Pulled Pork 2: Better, tastier, and more amazing.

A New Challenger has arrived!

Hello fellow food lovers. I have decided that I will take on "Man Food's" Pulled Pork with my own pulled pork recipe. Though this might cause a little rivalry in the family at Best Served Hot, I welcome it with open arms and a empty stomach.
I have tasted both this recipe and Man Food's recipe and let me say this. The recipe before this wasn't man food.. It was more along the lines of "Boys Food." That's right, JB step aside, for your baby brother is coming to play.
I would like to start off by saying that making this is extremely easy, all you need to do is to set several hours set aside. Might I also add not starting this around 5pm, this would ensure you're not up at 2am. I would also like to say that if I am capable of making this awesome food in the space that I am currently living, than you my fellow readers have no excuse as to why you can't make something this delicious. I say this because this entire recipe was created and completed in a kitchen at a Fraternity House; see what I mean by having no excuses??? Now man up

Okay, now lets push the sibling rivalry aside because we will know who the winner is (and please Linzatart, leave this recipe to the men).


This recipe can normally feed, lets say 6 people. Or in my case 3 - 4 hungry Fraternity Brothers.

Here's what you'll need:

• 6 - 8 lb Pork Shoulder (Actually use shoulder, and not tender loin like the other recipe shows... please and thank you)
• 2 Cans ( 24 oz ) of Root Beer
• About half bottle of Blue Moon (what was already opened)
• 1 Bottle of a Spicy BBQ Sauce
• 2 Tbls Vinegar
• 2 Cloves Garlic (Grated)
• 1 Medium Onion (Grated)
• 2 Tsp Crush Red Peppers
• 1 Tbls Tomato Paste
• 1 Tsp Cumin
• Salt and Pepper
• 6 Large Rolls
• 1 Crock Pot
• 1 Large pot

First thing is first. If your using shoulder it is time to remove the bone from the shoulder. Don't be afraid grab a knife and start cutting. You don't have to cut the bone out in 1 cut, you are allowed to cut pieces of meat and throw them into the crock pot. I chose to leave the skin on the meat which will  be explained later. Once you managed to wrangle the bone out of the meat, throw it away. (NOTE: People like to think its smart to give the bone to animals... DON'T). Next, start adding your ingredients, (DON'T ADD THE BLUE MOON) I chose to leave the the garlic and onion for last because I needed to find a cheese grater. Once you added all the ingredients use the mini grater on a cheese grater to grate the onion and garlic. Stir and mix well. Cover your crock pot and put on HIGH for 3 hours. 

Okay, welcome back gang! It's time to check on that pulled pork! WHAT?!? There's a bunch of liquid and it doesn't look that pretty? Relax, it's supposed to be like that. Now stir your mixture again and just make sure it's still there. It is now time to turn it to LOW for about 6 hours. You want to check on the meat starting at the 6th hour. I did this ever hour until I was able to pull the pork apart with ease.

Phew! Alright, I hope you didn't start this at 5 pm like I did; because it would be getting awfully late right now! So its about time that this pork is able to be pulled apart with two forks, and if it is take all the pork out of the juices and put it onto a very, very large plate. WAIT! Before you go ape shit and start shredding the pork like no one's business take the thick skin off!
Heat up a large pot and wait until its extremely hot. Throw in a little oil and throw in that pork skin! The skin has a lot of flavor in it, so cook that up for 10 - 15 minutes on a medium to medium high heat. This is when that Blue Moon beer comes into play, throw that in the pot and scrap the flavors off the bottom. Now add the sauce in batches. This is when I started pulling the pork apart. I chose a ladle and ladled in roughly a quarter of the juice at a time, waiting 10 - 20 minutes between each one. Once all of the juices are boiling, make sure you grab a weapon of choice to beat off any hungry scavengers picking at your pile of delicious food. For safe keeping transfer pork into a large bowl and cover with foil. I fought off these hungry vultures for almost 2 hours while my sauce rendered down into a thick, delicious sauce.

Welcome back Comrade! Did you win the victory over the hungry vultures??? Good. Now that the sauce is rendered down and is thick and amazing looking. It is time to strain out the skin and transfer that sauce into the bowl filled with that delicious pulled pork. I did this with slotted spoons, but if you have a wire mesh strainer that would be a million times easier. Mix the sauce into the pulled pork and call those hungry vultures; it's time to feast.

By the time I finished, it was 2 am, (I even tweeted how normal that is for me). 

When we first tasted this, our first expressions were:

And yours will be too.

Freakin' Bacon Fried Rice!

You might be thinking...

 But I'm thinking...

This isn't really a 'man food' per se. Mostly because that's not my section and I'm incapable of writing like that nor do I care / want to try. However; the time has come for me to make something absolutely amazing.. Whats better than food itself? BACON. Whats better than white rice? Fried Rice. What happens when you put them together? Something that should be deemed illegal in seven states - Bacon Fried Rice. You say Disgusting? NAY! I say grow a pair! You say unhealthy? I say we all die sooner or later. You say fattening??? NAY!!! I say hit the gym Nancy!
Now listen up get into the freakin' kitchen and grab this crap:

• 2 cups of rice
• 3 THICK cuts of bacon
• A Carrot
• 4 Green Onions
• 1 sm Onion minced
• 1/4 tsp Ginger
• 2 Cloves minced Garlic
• 1 egg
• Soy Sauce
• Sugar

  Anything else you think would be awesome in this concoction.

Get the that rice on the stove and let it cook!

First things first, grab fire and place metal thing over fire. I prefer something meat won't stick to. Next grab them slabs of pig's gift and cut them into chunks of bite sized godliness. Sear those suckers up and let them cook. Once they're to your perfection; take out the bacon. BUT WAIT; use that liquid gold grease to pan sear those healthy things I call vegetables. Once those vegetables are seared and soft, crack an egg and began scrambling that up! Once the egg is FULLY cooked (don't need to die here). Throw in the freshly cooked rice and mix around to get that great bacon grease fully coating everything. Next throw in that soy sauce and continue to add to you see fit! Mix that all around until fully coated. Next? Whats healthier than bacon?? SUGAR! Add that stuff, mix around and serve that to those who think they can handle this.

Now when you're finished with this and about to eat it.. Just enjoy and say: 

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH

cooking, beef, bacon, eating, recipe, blog meat, chicken, rice, soy sauce, stir fry, man food meal food eating awesome

Shrimp Po' Boy

• We're taking it down south today to give you a GREAT Shrimp Po' Boy recipe. This is super simple, and relatively inexpensive considering most of the ingredients will already be in your pantry. There is practically no prep time and cooking is a breeeeezzzeeee!!! I made minor adjustments to a Cooking Light recipe. (I love my Cooking Light cookbook)

What you'll need:

• 5 tablespoons dry Whole Wheat breadcrumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined 
• 1/4 cup ketchup 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/3 teaspoon hot sauce 
• 2 Whole Wheat  long rolls
• 2 cups lettuce
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

Make It:

Start by cleaning and removing the tails of your shrimp. Next, in a small bowl, add the minced garlic and breadcrumbs and mix these together well. Dredge the shrimp in the breadcrumb mix and cover well. In a medium sized pan, heat some oil on a medium-high heat and begin to sautee the shrimp. Cook the shrimp for approximately 5 minutes on each side or until shrimp browns on both sides.

While the shrimp is cooking, add the wet ingredients in a small bowl along with the seasonings. That includes everything in the list above except for the shrimp, breadcrumbs, garlic, bread, onion, and lettuce! Feel free to adjust this "dressing" according to your likes as this is going to be spread on your bread. Kick it up with extra seasoning and lemon, or tone it down with extra ketchup. However you prefer. I like mine with a little kick! Refrigerate this while we continue to cook the shrimp and let the flavors marry.

While the shrimp is finishing up in the pan, split the bread long ways and lightly toast. While the bread is toasting, shred some lettuce and onion to garnish and add some crunch to your sandwich. Once the bread is toasted, add the lettuce, onion, "spicy ketchup" by spreading it on the bread, and then finally add your shrimp.

Photo shown with a Sweet Mashed Potato side. Recipe to come shortly!

Greek Taco

Let's all thank Jeff, the newly crowned Sandwich King for this yummy recipe. So simple, so delicious, so filling and so refreshing. I totally edited the original recipe.

What you'll need:

• 1lb Ground Lamb
• 1/4 c Diced Red Onion
• 1 minced Garlic Clove
• 1 tbls Tomato Paste
• 1/4 tsp Oregano
• 2 tbls Dry Red Cooking Wine
• Salt/Pepper
• 4 Small Pitas

Tzatziki:

• 1/2 Cucumber, peeled and shredded
• 1 cup Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 Minced Garlic Close

Cucumber Tomato Relish:

• 1 tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tbls Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1/2 Cucumber, peeled and cubed
• 1/4c diced Red Onion
• Salt/Pepper

Make it:

*Quick note. I like to make the relish and tzatziki first and let chill while cooking the rest.

 In a large skillet, heat the oil over me-high heat. Add the lamb, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Once the meat turns golden brown, remove the lamb and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium and saute the onions in the lamb juices until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano and garlic and cook until fragrant. Season. Add the tomato paste and cook until it caramelizes. Deglaze with the red wine and scrape any bits up that have adhered to the pan. Add the lamb back in, stir and set aside.


For the tzatziki: In a food processor, add the cucumber and garlic and quickly shred. Remove from the processor and fold in the yogurt. Refrigerate until ready to use. 


For the tomato/cucumber relish: Chop the cucumber, tomato and onion and place into a small bowl. Add the vinegar and let soak and the rest of the ingredients and stir together. Refrigerate until ready to use. 


After the lamb mixture is ready, very lightly toast the Pita. Then layer on the tzatziki on the pita, add the lamb, then top with the relish. 


Make it healthier and cook with Ground Turkey, whole wheat pitas, and fat free yogurt!

Penne and Vodka Sauce

This recipe is a bit long, but its worth it!

1 large onion diced
1/2 lb proscuitto or 1 ham steak or Both-diced
1/2 lb butter
1/2 lb sun dried tomatoes(optional)
1 can or frozen baby peas (optional)
3 cloves garlic
Tbs. Parsley
Tbs. Basil
Tbs. Black pepper
Tbs. Crushed red pepper
Large can crushed tomatoes
One quart half and half
Large can chicken broth
Pint vodka
4 shots brandy
Rue to thicken

In a large frying pan- melt butter. Sauté onions, sun dried tomatoes, garlic. If using ham steak dice and add to sauté.

In a Large pot-
Add chicken stock
Half and half
All spices
Sauteed mixture
Diced proscuitto
crushed tomatoes
Salt to taste

Simmer about an hour thicken with rue as needed.

Recipe for rue-1 stick butter
1 cup flour
Melt butter
Slowly add flour
Constantly mixing until a nutty smell.
Add 1 small can of chicken stock slowly.
Slowly add to sauce,  constantly stirring.  Simmer 20 minutes add uncooked peas 5 minutes before

Once sauce has thickened, throw over cook Penne, mix well and Enjoy!

Camp fire special!! Part 1

Writing this post is bittersweet to me. Why, you might ask? Well I left the blog, twitter, and other implements that we use to keep us going in the hands of my trusted contributors 4 days ago. I turned 21 again on the 19th of August and my friends and I decided that we want to celebrate another way rather than just going out and partying. I - a camping newbie to say the least - spent the last 4 days in the wilderness cooking over an open fire, gathering wood, and cutting it down to size with only a hatchet! So what I write here is just 2 of the creations that I came about while camping. I hope you one day will spend a few days out in the woods - hiking, biking, and sleeping on the ground. It's a joy, and relief to disconnect from the world and just be you. This officially marks the end of my summer, and will be moving back to my campus by the end of the week. But don't fear I will stay here! Without further ado, I present to you: Campfire Foil Dinners!

I apologize for not having a picture, my camera was dead.

Here's what you'll need:

• Tinfoil
• Ground Meat
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Onions
• Garlic
• A splash of oil if on hand
• A CAMPFIRE!! (It's kinda important)

Optional:

• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Meat Tenderizer
• Seasoned Salt

First, lets wash the vegetables as best you can, with whatever clean water source you have. Don't worry about peeling anything, we're going rustic here! Spread out a fairly large piece of tinfoil onto your campsite table and if you have a bit of oil lightly grease the bottom. The next thing you will want to do is to grab your ground meat and press it flatly down on the tinfoil, leaving ample room on the edges. Next cut up the all veggies into small almost bite sized chunks and throw those on top of the meat. I unlike other campers had several spices - I mean, common.. I want full flavor! - including onion and garlic powder, meat tenderizer, and seasoned salt. I sprinkled each of those on the meat and veggies along with a bit more oil. I then tried my best to enclose the tinfoil packet with more foil.... After successfully putting 3 pieces of foil around it, I won the battle. I then placed (don't throw like usual it might break) this packet into the hot embers of the fire and let it sit. I fashioned a turning device with sticks and flipped the food every 5 minutes. After several flips, the meat was fully cooked and the veggies were amazingly soft and tender. I had myself a hot, delicious dinner. Cut open that foil, place it on the picnic table, and dig in.
Enjoy!

Pesto Mayo

Pesto Mayo

• 4tbls Light Mayo
• 10 Fresh Basil Leaves
• 3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Garlic Clove
• 1 Pinch Salt and Pepper

In a food processor, add of the the ingredients for the Pesto Mayo and blend until smooth. 

Caprese Pasta Salad

Questo è molto delizioso...or whatever. This is very delicious. So eat it.

Aww Pastina!! love it!

What you'll need:

• 1/2lb Pastina Pasta
• 1/2 Clove Garlic
• 3tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2lb Fresh Mozzarella
• 10 Grape Tomatoes
• 1tsp White Wine
• 2tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 9 Leave Fresh Basil
• 1/4tsp Oregano
• 1 pinch salt/pepper

Make it:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil with a pinch of salt and a 1/2 tsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. If you're going to use Pastina, add it to the boiling water and continue to stir. This will cook quickly, in about 3 minutes. Keep an eye it. The water should reduce to nothing and your little stars should be fully grown. Take off the heat while still slight al dente. (Al dente means "to the tooth" in Italian so there should be a bit of a bite to the pasta before removing from heat. It will continue to cook after removing from the heat) Refrigerate with a cover while we work on the rest.

In a bowl, add the grape tomatoes, sliced in half with the shredded basil, minced garlic clove, and the rest of the ingredients. Let chill.  Once cold, add the pasta and continue to keep cold. While cooling, stir the cold pasta salad and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Served chilled!

Optional: Use whole wheat pasta such as Rigatoni

Steak and Potatoes

Make yourself look like a fancy little chef with this simple steak and potatoes without the grill. It's a small effort with BIG flavor.

What you'll need:

• 2 Shell Steaks
• 2 Medium Sized Sweet Potatoes
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• Butter

Optional:

• Romaine Lettuce
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 3 Grape Tomatoes
• Crumbled Goat Cheese

Make it:

Make sure to trim all the excess fat off the steaks. If they are shell steaks, there shouldn't be much.

Mince the garlic as finely as you can. Then, spread it on both sides of the steaks and rub it into the meat. Do the same with a few and healthy shakes of pepper (enough to actually see the pepper covering the meat) and lightly salt. Let sit for about an hour to let those flavors melt in.

Skin the sweet potatoes and dice into medium sized cubes.

Heat one pan on med-high with your choice of cooking spray, or some light butter. Once the pan gets nice and hot add your steaks. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side or until it reaches the desired level of done-ness. There is no need to poke and prod and move it all around unless the pan gets dry. 

In another pan, add your choice of cooking spray, or light butter and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add your potatoes. Put a lid on your pan and let it cook on med heat. After approximately 5 minutes, stir the potatoes around and place the lid back on. Let it sit for another 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes pass, take the lid off the sweet potatoes and turn the heat up to high. Continue to cook until they crisp and brown. The potatoes usually take longer than the steaks do, so I always start them beforehand. 

The optional:

Although the steak and potatoes are dee-lish on their own, it might be a good idea to add a small salad to the plate. Not only will it add some color and take up that extra space, but its just never a bad idea to have a salad. 

General Tso's Chicken

I was in the mood for some Chinese food last night and decided to take a crack at it. It looked like it would be difficult, but it was SUPER EASY!! Well lucky for me, it turned out awesome! Lucky for you I'll share how I made it!

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1 pkg of chicken (I used thighs)
• 3 green onions
• 2tbl cornstarch
• 1 tbls sugar
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbls sugar
• 3 tbls water
• 2 tsp ginger
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbls rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 4 tbls soy sauce

Lets start off by first cutting up all the ingredients such as the ginger, garlic, and onions. Slice the green onions, peel and mince or grate the ginger, and then mince the garlic. Next combine all the ingredients except for the chicken into a bowl and allow to sit. Next cut the chicken into about 1 in. chunks and pan sear them in a wok or a regular pan. Once the chicken it completely cooked through, pour the other ingredients onto the chicken while the pan is still on. keep stirring until the sauce thickens. Once thick, transfer to a plate and ENJOY!

If you want more spice, add more crushed red pepper flakes!
If you want more sauce, just double the recipe but only use a total of 3 tbls of cornstarch.

Garlic Bread

This just might be the best garlic bread you have ever had! Its also probably one of the easiest!!
Here's what you'll need:

• Butter
• Cloves of Garlic
• Bread
• Spices (listed below.)

Start by mincing up the garlic as small as possible (if you have a small food processor, this might be the best. A mortar and pestle would work too.) Put your desired amount of butter in a small bowl along with the garlic you minced. Mix together with basil, onion powder, and oregano. It'll look something along the lines of this:

Once you get all your spices knowing each other its time to spread it on the bread you have cut length wise.

Once you spread as much as you want on, put it in a preheated oven at 350 for about 5-10 minutes. (Mostly until its hot and the butter has melted. Serve with your favorite pasta as a side dish, or just enjoy it by itself.

It's that simple!

Extra Goodies!!!:

Love garlic but hate garlic smelling hands?!?!? Well, just wet your hands and rub them against something that's stainless steel. It will instantly take out the garlic smell which could normally last for days!!!

Remoulade Dipping Sauce

This sauce is a perfect pairing for fish dishes. It's great for crab cakes, fish tacos, baked salmon, and any other seafood plate that might need a little perk.

What you'll need:
(all veggies are measured as being minced)

• 3 tsp Light Mayo
• 1/2 tsp Celery
• 1/2 Green Pepper
• 1/8 tsp Worcestershire or Light Soy Sauce (whatever you have)
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1/4 tsp Franks Red Hot
• 1 tsp Ketchup
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Spicy Mustard
• 1/4 tsp Onion

Mince all vegetable ingredients as finely as possible and add to a mixing bowl with the rest of ingredients. Mix VERY well. Before adjusting the flavors, let this sit mixed and chilled for about 15-20 first and give it a few stirs in between. Then kick up the flavor with extra Red Hot, Garlic, Lemon, or Mustard. Whatever your taste prefers. If you'd like to cool the flavor down, add a little more mayo and Ketchup. (Make this recipe easier by using your food processor to mince!)

Jesse's Favorite Chicken

Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum. No story here, just whipped this up with what I usually have in the refrigerator and it turned out awesome.

What you'll need:

• Chicken Breast
• Grape Tomato
• Baby Spinach
• Goat Cheese
• Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs
• Garlic
• White Wine/White Cooking Wine
• Lemon
• Egg
• Skim Milk
• Salt
• Pepper

Make It:


Beat 1 egg with 1/4 cup skim milk in a small bowl. On a seperate plate, place 2 cups breadcrumbs.
Cut the chicken breast in half so its a shortened version on itself. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and dreadge over the breadcrumbs. Sautee in a med-high pan with the white wine and a tsp of butter. Crisp lightly on both sides but do not cook through.

In a seperate pan, on low heat, add white cooking wine with two diced cloves of garlic and about 7 sliced grape tomatoes. Let warm and then add the spinach. Continue to cook on low heat until the spinach completely wilts. Squeeze in the citrus and stir in. I tried it with red grapefruit when I didn't have lemons and it was awesome too. At this point, remove from heat.

On a seperate plate, take the crisped chicken and smear the top with the goat cheese. Add enough to cover the chicken thickly. Then add the spinach and tomato mixture to the top.

Bake this on 350 degree for about 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

In the photo post above I made this two way, one way is to stuff the chicken and the other is to place everything on top. I like it better with everything placed on top. Also, I've made it before by rolling the spinach mix into thinly sliced chicken and it's GREAT that way too. I'm just not always on point enough for that technique! And it's prettier!