Friday, April 25, 2014

Carnages du Jour - 23 April 2014

Well, the weather was nice enough to fire up the old Weber, and so I did.

As always, it seemed a waste to simply cook what we would eat that night, so a quick scan of the available foodstuffs was undertaken, and in addition to the day's burgers and cauliflower, a pork tenderloin was found and prepped.

First, the pork.
A quick blend of a small amount of cornmeal, some ground cumin seed, dry mustard, and beau monde was spread on the pork, and it was put over a slightly less hot part of the fire to roast without getting too charred. The pork was joined by a slightly broken-down head of cauliflower with a nice dose of butter and minced garlic, all rolled up in aluminum foil.

As those two roasted under the cover, I prepped the burgers:
Into a pound or so of ground chuck went a generous bunch of extra hot horseradish, some sesame oil, salt and pepper, and a couple tablespoons of capers.
Once it was all mixed nicely, three nice patties were prepped and cooked.

Everything finished up about the same time (including the bowtie pasta that hadn't been mentioned until now - dressed with a sauce of greek yogurt and cumin) and the burgers were greatly enjoyed with the cauliflower and pasta.

The next night, the pork was reheated along with the rest of the cauliflower and some peas with pearl onions dressed with greek yogurt . A yogurt and cumin sauce accompanied it all and all was delicious.

Both highly recommended.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Carnage du Jour - 16 April 2014

My trusty flavour consultant, Christian, has come up with yet another winner. (I'll take some of the credit, as I suggested part of this discovery, although at least partly in jest.)

There had been a pork butt waiting in the fridge for some time, so Heidi popped it in the oven for one of those lovely all-day roastings that end up in pork that doesn't really need to be pulled; it basically pulled itself with the help of mean old Mr. Gravity.
Salt and pepper were the sole seasonings, and it was just delicious.

Christian came over to have dinner: Heidi suggested mashed potatoes, I suggested sandwiches, Christian went for both.
Oh, those sandwiches I suggested were on cinnamon-swirl raisin bread. (I know, bear with me a moment.)
Heidi decided to forgo the sandwich and have her pork on her potatoes. That's always a nice combo, so it's hard to blame her.
Christian and I, however, decided on a mash-up of the two options.

The winning sandwich - and it really is a winner - was the following:
Very lightly toasted raisin bread, smear one slice with mashed potatoes, cover with pulled pork, drizzle with a bit of maple syrup, and close with the other slice of bread.

Please don't think ill of us - this sandwich was simply delicious.
Highly recommended.