Dennys Food and Recipes: From Grand World Champion Pit Master: Apple City Barbecue Ribs

Barbecue Country Style Ribs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dennys Food and Recipes: From Grand World Champion Pit Master: Apple City Barbecue Ribs: From Denny:  How often can you get a renowned grill master, a barbecue world champion, to walk you through the steps to successful and perfect ribs?  Here's your chance. Good Morning, America invited him on to the show to show us his way of making the most delectable mouth-watering ribs.

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Dennys Food and Recipes: From Chef Mario Batali: Grilled Easter Lamb, Pasta, Cheese Dishes

Dennys Food and Recipes: From Chef Mario Batali: Grilled Easter Lamb, Pasta, Cheese Dishes: "From Denny: Chef Mario Batali is rolling out a simple easy to do Easter dinner. He is also rolling out a new TV show in September of this year where he and a few friends discuss food and pop culture. It sounded like the name of this new show is 'The Chew.' If it's as good as his serial food show he and Mark Bittman and Gwyneth Paltrow did on Spain it should be a joy to watch - and learn.

On the Good Morning America set Chef Batali treated us to an Italian style Easter meal where the Italians love to celebrate the food of the season. If you enjoy potatoes as much as cheesy pasta, then his Pastiera dish is for you. Even vegetarians can enjoy this meal for the side dishes with cheese and eggs.

As usual Chef Mario has everything simplified so you can enjoy your holiday. Take a look at this wonderful grilled lamb dish.

Recipes Featured:

Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Garlic, Rosemary and Mint
Agnolotti Alla Primavera
Asparagus Milanese
Pastiera"

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Recipe: Boston Butt Braised in Coke

Another version of Boston Butt - Image by leshoward via Flickr

From Denny: This is one of those super easy slow-cooking recipes people just love, both for the ease of cooking and it's a crowd pleaser. That and I'm getting hungry just loading this recipe into the online editor! :) (Shameless, I know...)

People in Louisiana love to cook with soft drinks, usually it's Dr. Pepper or Coke, used for meats that smoke or slow-cooking like this in the oven or a slow cooker. Dr. Pepper is a popular favorite when it's Thanksgiving time to smoke a turkey for 12 hours. There is something about the dark syrup soft drinks that makes magic for meat dishes. It could be the high fructose corn syrup that tenderizes the meat and sweetens the taste. Whatever it is the taste is divine! The ultimate is cooking a dish that is low maintenance in labor and is a big hit at the table. Works for me!

Boston Butt Braised in Coke

From: John Kessler, published in Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Serves: 6-8

Note from John: The biggest investment in this delicious dish is time. To prepare a Boston butt for dinner, you'll have to start soon after lunch. You need only sear in oil, put in a pot with a little liquid in the bottom, cover it tightly and let it simmer for hours, turning every now and then. This recipe is similar to one I published once before but much, much better. That can of Coke — a new addition — does strange wonders for the flavor.

Hands on time: 14 minutes
Total time: 4 hours and 15 minutes

Ingredients:

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder or Boston butt

Salt and pepper

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly

1 (12-ounce) bottle or can of Coke

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 ounce fresh ginger, scrubbed and cut into thick coins

2 pieces star anise

1 green onion, thinly sliced, for garnish


Directions:


Trim thick fat from the pork and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven with a heavy fitted lid, and brown meat on all sides, finally turning so the fat side is down. Spoon out any excess grease.

Fry onion in bottom of pot until it wilts, then add the Coke and soy sauce, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits. Add the ginger and star anise. Bring to a simmer and cover.

Braise meat until very tender, about 4 to 4 1/2 hours, turning occasionally. Remove meat to a heated serving platter. Collect braising liquid in a measuring cup and spoon off fat. Press juice and soft onion through a strainer over meat, and discard the spices that collect in the strainer. Garnish with green onion.

Notes: To make the meal, serve with rice, noodles or potatoes

Nutrition:
Per serving (based on 6, using boneless pork shoulder): 298 calories (percent of calories from fat, 40), 34 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 13 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 110 milligrams cholesterol, 829 milligrams sodium.

Recipes: 3 BBQ Sauces, Pulled Pork and Coleslaw

Image via Wikipedia

Pulled Pork over white rice, add some sauteed seasoned chopped bell peppers and onions and this is how I like pulled pork! - Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Mmmmm.... Barbecue is one of those out of this world experiences we call comfort food. Our national "piggy" board always has recipes for us to enjoy. The Pork Board (proper name) featured two recipes for pulled pork sandwiches.

North Carolina (and South Carolina too) is known for its pulled pork and long, long, long, very long slow smoked cooking of the piggy meat. That's the secret, they say, to success with pulled pork. Otherwise, if you are impatient and don't cook the meat long enough, you end up with a tough product. How long do the experts tell us we should cook the meat? They are talking at least two days. That's how it gets infused with that awesome smokey flavor over a wood fire.

You can take the shortcut of cooking your piggy roast in a slow cooker though you won't achieve that intense smokey flavor that can only be achieved from a wood fire. However, the piggy roast will be moist, tender, and very flavorful when you add any of the following wonderful BBQ sauces. Whichever method you use, if you don't think it's tender enough then send it back to the cooker and cook longer to the level you like.

North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork Sandwiches

From: National Pork Board

Serves: 18

Ingredients:

1 pork butt, Boston butt or un-trimmed end-cut pork shoulder roast, about 7 to 9 pounds

5 to 7 cups hickory wood chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

3/4 cup Lexington-Style Vinegar Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)

North Carolina Coleslaw (recipe follows)

18 hamburger buns


Directions:

1. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking.

2. Remove pork from wrapper. Do not trim any excess fat off the meat; this fat will naturally baste the meat during the long cooking time. Brush pork with a thin coating of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on tray until ready to cook.

3. Before placing the meat on the grill, add soaked wood chips. Place pork in center of the cooking grate with fat-side up. Cook slowly for 4 to 5 hours or until instant-read meat thermometer inserted in the middle of the pork registers 190 to 200 degrees and the meat is very tender and falling apart. If there is a bone in the meat, it should come out smooth and clean. There is no need to turn meat during the cooking time.

4. Let meat rest for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Using a sturdy fork and a knife, pull meat apart and discard fat. Set aside any crispy bits of fat that have been completely rendered and look almost burned. After the meat is completely shredded, chop the reserved crispy bits and mix them into the warm pork.

5. Mix with enough Lexingston-Style Vinegar Barbecue Sauce to moisten. Serve on a white hamburger bun and top with North Carolina Coleslaw.


No Stress Barbecue Pork Sandwiches

From: Carma Rogers with the National Pork Board
Serves: 10 to 12


Ingredients:

4 to 5 pounds boneless pork butt (or pork shoulder roast)

1 (14-1/2 ounces) can beef broth

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon liquid smoke

1/3 cup hot pepper sauce

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

10 to 12 sandwich buns


Sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup molasses

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup yellow mustard

2 Tablespoons hot pepper sauce


Directions:

1. Put pork in bottom of a large slow cooker. Mix broth, liquid smoke, pepper sauce and Worcestershire; pour over meat.

2. Cover and cook on High for 5 hours (or 8 to 10 hours on Low) until pork is very tender.

3. Meanwhile, for sauce, combine all ingredients in large saucepan; set aside.

4. Place pork on cutting board; reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid from pork. Coarsely chop pork; combine with reserved cooking liquid and sauce in saucepan; heat over medium heat until warm.

5. Spoon pork onto sandwich buns to serve.


Now for the easy to make sauces:


Lexington-Style Vinegar Barbecue Sauce

From: National Pork Board

Makes: about 2 cups


Ingredients:

2 cups cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 Tablespoon ground white pepper

1/2 to 1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes (the more flakes, the hotter the sauce)

2 Tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup ketchup

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least 10 minutes to indefinitely in the refrigerator. The longer the it sits, the hotter it gets. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Click here to purchase: It's All American Food: The Best Recipes for More Than 400 New American Classics by David Rosengarten

South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce

From: “It’s All American Food” by David Rosengarten

Makes: about 4 cups


Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon butter

1 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup French’s mustard

1 Tablespoon ketchup

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon molasses

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1-1/2 cups cooking liquid from pork shoulder

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the butter, vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, Worcestershire, cayenne and the cooking liquid in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. Cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently with a wire whisk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.


Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Barbecue Sauce

From: “It’s All American Food” by David Rosengarten

Makes: about 2 cups


Ingredients:

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup white vinegar

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1 cup cooking liquid from pork

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. Cook the mixture for 3 minutes, stirring frequently with a wire whisk.

3. Use or serve sauce immediately.



North Carolina Coleslaw

From: National Pork Board
Serves: 18


Ingredients:

Lexington-Style Vinegar Barbecue Sauce

1 large head of cabbage, chopped

Directions:

Mix barbecue sauce into chopped cabbage until well mixed and not quite wet. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for visiting! Guess you had better get started on this pulled pork is you want to eat by Sunday noon... :)


Barbecue, Pulled pork, coleslaw, Cook, North Carolina, Food, Meat, BBQ sauce recipes, Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster's Market

Recipe: Incredible Cajun Greens

mustard greens Image by rachel is coconut&limevia Flickr

From Denny: OK, WOW! Now this is a dressed up greens recipe that men will happily eat in large quantities! There won't be any whining about eating vegetables at the table when you serve this outstanding recipe. Why? It has lots of meat in it in the form of smoked sausage as well as pork butt along with incredible seasonings.

Why eat greens? Are you kidding? Besides the fact they just taste good (Tabasco pepper white vinegar dabbled on it to tamp down the intensity), greens are stuffed full of the mineral calcium! If you can't drink milk or don't like it this is another way to get easily digestible calcium, fiber and B vitamins for your nervous system and liver. Give this recipe a try at your house!

R. L. Greens by R. L. Holmes

From: R.L.'s Greens - from R.L.'s Off the Square Cajun restaurant, 1113 Floyd St., Covington, Georgia, published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. R. L. Holmes is from Alexandria, Louisiana, almost northern Louisiana, far from New Orleans. The man can cook!

Hands on time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Serves: 16


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 pound pork butt, diced

Salt and pepper

1 pound smoked sausage, diced

1 pound bacon, diced

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced carrots

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 head cabbage, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch collard greens, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch mustard greens, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch turnip greens, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 quart chicken stock

1 ham hock

1/4 cup Tabasco sauce

3/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup meat seasoning (such as Chef Paul Prudhomme's Pork and Veal Magic Seasoning Blend)

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan or baking dish with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add the diced pork butt, season with salt and pepper, and roast 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until it starts to brown. Add the sausage and cook an additional 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until meat is browned and sizzling.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon and set aside; drain off most of the grease but reserve about 1 tablespoon, leaving it in the skillet. Add the onions. Cook slowly over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are brown but not burned, about 30 minutes. Add the carrots and garlic and saute an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

In a large stockpot, heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the cabbage, stir lightly and then cover the pot and cook about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent scorching. Add the collard, mustard and turnip greens and the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, then add the pork butt and sausage, bacon, onion and carrot mixture, the ham hock, Tabasco sauce, vinegar, meat seasoning and brown sugar. Cover and cook about 45 minutes, until greens are tender and flavors are well-incorporated. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Notes:

The quantities in this recipe are reduced from the much larger batch that Holmes makes at his restaurant, so the proportions are just a bit off. If you want to reproduce his version exactly, increase the pork butt, smoked sausage and bacon to 1 1/4 pounds each. Holmes also makes his own meat seasoning, which can be purchased at the restaurant.

For simplicity's sake, this recipe uses store-bought chicken stock and a ham hock. The greens are well-seasoned with hot sauce and vinegar, so Martin always advises restaurant patrons to try them before they start dumping on the condiments.


Nutrition:

Per serving: 367 calories (percent of calories from fat, 69), 21 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 28 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 70 milligrams cholesterol, 1,338 milligrams sodium.

Recipe: Cajun Meatloaf

Similar version of meatloaf Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: While researching for an article concerning women's issues I ran across this site called BellaOnline and they also had a wonderful food section.

Cajun Meatloaf

From: Sandie Jarrett, Cajun and Creole Editor @ BellaOnline.com

I'm not much of a meatloaf fan but most of the males I know sure are. I adapted this recipe from one I came upon in an old Cajun cookbook. Although somewhat different, (less hot pepper, more garlic, olive oil instead of butter, stock instead of canned milk, no ketchup), the flavors are all there – fresh meat, a little heat, and of course a classic Trinity.

Remember to season to taste. If you enjoy a hot and spicy dish, then you will probably want to double up on the cayenne pepper or even add your favorite Cajun seasoning blend.

Serve with garlic mashed potatoes or my Cajun Roasted Potatoes for a new twist on a Classic American Dish. Serve with gravy or a thin, tangy BBQ sauce.

Makes 6 – 8 servings


Ingredients


3 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

3 tablespoons finely chopped Italian Parsley

3 cloves minced garlic (about 4 teaspoons) or to taste

2 medium bay leaves (whole)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 - 3/4 teaspoons cayenne, or to taste

1 teaspoons finely ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup beef stock

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

2 pounds ground beef

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cups very fine dry bread crumbs


Method

Preheat the oven to 350º. Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Combine the seasoning mix in a bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, and bell pepper and cook until they begin to soften. Add the green onions, parsley, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and the seasonings. Sauté 5 - 6 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the saucepan frequently. Don't let the vegetables and seasonings burn!

Stir in the stock and tomato paste. Continue cooking for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow mixture to return to room temperature.

Place the ground beef in a large bowl and add the eggs, the cooked vegetable mixture (don't forget to remove the bay leaves) and the bread crumbs. Mix by hand until thoroughly combined. If the mixture is too moist, add a few additional tablespoons of bread crumbs (too many bread crumbs and the meatloaf will be too dry).

Turn out the meatloaf mixture into the center of a 13X9X2 baking pan and shape into a loaf that is about 2" high, 6" wide and 10 -12" long.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, then raise the heat to 400 degrees and continue cooking until done, about 20 - 25 minutes longer or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf is 180 degrees F. Check internal temperature with an instant read meat thermometer at 40 minutes and again at 50 minutes, etc. until it reaches the desired internal temperature.

Remove the cooked meatloaf from the oven and allow to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing into 1/2 inch slices.


Tangy Meatloaf Sauce

Although not Cajun, I make a tangy sauce:

1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Creole mustard
a little tomato paste
a drizzle of honey
a squeeze of lemon juice
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
and a pinch of cayenne pepper

I whisk it all together in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until the sauce has been reduced by 1/3. Everything is added to taste – so adjust as necessary.


Cook's Notes

*** Sandy likes the meat finely ground – so she uses her food processor to blend in the ingredients. Work in batches because if the processor bowl is too full, the meat won't grind evenly.

Add about 1/4 of the meat, breadcrumbs, cooked vegetables, and eggs to the bowl of a standard size food processor that has been fitted with the chopping blade. Pulse a few times to distribute ingredients evenly and to grind the meat a bit more. Avoid over processing (mixture will turn to paste!).

Transfer processed mixture to a bowl and continue processing the remaining 3 batches. When all of the mixture has been processed, combine the batches together (hands work great for this), turn out into a 13X9X3 baking pan and continue as directed above.

*** Sandy uses tomato paste but ketchup can be used.

From Denny: Here are a couple of other good recipes! The following meatloaf is made with ground turkey, basil and mozzarella cheese.

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