The Pulled Pork Experiment

I graciously received a good ol’ fashioned Crock-Pot for Christmas, and tonight I’m going for the gold and making a slow cooked pork shoulder to be shredded and entirely annihilated by our appetites.

Someone at work delightfully        introduced me to the world of easy  delicious cooking. First it was the  turkey, and now basic instructions for  making mouth-watering pulled pork  sandwiches

I went to the grocery store and  asked them for a pork shoulder, they cut  me a 10 lb. piece for 20$, which is  beyond reasonable. I froze half and  stuck the other half, seasoned, into a crock pot with bbq sauce and water for 8 hours. I also threw in some onions and garlic for good measure.

After you’ve gone and forgot about, remove it from the barbecue solution and slice it like a roast into thick pieces. Pull it apart with forks! which is fun. Save some of the bbq water  if you feel like it and put the shredded meat back into it to keep it moist. I will definitely be doing this again soon!

The Turkey Soup

I recently divulged in the process of roasting a MASSIVE turkey, it was 24 pounds! I certainly don’t have the space for it in my own oven, I made it at work. My friend Rose took me through the steps of making a turkey, which were amazingly easy. I always thought it’d be stressful considering everyone during the holidays is always freakin out over their poultry.

I got to take the two drumsticks home to make my first turkey soup. It took less than 45 minutes and it tasted better than any soup I’ve ever made.

Turkey Soup

ingredients:

• Turkey Parts; I think the drumsticks work the best, they have some dark and white meat
• Your vegetables of choice; I was told to put in celery but it’s the only food I don’t like, I added potatoes, onions, and carrots.
• Spices; I used a little bit of garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt & pepper.
• Chicken or vegetable broth.

This is a one-pot type of deal.

Add chicken broth, all your vegetables, and all of your spices to a pot set to boil.

Boil your turkey leg, skin and all, until you notice meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the drumsticks and take off the meat you want in your soup and add it to the pot.

TA DA!

It’s easy, it’s delicious, perfect for this freak of weather week we’ve had.

The Asian Supermarket

One of my favorite Albany, NY treasures is the Asian Supermarket on Central Ave. Rows and shelves and end caps full of things you can’t read or describe, but it is sure intriguing.

I go here often to pick up vermicelli rice noodles, I can get a pack that will last me a month for 1.50$.  Their frozen section is fun too, tons of gyoza, dumplings, mochi ice cream, and some other things that don’t sound appeasing like fish balls, Connor said they tasted like fishy hot dogs.

Another excellent thing about Asian Supermarket is their hot food section. As soon as you arrive and see the roasted pig head in the window you know you’re in the right place. The best places have their chickens hanging in the window, or so I’ve come to find.

They also have one of my favorite street foods, steamed char siu pork buns. I came here on my birthday for dinner and left with a basket of miscellaneous buns, and one unfortunately, must’ve been the fish hot dogs. But the rest, are soft, chewy, meaty, BBQ-y, & delicious.

This is really the only place I go and get a small piece of cake, because they’re usually 1$! And they’re adorable. They usually are masked with toasted coconut and have a jelly filling. I’d love to take some decorating tips from these guys, they managed to make a rose out of sliced strawberries on every single piece.

 

Asian Supermarket

1245 Central Ave. Albany, NY

The Roast

Tonight, in celebration of my tip jar exploding, I’m making a pork roast. I’m trying to force myself to cook more meat in different ways, which has been successful so far. A couple weeks back I used the crock-pot I got for Christmas to make beef stew, and a few nights back I made some juicy chicken thighs.

What could go better with meat than potatoes? And cooked carrots. The first thing I did was rub down my chunk o’ pork with some olive oil and some spices I thought would go well together; rosemary, oregano, a little chili powder, salt, and pepper. The fun thing about cooking this roast on a rack over a roasting pan is that you get to collect all the meaty juices in the end to make gravy (if you so please!).

How To Cook a Pork Roast

-Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and move a rack in the oven to the middle.

-If your roast has a layer of fat left on it, keep it! This will keep your meat moist and add flavor.

-Place your roast fat side up on a rack over a roasting pan.

-Bake @ 450 degrees for 10 minutes

-Adjust your oven to 250 degrees and continue to roast for about an hour to 80 minutes depending on the size of your roast. Make sure the center of your roast reads at least 150 degrees on a meat thermometer.

-When you remove your roast from the oven, cover it up and let it rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes.

*Resting meats after you cook them helps retain the inner juices and also regulates temperature throughout the entire roast*

About 30 minutes into the roasting of my pork I threw some cubed potatoes and carrots drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, onto a hot sheet pan and let them bake until the roast was done. They we’ren’t quite finished so while the meat was resting I turned the oven up to about 450 and let the vegetables finish up.

 

Sweet porky success!

The New Fresh Orzo

One of my favorite new places is The Fresh Market in Latham, NY. It’s an east coast health food chain grocery store, the closest thing around here to my beloved Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. I love shopping at the Honest Weight Food Co-Op, but on my budget shopping there just isn’t in my price range all the time.

I made a trip to the Fresh Market last week after an interview I had across the street (*crossing fingers*). I love their produce section, most things are about the same price as produce from a commercial grocery store but you can tell the quality is much higher. They also have an abundant meats section, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, seafood! They’ve got it all! And nothing is frozen.

Check out these giant bottles of martinelli’s cider! It’s my childhood drink of choice super-sized like Honey! I Blew Up the Kid. Rick Moranis would be proud.

Their prepared food section is immaculate, tons of pasta salads, rotisserie meats, sandwiches and salads, perfect for grabbing on the go. They also have some busy bakers there pumping out some beautiful looking desserts. I got to sample a Neapolitan cookie covered in fudge. YUM. They carry Hatch canned products, which I love, having lived in New Mexico for a few years I became addicted to green chilies.

While surfing the aisles and slobbering over the sneeze guards I came up with an idea for a cold orzo pasta. My mother used to make a cold orzo pasta when I was a kid, and I remember how refreshing it was. I’ve never written my own recipe before, here it goes!

Lemon Cilantro Orzo Pasta Salad w/ Antipasto

• Box of Orzo
• A Lemon
• One bunch of Cilantro
• Olive oil
• Your own selected antipasto. At some grocery stores there is an olive bar with various marinating olives, peppers, and vegetables. I chose a ‘greek style’ medley with kalamata & green olives with feta cheese.

-Put on a pot of boiling water

-While you’re waiting for the water to boil, pick & chop your cilantro, slice your lemon

-Boil your orzo, drain, and drizzle with olive oil. Spread out on a sheet pan to cool. It’s winter here, (-11 below today) so i just throw the pan out on the snow for a few minutes and it’s instantly cooled.

- Add cilantro, lemon, salt and pepper to taste.

-Gently mix in your antipasto and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprig of cilantro.

This could quite possibly be the easiest most refreshing pasta salad I’ve ever made, I just can’t wait till summer to eat it outside! I will definitely be venturing back to The Fresh Market!

The Guests

To start this post I’m going to have to explain my current living situation. I live in a 3 story house with 6 other roommates who have become my good friends over the last six months. They are all busy UAlbany students with no time or desire to cook dinner, so we worked out a system where I cook and who ever wants to eat with us pitches in a few bucks for the cost of food.

I really enjoy this because I have new guinea pigs to fill with beautiful edible arrangements. Every night I cook at home I try to make something different, so it gives them a chance to try something out of the ordinary as well. And when I say ‘something out of the ordinary’ I mean, not take-out.

On this delightful evening I made oven roasted chicken thighs over fettuccine with asiago cheese and roasted broccoli.  Before this moment I had never roasted chicken in the oven before. It was always my grandmother’s favorite way to cook her chicken thighs, so it was familiar at least. I was aiming towards that crispy outer skin we all love so dearly, and thats exactly what I got when I came across this rule of thumb for oven roasted chicken thighs.

Chicken Thigh Rule Of Thumb!

The size of your chicken will sway the cooking time, so don’t rely on these exact time limits!

-Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

-Line a sheet pan or baking dish with tin foil for easy cleaning, (if those chicken juices cool on your pan of choice you could be stuck at the sink for hours). Make sure the pan allows for enough room between pieces, they should be an inch or more apart.

-Season both sides of your chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic, (or seasonings of your choice, you can never go wrong with old bay seasoning)

-Bake for 35-45 minutes or up to an hour depending on the size of your chicken. The skin should be brown and crispy, and the juices clear.

This was a great asset to my recipe book, cooking tips are always welcome here.

The Beginning

If there was one dessert I thought I’d never master, it’s the cheesecake. Especially living in New York now there is this sense of pressure to make it perfect, but it just doesn’t happen every time. Over the holidays I decided to give it one last go, and to my pleasant surprise it came out perfect. A just slightly moistened cinnamon graham cracker crust with a creamy custardy cloud on top, it couldn’t have been better. I found a recipe online for “the best cheesecake recipe ever,” and I’m glad I trusted their too-good-to-be-true introduction.

The Best Cheesecake Recipe EVER.

By: USA WEEKEND Pam Anderson

• Butter (for coating your springform pan)
• I package of graham crackers, crushed into oblivion
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Aluminum foil

-Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and make sure your cheesecake sits on the middle rack

-Melt the butter and brush your 9″ springform pan with it

-layer your crumbs at the bottom, spread evenly. I find it’s easier to do with a spoon than your fingers, it spreads quicker & less stickyness.

-Use the tin foil to make a barrier from underneath the pan, making sure the foil goes up the sides of the pan half way. This will ensure that no water will get into the cake when we bake it in a water bath to prevent burning.

-Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer, and slowly add the sugar until it gets fluffy.  Make sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl to ensure an even mixture.

-Add each egg one at a time, scraping down the bowl in between each egg. Start a pot or tea kettle to boil some water for our water bath.

-Slowly mix in the vanilla, sour cream, and heavy cream until fully incorporated.

-Pour the batter into your springform pan and place in the center of a roasting pan, or if you don’t have one I just used a sheet pan.

-Put your cake in the oven and carefully pour the boiling water into your roasting pan or sheet pan, add enough water to come up the sides of the springform pan.

*Water baths add moisture to the very dry heat conditions in the oven. Most custards, puddings, and cheesecakes call for a water bath for even heat distribution and to prevent burning. Without a water bath your cheesecake might crack while baking*

-Bake your cheesecake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes, adding different fillings might take a bit longer to set. The middle should be a little jiggly but almost firm.

-Leave the door ajar on the oven and let the residual oven heat bake your cake for another 30 minutes.

-Remove your cheesecake from the water bath and leave it to cool to room temperature before covering and chilling in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

If you’re lucky and the cheesecake gods haven’t spite you yet today yours might come out looking a little something like this…

I hope you have as much success with this recipe as I did, & happy baking!

The End

The Mayan calendar ends this year, which for some reason makes people believe that the world is eternally doomed and this is our last year on earth. I’ve got to make this count.

I am a 20 year old adventurous culinary graduate on a never ending quest to fulfill my appetite. I currently am residing in New York’s capital region, but I haven’t been here for long and I don’t plan on being here much longer. I decided to start this blog as a food diary to look back on the things I ate, the tips I tried, and the the things I cooked.

I’ll try to post every day, thats the goal at least. I’d like to post recipes, cooking tips, pictures of food, restaurant reviews, and anything that I can muster up about food and my place in it’s eternal chain.

Thanks for reading, & I promise to have you salivating by the end of month.