Slow cooked pork and roasted vegetables

A friend of mine told me he wanted me to make Abuelita J's slow cooked pork yesterday and asked if some other folks could join.  I had absolutely no problem with this but one person is a vegetarian.  Easy enough, I can roast veggies for tacos.

The pork recipe is the same as usual but for the veggies I used:

• Tasteful Selections purple passion potatoes
• 1 red bell pepper - julienned
• 1 yellow bell pepper -  julienned  
• 1 vidalia onion - rough chop
• whole lotta garlic cloves - like over a half dozen cloves
• whole lotta of pureed ginger
• juice of one large lime
• kosher salt
• splash of olive oil in the pan

I boiled the potatoes whilst doing prep work (took less than ten minutes) and then everything went into a cast iron skillet and then into a 350 oven for about fifteen minutes[ish].

Turned out pretty good.  I'm really digging the look of the purple passions.  They look great on the plate and they are tasty.  This combo can stand alone or can be combo'd with the pork (which is what I'm eating a bowl of right now).

Time off, time to get to the grocery store! Recipes!

Booyah!  Another holiday coming up in our Christian nation!  That's cool, and Happy Easter to all of you fine Easter celebrating folks.  I'm in it for the ham.  I don't know and don't care how ham got involved with Easter but fuck yeah, ham!  Also on sale at the local grocerium is loveable lamb!  Now I never really got into lamb except kebabs, mainly because I equate it with that herb-crusted thing served with mint jelly and smells like a Highlander after a long day of log hucking.  I imagine that there's some good way to cook it, particularly with my interest in North African cuisines.  I'll poke around and see if I come up with anything interesting to tell you guys.

I'm also gonna pick up a turkey breast or two just to have on hand, y'know, just in case. 

In other food related news:  Internet friend from the other side of "the pond" is Englishing all over the southern US eating foods that aren't boiled or take-away.  I kid.  At any rate he's been posting on his site shizzling.com and it's pretty awesome to have an outside perspective on foods I/we just take for granted most of the time (e.g. brisket).

"C'mon feel the ham!" Epic hamming Part 2

After a long day of helping friends pack and move I like to come home and unwind by cooking a 16lb ham...at 8pm on a Monday night.  Yes friends I finally have a pot big enough - almost - to cook the haunch of piggy I wrote about earlier.  After washing the pot in the bathtub - the kitchen sink wasn't big enough - and prepping the ham by bludgeoning a cave troll with it I have put it on the stove.  I'm following the recommended cooking method simmering in water and then finishing in the oven.  I didn't soak the ham as part of the prep but I don't think should matter too much - hopefully.  I also added three halved lemons, a dozen bay leaves, a can of pear juice, a whole mess of garlic, and a good slug of cider vinegar to the pot.  My plan is to simmer the ham tonight and then finish in the oven tomorrow.  Fortunately I don't have to work until 1pm tomorrow so I can stay up pretty late dealing with the ham.  Also I can run by the store and pick up a few things I need when I bake it.  Pics and further news pending.

Smithfield ham epic: Part I

I went on my monthly grocery store trip today which, since I don't own a car and public transportation is nigh on useless in Nac, ends up being a Tolkien-esque walk home (only with a lot less singing and more profanity). This time though I decided to only buy what I could carry without too much fussin and cussin.* 

As many of you may know I love going to the grocery store during a weekday afternoon between one and four. The crowds are relatively minimal and I can take my time browsing and shooting the shit with old people and soccer moms. During this trip, while shuffling around the store selecting random salty things (anchovies, pesto, capers, kalamata olives, feta) and large amounts of greens, I came across Smithfield hams on after Christmas sale. Not just sale, hella wicked sale - $15 for a 16lb Smithfield ham. Carrying it home kind of sucked, since I had to Igor it over my shoulder whilst carrying everything else. I'm surprised I didn't get stopped by the cops for carrying a bloody burlap sack.

If you're not familiar with Smithfield hams then you should seek one out. They are the Cadillac of Virginia hams and usually go for a good chunk of change ($79.00 on their site). I've only eaten Smithfield once or twice and never on my own dime so you can see why I was excited to find one on sale. Below is the recipe from their site. Now I have to figure out how I can cook this bugger.

Suggestions for Cooking an Old-Fashioned Favorite: Official recipe from smithfield.com


To prepare ham:

Wash ham thoroughly in warm water. Use a stiff brush to remove surface mold if present. This mold is in no way injurious. Aged hams, like ages cheeses, mold in the process. To reduce saltiness, soak ham in cold water for 12-24 hours prior to cooking. Changing the water during soaking will aid in drawing salt from the ham. (If a milder salt flavor is desired, soak ham for 36 hours). Cook your ham using the Water or Oven cooking instructions listed below.

Water Cooking (preferred method):
Place ham skin side down in vessel and cover with cool water.
Bring water to 190 F (simmering, not boiling).
Cook approximately 25 minutes per pound or until 163 F internal temperature.
Add water as needed to keep ham covered
When done, take ham from vessel. While the ham is still warm, remove skin and fat as desired.
If a sweet coating is desired, sprinkle the fat side with brown sugar and bread crumbs and bake in oven at 400 F until brown (approximately 15 minutes)

Oven Cooking:
Wrap ham in heavy-duty aluminum foil joining edges carefully and forming a vessel with the bottom layer. Add four cups of water within the foil and place in oven with a tray or shallow pan underneath for support.
Cook by the following method:
Preheat oven to 300 F.
Bake ham for approximately three hours or 20 minutes per pound.
Using a meat thermometer, check for 163 F internal temperature in the thickest part of ham.
Remove ham and let cool to room temperature for one hour.
Remove skin and fat as desired.
If a sweet coating is desired, sprinkle the fat side with brown sugar and bread crumbs and bake in oven at 400 F until brown (approximately 15 minutes).

Suggestions for Carving:Use a very sharp knife and cut VERY THIN slices. With ham on platter, fat side up, begin slicing about two inches from hock or small end. Make first cut straight through to the bone. Slant the knife for each succeeding cut. Decrease slant as slices become larger.
CAUTION: Please be careful while slicing ham to avoid personal injury.



*A good trick is to have those cloth bags in tow and learn to guesstimate/Tetris the groceries into the bags with minimal effort.

Beef is made from cows: Part I

I spent the better part of yesterday cooking and I have to say that I might have learned something very obvious that I hadn't considered before.  Beef is not pork.  Beef is made from cows.  Beef also cooks very differently than piggy.  I also had forgotten that beef will retain it's beefy flavour unless nuked from high orbit with a spicy ion cannon.

I purchased about three pounds of stew meat, marinaded it all in cider vinegar and pineapple juice.  I rendered down about a half pound of salt pork then sauteed onions, garlic, and four congo black chiles (aka chocolate habaneros) in the drippings and crumblies.  The majority of the cooked salt pork is now in a container in the fridge waiting for various nommings.  I then added the beef, put the heat on low, and commenced drinking.  About the time I was drunk and realized that I was hungry I had some leftover pizza and passed out (fortunately I had remembered to turn off the stove and put the pot o'moo in the fridge before going to bed).

I woke up hungry so I made some rice and heated up some of the beef.  The beef has become pretty much the consistency of barbacoa  and tastes like barbacoa.  A bonus is that I cooked it so long that all of the fat melted so there's none of that Barbacoa Russian Roulette - will this bite be delicious meat or wad of fat with the texture of dairy phlegm?  The flavour is intensely beefy, even though I didn't use any stock, and that's awesome.  So why am I kind of disappointed?  Well for one I don't have tortillas, fresh cilanto, or lime to make tacos.  For two I don't taste anything but beef.  Thirdly something happened to the heat - it's impulse power warm.  Maybe I just scooped out a dud spoonful.  When I get home from work today I will put the pot back on the stove and add more chiles and stuff.

Am I missing something specific to preparing spicy beef?  Do I need to ramp up the amount of spices I need to counteract the natural flavour?  The salt level is decent thanks to the salt pork.  Is beef kind of a building block for other ingredients?  Am I just out of practice with beef that isn't a steak?  Ideas, questions, comments, suggestions welcome.  I'll post part two when I get some time this evening.

Achtung! Nacogdoches readers! I need your help!

Yours truly is in the initial stages of hunting for beef bones with which to make stock.  If you know of a good meat market or have a dead cow laying around let me know.


"But Joshua, couldn't you just buy beef stock?"  Yes.  Yes, I could...but you see dear readers I am going to make phở from scratch, from the ground up.  Canned or boxed stock is fine for stews but I've been sorely disappointed by the saltiness of most pre-made stocks (even low sodium stocks taste a bit off to me).  So, in order to get quality broth (which is vital to a good bowl of phở) I need quality stock.


I plan to make a Southern Vietnamese styled phở, though once I gain some confidence (as well as gather some ingredients) I will attempt to master phở bắc (Hanoi style) and Bún bò Huế (Huế styled).  I realize I should start with phở bắc because - according to most sources - phở was not widely known in southern Vietnam until the 1940s/50s.  However, I feel most comfortable with my knowledge of Saigon style and flavour.  


Any suggestions, comments, or tips & tricks are very much welcome.