Bang Bang?

Tomorrow we eat kale

Tonight, Jason and I are heading down to Mansfield, MA to see the Oddball Comedy Festival.  It features a long list of comedians on two different stages, but the person I am most excited for is Louis CK.  I certainly am not as big of fan as my husband.  He religiously watches every one of his Louis episodes on FX.  I am happy he watches every episode because he sends me the best clips from the show.  One of my favorite Louis moments happened this past season when him and his overweight friend are discussing how they are going to start dieting tomorrow, all kale and that stuff, but today they are going to take on a major food challenge, a Bang-Bang.

What is a bang bang?  You eat two different meals right after another, bang-bang.  They are discussing what they want to do for the bang-bang, IHOP sushi?  BBQ Pizza?  The ultimately settle on Indian Diner.  I've been wanting to do a bang-bang since I've seen this episode.  My husband has since seeing this show, him and his brother did Thai Italian.

My ideal bang-bang would be, pizza diner food.  I love a big cheesy slice of pizza, plain is fine for me, followed by a hot open faced roast beef sandwich.  It would be so gluttonous and I probably would need a massive nap when I am done, but what an amazing day!  

Bang Bang

Whats your ideal bang-bang??

Check out the clip here

Oven Roasted Pulled Pork

Pork, its whats for dinner

Second weekly Supper Sisters recipe coming at you!  We have featured pulled pork sandwiches before on the blog, that approach was a wet braise and made in a crock pot.  I don't own a crock pot so I always look for oven roasted recipes, or i adapt a crock pot recipe to the oven.  This weeks recipe for pulled pork sandwiches is from a blog I've recently discover while looking for a dry rub style pulled pork, how sweet it is .  She loves pork and salt and vinegar chips, so I say her and I would be fast friends.

SOWA Pickle Truck

To serve these sandwiches, I always go with potato rolls and some delicious pickles. I prefer grillo's pickles, a Boston local company that sells 2 spears for $1 at SOWA market.  Jason eats his bun-less, if you are avoiding carbs this week.  Also, I roast mine cover on for a juicier meat.  The initial sear is key for an even juicier meat; this sear locks in all the moisture.  The pork is going to be roasting slow and low for 6+ hours so go for a more fatty cut, the fat meas flavor and moisture.  Are you sensing a theme here?  Moisture is important! 

Hope you enjoy this weeks spin on pulled pork.  Bring to your summer BBQ or make a big pot on Sunday to last you through a part of the week's lunches!

Picture courtesy
of How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

taken from How Sweet It Is 

5 to 6 pounds pork shoulder, fatty cut preferably bone in

1/4 cup of packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoons black pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

1 beer (dark preferably Guinness)

1 to 2 cups BBQ sauce 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Make sure pork is at room temperature prior to cooking.  Pat completely dry before seasoning.

In bowl mix, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chili, and onion powders.  Take mixture and cover all sides of the pork.

Heat large dutch oven over high heat and add oil.  Add pork and sear on all sides, roughly 2-3 minutes per side.  (First sear is key!).   Pour in beer and place into oven with cover on.  Roast for 6 to 8 hours or until pork is easily pulled apart with fork.  Remove from the oven and pull completely apart with fork, be mindful with bones if you are using a bone-in shoulder. Coat pork with one cup of sauce and place back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Serve your favorite way!  (Mine- potato rolls and pickles!)

Enjoy!

Jen

Baby Bites- The Onion

As Joanne enters her 17th week of pregnancy, we wanted to continue on this Baby Bites feature.  Last week Joanne's little guy was the size of an avocado, this week he has grown to the size of an onion!  A perfect recipe highlighting the onion is the classic French onion soup, a fall staple for me.  The recipe we are featuring is the best one I've found for French onion soup with a very delicious twist, pork.  Anything that adds pork needs no reason, it is always a good idea. 

I had tried this soup at the restaurant Au Pie De Cochon in Montreal during our first fall living in Boston.  Jason and I are big restaurant people, we visited this restaurant both nights during our stay in Montreal, so you know it most be good.  It calls the usage of pork broth, which can be difficult to find, even though its become more and more popular with the rise of Ramen.  You can always make it yourself using this recipe, or use a beef broth, more flavorful than chicken.   I buy mine from the gourmet food shop, Fromaggio Kitchen.   

French Onion Soup.

taken from Au Pied De Cochon Cookbook

Ingredients

6 large yellow onions, thinly sliced

1/2 lb slab bacon, cut into 1 inch lardons

7 ounces (roughly 1.5 cups) Gruyere cheese, grated

7 ounces (roughly 1.5 cups)  Emmenthal cheese, grated

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup red beer (I use Guinness not really red but full body)

6 cups pork stock

2 branches rosemary

French Baguette cut into croutons 

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and caramelize the onions. Add the lardon and rosemary and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cook for 5 more minutes.
Add the beer and reduce by one half. Add the pork stock. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.
Pour the soup into (oven proof) bowls. Cover with the croutons and cheese, brown under a broiler 

Jen's Savory Summary- German Pancake

Marblehead Neck

Our first weekly recipe back was a pretty simple one, which I think was definitely needed.  I didn't even make it on Sunday since my weekend got away from me.  Jason and I spent the weekend exploring more New England places, falling even more in love with our little corner of the United States.  We took a day trip up to Marblehead, which is only 15 miles away for our house.  It is the self proclaimed birth-place of the Navy.  The town itself is all coastline, dotted with gorgeous houses and too many sailboats to count.  I absolutely loved it, it might be a close second to my favorite place, Nantucket.  The short drive definitely makes it more appealing.

All the ingredients ready to go!

This recipe was so unbelievable easy.  I think it is perfect if you are craving pancakes but don't want to babysit a pan constantly flipping batches.  The one tricky part was the brown butter.  I love brown butter, its butter that's living on the edge.  It develops such depth of flavor with nutty undertones, but its right on the edge of being burnt.  If you let it go a bit too long you have a disgusting burnt mess.  I use another recipe that calls for browned butter that is out of this world, grown up rice krispy treats from Flour (recipe here).

Almost browned butter
perfection

The rest of the recipe was foolproof, pour batter into brown butter and pop in the oven for 15 minutes.  Now you have 15 minutes to do whatever you please, surf Pinterest for more food ideas, binge watch Pretty Little Liars, my new obsession, and no I am not 15 years old.





Once its done its a beautiful puffed pastry, reminding me almost of a funnel cake.  I drizzled a bit of maple syrup on it.  I'd eat right away since it deflates pretty quickly.  Hope you enjoyed too!

 

Finished pancake still puffy from the oven! 

Today's my cheat day

It's Monday morning and I don't know about you but I am dragging already.  It is barely past 8 AM, already through my first cup of coffee and I'm ready for a nap.  Whenever I'm tired I always crave sweet treats.  I know once I have my first sweet treat I will automatically declare today my cheat today.  So fellow Supper Sisters people for your cheat day needs, or Monday morning blues, please enjoy these recipe, Nutella Cheesecake Bar, found on Tide and Thyme.  These bars are also great to bring over to a weekend BBQ, holiday dinner, or just to eat right out of the pan.   

Nutella Cheesecake Bars

Recipe from Tide and Thyme
2 cups Oreo crumbs
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, halved and seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8×8 baking dish and line with parchment paper, making sure that the parchment is well pressed in the corners.  Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse Oreos until they become crumbs.  Add in melted butter and pulse until moistened.  Press Oreo mixture evenly into the bottom of your baking dish.  Bake crust until set, about 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Clean out the food processor. Add cream cheese, eggs, sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream, and vanilla. Pulse until smooth.  Put 2/3 of the cream cheese mixture in a bowl and set aside.  Add Nutella and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to the remaining 1/3 cream cheese mixture in the processor.  Pulse until smooth.

To assemble, spread the plain cheesecake mixture over the cooled Oreo crust, being careful of the crust. Then pour the Nutella cheesecake layer on top of the plain cheesecake layer and spread evenly.  Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the center jiggles slightly.  Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

When ready to serve, lift the bars out of the pan by lifting up the parchment paper (it should release easily).  Cut into 16 squares and serve.