There aren't many nights this week to menu plan for. Buppy and I are both sick today, so the kids will likely get mac 'n cheese for dinner. Buppy works 2 overnights this week instead of his customary one, and we're going out of town Friday after work through Sunday evening. That leaves me with Wednesday, and I already have 2 pieces of meat we need to use up. Easy peasy.
So . . . very excited for this weekend. My birthday is next Monday, and while we usually throw a nice shindig at our house, we decided on something different this year. Living where we do (central Maryland), we have quite a few options close by to explore for a weekend. We're taking this weekend and heading to Philadelphia. There have been numerous restaurants from Philly featured on Food Network and/or the Travel channel, and I plan to test out a few. I know a classic Philly cheese steak will make an appearance at some meal, however I'm a bit more excited to try a roast pork Italian sandwich (roast pork, broccoli rabe and cheese) from Tony Luke's. From the moment I first saw this sandwich on a FN show, I've craved it. And now it's almost here!
The following weekend I'm planning a trip to either the King of Prussia (shopping!) or NYC to meet up with an old roommate from Wisconsin. Following that will be NYC for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Thank goodness for my hotel discounts or I'd never be able to afford this kind of travel!
There. A quick blog post. I'm trying not to be so MIA here, but between work, the gym, cooking and traveling, it's hard to find the time. So is the struggle of every adult I suppose - not enough time!
Yes, this is Marc Murphy and I at the fundraiser Buppy and I attended on Monday night. For those of you not as obsessed with food as myself, Marc owns several famous NYC restaurants (Landmarc, among others) and is often a judge on Food Network's Chopped series. Sweet! (I realize I look slightly alarmed, but I blame the lighting.) How exciting!
It all started with this recipe for slow-cooker brisket sandwiches. And for the record, I took a picture, but it was ugly and icky and not post-worthy. I digress.
I took the time last night to prep my marinade and sear the brisket for tonight's dinner so I could quickly throw it all together this morning before heading out the door for work. I was excited; things smelled great.
I called Buppy on my way to the gym to ask if he had tried it and find out how the house smelled. Word was that the house smelled fab and the brisket was yummy. It didn't hold together to slice, but heck, I can deal with shredded meat!
Then I arrived home . . . to disappointment. Well, Buppy had just sprayed down and wiped off the dinner table, so I couldn't smell the meat, just a lemony-piney-clean odor. Ok, fine, whatever; I can deal with that, too.
Then I tried a bite. Most of you dear readers would probably like this meat, but for me, it was way too sweet. Anyone who knows me knows I don't care for sweet meat at all, which means we almost never eat BBQ sauce (at least I don't). I should have known - the recipe called for tomato paste (I had to use sauce as I thought I had paste but turns out I was wrong) and brown sugar. Couple that with some Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar and you've got one overly sweet brisket folks!
Buppy liked it, and Tiny Tot #1 devoured his (so I'm told, I wasn't home to witness this). He ate almost all of it before touching his homemade fries! What I'm trying to say is that if you're a regular Joe and enjoy your BBQ, give this a try and you will probably enjoy it. Make sure to get some nice crusty rolls to pair with it - they were the saving grace for me. Thanks for picking up the rolls, Buppy! Also, I topped mine with dill pickle chips for some acidity in hopes of cutting the sweetness. It helped a little.
Now go, enjoy your sweet brisket. Me? I'm off to find a savory dry rub for my next go-round.
Paula Deen isn't someone I often go to for recipes. Sure, the stuff she makes looks good, but I can't justify making something that has 800+ calories per bite. Perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration, but we all know it's not too far-fetched. Every now and then though, she knocks one out of the park in a not-full-fatty kind of way. Don't get me wrong, pork roast isn't exactly super lean, but I skimmed the fat off the liquid and pulled all the fat off the meat that I could after it finished cooking. Anywho, that brings me to this --- her BBQ pork sandwiches. I was on the bike the other day, watching some good ol' Food Network while workin' out, and the episode featuring this recipe was on. I know how much Buppy likes pulled pork/chicken/ . . . most things pulled, and I knew we had almost all the ingredients on hand. Sweet! It's a little bit of work to make because the dry-rubbing process is a lil' messy, but it's well worth the effort!
BBQ Pork
Source: Adapted from Paula Deen
2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne
4 lb. shoulder pork roast
2 c. apple juice
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. white vinegar
1/2 Tbsp. liquid smoke
1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
Mix the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle dry rub all over the pork roast, pressing into the pork. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Combine liquid ingredients and the garlic powder in a medium bowl. Unwrap and place the pork into a large roasting pan and pour the liquid mixture over it. Wrap the roaster tightly with aluminum foil, then cover with the lid. Roast for 4 hours or until the meat shreds easily with forks. Baste with cooking liquid several times during the cooking process.
Remove from the pan and let cool slightly until it can be handled. Shred by hand or with forks into bite-sized pieces, then return to the cooking liquid. Serve on buns or over my homemade bread.
I can tell you that my recipe is a little different from Paula Deen's only because I didn't have exactly what her recipe calls for. Following her recipe exactly could only make things even better, which would be hard to do. I didn't have Worcestershire sauce (what!??!), which hers calls for. That would only be a stellar ingredient to add. I also didn't have enough apple cider vinegar to make the full 1 cup as hers calls for, so I subbed in 1/2 c. of the white vinegar. Using all apple cider vinegar could only make this more delish. Oh yeah, my cayenne addition was much less only because I used up what I had on hand. Check out her recipe, follow it, and use mine if you don't have everything on hand. I love that this was still fantastic even though I didn't have everything. Thank you Paula Deen ---- this bad boy is a keeper for sure! Enjoy!
Sorry --- pic is super messy, but it was tasty nonetheless!
