen).  Punch down, shape into a loaf, and place in a greased loaf pan.
4. Cover and let rise another 60-90 minutes.  Toward the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Bake the loaf 30-35 minutes, or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.  While the bread is still hot, rub with butter.  Let cool before cutting into the loaf.

Yogurt Cake with Asian Pears and Cinnamon Swirl

This is a quick and delicious coffee cake that's easy to mix up and even easier to eat!  Although the original recipe called for apples, I went with Asian pears since that was what I had on hand - they cooked up similarly to apples but definitely added a unique and tasty flavor to the cake.  Since I was using Asian pears, I subbed in cardamom for some of the cinnamon - it's one of my favorite spices, and I think it combines beautifully with pears.  There's no better way to start the morning than with a coffee cake full of pears and warm spices!

Yogurt Cake with Asian Pears and Cinnamon Swirl (adapted from the kitchn, original recipe here)
Makes one 8-inch square cake

3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used 2 percent)
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
2 Asian pears, peeled and coarsely chopped
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
Scant 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Generous grate of fresh nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 T unsalted butter, very soft

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. Whisk together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, sugar, egg, yolk, and vanilla.  Add the chopped pears and stir to combine..
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom.  Stir into the wet ingredients until just combined.
4. Stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter until well combined in a small bowl.
5. Scrape about half the batter into the prepared baking pan.  Using your fingers, sprinkle about half the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the batter.  Top with remaining batter and remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture.
6. Bake about 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes before cutting.

Swiss Chard Gratin

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!  If you need to detox a bit today, this veggie dish might be just the ticket - I ate it as a main dish with some bread and butter, though you could certainly also serve it in smaller portions as a side.

This was a great dinner put together with food from the farmer's market.  I came across this recipe on an afternoon when I had almost no real food in the house but just didn't feel like running out to the grocery.  Luckily it was a Tuesday, when there's a farmer's market about 2 blocks from my house! As you might expect from an Alice Waters recipe, this step has quite a few steps - making breadcrumbs from fresh bread and then toasting them with oil in the oven, blanching the chard and then adding it to a white sauce that's been made separately, and then finally layering everything in a baking dish.  However, the results are very tasty - the greens taste rich and flavorful without a ton of added fat and no added meat (though I'm sure some crispy bacon would be excellent here), and the breadcrumb topping is so much crispier and yummier than sprinkling over pre-made breadcrumbs or even panko.

Also - I'm now on Google+!  Feel free to check the page out here and follow me if you like.

Swiss Chard Gratin (adapted from the Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters)
Serves 2 as a main or 3-4 as a side

Butter (a few tablespoons all together)
1 large bunch Swiss chard
Salt
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (grind up good-quality, crustless bread in the blender or food processor)
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp flour
1/2 cup milk (I used non-fat)
Splash of cream (optional)
Freshly grated nutmeg
Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a smallish baking dish.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Wash and stem the chard.  Save half the stems and thinly sliced them, and cut all of the leaves into large pieces.
3. Add a generous amount of salt to the boiling water and stir to dissolve.  Add the chard stems and cook 2 minutes.  Add the leaves to the pot and cook for 3 more minutes.  Drain and allow to cool. Gently squeeze out the extra liquid and set aside.
4.  Toss the breadcrumbs with the olive oil and spread onto a baking sheet.  Toast in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.  When you remove the breadcrumbs, leave the oven on.
5. Meanwhile, melt 1-1/2 T butter in a large skillet.  Add the onion and cook over medium heat until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the chard and season with salt.  Cook 3 minutes.  Sprinkle the flour over and stir well.  Add the milk and a few grates of nutmeg.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If the mixture gets too thick, add a splash of cream or more milk.  The chard should be moist but not floating in liquid.  Taste and add salt if needed.
6. Transfer the chard to the buttered baking dish.  Dot the top with a couple of teaspoons of butter.  Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the chard, and then sprinkle over a bit of Parmesan cheese, if desired.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden and bubbling.

Bourbon-Chocolate Pecan Pie

This pie was my contribution to our (pre-)Thanksgiving dessert table last Saturday, and it was a huge hit.  Although I love traditional pecan pie, it can sometimes be way too sweet.  In this version, the brown sugar and corn syrup are counterbalanced (and the pie is made much more adult) with the addition of bittersweet chocolate and bourbon. The chocolate flavor is much more pronounced than the bourbon - if you're a big fan of bourbon, I think you could probably add more and be very happy.  I found that I had a bit too much filling for my pan (I used a fairly shallow 9-inch pie plate) - if you have excess, just stop pouring when the pie looks like it's getting full and you'll still get a really delicious pie!  I would imagine that you'll be fine if you use a larger/deeper pie plate.  I can definitely recommend this pie for your Thanksgiving table if you're still deciding on desserts for Thursday.  It's full of nutty pecan goodness, sweet syrup-y filling, and rich chocolate.

Bourbon-Chocolate Pecan Pie (adapted from Fine Cooking)
Makes 1 pie

For the crust:
1-2/3 cup flour
2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
5 to7 T ice water

For the filling:
8 large egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 T bourbon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1-1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted, cooled, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

1. Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the largest pieces are about the size of peas. Drizzle 5 tablespoons of the ice water over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture becomes a moist, crumbly-looking dough that holds together when squeezed in your hand, 4 to 6 pulses. If the dough is still dry, add another tablespoon or two of ice water and test again - be careful not to add too much water or the dough will be very hard to work with.
2. Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic.  Chill at least one hour.
3. Cover your work surface with wax paper and place the (unwrapped) dough on the wax paper.  Cover with another sheet of wax paper, and roll out until to about a 13-inch diameter.  Be sure to peel the wax paper off the dough every so often so it doesn't get stuck!
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate.  Trim the edges to about 3/4 inch, fold the remainder under, and crimp with your fingers. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line the piecrust with foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights.
6. Bake 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and weights, and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.  Bake until the bottom looks dry and the edge are golden, 5-7 more minutes.  Cool the crust.
7. When ready to prepare the filling, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and place a large, rimmed baking sheet on the oven rack.
8. Make the filling.  Place the egg yolks in a medium heatproof bowl set on a kitchen towel and add the vanilla.
9. In a 1-quart saucepan, whisk together the sugar, butter, corn syrup, cream, bourbon, and salt.  Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot but not boiling, 3-5 minutes.  Whisking vigorously and constantly, slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into the yolks.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.
10. Spread the pecans evenly over the pie crust.  Sprinkle the chocolate over the pecans.  Slowly pour the filling over in a spiral motion to avoid disturbing the pecans and chocolate.
11. Place the pie on the baking sheet and bake 35-40 minutes, until the center of the pie is slightly firm and the filling does not wobble.  Let cool at least 1 hour before serving.  Pie is best on the day it is made.

I'm sending this post off to the These Chicks Cooked Link Party.

Thanksgiving 1.0

This year, my housemates and I decided to do a pre-Thanksgiving celebration the weekend before we all go our separate ways for the holidays.  Everyone contributed a couple of dishes and we had an absolutely amazing spread!  Definitely food coma-inducing.  Here's a photo of my overflowing plate:

Cider-Brined Turkey; Mashed Potatoes; Apple, Onion, Sage, and Sour Cream Dressing; Turkey Gravy; Green Bean Casserole; Salad with pears, blue cheese, sprouts, and blackberries; Rolls from La Farine with homemade blackberry jam; Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes; Happy Girl pickles; Port-Balsamic Cranberry Sauce; and Sour Cherry Chutney.

 Caitlin, Tim, me, and Nina - plus six more not in this photo!

I think my favorite dish was the stuffing; I typically don't love stuffing that's not baked in the turkey, but this one was super moist and flavorful.  My housemate Andrea said the key is to keep basting it while it cooks, either with turkey drippings or with a mixture of vegetable broth and butter to keep it vegetarian.  I'll post about desserts later this week - we had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and hot spiced apple cider!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving later this week if you celebrate...I'll be enjoying Thanksgiving 2.0 on Thursday with my boyfriend Tim and his housemates!

Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf

With the chilly fall weather we've been having lately, I've definitely had a hankering for gingerbread.  And really the only thing that can improve on gingerbread is adding chocolate!  This cake includes chocolate in two ways - cocoa in the batter and chocolate chips stirred in at the end.  Ginger also shows up twice - dried and fresh.  While crystallized ginger is often the norm for cakes like this, I'm not a huge fan of it.  I much prefer fresh ginger, especially as used here - rather than being grated, it's minced so that there are little bursts of intense ginger flavor scattered throughout the cake.  This is an absolutely delicious cake, and the flavors feel very festive to me - they definitely put me in a holiday spirit!

Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf (adapted from Lara Ferroni, original recipe here)
Makes 1 loaf

135 grams (1 cup plus 1 T) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 T natural cocoa powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Generous pinch ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup molasses
2 T minced fresh ginger
3/4 cup chocolate chunks

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a loaf pan (or use the oil spray that includes flour).
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and salt in a small bowl.  Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the egg.  Beat in the buttermilk and molasses. The mixture will look curdled; that's ok.
4. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Add the fresh ginger and chocolate and stir just to incorporate.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.