Texas pulled pork

We don’t eat pulled pork in Texas. This isn’t to say that pulled pork isn’t delicious, but when you go to a Texas barbecue joint you order beef—be it brisket, shoulder, sausage or ribs. And if you do see pulled pork at a Texas barbecue joint you might inquire about the provenance of the pit master as pulled pork is just not found in our usual repertoire of smoked meat.

Yep, Texas is cow country and that’s why our barbecue is based on beef. But we certainly do eat pork—tender pork ribs are always on a barbecue menu; crisp, succulent carnitas fill countless tacos and a bowl of slow-simmered fiery red posole is a fine way to welcome in the New Year.

So why no pulled pork?



I don’t know the answer to this question. And while my first barbecue love will always be moist brisket piled high with pickles and onions, having traveled to other barbecue regions in the South that showcase the pig, I have come to appreciate a pulled pork sandwich. How could you not enjoy tender strands of lightly sauced meat that’s been topped with cole slaw and stuffed into a bun? It’s a fine sandwich indeed.

So, if Texas barbecue joints did have a pulled-pork tradition, how would it taste? I decided to do some experiments. Now, please keep in mind that I’m working with an oven and no smoke so this isn’t true barbecue. But I have discovered that when you cook meat in a coffee rub with plenty of chipotle powder and smoked paprika for heat and smoke, if you close your eyes you just might swear you’re in Texas. I decided to apply this rub to a bone-in pork shoulder in an attempt to make a pile of Texas pulled pork.

Much consultation led me to the conclusion that the best way to cook pulled pork in an oven was to cook it dry at a low temperature for a long time. I was dubious at first, but there’s so much fat in a pork shoulder that it keeps the meat moist. And the lack of extra liquid insures that that you’ll get a nice bark, which is fun to chop up and mix in with the juicy soft strands of meat.

I usually eschew sauce with my barbecue, but I thought a smoky chipotle sauce brightened with a bit of lime would enhance the flavor of the meat. (Note that many barbecue places in the South—namely Eastern North Carolina—simply toss their pulled pork with apple cider vinegar and chili flakes—this is tasty as well.) Tangy cole slaw and homemade buns completed the meal.



Will Texas barbecue joints ever embrace pulled pork? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I reckon probably not—we are beefeaters after all. But if you do get a hankering for pulled pork with the flavors of Texas, this is a good place to start.

Texas pulled pork
Ingredients:
1 4-pound bone-in pork shoulder
Coffee-chipotle rub (recipe follows)
Chipotle barbecue sauce (recipe follows)

Method:
Coat the pork shoulder on all sides with the coffee-chipotle rub. Wrap pork in plastic, place on sheet or large plate and refrigerate for 8 hours.

Take the pork out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature, about half an hour. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

Place pork in a lightly oiled (either a few squirts of spray oil or about 1 teaspoon of canola oil) roasting pan or dutch oven and cook uncovered, fat side up 8 hours or about two hours a pound.

Remove meat from oven and let sit for an hour. Do not be alarmed by how black it is--it's not burnt that's bark that's been formed by the coffee rub. Pull meat into strands and toss with as much or as little sauce as you prefer. (I like to do it with 1 cup and then serve the extra on the side.) And be sure and chop some of the bark and mix it with the tender interior meat.

Goes well with cole slaw, jalapeño pickles and soft buns, though you could certainly eat it on its own as well.

Serves 6-8.

Coffee-chipotle rub
Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup of finely ground dark coffee
1/4 cup paprika (smoked is preferred but regular is fine)
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon chipotle powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons allspice

Method:
Combine all the rub ingredients together until well blended with no lumps. For this pulled pork recipe, you might not need all of the rub but you can save it and use it on something else.

Chipotle barbecue sauce
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 half a medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup yellow, ball-park style mustard
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup brewed coffee
2 canned chipotles, chopped
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepot on medium and cook the onions for 10 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, turn down the heat to low and cook for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Transfer the sauce and puree until smooth.

Makes about 2 cups. Should keep for at least a week in your refrigerator.

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Strawberry sheet cake

I have to say that it’s good to be in charge. Sure, I’m awfully busy—waking up at the crack of dawn and cooking until the sun sets. But as the boss I get to do anything I want, including making executive decisions. And when faced with the question recently of either pie or cake, I chose cake—strawberry cake to be exact.

Last week, the first local strawberries appeared at the farmer’s market and I went nuts. We have one farmer who sells strawberries that are jewels—each one loaded with juice with a deep red coloring that goes all the way to the core. These berries aren’t sprayed and don’t need any adornment; I can eat my way through a pint in about 10 minutes.

My preference for fresh in-season fruit is to eat it simply—with perhaps a light sprinkle of sugar to bring out some of the juice and flavor. And I find myself making a lot of strawberry shortcake this time of year as it’s a wonderful way to showcase my favorite spring berry. But sometimes you want to change things up a bit, which is how I found myself wondering how to make that Southern classic—strawberry cake.



When researching strawberry cake recipes, however, I noticed that most of them were made with boxed cake mix along with strawberry gelatin. I didn’t want to make my cake that way so I called my grandma to see how she made hers. Yep, she confirmed that her recipe was the same as well.

“This is an outrage!” I thought. And so after much hand wringing over the sad state of strawberry cakes made from scratch, I decided to just come up with my own recipe instead.

I took my grandma’s chocolate sheet cake recipe and swapped the strawberries for the cocoa and reduced the amount of liquid. For the frosting (or do you say icing?), I added some cream cheese and threw in a bit of lime juice as well. Now, while the frosting is a lovely shade of pink I realize that the cake is not. I believe this is why so many recipes call for strawberry gelatin and/or food coloring—so the color will be what the mind expects.



But even if this cake isn’t pink, it’s still tender and moist with a delicate strawberry flavor that’s just sweet enough. And at the end of the day, what more could you want?

Strawberry sheet cake
Ingredients:
12 oz .fresh strawberries, stems removed and chopped (about 3 cups)
2 cups of sugar plus 2 teaspoons
2 cups of flour
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Method:
Over the chopped strawberries, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Let them sit for an hour at room temperature so they can release some of their juices. The berries should reduce to about 1 1/2 cups. In a blender of food processor, crush the berries on a low speed for a few seconds—you want them juicy but still with some texture. Take 1/2 cup of the strawberry mixture for the frosting and leave the remaining crushed strawberries for the cake.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the sugar and flour together in a bowl.

Melt the butter on low in a saucepan and then whisk it with the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and baking soda. Add the liquid to the flour and then stir in one cup of the crushed strawberries.

Pour batter into greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cake is done when a knife comes out clean from the center. Let it cool and then frost with the strawberry cream cheese frosting (recipe below).

Note: The cake will be a little brown. This, I hear, is because of the alkaline reaction of the ingredients. Do not be alarmed!

Strawberry cream cheese frosting
Ingredients:
1/4 pound of butter (1 stick) at room temperature
8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
3 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup crushed strawberries
2 teaspoons of lime juice (about half a lime)
1/4 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
Whip together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar until blended. Add the strawberries, lime juice, lime zest and vanilla. Spread over cooled cake.

Note: Depending on how juicy your berries are, your icing may be runnier than usual. If this is the case, I'd add more cream cheese to thicken it up.

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The Homesick Texan Cookbook, an introduction

Here's my recipe on how to make a cookbook, The Homesick Texan Cookbook to be exact:

1. Be born in Dallas, the newest member of a long line of Texans that have been living in the state since the mid 1800s. But do you care about your esteemed Texan heritage? Heck no! You tell your parents at a very young age that you want to live in New York City. They take you to Herrera’s, order you tamales and pray for the best.

2. Now, how does a young Texan become enamored with New York City? Let’s blame Maurice Sendak, E.L. Konigsberg, E.B. White, Rhoda, Woody Allen and Sesame Street. At nine, your family moves to Houston and you fall in love with its green sauce, Gulf seafood, ice-house hamburgers and dewberries growing along the bayou. You even reconsider your desire to move to New York City, but in your early 20’s a job in Manhattan beckons and you heed its call.

3. In 1995, you arrive in New York and realize that you’ve been hoodwinked; there is no decent Mexican food in the whole city! And let's not even begin to discuss the lack of Ro-Tel, barbecue, chili, chicken-fried steak, queso and everything else you’ve been eating your whole life. You are hungry. So now what do you do?




4. In your tiny Manhattan kitchen, you attempt to recreate your favorite Texan dishes for your New York friends as it’s important that they learn the joys of your homeland's cuisine. You also buy a camera and start taking photos of food and words and such. One day, you decide to combine these two joys into a blog. You name it Homesick Texan.

5. You meet lots of wonderful people on the blog, a mix of food lovers from all paths—both Texan and non-Texan alike. And sure, some of the Texas food issues in New York City may have improved over the years, but it's still not home. One day, you receive an email from one of your readers who is both a homesick Texan and a literary agent. She thinks that you should write a book. Fast forward a few weeks and you discover that others believe you should write a book, too. You happily accept an offer from Hyperion and start cooking. The Homesick Texan Cookbook is born.

Now, allow me tell you a little bit about my book. It’s going to be hardcover and will have lots of stories, photos and recipes—just like the blog. There will be about 150 recipes in total and while a few will be some of my favorites from the site, most of the recipes will be brand new.



The book is coming out in fall 2011, which means that I’m going to be very, very busy for the rest of the year. But I don’t mind as I can’t think of a finer way to spend my time. If you like, I’ll be giving you updates as I write the book. And don’t worry—I’ll keep blogging, too.

But as for now, I’m just going to keep pinching myself. And, of course, writing and cooking as well. Thank you so much for your support! I couldn't have done this without you. Now please excuse me—I have a book to write.

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Frito pie with one-hour Texas chili

When my grandparents were in graduate school at the University of Kentucky, they were—of course—homesick Texans. But they soon figured out that they could feel a lot closer to home if they indulged in that Texan classic, Frito pie.

Frito pie—if you are a deprived soul that has never eaten one—is simply a pile of Fritos topped with chili, cheese, diced onions and sometimes, if you're feeling flush, pickled jalapenos and sour cream. In Texas, it’s a mainstay at Friday-night football games, county fairs, school-cafeteria lunches, church youth-group suppers and yes, even at home.

Typically, it’s served in the bag—you just open up an individual-sized Frito package, ladle on the chili and dip in with your spoon. Though I find when you’re eating it at home, a bowl is an acceptable vessel for serving it as well, though some people may argue that is just a bit too fancy for this humble dish.



Now, as my grandma recalls, Fritos weren’t widely available in Kentucky in the late 1940’s—it was still mostly a Texan brand. And forget about even finding that other common ingredient for Frito pie—canned Wolf Brand chili. But they had a Texan friend at school that on trips back home to Corsicana would load up his car with bags of Fritos and cases of chili and bring these treasures back to Lexington. A Frito pie feast would then ensue.

I think those of us who are no longer in Texas can relate to filling our suitcases with beloved foods unavailable in our new home. Fortunately, however, Fritos are now found everywhere so if I get a craving I don’t have to go far. But canned chili? I don’t even bother with the stuff they sell in New York City as it’s always made with beans and without heat or flavor. Nope, when I make my Frito pies, I instead top it with a chili made from scratch.

Frito pie is a simple dish, which means I don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen putting it together. And sure, my usual Texas chili is an all-day affair, slow-simmered cubes of beef richly flavored with a variety of chilis and spices. But for Frito pie, I instead make a one-hour chili from coarsely ground beef. And while it might not be as complex as my other chili, I find that it's still spicy enough to be a fine complement to a pile of corn chips.



When was the last time you had Frito pie? I have to admit that I don’t eat Frito pie nearly as often as I should. But I think my grandparents definitely had the right idea, as tucking into a bowl with friends is a superb way to celebrate home.

One-hour Texas chili, suitable for Frito pie.
Ingredients
2 pounds beef, coarsely ground (you can ask your butcher to do this)
6 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
2 morita chiles, stems and seeds removed
4 pequin chiles
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cumin plus more to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons corn meal or masa harina (optional, but will thicken chili if needed)
Juice of one lime
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or bacon grease

In a large skillet, preferably cast iron, heat the ancho and morita dried chiles on medium-high heat about a minute on each side. Turn off the heat, fill the skillet with water and let the chiles soak until rehydrated, about half an hour.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, cook the onions until translucent, about 10 minutes. Throw in the garlic and cook for another minute. Place cooked onion and garlic into a blender.

Drain the chiles from the soaking water and add them to the blender along with the chile pequin (you don’t need to pre-soak these little chilis). Add the cumin, oregano, clove, cinnamon and one cup of water. Blend until smooth.

Form the ground beef into little balls, about the size of a 1/2-inch marble (This does not need to be perfect, so don't spend too much time doing this. The purpose is to emulate chili chuck, a very coarse grind of beef sold in Texas). In the same large pot, heat the meat, while stirring occasionally, until lightly browned on each side, about 10 minutes. Add the chile puree and enough water (or beer, if you prefer) to cover the meat (about four cups), heat on high until boiling and then simmer uncovered on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 45 minutes, add salt and black pepper to taste and feel free to add more cumin if you feel the chili needs it. Also, if the chili isn't thick enough for you taste, slowly stir in the masa harina. Add the lime juice and then cook for 15 more minutes.

Frito Pie
Ingredients:
4 cups of Fritos
4 cups of one-hour chili
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of diced onions

Method:
For each Frito pie, ladle one cup of chili over one cup of Fritos, top with 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar and 1 tablespoon diced onions.

Of course, these measurements can be altered to suit your appetite. And I have to admit that I don't usually measure out my Fritos and chili when making Frito pie.

Serves 4.

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