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Going to be adding some new content here.  Spending about half of my life watching mom cook, then working in restaurants from the dish pit, to the bar, to being chef of a restaurant, now private chef/maintenance for a lodge. I am constantly discovering new foods and new ways to cook them. I for a while have wanted to start a cooking show, so I guess it starts here with a TR of sorts. I have recently found a few meals that with the right tools are super easy and very cost effective, and the ability to cook my own food I control exactly what I intake. Our first dish is PULLED PORK.  Pulled pork can be used in so many other dishes and is delicious cold (below 44F).  The ability to enjoy something cold helps getting through long ski days, duh.

My first tip if you are new to shopping/cooking….COSTCO card. I scored this pork for 1.75 /LB there are literally no other meats this delicious that cost this little. I also enjoy shopping at costco because i can get weeks worth of food and not have to deal with bi-daily or daily trips to the grocery store, gas is expensive, so is my time. Another tip is to start buying kitchen items pretty much as soon as you move out of your parents house, buy some stuff here and there. You can’t spend all of your money without grabbing some necessities.  Relying on others stuff doesn’t always work, and some day you might find yourself with no cereal bowls or spatulas, then when you have to buy alot of stuff at once.  Its like buying backcountry ski gear. If you are a avid skier, this may sound shocking but some day you will want to go on a hike with your skis. If you bought beacon, shovel, probe, skins, pack, touring boots and bindings and a beginners avalanche course all at once and new layers (that aren’t cotton) …..that’s gonna cost like 2-3,000 dollars. So start buying stuff over time!

Lettuce Begin

The amount of pork you can cook depends on your cookware. I have this LARGE, ceramic coated cast iron braising pan with a heavy lid that I got at TJ MAXX for 75 dollars, I can literally cook anything in it. To complete this recipe, you really need a pot or pan with a heavy lid. Ideally one with no plastic you can put in the oven. If you don’t have that available, you can do it on the stove.

We are also going to be BRAISING the pork, which simply means pan frying the item, and cooking it with liquid. The liquid does not have to cover the meat, infact its better if it doesn’t, as the steam cooks most of the meat in this technique.

Step One. OVEN ~250 degrees….. Recipes are formulas that outcome changes person to person. If you stick close to the formula, you are probably alright for reducing or adding servings. If its your first time, divide by about half, its a lot easier to do.

1. 14 # (pounds) pork shoulder (cost $25)
2. 1 Onion & garlic (cost .75)
3. 2 carrots (cost .50)
4. 3 Jalapenos (cost .75)
5. 1 6oz. can tomato paste (cost .75)
6. 1 quart chicken stock (cost 2.00)
7. you can add any herbs and spices you feel necessary!

SLOWLY (stove top, medium heat) get your pan hot, add oil. Wait until the oil STARTS smoking, then add all of your meat.

Hot Pan, Raw Pork, Oil, Salt Pepper

While the Meat is Browning Dice an Onion

Once your onion is diced, cut up the 3 jalapenos. I don’t use the seeds(the are really hot!), but you can. I also added a few carrots and about 12 garlic nuggs for some extra flavors.

After a few more minutes cooking, Add tomato paste 1 can then cover for a few minutes

Remove Lid add 1 quart of flavored stock, I chose chicken

After I add the chicken stock, I put the cover back on and slide it into the oven (240 degrees)  for 4 hours or until the meat falls apart. Here if I can’t use the oven, you will bring the liquid to a boil covered and leave it boiling to simmering, check it often to make sure the temperature is dialed. In the mean time, I made a few other things and cleaned up as to not be overwhelmed with dishes when i pack up for the night.

Clean up my workstation, put away any leftover prepared food.

Anytime meat is involved I try to use some bleach on anything the meat touched, I even bleach what the meat came on so it doesn't rot in my garbage can.

After some quality relaxation time, I checked the meat’s status about 4 hours after I put it in, I picked at a piece of pork with a pair of tongs and the meat fell apart, thats how I know its done. I pulled it out of the oven and let it cool a bit before i messed with it. I literally worked 30 minutes of the 4 hours, and if i were cooking other things, i could easily be tending to them most of those 30 minutes.

After

I find a proper container to store the pork in and remove it from the braising liquid directly to the container with any tool that works. I used that tool to pull the pork. I continue to stir it around occasionally for about an hour. Then I put it in the fridge. KEEP THE BRAISING LIQUID!

The pork falls apart with a pair of tongs.

Viola, 25+ servings of pork waiting for you to add to anything. Keep it out for a few days, eat some, then freeze the rest in ziplocs. I just ran the math and it cost about 1 dollar per serving of pork, lots of filling protein for 1 dollar! Eggs n’ meat in the am, add BBQ for sandwiches (wrap in foil and take to the mountain) or burritos, or eat it with potatoes. Use your imagination, that’s what cooking is about.

TURNING YOUR BRAISING LIQUID INTO DANK SAUCE

I removed the pork, now I skim off some of the fat, you can use most anything that holds liquid, just hold it at the surface and dip slightly down into the liquid. The fat stays on top. I leave a decent amount of fat (this time about half of what was there), it will help the sauce come together.

1. 15oz (one can) tomato sauce (cost .$75)
2. 6oz (one small can) tomato paste (cost .75)
3. 2/3c brown sugar (cost 1.00)
4. 1/3c mustard (cost 1.00)
5. 1/2c apple cider vinegar (cost .50)
6. S + P, various herbs and spices, crushed red chilis, dependent on your liking and budget

My ingredients waiting to be added. Chefs call this “mise en plais” (MEEZE-IN-PLAZ) probably butchered spelling. “Everything in its place”

Add the above ingredients, bring it to and leave it at low boil uncovered, taste it often, so you understand it's development of flavors, adjust according to your taste. If you like it hotter, put more hot things in there, more sweet = more sugar

Once the sauce has reduced, the pork fat we left in there will help bring it together, most bbq sauces add fat (butter) to bring it together, we don't have to so that saved us 2 bucks.

This isn't weak sauce! This sauce is full of browned pork chunks and anything else that stuck to the cooker, which is going to give it a flavor you couldn't achieve just making BBQ sauce in a sauce pot.

Ended up with the perfect amount of sauce for all of my pork. Bag up most of it and put it in the freezer, enjoy the rest, maybe with home made bread. Making this sauce added 4 dollars, bringing the grand total to about $34!

****A few comments about slow cookers, if you see one buy it, this was 99 dollars brand new at a kitchen supply store. If you find one used, get it too. I made sure though when i bought this slow cooker new, that the insert was removable non-stick ceramic, most are non-stick metal and some you cant remove which makes cleaning it hard. If you see one used it doesn’t matter metal or ceramic, because its probably gonna cost like 20 bucks. Literally set it go skiing and forget it, come home to dank food.

electric slow cooker

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Ski Bum Recipes ( low cost ). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.