Harvest Ale, Estate Home Grown Ale, Beer Camp's Earth Day EPA, Ovila, Life & Limb and more!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sierra Nevada Tasting @ Ginger Man SoNo - Oct 19
10 Sierra Nevada Drafts? No Reservations? Sounds good to us!
Harvest Ale, Estate Home Grown Ale, Beer Camp's Earth Day EPA, Ovila, Life & Limb and more!
Harvest Ale, Estate Home Grown Ale, Beer Camp's Earth Day EPA, Ovila, Life & Limb and more!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Greenwich and Port Chester Restaurant Week | 10/16 - 10/21/2011
Greenwich and Port Chester Restaurant Week starts today! Cheers!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Simple Pulled Pork in the Oven
Pulled Pork is a super food. That's right I said it. Maybe not quite the same league as the avocado or acai berry, but super in many ways. Whether you have a large group of people, or a small group of large people, pulled pork is the easiest, most satisfying, and most economical way to feed them. It's salty. It's sweet. It's greasy and cheap. You can eat it on a bun or a plate. Who doesn't like pulled pork? It may seem like an intimidating (and intimating) hunk of meat, but I assure you that no special culinary skills or tools are required to make a delicious, melt in your mouth tray of pulled pork with as little as TWO ingredients.
[If details aren't your thing, skip to the bottom for the condensed instructions]
INGREDIENTS
1. Pork Shoulder/Pork Butt (with a layer of fat on the bottom and bone in the middle)
2. BBQ Pork Rub (Buy one at the store or use the recipe below)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
If you choose to make your own rub just mix all of those ingredients together. If you've bought a rub from the store, then empty it into a bowl because your hands are about to get way too messy to be fussing with the jar it came in.
You might not be aware, but a pigs life is tough. It's not easy preparing for the glorious afterlife transformation into bacon, pulled pork, and sausage. There's lots of groveling in the mud and eating out of troughs that can sure make a piggie's back sore. That's why you need to rub his shoulder real good. First, dry the skin with a paper towl and then massage that rub mixture in deep coating all of the exposed meat with a thick crunchy layer of BBQ goodness. Slide a knife in under the fatty skin layer (don't sever it completely) and stuff some of that seasoning in there too! Don't use it all though, you'll need a little more rub for later.
Set your oven to 225 degrees, plop your pork onto an aluminum tray with the fat side up and toss it in. Let this baby slow roast, with delicious fat dripping, and trickling through the meat from that fat on top for about 1.5 hours per lb. Quick math tells you that an 8lb pork shoulder is going to take 12 hours. Plan ahead. I like to put this in the oven before going to bed and checking on it in the morning. Reheating the meat for dinner isn't going to be a problem. You couldn't burn this thing if you tried (well you could, buy why would you?)
After the time has elapsed your pork is probably good to go. If you have a meat thermometer you can check the temp. You're shooting for about 200 degrees. A little bit less is OK. The hunk of meat should now be sitting in an inch of delicious juices. Let it sit for another hour or two to cool down to a more manageable temp.
When it's at a temperature that you can handle, remove the fat flap from the top and set aside. Pour the juices from the bottom of the tray into a bowl and reserve for later. Now grab two forks and have at it. Pull all of the meat apart into thin shreds, removing the large hunks of pure fat and putting them aside with the flap removed earlier.
The pork is just about ready to go. Remember that rub that you saved? Dump as much of that seasoning over the top of your pulled pork and mix until you get the taste you want. Also, add back a good portion of those juices that you set aside to make it extra moist and juicy.
There you have it! Heat that up whenever you want and enjoy mouthwatering pulled pork sandwiches. But wait? What do I do with all of that extra fat!? Ahh, we can't get that go to waste. If you want to go the extra mile, break up the fat pieces and toss them into the frying pan to crisp them up like bacon! Add the crispy peices back to your pulled pork for extra deliciousness.
Tasty note: Pulled pork is perfect for a tail-gate! Cover the tray with aluminum foil, reheat on the grill and you're good to go!
CONDENSED VERSION:
INGREDIENTS
1. Pork Shoulder/Pork Butt (with a layer of fat on the bottom and bone in the middle)
2. BBQ Pork Rub (Buy one at the store or use the recipe below)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Coat meat with rub mixture.
2. Put on tray in oven @ 225 degrees, FAT SIDE UP, for 1.5hrs per lb.
3. Remove Pork after time has elapsed (internal temp near 200 degrees)
4. Let cool for 1 - 2 hrs.
5. Pour juices into separate container temporarily. Remove fat flap from top.
6. Pull meat apart with 2 forks or 10 fingers.
7. Add additional rub mixture to taste, add back fat juices to desired greasiness.
[If details aren't your thing, skip to the bottom for the condensed instructions]
INGREDIENTS
1. Pork Shoulder/Pork Butt (with a layer of fat on the bottom and bone in the middle)
2. BBQ Pork Rub (Buy one at the store or use the recipe below)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
If you choose to make your own rub just mix all of those ingredients together. If you've bought a rub from the store, then empty it into a bowl because your hands are about to get way too messy to be fussing with the jar it came in.
You might not be aware, but a pigs life is tough. It's not easy preparing for the glorious afterlife transformation into bacon, pulled pork, and sausage. There's lots of groveling in the mud and eating out of troughs that can sure make a piggie's back sore. That's why you need to rub his shoulder real good. First, dry the skin with a paper towl and then massage that rub mixture in deep coating all of the exposed meat with a thick crunchy layer of BBQ goodness. Slide a knife in under the fatty skin layer (don't sever it completely) and stuff some of that seasoning in there too! Don't use it all though, you'll need a little more rub for later.
Set your oven to 225 degrees, plop your pork onto an aluminum tray with the fat side up and toss it in. Let this baby slow roast, with delicious fat dripping, and trickling through the meat from that fat on top for about 1.5 hours per lb. Quick math tells you that an 8lb pork shoulder is going to take 12 hours. Plan ahead. I like to put this in the oven before going to bed and checking on it in the morning. Reheating the meat for dinner isn't going to be a problem. You couldn't burn this thing if you tried (well you could, buy why would you?)
After the time has elapsed your pork is probably good to go. If you have a meat thermometer you can check the temp. You're shooting for about 200 degrees. A little bit less is OK. The hunk of meat should now be sitting in an inch of delicious juices. Let it sit for another hour or two to cool down to a more manageable temp.
When it's at a temperature that you can handle, remove the fat flap from the top and set aside. Pour the juices from the bottom of the tray into a bowl and reserve for later. Now grab two forks and have at it. Pull all of the meat apart into thin shreds, removing the large hunks of pure fat and putting them aside with the flap removed earlier.
The pork is just about ready to go. Remember that rub that you saved? Dump as much of that seasoning over the top of your pulled pork and mix until you get the taste you want. Also, add back a good portion of those juices that you set aside to make it extra moist and juicy.
There you have it! Heat that up whenever you want and enjoy mouthwatering pulled pork sandwiches. But wait? What do I do with all of that extra fat!? Ahh, we can't get that go to waste. If you want to go the extra mile, break up the fat pieces and toss them into the frying pan to crisp them up like bacon! Add the crispy peices back to your pulled pork for extra deliciousness.
Tasty note: Pulled pork is perfect for a tail-gate! Cover the tray with aluminum foil, reheat on the grill and you're good to go!
CONDENSED VERSION:
INGREDIENTS
1. Pork Shoulder/Pork Butt (with a layer of fat on the bottom and bone in the middle)
2. BBQ Pork Rub (Buy one at the store or use the recipe below)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Coat meat with rub mixture.
2. Put on tray in oven @ 225 degrees, FAT SIDE UP, for 1.5hrs per lb.
3. Remove Pork after time has elapsed (internal temp near 200 degrees)
4. Let cool for 1 - 2 hrs.
5. Pour juices into separate container temporarily. Remove fat flap from top.
6. Pull meat apart with 2 forks or 10 fingers.
7. Add additional rub mixture to taste, add back fat juices to desired greasiness.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Captain Lawrence Brewery
At first, I was afraid of growlers. (I was petrified).
You see, once a growler of beer is opened, it’s basically a ticking time bomb waiting to go flat. Ideally, once it’s been opened, it should be consumed in one sitting. But what if I didn’t get around to drinking it all at once? Will I have wasted half my beer? Why would I do that when I can just buy a 6-pack and drink them whenever I want?
All these fears were of course alleviated when Kyle and I split a growler of Gandhi-Bot. Then we started to think about the good things. You know the beer’s as fresh as it gets. You can get fill-ups of beers the brewery may not even bottle. It’s a reason to get together with friends. And best of all, it’s satisfying to have a huge, bulky, brown, half-gallon glass bottle of beer in your fridge that gets in everything’s way and pisses off your girlfriend.
With that in mind, we took our empty growlers down to Pleasantville, NY, for a taste of what Captain Lawrence had to offer and, of course, to bring some home. We were so excited on the way down, we played a little jug band music with our growlers and an old rusty washboard.
The first room in the brewery is the tap room, which is fine, because that’s our favorite room. Here, brewery workers hand out sizable free samples of everything on tap. On the day we visited:
Captain Lawrence Kolsch: Light and clean tasting, with a hint of hops. A light sipper.
Captain Lawrence Extra Gold: Sweet, Belgian-y, with a bit of citrus. If not for the obvious selection of the IIPA, this would have been my favorite.
Captain Lawrence Pale Ale: Moderately hoppy with a nice malt backbone (though I had to pick it out, as I don’t like bones in my beer)
Captain Lawrence Pumpkin Ale: Nice malts and spices, though I didn’t get a whole lot of pumpkin.
Captain Lawrence Imperial IPA: Super floral & sweet, really hoppy without managing to be very bitter. Naturally, this is what both Kyle and I got our growlers filled with.
We also went on the short brewery tour with awesomely-named-tour-guide Ryan, who showed us the inner workings of the brewery, all the shiny machines, and the disgusting barrels of spent yeast that they donate to local farms. Eww.
Ryan also mentioned that in the next few months, the brewery will be expanding substantially with a move to its new location in Elmsford, which will finally allow them to produce 6-packs of Pale Ale and other 12 oz. offerings. Big things coming from the Captain. Be on the lookout at your favorite bottle shop.
We didn’t realize it before we plugged the address into Kyle’s GPS, but Capt. Lawrence is about 10 minutes closer than New England Brewing Co., making it our closest commercial brewery. It’s an awesome place to grab some samples of a year-round favorite or something seasonal, the growler prices are totally reasonable, and the staff is friendly. Next time you’re in Pleasantville (and why wouldn’t you be), definitely plan to stop by.
Grrrrrrr, (I’m growling. Get it?)
Ryan
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