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!

Cyetta’s Superb Spinach Salad

Anytime we have a gathering of friends and Cyetta asks what she can bring, I always request this superb salad:

First the most delicious salad dressing (Makes about one quart of dressing. Can be cut by ½ or 2/3rds. Remainder can be stored for months in the refrigerator.)

Ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup salad oil (canola oil is good)
2/3 cup good sharp cider vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 small onion or shallot, grated (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seeds (Cyetta's choice, but I substitute poppy seeds)
½ tsp paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
1 minced garlic clove (or equivalent in garlic powder)
A pinch of dry mustard
½ tsp Worcester sauce

Shake all these ingredients together in jar of sufficient size.

Use this dressing on a salad made from a package of baby spinach, a good amount of crumbled fried or broiled bacon (at least 1/2 a pound), a small cold can of Mandarin orange sections (or cold navel orange sections), and toasted slivered almonds. (The almonds can be toasted in the bacon grease … but are optional.)

Szechuan Taste

When I was quite new to New York City, I was called to jury duty in downtown Manhattan. At lunch one day someone suggested we all go to nearby Chinatown. We did and settled on a restaurant called Szechuan Taste. I, for whatever reason, ordered Shrimp in Hot Spicy Paste. It was like the scene in Pleasantville when the movie went from black-and-white to Technicolor. I never realized that those that made Chow Mien could create such a extravagant dish! That was over forty years ago and I have been experimenting ever since to recreate this ambrosia. I must have this dish ever few months or so or I suffer withdrawal. As a result, I think I have nailed it and here are the results (maybe even better than the original.)

Ingredients
2 lbs. raw shrimp (jumbo or prawns)
½ of a lemon (and/or 1 Tsp. baking soda)
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh (only) ginger
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 large Bermuda onion or 3 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
½ bunch cleaned scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup (or more) ketchup or chili sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 heaping Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp Szechuan paste (if available) or Thai equivalent
½ Tsp. red pepper flakes (more if you are so inclined)
1/3 cup peanut oil
½ cup chicken broth (or good Amontillado sherry)
1 heaping Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seed oil
1 cleaned bunch watercress (or other bitter greens)

Clean and devein shrimp, retaining tail shell if so inclined. Soak shrimp in cold water, with squeezed lemon, in refrigerator for about one hour. (Chinese chef’s secret: include the baking soda in the water to keep shrimp from getting tough during cooking.) Combine ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, and Szechuan paste. Set aside. Mix chicken broth and cornstarch into slurry. Retrieve shrimp, drain and dry well. (If very large, shrimp may be cut in half.) Put oil in heavy skillet or wok and heat until very hot. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes. Immediately add ginger and garlic. Before these get brown, add chopped onions. Cook until transparent. Add shrimp. Cook until color changes. Add ketchup mixture. Cook about 1 minute or so. Add chopped scallions. Cook briefly. Add cornstarch slurry and cook until mixture thickens. Turn off heat and pour sesame oil on top. Ladle onto a large serving platter on the bottom of which has been spread the watercress. Serve immediately with boiled or steamed white rice.

Say a paean to that chef at Szechuan Taste (so long gone).