HEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, there haven't been many posts this week (ok, any at all) but what can I say it's been summer and I've been busy. I promise after we get through our big BBQ this weekend I'll shower you with lots of recipe posts and restaurant reviews...and a giveaway. Yep, you heard right - first Girl and A Fork giveaway ever, so stay tuned!

This Little Piggie... : Pulled Pork Sammies

Happy Monday! How was your weekend, readers? Over here, the past two weekends Mr. S. and I have been experimenting with different pulled pork recipes. Last weekend we tried cooking it on the BBQ and topping it with a North Carolina-style vinegar sauce and this weekend we slow cooked it for over 8.5 hours in a roaster then mixed it with a homemade BBQ sauce. For the latter (which I'm blogging about), the kidlets were around so I served it up on a sweet french roll with some crispy tator tots and got thumbs up all around. I think this one's a keeper!

Homemade BBQ Sauce (recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

*Makes about 7 cups of barbecue sauce

Ingredients

2 cups ketchup

2 cups tomato sauce

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar

1/2 cups unsulphured molasses

2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

4 teaspoons hickory flavored liquid smoke

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper


Instructions

- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, mix together all the wet ingredients and then add the seasonings.

-Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken as it simmers (and then as it cools).

- Simmer for at least an hour.


BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Ingredients

3 to 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder (I've also used boneless pork loin - not tenderloin - but pork loin with good results)

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

1 tablespoon hickory flavored liquid smoke

2 cups barbecue sauce


Instructions

- Rinse the pork shoulder and pat dry.

- Rub salt and pepper over the pork and place in a slow cooker.

- Add water and liquid smoke. Cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, until the pork is very tender.

- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and discard the remaining liquid.

- Shred the pork using a couple of forks.

- Place the meat back in the slow cooker along with the barbecue sauce and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes until the pork is hot again.

- Serve on buns with extra barbecue sauce.

Can You Can-Can? : Strawberry Jam

Not too long ago I posted about how my friend Sarah and I attended a wine event out in the wilds of Winters and on the way home stocked up on lots of fresh juicy jam berries. The following day we spent damn well close to nine hours in her cute retro kitchen hulling strawberries, measuring sugar and stirring jam over the stove until our arms almost fell off. It was a long day but the pay off was over sixty jars of sweet, beautiful jam- strawberry, blackberry, strawberry-tangerine and strawberry-balsamic vinegar with black pepper. Don't they all sound delish? What's funny about this whole jam-a-palooza is that I'm not a big jam eater. It probably takes me about three to four months to eat one jar of jam and that's if I'm moving fast. So since then I've been giving most of them out as gifts or trading them with friends for fresh veggies. In fact, I wrote an email last week to a friend that I recently reconnected with (ahhh, the miracle of Facebook...) and the conversation went roughly like this:

Her: So what have you been up to this week?
Me: Oh, a friend just dropped off some fresh plums, homemade pasta and a bit of basil in exchange for a jar of jam. Later tonight I'm going to go pick up some homemade honey from a friend's house that has bees and then I'm going to a make your own BBQ'd pizza party.
Her: Umm, do you like live on a commune?
Me: No, Sacramento.

Maybe it seems über granola to some to be making things like jam or to can but I really enjoy it and I've been loving the looks on people's faces when I've given them a jar of fresh jam or some spicy dilly beans. Pure delight! Also, doing the hot water bath portion of the canning process (to make the jam shelf stable) turned out to be much easier than I thought!

The recipe we used was out of Sarah's copy of Complete Book of Home Preserving by Ball. What a great resource. I've picked up a copy since then and have been really impressed with the content and easy of use. Whether you're a beginning or advanced canner it's definitely worth having in your food library. The recipe we used is posted on Sarah's blog, Undercover Caterer, but I'm going to list it below as well. Happy jamming! :)

Simple & Quick Strawberry Jam (Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)

Ingredients

3-3/4 cups crushed hulled strawberries

4 Tbsp lemon juice (use bottled for consistency)

7 cups granulated sugar

1 pouch (3 oz.) liquid pectin


Instructions

- Prepare canner, jars & lids.

- In a large, deep, stainless steel pan, combine the berries, sugar and lemon and bring to a rolling boil, while stirring constantly so that it doesn’t burn. When the boil cannot be stirred down, add the pectin and boil hard, stirring constantly for one minute. Remove from the heat and skim off the foam.


- Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars and place the hot seals on top. Screw the band on fingertip-tight.


- Place jars in canner, ensuring that they are covered with water. Bring to a boil and process 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. After 5 minutes remove jars and let cool.

Summertime Savoy, Lime & Cilantro Coleslaw

Mr. S. lives in the 'burbs. Most of you know my feelings about the 'burbs. I'm a Grid girl. I like living in Midtown; a stone's throw from dive bars, indie coffee shops and various small eateries...the streets lined with a colorful array of Victorians, Craftsman Bungalows and hobbit-sized cottages (as well as the occasional bum peeing in the alleyway). The 'burbs...well most of them are full of...Vicodin-popping soccer moms in SUVs, identically painted beige McMansions with postage-sized yards and strip malls with box stores. I used to joke with my friends that I would break out in hives whenever I'd venture out to the 'burbs. But these days with Mr. S. having kidlets, we spend a lot of time at his casa in the 'burbs and I have to admit I'm starting to like it. To be honest though, the 'burbs that he resides in is not your typical Walmart-Roseville-cookie cutter suburb. It's in an older part of town, near the river, by a community park, and most of the residents on his street own their homes and have lived there for years. I love that he has a large backyard for the kidlets to run around in, that there's a huge tree that offers shade for the many BBQs that we've had back there and the grandma-type across the street waves at me on the mornings that I stay over. Most recently Mr. S. had a cement patio put in and I've taken to spending my morning sipping my coffee out there while tapping away on the laptop. Yesterday, we tried our hand at making BBQ'd pulled pork sandwiches and this Savoy, Lime and Cilantro Coleslaw recipe that Mr. S.'s cousin Sarah told us about. It was wonderful! Eating our dinner out on the patio under the cool shade of the giant mulberry tree was pretty close to a perfect summer eve...so maybe the 'burbs aren't so bad after all....

Savoy, Lime and Cilantro Coleslaw  (Recipe by Tyler Florence)

Ingredients

(Yields 4-6 servings)

1 head Savoy cabbage

4 scallions

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, torn

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 limes

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

 
Instructions
 
- Shave the cabbage with a sharp knife or mandoline so you have thin ribbons.
 
- Cut the scallions long and on the bias so you have pieces similar in shape to the cabbage.
 
-Toss the cabbage, scallions and cilantro in a large salad bowl.

- Make the dressing by combining the sour cream, mayonnaise, sugar and the zest of the limes in a medium bowl.

- Season with salt and pepper and finish with a squeeze of lime juice.

- Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss to combine.

Sol Cubano

5734 Watt Ave, North Highlands, California - (916) 332-2883.

Maybe I watched Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights one too many times but there's something about Cuba that I just find so damn intriguing. It's one of those places that I've been dying to visit. Bourdain recently did a No Reservations filming there and I hungrily devoured the episode. Is it the history of revolutions, the sultry culture or the fact that mojitos originated from this small country that pulls me towards it so? I dunno, but it fascinates me nonetheless.

Now there isn't much in the way of Cuban food in Sacramento. Almost nil, to be honest. Most of my exposure to Cuban food came as a small child visiting my uncle and his first wife in Miami. I remember eating spicy shrimp dishes with rice and fried sweet plantains in restaurants. My memory of those times is foggiest at best but I remember liking the food. So last week when a friend suggested that we do some food exploring and check out a Cuban restaurant she had heard about, I was game. Well that is until she disclosed that it was in North Highlands. But sometimes you gotta take one for the team...(and just hope you don't get shanked by some meth head while in the pursuit of some good chow). Sol Cubano, turned out to be in a clean, well maintained strip mall (and we went during daylight hours). The establishment itself was cute- red and white checkered tablecloths set against a colorful mural of a map of Cuba. I was a bit early for my lunchdate so I ordered a teeny cup of café cubano while I perused the menu. For lunch, I couldn't decide what to order and asked the waitress what she would recommend. She suggested several dishes and I decided to go with the Vaca Frita. [Note: Each lunch and dinner dish comes with a choice of white rice and a cup of bean soup or cuban rice and a small salad. I went will the cuban rice and small salad.] I also ordered a side order of Platanos Maduros Fritos (fried sweet plantains). ¡Ay Dios Mio! Everything was so delicious! The Vaca Frita (beef that has been cooked twice- first slow cooked, then marinated in a lime/garlic/salt, shredded and fried with onions until crispy) was AMAZING and usually I hate black beans but I loved the black beans that were in the cuban rice at Sol Cubano.

Mean girlfriend that I am, I sent photos of my lunch to Mr. S who was stuck at the office eating a Winco sandwich. I didn't feel too bad as he had just recently gotten back from an all expense paid trip to Florida (without me!) where he got to eat all kinds of delicious food, including Cuban food. My iron heart did relent a little later on and I agreed to take him to my new found eatery the next night for dinner (actually I just wanted to go back there for another meal, but we'll just let him think I'm really generous and kindhearted, ok?). The place was quite busy in the evening both with patrons dining in and with takeout, luckily we were able to score a table. We decided to order a Papa Rellena to start out with. Neither of us knew what this was and nodded our head when our waiter asked, "Only one?" Sure why not. Turned out a Papa Rellena was a deep fried baseball made of mashed potato with a core stuffed with seasoned ground beef. It's actually quite good; although it's quite daunting when it's presented to you- you're not quite sure whether to eat it or to huck it knuckball style. For my main course this time around, I decided to try the Ropa Vieja since it was one of the three dishes the waitress had recommended during the previous visit. "Ropa Vieja" means "Old Clothes" in Spanish so I was curious what I'd get. Mr. S. went with the Lechon Asado, a Cuban-style slow roasted pork. He gave the double thumbs up on this so it must have been damn good. My Ropa Vieja turned out to be shredded braised beef with a tomato-based sauce. It was quite tasty but I think I was more in love with the Vaca Frita, but they may be because I'm not a huge tomato lover like most.

Anyhow, I can't say enough good stuff about this little Cuban joint. It's seriously worth the trek out to the outlands of North Highlands. The drive isn't too bad, just grab a sherpa and head on down Watt Avenue, past the old McClellan AFB. The portions at Sol Cubano are good sized and the prices are reasonable. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and do takeout as well. If I remember correctly they close up pretty early (830pm?), so go plan on an early meal.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Well Sacramentans, looks like the hot streak finally broke this week and the cool Delta breezes have found their way into the Central Valley. Whew! The reprieve in temperature couldn't come at a better time and what better way then to celebrate it then to spend it outdoors with friends?

Instead of the traditional BBQ, my friend Cate decided to think outside of the box and throw a mid-week Pizza BBQ party tonight. Ingenious! She provided the dough, pizza sauce and the grill and had the guests bring their favorite toppings or a side dish to share. The toppings bar ended up being quite the spread. There were fresh cherry tomatoes from the garden, black olives, crisp bacon, prosciutto, black garlic, artichoke hearts, pancetta, caramelized onions, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pineapple, fresh and sauteed mushrooms...plus homemade mozzarella, Daiya cheese, goat cheese, brie...and much, much more! I ended up piling on all kinds of goodies on my pizza and then rounded out the end of the night with a big helping of Carren's delicious cherry crisp.

PS This little guy was a guest at the party and is looking for a home, if you're interested please leave a note in the comment section & I'll have the foster mom get back to you!

(Photo: Zach the Chihuahua by Ilsa)

Spicy Ma Po Tofu for the Bachelor

Some of my guy friends are amazing cooks, some have completed culinary school, some even cook professionally and well...some of my other guy friends microwave daily and are known on a first name basis at their neighborhood Chinese takeout joint. When I suggest that they tag along with me to the farmers' market, I can see the sweat start to bead up on their forehead and a look of panic start to wash over their face. They get that deer in the headlights look and start hightailing it for the nearest exit. So this recipe is for you, dude friends- it's simple, it's really quick and doesn't involve any fancy French words. You can whip it up in mere minutes and return to the safety of your man cave before anyone assaults you with words like locavore, food revolution or Richard Blais.

Ma Po Tofu

Ingredients

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 package Ma Po sauce

1 block silken firm or extra-firm tofu, drained, cut into 2cm cubes

3 scallions, chopped (whites & greens)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon chili oil or sriracha (optional)

1 tablespoon oil


Instructions

- Heat a tbsp of cooking oil in a wok under medium high heat. Add ground pork, cook until it's browned.

- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add sauce, tofu and scallions. (Add chili oil or sriracha at this point, if you wish.) Stir-fry, blend well.

- Serve with steamed rice.