A Dog Named Mac

A Leanne Classic

  1. Cook Kraft Mac N' Cheese per directions
  2. While that is cooking, grill some hot dogs
  3. When both are done, cut up pieces of hot dogs into the Mac N' Cheese.
  4. Enjoy. :)

Braised Pork Shoulder

A Scott Original!

  1. Buy yourself a lovely pork shoulder. Maybe 3'ish pounds. Shoulders are whicked cheap, but I am even cheaper... so I look for them on sale. This is a crappy hunk of meat w/ lots of fat and connective tissue. Thus, it needs a nice long cooking time to turn that into pure goodness.
  2. Preheat oven to 325.
  3. Salt and Pepper that bad boy, and don't be shy with it...
  4. Throw a big heavy pot on the stove, and crank her up to high. When she is good and hot, put a bit of oil in the pot and drop the roast in. Sear it on all four sides. Begin rant: Look, you dirty little freaks. You are not searing it to "seal the juices in". For that, you would need a freaking seal-o-meal. You are just adding a bit of tasty flavor by carmelizing the outside of the meat.
  5. Toss in some onions, carrots, garlic, celery... let that brown a bit if you find that amusing. Now, a badass chef would have you "deglaze" the pan to get all the goodness from the bottom up... but hey, whatever. We are gonna cook in that damn pot for 3 hours, I bet it comes up anyway. :)
  6. Pure goodness time. Apples and Rosemary. Quarter an apple or two and toss them in the pot. Then walk out to my backyard, and grab some sprigs of Rosemary. I guess you could get the rosemary elsewhere too if you wanted. Rinse them off if my wife is looking, otherwise, just toss them in the pot. :)
  7. Liquid Time. Given this is "braised", it means it needs to be in a moist environment. Thus, you gotta put some liquid in. I found that lots of liquid will cause the meat to stay a bit fattier (fine for me, but it makes Leanne grumpy). So, I try to only have and inch or two of liquid... certainly NOT covering the meat.

    What liquid? Well, water is fine. Stock is better. Though, next time... I am going to use apple juice. Cuz hey, the more apple player the merrier with my pork!
  8. Okay, cram that bad boy in the oven and forget about it. I really have no idea how long it supposed to cook. Lemme know if you figure it out. I probably average two and half, maybe even 3 hours cooking time. I think the roast package sometimes gives some cooking time hints as well.
  9. Optional Step: Toss in "new" goodies, like carrots and apples. The stuff that has been cooking three hours with the meat made it damn tasty, but ... a bit mushy. I sometimes add new veggies to actually eat w/ the meal.
  10. Non-Optional Step #1: You have to have potatoes w/ this meal, I always mash yukon golds, cuz they rock. Make some.
  11. Non-Optional Step #2: Remember waaaaay back to Non-Optional Step #1? Well, that was just to facilitate thisstep. You must make gravy. It is soooooo freakin good from all those veggies, pork, and apple! I have no idea how to make gravy, so, you should ask someone. :) If you don't feel like asking...

    Strain all the juice into a pot, and reduce it for awhile. Then mix corn starch w/ water, and slowly poor into the juice. who knows, maybe it will thicken.

  12. That's it. Slice up the pork (good luck, it will just fall apart), slap some on a plate with some taters... slather on plenty of gravy and enjoy.

Butter Tarts

The reason my grandma is better than yours