SOUTH OF THE BORDER

As I was stuck in traffic this morning in front of my favorite little neighborhood grocery, Comptons (mentioned in past posts for their superb meat department), I noticed that along with a great sale on split chicken breasts (always buy them on the bone, Thank You!) they have pork butts on sale for 98 cents a pound. This is not the cheapest I've seen them, but a very decent price and I'm always ready to go "Pork." So, I am putting the pork butt on my shopping list for the weekend and plan on making some Pork Adobada sometime soon. I have spoke about this recipe before , but it is definitely worth another mention. It is so easy and soooo GOOD! Great leftovers and if you need to, it freezes well, also. I love the taste of authentic Mexican food and this dish has all those deep, rich flavors that are so satisfying and just tastes like nothing else. "Nothing else" in my neighborhood, that is! (Ok, maybe those folks on the corner of Town Valley Court and Tea Garden may have a similar recipe, but I know I've got this convered on Pekoe Circle.)

So read the recipe below. Go find a good deal on a Pork Butt and try this dish. If you love Pork, you'll put this one in the recipe box and go back to it again and again. If you love complex, interesting, deep flavors, you'll love this. If you have a crock pot and want to razzle dazzle some company with something totally different and impressive and have time to sit and spend time with them instead of fretting over a stove...this dish is the one for you. Damn! Just try this dish! Don't be intimidated by roasting the peppers. It's good to learn a little trick every now and then, plus you'll feel like a million bucks and proud of yourself after you do it and wonder why you avoided any recipes that called for roasted peppers before. It is a whole new method to adding a lot of flavor to your cooking. It may not be the most complex of Mexican dishes, but it sure as heck isn't Taco Bell! After this you'll be ready to try the Chili Rellenos with Picadillo recipe. That one has some really interesting flavors going on...raisins, cinnamon, clove...I know the combination sounds strange to us gringos, but wow...it is delicious. For sure Chili Rellenos its a lot more more hands on than this, but they are both great ethic additiosn to your recipe box.

COMFORTCOOK -
"AT HOME ON THE RANGE CATERING"
Nashville, TN 615-525-8336
http://www.comfortcook@gmail.com/


PORK ADOBADA

Ingredients:

6 New Mexico Anaheim dried red chilies
4 dried Ancho peppers (These are the dark red dried peppers. Dried Poblanos, actually)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 medium onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1-2 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 lbs lean pork, cut into bite-sized pieces (I use Pork Butt , but you could use a loin.)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Tear chili pods into pieces, removing steam and reserving seeds.
Place chili on baking sheet, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
When oven is hot roast the chili for 10 minutes.
Place the chili in blender container.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil, add cider vinegar and pour over chili.
Allow to sit for about 10 to 15 minutes to soften chili.
Add orange juice concentrate, tomato paste, brown sugar and cumin.
Blend into a smooth paste, add 1 tablespoon of the chili seeds and blend until smooth.
Warm olive oil in skillet, add onions and garlic.
Saute until onions begin to brown lightly then pour onions into crock pot.
Toss the pork with 1 tablespoon of flour.
In same skillet add pork cubes and brown stirring frequently.
May need to brown the meat in batches to ensure even browning,.
As meat is browned, transfer to crock pot.
When all the meat has been browned, pour 1/2 cup water into skillet, bring to a boil and scrape up browned bits.
Pour into crock pot along with chili sauce, stirring well.
Cover and cook on low 4 to 5 or until pork cubes are tender.
Serve with some great garnishes such as Cilantro, grated cheese or Queso Fresco, diced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, lime wedges, Sour Cream and flour and corn tortillas. Let everyone build their own combination. Have lots of Frosty, Cold, Barley Pops (BEER!!) on hand!! El- Schlurpo!

BIG TIP: The Pork Butt is a moister cut of pork than a loin and pork tenderloin would just disintegrate in a crock pot after that amount of time. Pork Loin would work but would be drier. Also, ANYTIME you are using your crock pot, add a layer of foil to the top before putting the crock pot lid on. And NEVER!!! take the lid off during the cooking time. I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but you lose 20 - 30 minutes cooking time each time you "peek" in your crock pot. Have Faith!!

RED, WHITE & "CUE"

It's too sad to think that this coming weekend, Labor Day weekend, is regarded as Summer's last "Hurrah." Here in Tennessee after a long, hot and drought-filled August, September finally brings back some pleasant 80 degree weather and it's comfortable to sit out on the deck again. So, I look forward to Labor Day as not an end to summer, but as a way to celebrate the beginning of fall and another reason to have a cookout! Once again, food becomes my focus.

Our holiday weekend is going to be a lot different this year. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my friend Beverly's son is getting married on Sat. the 30th and I'm helping with the reception dinner. I've worked it out over and over in my mind and am ready to crank up the roasters. It'll be some work, but I keep telling myself it's only cooking...just cooking more than usual. Sunday dinner on steroids, so to speak. I'm looking forward to the festivities and resting for 2 days afterward. That's where our "labor-less" Labor Day comes in.

I will probably end up smoking a Pork Butt 'cause that's my "go to" meal when I have all day and not a lot of energy. Once the charcoal is going, the hard part is pretty much over with. Just some yard work and beer to get you thru till dinnertime. There'll be the same old sides; gotta have cole slaw, if for nothing else but the sandwiches the next day, some potato salad, corn on the cobb, and some baked beans; jazzed-up, of course.

This may sound rather boring, considering my foodie convictions, but I'm giving my creative juices a workout the 3 days before, so I'm shifting to auto pilot and intend to enjoy our days off. I won't bore you with my Pork Butt stories (there is an earlier post for that) but want to take the time to wish any of you who stumble upon my self-indulgent blog, the best of holidays and a wonderful beginning for Fall. Before you know it, I'll be sharing Thanksgiving and Christmas treats and tips once again. I started this blog last year in November, just before Thanksgiving and it's given me a lot of joy and laughs these past few months. I recommend this as therapy to anyone who has a keyboard and PC handy. I've had cousins I've never met get in touch with me because they "googled" our family name and this blog came up with the results. Old friends from years ago have emailed me to say "Hello" and companies have been kind enough to share their products and wish me well.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend with your friends and family and that you look at Labor Day as the beginning to other wonderful times we'll share over the next few months.Take a big deep breath of summer and settle in for those beautiful, golden Autumn days and those first "snugglin'-weather" nights. And, lest we forget, those TENNESSEE TITAN SUNDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

TIP: Check out Bar-B-Que tips under "GREAT RECIPES HERE" on the right.
comfortcook@gmail.com

COMFORT COOK CATERING 615-525-8336

TO BUTT OR NOT TO BUTT?

We had some company here at the Schmidt House ( yes, I know how that sounds!) this past weekend. My Mommy from Southern Illinois came down with my brother Allan's fabulous fiance, Sandy. Mom hadn't been here in a while and Sandy was kind enough to deliver her to our door. It was a great time and us gals consumed plenty of good fun and beverages for a couple of days. We all like to "nosh" so cheese balls, crackers, chips, dips and all kinds of little snackie things were plentiful and devoured. Friday night, I made my Mom some white manicotti as that's a favorite of hers that I make, and I had bought a big ole Pork Butt to do on Saturday. Of course, as we've all been led to believe you must rub or marinate that pork the night before with all the magic powders and potions you have in your cupboard and patt that baby and put it to bed till that smoker's up and going at just the right temperature for "low and slow."

Well, Friday night got later and later and the cooler got emptier and emptier and the talk got better and better and before you know it we had decided we would take a big sightseeing tour of downtown Nashville the next day. That would include our beautiful skyline, the symphony building, the Country Music Hall of Fame, etc. Not a big deal for me, cause I know my way around downtown pretty well having worked there for years. So that sounded like a great idea. It was something I hadn't even considered in our plans earlier cause Mom (Big Mom) has some walking issues and really can't do too much or ride for too long. So, I hadn't even considered it. Now we were planning a trip and I had 9 lbs of Pork in the fridge that was still in it's plastic packaging and waiting to be powdered and diapered and put to bed before its big "Debut-t" the next day. Not a problem, the pork butt could go in the freezer till Memorial Day and I had plenty of buns, the cole slaw was already made and the beans were handy, so I would just take the girls on our whirlwind sightseeing excursion and stop on the way home and buy a bulk of Ground Chuck....hamburgers on the grill would be easy and nobody really cared about the food anyway...it was the visiting that matters, afterall. Right?

Early Saturday morning, the sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day. We started out with coffee on the deck and a couple of hours later as we were discussing our trip to town, and like the good Southern girl I am, we had an easy southern breakfast of biscuits, (forgive me, Biscuit Gods, but they were "Grands"... thanks Pillsbury) with gravy, sausage , eggs, strawberries and tangelos. Grits were available, but everybody passed this time. Leisurely morning just visiting. I noticed no one had changed from their PJ's and began to think that these gals are really taking this vacation thing seriously....hmmm, I'd better take charge and get them loaded up for the big tour. Thirty minutes later as the last dregs from the second pot of coffee were being rinsed, it was unanimous that we'd just spend the day here at the house as the visiting was going so well, and it was apparent that no one was running out of conversation (Poor Geraldo!! He was the epitome of graciousness putting up with all that chatter along with some reruns of the same old childhood funnies. And just so you know, I have mowed the yard, front and back after this weekend to show him I appreciate him and to give him a much needed break.)
So we were staying home...now do I go to the store and get ground chuck for supper (we had to make a Coor's run, anyway) or remembering the pork butt, do I go ahead and smoke it? I had missed valuable rubbing and, marinating time the entire night before and now it was 11 a.m. and crunch time. Now I'll pick BBQued Pork over just about anything anyday, so I got it out, grabbed the sea salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, chili powder, some cumin and the little bit of paprika I had left. No brown sugar, not specials powders, potions or injections. Geraldo grabbed the Kingsford, got the chimney started and I grabbed the hickory chunks and put them in a sink full of water to soak while the coals got ready. About 30 minutes later we had the smoker filled with the hot coals, the apple juice in the drip pan and waited for the magic number of 22o or 'till the smoker dial, reached "Ideal." Longest story short....we were eating at 7 p.m. and it's really one of the very best pork butts I've eaten. So take that all you BBQ folks out there who have brainwashed us civilians with all that time, injecting, rubbing and marinating lore! I have my own theories about why this turned out so well, but that's a future post. I had a sandwich today with coleslaw and dill pickles on it and it was one of the best I've had here in Nashville....no kidding. I've got to give a big shout out to "Stubb's" BBQ sauce. It says it's "The Original", but there were several types on the shelf from Stubbs. I bought the one that looked more like it was a vinegar base, with flecks of black pepper visible. That's 'cause I'm not a thick, tomatoey, sweet sauce girl. Great compliment to the hickory smoke flavored pork. A little dab will do ya!
I had cooked the pork on the smoker till the internal temperature of the meat was at 160 (about 5 hours) then I took it out, wrapped it up tightly in foil and transferred it to the oven to finish cooking to 180 degrees. I prefer my pork sliced and so we had sliced BBQued Pork, cole slaw, baked beans, pickles, and potato chips. I had made a homemade chocolate cake with white cream cheese icing on Friday morning, so dessert was ready! It was a loud, chatty meal with food going every which way, and kudos to the cook (s). We met Sam's new girlfriend (Jess) and she got a real good dose of my family on a Saturday night around a table of food and Big Mom after a couple of glasses of wine. It was as great as any Holiday could be and will only be better when the whole "fam damily" is together. Next time. And I hope it's just as unprepared and that I roll with the flow as easily as I did this time. I learned a big lesson....Let the plans make themselves and just have the essentials handy...along with some red wine for Big Mom and a cooler of cold ones for the rest of us !!!
comfortcook@gmail.com

Comfort Cook Catering 615-525-8336 / Nashville, TN