Pulled Pork with BBQ Sauce

I've recently had to adopt a fairly strict meal planning regime - Sunday night is my night to cook slow and experiment. Tonight is Pulled Pork with BBQ sauce.

We're having American for dinner tonight

BBQ Sauce (from scratch)

I found it very interesting that a lot of recipes for BBQ sauce claim to be made "from scratch" but are just a mixture of ketchup, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar. Here is my attempt. It's spicy and smoky. I like that it has some texture from the pureed vegetables. I've used rum instead of bourbon because that's what was in my booze cupboard. 

THIS RECIPE from A Life From Scratch illustrates all the steps beautifully.

Makes 3 cups

1 red onion

1  diced carrot

1 mild red chilli

1 apple

1 kiwi fruit (because it was there)

1/2 capsicum (red or yellow)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp each minced garlic, ginger and hot chilli paste (sambal oeleck)

1/2 tsp each of dried thyme, oregano and basil

1/4 cup brown sugar

400g tinned tomato

1 tbsp treacle

3 tsp spanish sweet smoked paprika

2 tsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp mustard seed

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

90ml Bundaberg rum

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup (250ml) water

Peel and dice the fruit and vegetables. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the salt and gently sweat the fruit and vegetables until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Bring to the boil, and then simmer until reduced by at least half. Remove the bay leaf and blend until smooth, then allow to simmer until thickened. I made this the day before so it had 24 hours to sit in the fridge and further develop the flavours. 

Pulled Pork

1.5kg Pork Neck (scotch fillet)

Spice Rub

• 2 tsp spanish smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp white peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp of cumin seed
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano, basil and thyme
• 1 tsp garlic granules

Grind the spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Cut the pork neck into 2-3 large pieces so it will fit into your pot. I am using my pressure cooker. Rub the  meat all over with olive oil and the spice rub. Allow the meat to marinate for 4 hours or longer. Heat the oil in the pan and brown the meat, taking care to avoid burning the spices. Add 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Mix well to coat the meat. Seal the pot and bring to pressure, then reduce the heat and cook for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and allow the pressure to slowly release. Carefully remove the meat from the pan and shred using two forks. It should be very tender.

To serve, cut a roll in half and add a generous portion of pulled pork, caramelised onions, warm bbq sauce and coleslaw. You will need a napkin :)

I made pickles!

Following this lovely recipe from Suburban Tomato:

Now I just need to resist them long enough to develop their flavour.

More Food Trucks Please!

Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner from a Food Truck!

Mobile catering isn't new - ice cream trucks and kebab vans have been around for years. What makes the new generation of Food Trucks exciting is that they're owned and run by restaurants, with the menus cooked by chefs. They stay open long after most restaurants close, in fact many don't start serving until 9pm. It's a real alternative to the usual burgers, pizza or kebabs available to anyone looking for a late dinner in the city. As a general rule, they serve a small menu, and tend to stick to one type of food. Last night the Eat Art Truck was serving mostly Things In a Roll, while the Bite Size Delights truck was selling fresh pastizzi.

So last night, rather than getting some nasty junk food or a terribly overpriced meal from a cafe, I had a fantastic roll with mustardy coleslaw, pulled pork and bourbon bbq sauce from the Eat Art Truck. I devoured it while watching fireworks over Luna Park. Best $15 dinner in ages!

I think 2013 is the year I hunt food trucks!

PS

If you're interested in following Sydney's Food Trucks, there are couple of ways to do it. The first is to go to Twitter and look for @SydneyFoodTrucks - from there you can find out about individual trucks and where they are heading daily.

The City of Sydney Council also has apps for iPhone and Android that show the locations of the trucks. Because the Sydney Festival is currently running, most of them are operating in the CBD, particularly around the Domain.

If you're not in Sydney, then WhereTheTruck.At has maps showing active trucks across Australia.

January Challenge, Day 2

Tonight's dinner was a tasty Asian style beef salad using ramen noodles. I like both the organic dried and instant varieties, and they're just as good served cold as hot. But I don't need to keep too many types of noodles in the cupboard.

Happy New Year! (and starting the January Pantry Challenge)

Happy New Year! I hope 2013 brings with it plenty of love, fun, happiness and good health!

I'm determined to get this year off to a good start. I've definitely been very slack lately and reverting to too many take aways or processed food dinners. So for the first day of the year I'm combining two of my favourite things. Clean eating and the January Pantry Challenge.

Last year I joined the challenge to rid the pantry of half open packets and jars, to make way for fresh food, to reduce clutter, and to focus on home cooking, rather than eating out. It's a good way to repair the budget after Christmas, and hopefully the waistline too.

Tonight's dinner uses dried black beans from the cupboard, cooked with onion and fresh tomatoes, fresh garden silverbeet, and lots of spices. I've read that it's an American tradition (especially among African Americans) to cook a frugal meal of beans and green vegetables on New Year's Day as a way to invite prosperity for the coming year. It also makes sense to start the year with a healthy vegetarian meal after the excesses of the festive season.

Creating a Mini Kitchen (Part Two)

It's Christmas Eve, and the mini kitchen is finished!

The painting is all done, the doors have been reassembled with new fittings, and the stove has the latest in induction technology (otherwise known as sheet acrylic).

Daffodil Yellow

To say I'm pleased with the result is an understatement. It's turned out much better than I hoped, the furniture actually brightens up my dining room, and my little boy is enjoying using his new space for cooking. And playing with trains.

In the end, I spent more on this project than I intended, but I think the result is worth it - a one off set of furniture that is as nice as anything I could have bought, and was a lot more fun to put together. I also have leftover paint for future projects.

Zatar Leaf Green

 I still need to add a handle to the stove door, and add a chain so it doesn't crash onto the floor.

Shiny Cooktop

Bright Delight Orange (and a bucket of toy food)

Happy little mini chef

Merry Christmas!

When Caterpillars Attack!

Sometimes, you can understand why farmers resort to pesticides.

Here is my tub growing mixed radishes:

And this is all that is left of them:

 You can still see some of the culprits: