Family Night.

I love my family.  We are quirky, and different in our own special way.  What makes us come together is food.  I made it a point to make sure we gathered as a unit to share in our activities.  You know the everyday "What is going on with you?,"  and the typical "How have you been?" chatter.  We just made sure we added great food.

I can talk on end about Tony's(Tony my brother, and not my food crush Tony Bourdaine )  Jerk Chicken, or his homemade Teriyaki sauce, but I don't have those recipes.  I can tell you that just the smell makes you drool, and the sauce makes you want to lick your fingers like a child trying to finish off an ice-cream sandwich in 90 degree weather.  Yeah.  It's that good.

I rock my own BBQ.  I know my brother would back me up when I say I do a fine Pulled Pork Butt/Shoulder.  It is slowly roasted either in the oven, or on the grill.  Guess which one I prefer?

It's all about the smoke and fire.  I can work with gas too, but it takes away from the flavor.  If you do gas grilling you have to add more rub and wetness.  This means you have to add liquid.  If you have the meat in a pan (hopefully wrapped in foil) you should add liquid.  I'd be creative, but for my purpose I like to add water only and maybe some smashed cloves of garlic and a bit of cola.

Why?  It's because I have rubbed the crap out of the poor thing, and then made it set for a day.  Now I am subjecting it to a low and slow cooking method.

FYI if you are doing this indoors the results are very different.  If you can wrap the roast in foil and set it on a rack in a roaster pan you can still get the same flavor. With pork shoulders/butts you should always put the fatty/skin side on the top.  The fat cooks off into the meat, thus more moisture.  Use a good sized pan to catch the drippings, and hopefully you have a fan or ventilation.  Make sure to let it set 20 minutes or more depending on size before cutting into it.  If you slice into it prematurely (not waiting) and the good juices will run out and you are left with dried pork. Blah! So don't do it. Wait.

Contact me if you want to know more specifics.  I'll give you my recipe for the rub.  Don't forget that this is messy.  Someone has to pull the pork apart.  I suggest Cole slaw, and Beans as sides.  Corn tortillas, or rolls work well.  We use corn tortillas with the pork, and I like my black beans with slaw.

Yum.

Food, family, fun.

Seriously.  Food is the glue that keeps families together.  Learn how to double, or triple your recipes.  Ask someone to bring the salad, and another to bring the bread.  If you have picky kids, or kids with allergies make sure to pack them their favorites to make them feel included.  If you tell the host/hostess ahead of time they may actually do something that lends to their needs.

If you need assistance please let me know.

Lyn

P.S. Cilantro is Parsley on steroids. It's big, bold, and beautiful in its flavor.  Add that to your pasta, and see what your mouth thinks!