Did you guess CARNITAS?

I have been wanting to make Carnitas for a long time...we are talking YEARS...but I have been too afraid to make them...until NOW!

I searched high and low for an easy recipe for carnitas because that was part of what dissuaded me all these years. All the recipes I had seen called for cooking all freaking day long and I am not that patient...even if it means pure melt in your mouth taste. While searching, I found a recipe that caught my eye from the Homesick Texan, but it required minimum cooking for 4-5 hours. The next recipe I found had a footnote saying to use a pressure cooker to reduce cook time to 35 minutes! I HAVE A PRESSURE COOKER! And from my pulled pork sandwiches and red beans and rice, you know I'm not afraid to use it.

Alex and I bought a 5 pound pork shoulder...well, pork butt...but it really is a shoulder. I learned from Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs that a pork shoulder is referred to as the butt, and the actual butt of a pig is a ham. Butt, back to the pork shoulder. :) Because it was just the two of us, I cut the shoulder in half and froze the left over meat. This cut of meat has a lot of fat on it. You should try to trim back as much as you can...but not all of it. There is a LOT of flavor in that fat!

Carnitas (adapted from Diana Kennedy) - from the Homesick Texan blog.

3 pounds of pork butt

1 cup of orange juice

3 cups of water

2 teaspoons of salt

Like I said...pretty simple. The only part of the recipe I followed after the ingredients was to cut the pork into strips, well 3 inches chunks and salted and peppered the crap out of it. I then seared the cubed pork until each side was nicely browned in the pressure cooker. I emptied the pork into a separate dish so I could put the metal part into the bottom of the pressure cooker. The metal piece has holes in it to keep the meat (or whatever you are cooking in it) from touching the bottom of the pan. I suspect because you keep the heat on close to high or medium high the whole time it is cooking. I put the pork back in with the orange juice and water...I also added two chicken bullion cubes for my entertainment. :) I sealed the pressure cooker and cooked it for 35 minutes at the first line. My pressure cooker has two lines to indicate how much pressure there is in the pan. I had to release a little bit of pressure a couple of times while it was cooking so it maintained the pressure at the first line.

You can't tell very well from this picture, but the pork was shredding just by touching it with the tongs.Homesick Texans Directions:

1. Cut pork into strips (three inches by one inch), bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered on low for 2 hours. Do not touch the meat.2. After two hours, turn heat up to medium high, and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered (about 45 minutes). Stir a few times, to keep pork from sticking to bottom of pan.3. When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready (there will be liquid fat in the pan). Serve either cubed or shredded (pork will be tender enough that just touching it will cause it to fall apart).Goes very well with a green salsas such as Ninfa's green sauce or this tomatillo salsa or this salsa verde with avocados and tomatillos.Serves 4-6

I dig the fact that the Homesick Texan included the suggestion for salsa verde, but again, I am not patient enough to make salsa when I am making a meal like carnitas...even if it is in the pressure cooker. I bought a bottle of Herdez salsa verde and kicked it up a bit.

Sarah's FREAKING AWESOME Salsa Verde:

1 - 16 oz. bottle of Herdez salsa verde

1 medium white onion, chopped

1 splash of lime juice

1/2 a serrano pepper with or without seeds

2 handfuls of cilantro, chopped

Mix all together and savor. You can really add any combination of the ingredients listed above. Warning...this salsa is FABULOUS!!!!

I warmed up some corn tortillas and served the pork with the salsa. You're going to love me for this one!!! The fact that I don't have a picture of the final product goes to show how amazing these babies turned out.

Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes and Salmon

My buddy Meg over at Megan's Munchies wanted to try out three pumpkin mashed potatoes recipes and I decided to try out what was behind web site number two. I was directed to Wise Food Ways for a pretty ambiguous recipe for Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes. I get nervous with ambiguous recipes because I always end of adding too much of something and ruin it...fortunately, tonight was not one of those nights. SUCCESS! These babies ROCKED!!! Thanks to my trusty pressure cooker, I fixed this up in 15 minutes!

I'm going to share with you how I made these potatoes and then you can hit the Wise Food Ways for the more ambiguous recipe. :)

Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes:
2 medium potatoes, peeled, washed and cut into big chunks
1 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
1 15 oz can pureed pumpkin
1/2 stick of margarine, just kidding...I added a whole stick of margarine.

1 small box of cream

1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

plenty of salt and pepper

Procedure:
Cook potatoes in pressure cooker for 11 minutes according to pressure cooker directions. While potatoes are cooking, heat up margarine, cream and pumpkin over medium heat until margarine is melted and pumpkin is warmed through.Mash the vegetables with a potato masher, fork, or whisk and add butter and dairy and spices until you like the consistency and flavor.

I was worried I had destroyed the recipe because the consistency was a little 'wet'...but HOLY CRAP! It was like smooth pumpkin pie...almost. The sweet potatoes are a requirement for the consistency and taste on these potatoes. DAMN! I LOVE these potatoes!

The meat to this meal was smoked Salmon. My dad gave me a stove top smoker when Alex and I got married and it has quickly become a favorite kitchen tool. It is so silly easy to use!

The smoker is a metal box with a lid that slides on and off. In the smoker is a drip tray with a metal rack to put your meat on. I wrap my drip tray in tin foil so it is easy to clean and spray the rack with pam to keep the meat from sticking. On the very bottom of the smoker, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of alder wood chips (which conveniently came with the smoker). Put the drip tray on top of the wood chips, then the metal rack and place the salmon on the rack. Slide the lid over the top until 1 inch of space is open. Put smoker on stove top over medium heat. Once you see little wisps of smoke, slide the lid completely closed and cook for 22 minutes. The internal heat stays at 375 F while cooking...just in case you were curious.

The flavor of salmon smoked in a stove top smoker is AMAZING! It is such a subtle taste...it is so elegant. Very little smoke escapes into your house, so no worries on setting the smoke detector off. Just open a kitchen window a crack and you are good to go!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I have to thank a fellow blogger for this recipe. Beth and Nate from Our Sweet Life posted this recipe and I had to try it. I LOVE cute little meals. It is like dim sum...you get a little bit of everything!

I deviated a little from the author's recipe because I didn't have all day to wait for the crock pot. So what did I do? I pulled out the trusty pressure cooker. I used the pressure cooker because I wanted to make sure last night's triumph with the Red Beans and Rice wasn't a fluke.

I was nervous using the pressure cooker for meat. I struggle with meat in general. I either over cook it or undercook it and neither is a good option. I started out seasoning 1 1/2 pounds of pork tenderloin with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Then I browned the tenderloin with 1 tablespoon of olive oil at the bottom of the pressure cooker. I added two 12 oz. bottles of Virgils Micro Brew Rootbeer and brought the pressure cooker to the second line for 15 minutes. In the mean time, I cooked up a can of store bought biscuits in the oven according to the instructions on the package. Fortunately, it was the same time frame as the pork.

When the pork was done, I cut it up into smaller pieces because it doesn't pull apart the same way a pork shoulder would. That is a good thing from my perspective. Pork tenderloin doesn't have as much fat as other cuts of pork...which ALSO made me nervous. I was worried the whole thing would come out tough and nasty.

Guess what? It was fabulous and tender!!!

I chop it up and put it back into the cooking juices for a couple of minutes so it could take in additional moisture. I drained the pork of all but a 1/4 cup of the juices and added 1/2 cup of Famous Dave's Texas Pit BBQ sauce. Famous Dave's is Alex's FAVORITE BBQ place. He goes there minimum once a week with the boys from work. I digress...

I cracked open one of the biscuits, stuffed it full with pork and added a little extra BBQ sauce. Oh my goodness!! Pure yumminess! I am in LOVE with my pressure cooker. Talk about fast food! From start to finish this took me a total of 20-25 minutes! Had I been thinking, I would have made a side of cole slaw to put on top of the sandwich. Thanks for the great recipe Beth and Nate from Our Sweet Life. The recipe ROCKS!!!

Red Beans and Rice - Pressure Cooker Style!

If any of you know my husband...and I mean REALLY know my husband, you know he LOVES Red Beans and Rice. He makes it at least once a month. Every time he makes it there is some type of variation from seasonings to the type of sausage. Last night as I was cooking up the Martha Stewart Mac and Cheese he was chopping up peppers and veggies for the Red Beans and Rice. I always get a little nervous when he starts up with the Red Beans and Rice because when it rocks, IT ROCKS!!!! But when it doesn't...it doesn't; in a big, bad way.

Alex is all about beans from the bag, not the can, the bag. That means soaking overnight and cooking all day in a crock pot. Sometimes some of the beans are soft and fabulous while others are NOT al dente and other times they are ALL not al dente...those are the bad nights. Today was a busy day for Alex and I and we forgot to soak the beans. CRAP!

Thank goodness for pressure cookers. I have to admit, I have ONLY EVER used my pressure cooker for potatoes. When I bought the thing it came with three cook books and I was surprised to find you can cook meat, beans AND CHEESECAKE, of all things, in a pressure cooker. SERIOUSLY!!!!! Off to the pressure cooker cookbook we went.

We didn't use the recipe for the Red Beans and Rice in the pressure cooker cookbook, we just stole their idea for cooking the beans. Here is the game plan we used:

Alex's Red Beans and Rice...well, Red Beans...not Rice (More on that later):

1 16 oz package of dried red beans

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1 roasted green pepper - this is from our grilling escaped earlier in the week

1 red jalapeno pepper - it is red and looks like a jalapeno...so that is what I'm calling it.

2 green jalapeno peppers

1 onion

various Cajun spices...pick your favorite + bay leaf & fresh parsley

1/2 bottle of beer

Sausage of your choice

Alex chopped up all the veggies the night before and marinated them in 1/2 bottle of beer (I'm not sure what you would use in place of the 1/2 bottle of beer if you aren't a drinker...so maybe you should just crack down, buy a bottle of beer and use the other half of the bottle for killing snails in your yard.)

Cooking the beans: I am fortunate enough to have a Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Pressure Cooker (Alex bought if for my birthday our first year dating) that comes with a cookbook/user guide called, Quick Cuisine - Delicious recipes for your Duromatic Pressure Cooker. This is what it told me about pressure cooking beans: It suggests you soak your beans overnight...why would I do that when I have a pressure cooker?

Quick Soak: for each cup of sorted, rinsed beans, place 4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt into the pressure cooker. The book also suggests added some oil to the water to keep the foaming down. Add the beans and bring to a boil. Lock the lid in place and bring pressure to the second red ring over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain pressure at the second red ring and cook 2 minutes. Release pressure and remove the lid. Drain beans and cook as directed in the recipe.

To the 'Cajun Red Beans & Rice' recipe in the book:In a 4-quart or larger pressure cooker, add soaked, drained beans, 4 cups water (because we are using the whole bag of beans), and cut up veggies marinating in beer.

Allow ingredients to come to a boil, stirring often. Close lid and bring pressure to second red ring over high heat. Adjust heat to stabilize pressure at second red ring. Cook for 10 minutes.In the mean time, Alex cut up and browned some fabulous Cajun sausage we found at Costco.

Remove pressure cooker from heat (after the 10 minutes) and use natural release method. We just push down on our button at the top with the two red lines and this releases the pressure.

Add sausage to bean mixture. Close lid and bring pressure to second red ring over high heat. Adjust heat to stabilize pressure at second red ring. Cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and use natural release method.

The other conundrum I run into with Alex's Red Beans and Rice is the rice. He uses regular, plain, old minute rice. Hmmmm...boring. Not bad, just boring. Tonight, I took matters into my own hands.

A couple of months ago I took a business trip down to New Orleans...yes, life is tough when you have to do business in New Orleans. I scored a cute little Cajun book called "Talk About Good!" at a book store called, A Tisket, A Tasket in the French Quarter. How can you go wrong with a name like that?

Rice Casserole II:

1 stick of butter or margarine

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic

1 tsp summer savory - I didn't have this and it still ROCKED!

3 beef (I used chicken) bouillon cubes

3 cups boiling water

4 oz. can chopped mushrooms - Alex hates mushrooms and I am adverse to canned mushrooms so I left these out.

1 small can Parmesan cheese - I don't do canned Parmesan cheese so I grated one cup

2 cups minutes rice (raw)Melt butter, add onion, garlic, rice and savory - saute. Melt bouillon cubes in the boiling water, add to rice, cheese and mushrooms. Put in baking dish, cover and bake 30 minutes at 350 F.

I am not kidding you when I say, 'THIS IS THE BEST DAMN RED BEANS AND RICE I HAVE HAD IN THE 3 YEARS I HAVE BEEN WITH ALEX!!!!'

Lesson learned from today's post? GO BUY A PRESSURE COOKER!!!!