Pulled Pork Pizza

Ummmm yes. 

Pulled pork pizza.  Talk to me, baby. 

We had a massive amount of pulled pork cooked up and ready to go.  In addition to pulled pork nachos, one of my all time favs is pulled pork pizza.  

Sooooo....if you're my Mom or a freak of nature you buy fresh pizza dough on a regular basis and throw it around like it ain't no thang.  Not me.  Fresh pasta dough is up there with puff pastry - sometimes you want to make it and deal with it on your own...and, well, sometimes you don't.  This is a simple appetizer, so a store bought, pre-cooked flatbread worked just fine.  

Mom, I'm busy at work this week so don't call me until later for my lecture, ok?

The rest of the ingredients are pretty straight forward:

1 1/2 Cups of Pulled Pork

8 oz Freshly Grated Cheddar 

1/4 Cup of Finely Sliced Red Onions

1/2 Cup of Good BBQ Sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle BBQ)

2 Green Onions Chopped, both green and white parts

Spread the bottom of the flatbread with the BBQ Sauce.  Toss the pork with about 1-2 Tbs of BBQ sauce to moisten it up and then layer on top of the BBQ Sauce.  My Mom rubs olive oil around the outside of the crust and sprinkles garlic powder or garlic salt to give it a little extra oomph.  I totally recommend that. 

Next, sprinkle your cheese and red onions.  Pizza is the last thing from a perfect science so play with the ingredients and the amounts.  I will probably go dos queso next time. 

Cook to the packages directions.  We cooked it at 400 for 12 minutes directly on the rack until the crust was nice and crispy and the cheese had melted.  To finish it off and add a fresh savory crunch, sprinkle the pizza with the green onions. 

So I have to admit, fresh pizza dough is better, but this took literally 15 minutes to throw together and cook.  So, if you have the time, use fresh pasta dough but if you want to whip together a quick dinner or a fun appetizer - this is the way to go.

Mommy likey.  Mommy want porky. 

Ok peeps...first pulled pork nachos and now pizza...what other ways can I use one of my favorite proteins?!  Stay hungry!

The Perfect Pulled Pork and Ralph

I made some kick ass pulled pork last week and wanted to share.  I will never, ever make pulled pork in the slow cooker again. Read my lips:  slow roast your pulled pork people!  

Here's how you do it. 

Boneless Pork Butt or Shoulder (I used 7lbs of pork shoulder) 

BBQ Dry Rub of your Choice (I use Penzeys Galena Street Rub)

Rub pork all over with the dry rub.  You'll need about 1-2 teaspoons per pound.  Cook the meat uncovered, overnight at 200 degrees.  You are going to want to cook the meat for about 1.5-2 hours per pound of meat.  I had 7 lbs and mine took about 12 hours - so mine was smack in the middle at 1.7 hours per pound.  By cooking it low and slow...the inside is incredibly tender and the outside is crispy and crunchy.  AHHH.  Amazing. I covered the pork for the last 2 hours with foil because I was worried about it drying out, but I don't necessarily think you need to do that. 

A good way to tell it's done is to ensure the internal temp reaches between 190-200 degrees.  Whoa whoa whoa Jaisa that is way too high, you say?  Wouldn't pork would be dried out at that temp?  I thought the same.  However, in order for the meat to break down and become that perfectly tender pulled pork we've all learned to love, the meat has to reach that temp to do its thang chicken wang. 

I mean...just look at that crust.  You can see where I ripped off a chunk...oops.  Before shredding the meat, let it rest for 30 minutes.  I have to tell you that, but if you think I waited for longer than 30 seconds you're loco. 

Charlie and I had the pleasure of watching our friends' amazing dog Ralph.  I like to call him Snuggle Bunny. You should have seen him creeping around the kitchen as soon as the pork came out of the oven...

You want some pork Ralphy?  Is that why you are looking at me like this?

So close...

Aw, come on! 

NOM.  I mean...who could resist this face?

Wait until you find out what I made this pulled pork for...stay tuned my friends and stay hungry! 

30 Under 30 List: One Down!

I have had a "Thirty under Thirty" list in the back of my mind since I first heard of the idea back in college, when THIRTY YEARS seemed unbelievably old.  I keep meaning to add items to it, but keep coming back to two major goals to complete before my thirtieth birthday (November 8, 2013, for those of you wondering).  Clearly I need to add 28 more, but here's where I start:

1) Go to Africa

2) Learn to apply makeup properly

3 - 30) TBD

One goal on there seems easier than the other, right?  Most normal girls my age know their way around a MAC store and have well-equipped makeup bags, but it's just something I never learned to do well.  I always make Jaisa try to teach me when we're together but I usually get distracted and then we go to get a drink instead. 

I am, however, excited to announce that I have finally hit one of these lofty goals.  Take a sneak peak while I'm unpacking and doing laundry...

On Perfection & Ice Scoops

I had dinner recently with a friend & her husband.  She was talking about her friend's older sister, a woman who apparently embodies perfection.  "She's just perfect," she said.  "Everybody knows it." 

"Perfect HOW?" we asked.

My friend thought for a minute (choosing, clearly, from the myriad examples) and said, "She uses a scoop in her ice drawer".

It seems like a tiny thing, but in thinking about it, I can see how this can be a habit of a perfectly perfect person.  In my house, I should mention, we were a grab-the-ice-quickly-with-your-hands couple.  A few weeks after this discussion, I was in a kitchen store in Portland, Maine and happened to see an ice scoop.  Boom.  I am one step closer to perfect: 

It seriously makes a difference.  Switching from our formerly gross ice-fetching habits feels a lot better.  Jesse has even come around on it, though it took some time for him to transition. 

And since this is a short, one-photo post... let me add one more.  Look how cute my cat is:

I took this while packing for vacation a week and a half ago.  Ethel the cat stayed at home but two carry on bags made the cut.  I will be back shortly to share where we've been and some quick photos. 

Dark Chocolate Chili Truffles

I was going to call these Little Crack Balls but I thought that would be a little inapropro.  But seriously.  So good.  A little sweet, a little spicy, a little salty and a little AWESOME.  

My friend Zan's Aunt Liz makes the best frickin truffles ever and shipped a bunch from London.  My ration (and rationale) just ran out so I quickly made a batch of my own.  They weren't quite as good...but pretty damn close. 

Here are the ingredients:

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

2 Tbs Unsalted Butter (at room temp)

12 Oz Semisweet Chocolate (finely chopped)

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbs Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2 Tbs Sugar

1 Tbs Red Chili Powder 

2 Pinches of Sea Salt 

I don't have a pic for this because I did it the night before, but here are the directions to make the filling.

Heat the cream and butter up over medium heat until the butter melts completely.  Remove from the heat and add your finely chopped chocolate.  Let it rest for about a minute.  Gently stir until the chocolate becomes silky smooth and no chocolate chunks remain.  Add your vanilla and then pour contents into a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours up to overnight.

Mix the rest of your powdered ingredients on a dinner plate once your filling is ready.  I used a melon baller which was sort of big, but I like delicious things to come in extra large sizes...that's just me. Once you scoop out the chocolate, roll gently and quickly with the palms of your hands to create a ball like shape.  They aren't going to be perfect.  In fact, they look cuter when they aren't.

Once you've rolled them right round baby right round, let them sit on parchment paper for a bit to set.

 Don't these look amazzzzingalingadingdong?

Now, one quick disclaimer.  Make sure you knock off the excess powder or else you'll end up like Michael Scott: 

Stay hungry! 

Outdoor Fabric & Porch Progress

Now that the weather in New England is hot and sunny, we're spending a lot of time outside.  Since my skintone falls in the pink to very pink spectrum, I try to be in the shade when outside (unless I'm slathering on the SPF 75).  Luckily, we have a big covered porch out back.  Making this area useable was actually one of my 12 Homey Goals of 2012 - to make an "outdoor living room".

Here's what we started with (photo from December):

We are about halfway to an outdoor living room at this point - we picked up a wicker loveseat and two chairs from CraigsList.  It included pillows in a gross, brown pattern.  I immediately hit up Fabric.com and searched for outdoor fabric patterns.  They had a lot of great patterns, but I found this bright teal geometric fabric and made envelope style pillows...

Colorful update with comfy seating... a great start!  Next we need a table for drinks and the days I choose to work from the back porch.  I am also thinking about hanging up a curtain behind the loveseat to cover up that ugly steel box (which is the exhaust for the fireplace in our bedroom) and to give the area a more cabana-y feel.  I need to get on that in the next few weeks before the leaves start changing and it starts getting cooler.  Can anybody else believe it's August already? 

Crispy Sausage Bread

A few years ago we had some people over (unexpectedly) and those people were starting to get hungry.  Obviously, they started to look in my direction.  "Jaisa, anything in the kitchen up there or..."  I got the point.  

I pride myself on being able to whip something up from simple, basic ingredients and we just happened to have the following on hand: 

1 lb Spicy Italian Sausage (happy Uncle Mike?)

1 Baguette

8 oz Cream Cheese

1/4 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan 

3 Tbs Chopped Green Onions  

It's suuuuuper important to drain your sausage before mixing it into the other ingredients.  Otherwise you'll have a greasy gross appetizer instead of a light crispy crunch.  So, brown your sausage and then line your mixing bowl with a few layers of paper towels.  Spoon the sausage into the bowl and let it drain for 1-2  minutes.  Use the excess towels on top to gently press the top of the sausage as well.  

Next, while the sausage is still warm, pour the sausage on top of the cream cheese and let it stand for a minute or so.   This will make it much easier to mix.   Add the green onions and freshly grated parm and mix well. 

Next, slice the baguette down lengthwise and then in half.  Because the topping is heavy, scoop a little bit of the bread out and then add your filling.  This will help keep that gosh darn delicious filling in the bread and not on your shirt. 

Ok we're getting close people!! Toast the bread with the filling in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until the bread and topping become golden brown. 

5 ingredients to total bliss.   

Try it out and let us know what you think.  Stay hungry!