Jeanette’s Famous Pulled Pork

This is a great party treat … serves at least ten hungry folks.

For the meat: Get one 5-7 pound pork shoulder (with the bone in). Put it in an oven bag along with 1½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 2 tablespoons flour. Shake it to cover and add a good splash of water. Bake in a slow oven (250-300 degrees) for about 4 hours. When fully cooked, remove and let it cool. Then pull all the meat off the bone into shreds, discarding bone and any gristle only … not the fat.

For the BBQ sauce: sauté in a large stainless steel or enameled pot (important, do not use aluminum!), in one cup of canola oil, one chopped large onion and two minced garlic cloves until wilted. Add one cup ketchup, one cup water, one cup good cider vinegar, one cup of white wine, one cup dark brown sugar, 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce, one cup good prepared brown mustard, one tablespoon thyme, one teaspoon liquid smoke (optional, depending on where you are from), 3 tablespoons of salt, 8 grinds of black pepper, and the juice of one lemon. Bring BBQ sauce to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

Add the pulled pork to the sauce and simmer, partially covered for about one hour.

Serve with lots of big hard rolls (Northerners) or big soft rolls (Southerners,) a large bowl of coleslaw (in my mind, a must, to be put on the pulled pork) and the hot sauce of your choice (Tabasco or Frank’s) … and, of course, all the other party goodies like potato salad, french fries, and/or baked beans (including mucho ice-cold beer ... try "Presidente" from Puerto Rico). Enjoy ya’ll!

Dried Lima Bean Casserole

Rinse and soak a package of dried lima beans (baby limas or full size, but baby limas are best) overnight in lots of cold water. Drain them well.

Sauté, until light brown, one large yellow onion with one or two cloves garlic, both chopped fine. Add one large can of chopped whole tomatoes, salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste, a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar, a teaspoon of Worcester sauce, a good sprinkling of thyme, a little marjoram, a bay leaf (or a little bay leaf powder), a pinch of powdered cloves, a handful of chopped flat parsley, and a splash of good cider vinegar.

Add this mixture to the lima beans in a heavy casserole dish and bake in a slow (200-250 degrees) oven, covered, for at least two hours, adding water (or cider) as needed to keep the beans bathed in fluid. Uncover the dish and top with a layer of pork chops (or shoulder lamb chops) which have been salted and peppered. Continue cooking, uncovered, until the chops achieve your desired degree of doneness -- an hour or more. It is also good to splash some of the sauce over the chops from time to time to add to their flavor. The more fat you leave on the chops, the more flavor they will add to the beans below.

Serve with hard cider or beer and a good, crusty bread. Enjoy!

A Boston Legacy

Baked beans can be a sublime treat ... if prepared correctly.  First get yourself a real crockery bean pot (as above).  Then buy two packages of dried navy beans (they're cheap).  Next pour both packages of these beans into a copious amount of cold water ... sorting through them for small stones and damaged beans.  Change this water one or two times to remove all the dried-bean processing detritus.  Then cover and place them in a cool spot overnight.  In the morning change their water once again, drain them, and fill your bean pot to about 3/4ths full ... discarding the remainder.

Now add to this bean pot:
- one medium-sized onion, finely diced
- a teaspoon each of dried mustard and salt (It is actually safer to add the salt later in the cooking process ... in added water ...as this early addition can sometimes make the beans tough-skinned.)
- a good pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg ... and a small pinch of minced cloves and dried ginger
- a quarter cup each of black-strap molasses, ketchup, and dark-brown sugar
- a good splash of the juice (and spices) from a jar of sweet-mixed pickles

Next add cold water to this bean pot until the beans are just covered ... and stir well.  Cut a pound of sliced bacon in half (across the slices) and place one half part on top of the beans.  Place a small piece of aluminum foil on top of the bean pot before you replace the cover (to reduce its moisture loss).  Put the bean pot in a slow oven (about 250 degrees F. for six to eight hours ... checking every hour or so to keep its moisture content up.  You might be able to skip the last addition of water as you don't want the final result to be too juicy.

Serve with baked ham, knockwurst, or barbecue (chicken, pork, or beef brisket), a tossed salad, and crusty bread.

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