Carnitas

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In my opinion, one of the best “bang for your buck” cuts of meat is the Boston butt. I’m not sure why they call it a butt, when really it’s a shoulder – one of the many mysteries of cookery. You can usually find one for under $10, and I find that we will get countless meals from it. My go-to way to prepare it was always in the slow cooker, with a ton of BBQ sauce. Which, I love. But, after trying it slow roasted in the oven with lots of Mexican spices…I have a new favorite go-to recipe for this budget friendly cut. The final crisping stage of the pork really seals in the flavor. One shoulder yields a ton of meat. I’ll usually plan for burritos or quesadillas one night, and then tacos later in the week. Would be great on nachos too. Perfect for your table on Super Bowl Sunday!

Carnitas

4-5-pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5-inch chunks
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup beer (I like pale ale or IPA)
2 bay leaves
water
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced

Set oven to 350. Combine salt, chile powder, and cumin. Rub the pieces of pork shoulder with seasonings.

Heat the oil in a roasting pan set on the stovetop. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two batches.

Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot and place on paper towel lined plate to drain. Add beer to pan, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits.

Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd’s submerged in liquid. Add the bay leaves and garlic and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and place in heated oven.

Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter. Set oven temperature to 425 degrees.

Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, discarding any obvious big chunks of fat. Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how brown and crackly you want them. Usually about 20 minutes.

Source: adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris by Dave Lebovitz

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts

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The past couple of years for Christmas, we’ve received a big tin of these wonderful  spicy peanuts from a family member. Sadly, this year she was not able to attain a tin. I look forward to them all year, so I must admit I was a little bit disappointed when they weren’t under the tree for us. However, it got me to thinking – how hard could they be to make at home?

After a little bit of recipe sleuthing, I found a recipe that seemed that it fit the bill.  I’m happy to report that I like this homemade version just as much, if not more, than the original. With just the right amount of kick from the chipotle powder, and a nice background sweetness from the honey – you’ll find yourself reaching for another handful.  Consider yourself warned, they are addicting! It makes a big batch, great for snacking on all week long. While I’ll still gladly accept a tin of Hot Honeys if gifted to me, I’m happy to know that I’ll be able to make my own at home all year long.

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts

1/3 cup white sugar
1½ teaspoons chipotle chile powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound skinless peanuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir together the sugar, chipotle powder, chili powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl; set aside.

Stir together the butter, honey, and kosher salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted, and the mixture is bubbly. Stir in the peanuts until well coated, then pour out into a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until the nuts are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Stir the mixture 2 or 3 times to ensure even cooking. Once done, scrape the peanuts into a large metal bowl, and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Toss the peanuts to evenly coat with the spice mixture. Allow the peanuts to cool to room temperature, tossing every few minutes so the nuts do not stick together.

Source: Allrecipes

Fried Pickles

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It’s been a good year, football wise, for our family. Not so much for my team (the Redskins), but for my husband’s 49ers. It’s also been a good year for football snacks in our home, mainly in the form of these fried pickles. I’ve always loved pickles, and at first I was hesitant about the concept of deep frying them. I first tried them at one of my favorite places, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats (if you’re ever in Rehoboth, DE – go! Delicious local fare and craft beer await). After that, I was hooked. I tried a few recipes that were good – but diddn’t make my heart sing. Finally threw in the towel and just tried the battering method that I use for my fish tacos, and it worked like a charm! I’ve made them every Sunday afternoon for the past month, and we’re still not tired of them.

They’re a breeze to make, as I usually have everything on hand for beer batter. They’re also a super-cheap appetizer. While I’m sure they are wonderful with a premium cold-chilled pickle, I really like them with my store’s generic brand. They’re a thick cut pickle chip, and they have the ridges in them – which I think helps the batter adhere to the pickle. They also stay nice and crispy for a good while after serving, not that they’ll actually last that long!

With playoff parties and the Super Bowl upon us, definitely add these babies to your lineup. You won’t be sorry!

Fried Pickles

1 pint sliced dill pickles
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups beer (a lager or ale is perfect for this application)
vegetable oil, for frying
Ranch salad dressing, for dipping

Strain pickles from juice and lay the slices flat on a paper towel to drain out excess moisture. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a medium saucepan to 375 degrees.

While bringing the oil to temperature; combine 1 cup of flour, the kosher salt, and the beer in a medium bowl. Mix until combined, and no lumps remain. Add the remaining 1/2 cup flour to a small resealable bag. Add the sliced pickles to the bag, about 10 at a time, and shake to coat with flour. Remove and add pickle slices to the bowl with the beer batter, using a fork to coat. Repeat with remaining pickle slices.

Fry battered pickle slices in hot oil until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove to paper-towel lined plate to drain. Serve warm, along side ranch for dipping.

Source: Inspired by Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats

Beer Battered Fish Tacos

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I consider today to be the last day of summer. Here in Maryland, there is already a crispness in the air in the mornings. School buses are on the move, and dare I say it, but I’ve already seen a few leaves changing color. It’s been a wonderful summer for me and my family. We’ve got a new baby on the way (due on Christmas Eve!), had an abundance of fresh seafood, many glorious days at the beach, and plenty of good food on the table. Even though I have not been regular with my blogging, rest assured I still have been putting out “good eats” on the regular. This, my friends, was one of our favorite dishes this summer. Beef tacos and chicken tacos are wonderful, but a good fish taco is on another plane of existence!

Now, of course you could grill or pan sear your fish for a healthier option. But, I gotta give two-thumbs up for the beer batter. I used my husbands home brewed 60 Minute IPA, and the beer flavor really shined through. The fish also stayed crispy long after frying. We were nibbling on fish nuggets long after dinner was over! I like to employ a double-shell technique for these. I had some wonderful blue corn taco shells that I got while in the “big city” a month or so ago. But, they are very fragile. My solution was to wrap a flour tortilla around the corn, and it really does give it a little something extra as far as the texture is concerned. We topped ours with a spicy chipotle ailoi, pico de gallo, and of course the traditional thinly sliced cabbage.

They’ve definitely become a favorite in our household, even with our 2 year old Drew. He couldn’t get enough of the fish, as well as the Spanish rice I served it with (which, I will have to blog on it’s own in another post…it’s insanely good as well!). I see us having this dish in the cold winter months as well for sure!

Beer Battered Fish Tacos

1 firm white fish filet (cod, haddock, catfish, flounder)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup beer (whatever you’ve got laying around)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp kosher salt

6 hard corn taco shells (blue is nice, but yellow is fine too!)

6 small “fajita-sized” flour tortillas

finely shredded cabbage

pico de gallo or chopped tomato

vegetable oil for frying

For the chipotle aioli :

1/2 cup good mayonnaise

3 tbsp chopped chipotle in adobo sauce

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp hot sauce

juice from 1/2 a lime

Combine 1 cup flour, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the beer to the flour mixture and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to let the yeasts in the beer develop. Meanwhile prepare the fish by patting the filet dry with paper towels, then cutting into 1×1 inch chunks. Place the remainder 1/2 cup of flour into a small bowl, and toss the fish chunks in the flour to coat.

For the aioli, combine the mayonaise, chipotle pepper, cilantro, hot sauce and lime juice. Add salt to taste. Place in serving dish and set aside to let flavors mingle.

Heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat to 375 degrees.  Remove fish from the flour bowl, and place about half of the chunks into the beer batter. Once coated in the batter well, place in hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove to paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining chunks of fish.

Heat corn tortillas in a 350 degree oven to crisp, and warm the flour tortillas on a plate covered with plastic wrap in the microwave for about 45 seconds until pliable. Place the corn tortilla inside the flour tortilla. Place fried fish inside the shells (I had to cut some of the chunks in half as they were large), and top with shredded cabbage, chipotle aioli, and pico de gallo. A squirt of fresh lime juice is nice as well. Enjoy with a nice cold beer!

Source: Inspired by a dish at Gordon Biersch