Mighty Man's Meal Part 2 - Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches with Coleslaw and Wedge Fries

The pictures seriously cannot do this sammy justice.  This was a little experiment i decided to throw together one night last week and it totally surpassed my expectations.  Adding it to the 'must try' list.  For an amazing messy, succulent, drippy, moist, tasty, comfort food, man's meal - this is going to be my new 'go-to' recipe.

You will need: (makes about 3-4 sammys)
For the Pulled Pork Sandwich:
1 large pork tenderloin
1 yellow onions (chopped)
salt and pepper
EVOO
4-5 cloves garlic (minced)
kaiser buns

For the BBQ sauce:
1 heaping cup of ketchup
3/4 cup pineapple juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
pinch cayenne pepper
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic (minced)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 large tomato (chopped thoroughly)

For the Coleslaw:
1/2 head of green cabbage (cored and thinly sliced)
2 carrots (peeled and grated thinly)
2 celery stalks (grated thinly)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1/3 cup mayo

For the Fries:
2 Yukon gold potatoes (washed and cut into even, thick wedges)
EVOO
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients for your homemade BBQ sauce.  Transfer the mixture into a small saucepan over medium heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

In an oven-safe crock pot, heat up 3 tbsp of EVOO in the bottom of of the pot.  While heating, heavily salt and pepper all sides of your pork tenderloin and then place in the hot pot on medium high heat.  Let it sear on all sides until you have a nice brown crust.  Remove the tenderloin onto a plate and set aside.  Next,  add in the chopped onions into the same pot and cook until soft.  Add your tenderloin back to the crock pot and pour your BBQ sauce over the pork.

Cover the pot and place it in the oven and let the pork slow cook for about 3 hours (flip the pork every 45 minutes or so).

While the pork is cooking - combine all ingredients for your coleslaw into a large bowl and mix evenly.  Let the coleslaw sit in the fridge for at least 45 minutes before serving.

When there is about 30 minutes left before your pork is ready - lay your potato wedges onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Toss with EVOO, salt and pepper and place in the oven with the pork. 

When your pork is ready - it should be very very tender - the meat should literally fall apart.  Remove the pot from the oven and take the pork tenderloin out on a plate until its cool enough to touch.  When it is - pull apart the pork and add it back to the pot.  Stir evenly as to coat all the pork with the BBQ sauce.  Keep mixture warm on the stove.

Turn the oven up to 400 for the remaining time the fries are in the oven ( it should be about 40 minutes total - but depending on the size of the wedges it may be a touch more - poke one with a fork to check if its done).

Lastly, in a small bowl, combine your minced garlic, salt and about 5 tbsp EVOO.  Using a brush, spread this mixture lightly over the inside of your kaiser buns.

Right before serving, when everything else is ready to go - switch your oven to broil and place your kaisers in for about 2 minutes or until the top is just toasted.

Now you are ready to put this magical plate together.  place a heaping portion of pulled pork onto your garlic toasted buns, top with your homemade coleslaw, add some extra coleslaw on the side with your fries and digggg innnn!

You're Welcome.

xo

Chef Natty

1 Year Wedding Anniversary Dinner Part 2 - Herb Crusted Roasted Australian Rack of Lamb with Pinot Noir Reduction

You didn't think I would JUST make homemade ravioli for such a special dinner did you?  Obviously an entire rack of lamb is the perfect digestive to follow a creamy rich pasta dish. Obviously.

For this dish you will need:
For the Lamb:
1 rack of lamb (about 8 chops)
4 tbsp Dijon mustard (or again, if you want to be super cool like me - use a specialty mustard such as the rustic mustard from The Village Cheesemonger)
4 tbsp EVOO
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
about 3/4 cup of mixed chopped fresh herbs ( i use parsley, rosemary & thyme)
salt and pepper

For the Pinot Noir Sauce:
1/4 cup of shallots (chopped)
1 1/2 cups pinot noir
1 tsp rosemary (chopped)
1 tsp thyme (stems removed)
1 tsp chives (chopped)
1 cup beef broth
1 tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
EVOO

To begin, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Salt and pepper the meat on all sides.  In a small bowl, mix together your oil and the mustard evenly.  Slather it on the meat on all sides.  In a separate bowl, mix together your breadcrumbs, herbs and cheese and then pack on the crust covering the meat.  Roast on a baking sheet in the oven for 25 minutes for medium rare.

In a saucepan, saute your shallots in a touch of EVOO.  Add you pinot noir and all your herbs.  Let it simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes.  Add your beef broth and some salt and pepper and let simmer again until your whole mixture has reduced by about half and has a thicker consistency.  A couple minutes before serving, stir in your butter.

When your lamb is ready, let it sit for 7-10 minutes before cutting.  Plate your lamb and top each one with your wine reduction.

Serve & Enjoy!

xo Chef Natty

1 Year Wedding Anniversary Dinner Part 1 - Homemade Ravioli with Butternut Squash, Mascarpone & Pancetta Filling

In light of my one year wedding anniversary with hubs - I decided to make him an at-home feast instead of dining out to celebrate this big milestone in our lives.  Obvi I photographed the entire thing so I could share everything (in step by step fashion) with all of you lovey foodies of mine.  Since I wanted to make everything from scratch - step one was getting over to William Sonoma and getting myself an old school pasta machine so I could make some fresh egg noodle sheets to make my ravioli with.  Great purchase - I highly recommend it.  Now - on to the fun part...

You will need: (makes about 24 ravioli)

For the Egg Pasta Sheets:
4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
6 eggs - lightly beaten

For the Filling:
1 medium butternut squash - cut horizontally and seeds removed
4 cloves of garlic (ends removed but skin intact)
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
4 shallots (chopped)
2 tbsp fresh sage (chopped)
4-5 tbsp pancetta (chopped into tiny cubes)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup of mascarpone cheese
salt and pepper to taste

For the Cream Sauce:

6 shallots (chopped)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp sage (chopped)
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Oil both halves of your butternut squash and lightly salt and pepper.  Put two garlic cloves - skins intact - in each half of the squash in the valley where the seeds were.  Roast the squash for 1 hour on a baking sheet uncovered.

In the meantime, dump your flour out on a large working surface and create a well in the middle and carefully pour in your beaten eggs (refer to photo above).  Slowly and carefully (being mindful not to break the sides of the well as the egg will run), begin adding some flour from the sides to your egg with a fork and mix it together.  Keep doing this adding more and more flour until the eggs are wet but no longer runny -you may then use your hands to work the rest of the flour in to the dough.  The dough should be moist but not sticky and uniformly mixed.  Separate the dough into 8-10 separate pieces.  Using your pasta maker - follow the instructions to feed each piece of dough through to create your ravioli sheets.  *NOTE* if you do not have a pasta maker - you can use your muscles with a rolling pin and ( still working in batches) roll out your dough into sheets.  Add more flour as your go if the dough gets sticky.  Cut the edges of your ravioli sheets so you have perfect rectangles - you should have enough dough to make about 20-24 large raviolis.

Once your squash is roasted - set it aside to cool.  In the meantime, saute your pancetta in your butter in a pan until it browns - add your chopped shallots, garlic and sage and let saute for another 3 minutes.  Add white wine to deglaze the pan and let simmer for another 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.  In a large bowl - scoop the flesh of the squash in.  Remove the skins from your roasted garlic and add to the mixture.  Add your shallot and pancetta mixture to the bowl along with your egg yolk, mascarpone cheese and some salt and pepper to taste.  Mix thoroughly.

Brush the edges of each ravioli sheet with egg as you go - put 1 tsp of filling in the middle and fold the sheet over - pressing down on all sides and making sure no air is left.  Seal all edges.   Dust them with flour and set on a baking sheet separating the layers with parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Boil a large pot of water.  While your water is boiling - saute your shallots for the sauce in butter.  Add your sage and let cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add your chicken stock and cream and reduce for about 10-12 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  When your water is boiled - add your ravioli and cook only for 4-5 minutes.  Remove with a sieve and add to your sauce mixture.  Sprinkle with a little Parmesan (or if you want to get super fancy - use freshly grated buffalo Parmesan from The Village Cheesemonger like I did).

Serve & Enjoy!

Stay tuned for Anniversary dinner part two!

xo Chef Natty

Tomato, Watermelon & Feta Salad

I can feel the winter chill is upon us.... ok not really because its been so friggin humid lately but let's get real - its only a matter of days before we start seeing "chance of flurries" on the weather network.  So let's keep it fresh a little while longer and try out a fabulous summer salad.

You will need:
Fresh assorted tomatoes (red, yellow, green, orange) (sliced in half)
1/2 cucumber (sliced)
1/4 seedless watermelon (chopped into 1 inch cubes)
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1 small red onion (sliced length wise)
2-3 tbsp EVOO
2 tbsp Balsamic Glaze
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix evenly.  For an extra sweetness add an extra small amount of the balsamic glaze on each plate before serving.

Great with summer BBQ's or just as a healthy lunch!

xo Chef Natty

why i don't "cook" from pre-made boxes

Just a little demo of what happens when I attempt to make something out of a box. 

Ok fine - the fact that it was 4am after my 25th birthday celebration and way too much vino obviously did not help the situation... but still.

Voila foodie followers - observe Delissio pizza a la Chef Natty.