‘Pork Shoulder’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Is that not the most gorgeous picture ever? It makes me want to make the recipe all over again.

Melissa d’Arabian first burst onto the public food scene when she competed on The Next Food Network Star a few years ago. I watched as she held her own against other, sometimes more flamboyant and edgy, competitors, staying the course. She went on to win the competition, earning herself her very own spot on the Food Network line-up.

Her point of view? Ten dollar dinners.

A movement I can get behind.

Especially when it’s a well-balanced meal.

That’s kid-friendly.

And features recipes that don’t have you hunting all over heck and creation to find ingredients you’ll likely never use again.

Amen.

She is a stay-at-home mom of four, who has lived in Paris. As such, her menus have many different cultural influences, and aren’t just relegated to plain, ordinary fare. She learned her frugal tendencies from her mom, who was a single mother putting herself through college and medical school, and those lessons have clearly served her well.

So when I heard that she was coming out with her first cookbook, I was all in. After looking through it, the recipe for the pork shoulder caught my eye.

And the fact that it was a slow cooker recipe, when it was still plenty hot outside, was a bonus.

Pork shoulder, white wine, onion, garlic, salt, pepper.

People, it doesn’t get easier.

It smelled heavenly a few hours in.

And once done, it shredded up in nothing flat.

It was moist, flavorful, and kid-friendly.

Which is my favorite kind of recipe.

One of the features I like best about the cookbook is that Melissa gives you suggestions for how to use the recipe. The page following the pork shoulder recipe features 10 different ways to use the meat, everything from chili and tacos to hash, turnovers, and tamale pie.

Because who wants to eat the same thing for days on end?

The cookbook includes recipes for Salmon Cakes, Four Step Chicken Piccata, Kale and Crispy Bacon Salad, Roasted Garlic and White Bean Chili, Zucchini Carpaccio, Chicken Marengo, Bulgur-Stuffed Veggies, Fennel-Onion Quiche, Provencal Tomatoes, Cheesy Popovers, Double Chocolate Pound Cake, Homemade Yogurt, and much more.

And now how about a chance to win her cookbook? It’s over 350 pages of colorful photographs, easy and delicious recipes, and as Bobby Flay said, “Melissa’s real-life experience as a wife and mom makes her the perfect person to help all of us get dinner to the table.”

Amen to that.

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GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Friday, August 17th at 11pm EST
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NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
FINE PRINT: The winner will be selected using random.org.

All-Purpose Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder
Recipe courtesy of Melissa d’Arabian

1 3-to-4-pound boneless pork shoulder (or 4 1/2-pound bone-in pork shoulder)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
1/2 cup dry white wine

Rinse the pork, place on a cutting board, pat dry with paper towels and rub in the salt and pepper. Set the pork in the bowl of a slow cooker, scatter the onion over the pork, sprinkle in the garlic and add the wine. Cook until the meat easily pulls apart with a fork, about 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

Turn off the slow cooker and transfer the pork to a platter. Use two forks to shred the meat.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can braise the pork shoulder in a 325 degrees F oven for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.

I served ours shredded on whole wheat buns, with sliced red onion, avocado, and a bit of Dijon mustard.

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Pork shoulder recipes are a funny thing. At least the past few that I have made. Most of the recipes I’ve used recently call for a few hours in the oven, and during more than half of that time I’m convinced that the recipe is going to be a massive fail. The Succulent Braised Pork from Melissa D’Arabian a few weeks back is an excellent example, as is the recipe I made this past Sunday.

But I’ve noticed something magical happens in the last hour of cooking the pork.

It all comes together beautifully. In a way that almost takes your breath away.

The recipe I made Sunday was from the October issue of Martha Stewart Living (and as an aside, their recipe search box leaves a lot to be desired. After twenty minutes, I gave up searching for these two recipes and retyped them below. It shouldn’t be that difficult to find recipes from the current issue. Just sayin’). I made this particular recipe for two reasons. One, I like a “cook all afternoon” recipe for a not-really-but-should-have-been-lazy Sunday afternoon, and two, the article also featured recipes to use up the leftovers, recipes that didn’t resemble the original dish. Love that.

Company was due at 6 pm, and by 5:15, I was seriously second-guessing my decision to try this recipe, particularly a new one, when we had guests coming. Any good hostess worth her salt will tell you that it’s good to have a few tried-and-trues and not have your main course be something you’ve never made or served before. I never was one to follow the rules.

Towards the end of the cooking time, when hope was quickly fading, I decided that I could always fall back on a quick pasta dish or call out for pizza. But then something magical happened. As it always does with pork shoulder or pork butt.

It all came together.

And thank goodness it did.

It was tender. Succulent. And fall-off-the-bone good. And for something that literally took minutes of prep work.

Paired with root vegetables that I bought from the farmers’ market that very morning, and roasted, it was the perfect Fall meal.

And the recreation of the leftovers the next day? Open-Faced Porchetta Sandwiches with Caramelized Apples. Holy mother of pork, THAT recipe is reason enough to make the first recipe. Like, seriously, OMG good. The second recipe blows the first one out of the water. Treat yourself, and your family, and make it. I swear you’ll be hooked on it too.

P.S. As an update to the story I shared about the wonderful kids on the football team yesterday, after a conversation today with a few parents, I learned even more… The team I told you about was the JV team. When the Varsity team got wind of what they were doing, they wanted to do something too, and at their next game, each of their football helmets sported a pink sticker to show their support, and the cheerleaders, not to be outdone, added pink extensions to their hair. A hairdresser charged the girls $5 to add a pink extension to their hair, and then donated the money to breast cancer research. Such heartwarming gestures from all.

Project 365
October 14, 2010, Photo #179

Caught

This weekend brought about a few firsts for me. One, I’ll share. I used the mens’ restroom for the first time ever. Surprisingly it was spotless, especially as compared to the womens’ restroom. Color me shocked. I think there might actually be a contraband picture of me coming out of the mens’ restroom, but what happens on Girls Night Out … stays there.

…

Recipe: All-Purpose Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder {and a Melissa d’Arabian Cookbook Giveaway!}

Braised Pork Shoulder and Porchetta Sandwiches