pork

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Grilled Bacon (Pork Belly) Skewers

August 23, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

A couple of months ago a friend from Montana sent me a pic of thick-cut bacon threaded onto skewers and slowly cooked on the grill; he was at an outdoor expo and a vendor was cooking these and apparently selling them hand over fist one early summer day in Boise.

My friend is not the handiest guy in the kitchen or around the grill (patience is indeed a virtue, and the lack of it can lead to disaster when cooking over live fire); he didn’t have the best of luck with this one the first time he tried it, leading to him pestering me the past few weeks for help working this one out.

After figuring out that you simply can’t rush these Spicy Grilled Bacon (or Pork Belly) Skewers over too hot a fire, we’ve had great results the past couple of times I’ve grilled these up, including the night before last served over a simple salad with a great guacamole on the side.

When stirring together the basting mixture, note there are three ingredients listed as optional; we think it needs all three, including just a bit of honey to add a hint of sweetness to the heat, and the ginger and lemongrass weave in a couple of other flavor notes that round out the Asian-inspired riff here.

Build a two-zone, fairly slow, live fire or just fire one burner if cooking over gas, and don’t wander off and leave these unattended for long. Keep turning and baste right at the end a few times to build a flavor-packed layer of flavor on that crispy bacon.

1 pound thick-cut bacon or uncured pork belly, cut into 1/4-inch slices

3 tbsp chile paste (sambal oelek)
1-2 tbsp honey (optional)
2 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
2-3 tsp good Sriracha
1 tsp minced or pureed ginger (optional)
1 tsp minced or pureed lemongrass (optional)

To serve
Your favorite green salsa or chimichurri, such as…
Quick Columbian Guacamole
Tomatillo Avocado Salsa
Quick Columbian Aji Sauce
Our House Chimichurri

Lime quarters

Fire your grill and set things up to cook over indirect heat – bank the coals to one or two sides leaving an unheated zone in the middle or on a gas grill just fire one burner.

Combine the glaze ingredients (the Chile paste, optional honey, rice vinegar, Sriracha, optional ginger, optional lemongrass) and set aside. Thread the bacon/pork belly slices onto wooden (soaked) or metal skewers like an accordion (see the images) and grill over indirect heat for 15-30 minutes, pending how thick your slices are. Turn every several minutes, adjusting position as needed, until beginning to brown.

At this point start brushing with the glaze every 45 seconds or so, followed by a turn, for another 3-4 minutes until they’re nicely colored and maybe even a little sticky.

To serve, set out the salsa and limes, and go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Ancho Coffee Pork Tenderloin

August 16, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

Back a few weeks ago when I posted this Crispy Ancho Coffee Chicken recipe I had a hunch that this particular rub would work wonders on a grass-fed/pastured pork tenderloin. I have to admit, and again readily confess I didn’t develop that recipe (see the prior post) – this spice mixture is just damn good (if not great).

In fact I wrote this about it over on our fly fishing blog ChiWulff several weeks ago –

The flavor of ancho chiles has always kinda reminded me of a sorta sweet, sorta smokey raisin, with a little bit of heat added for interest; combined here with the cumin and just a bit of a dark, freshly ground coffee and good salt, the ancho anchors this very interesting, and tasty, crust.

Over the grill these need to watched carefully and managed over indirect heat or the spices will burn; we think the best way to cook a batch of these up is to sauté them in a skillet in EVOO or avocado oil, taking care to give them time to develop a crispy crust before turning.

Amazing in a taco with all the fixin’s, or topping a tostada or a big-assed salad, these were awesome a few days back on a bed of shredded lettuce and a great guacamole. What a great boat lunch on a hot summer day these would make too…

Well, the rub works amazingly well on pork tenderloin as well, and speaking of pork tenderloin, have you tried cooking it medium rare using a sous vide technique? Sous vide is a wonderful tool to use to produce great proteins (and more), and pork tenderloin, along with a great steak (ribeye around our house), might just be the crown jewel of sous vide meats in terms of bang for your buck and return on your (rather modest) efforts.

By all means you don’t have to sous vide these, a careful grill or roast in the oven would work just fine, but if you’re waffling on sous vide, find a friend with a machine and cook this recipe together – you’ll be hooked for life.

And finally, you can serve pork tenderloin any number of ways, but consider a New Mexico-inspired “red and green” plate (as in the image above) using our Easy Romesco Sauce and either this Columbian Aji or this Columbian Guacamole. Wow, was that delicious.

4 parts fresh ancho chile powder
4 parts ground cumin
1 part (scant) good salt
1/2 to 1 part finely ground fresh dark roast coffee

2 pastured pork tenderloins, silver skin removed

Combine the ancho powder, cumin, salt, and finely ground coffee in a small bowl, stir to mix well.

While not really necessary, I like to paint the pork tenderloins with a bit of apple cider vinegar, then rub with the spice mixture. Cover tightly and throw in the fridge for 2-4 hours.

If cooking sous vide, heat your water bath to 130-135 (F), and cook using routine methods for an hour. Remove, drain, and let rest for 15-30 minutes at room temperature before searing quickly in butter and avocado oil on the stove top or on the grill (my preferred). Don’t sweat it when the rub/spice mixture darkens significantly when seared/grilled – it’s the spices and you’re not burning the outer layer. Don’t forget to be quick about this process to preserve that delightful medium rare cook you’ve just done perfectly in the sous vide bath.

If grilling, cook over medium-high indirect heat per routine, until done to your liking (though I’d personally never cook these past medium…). Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Serve as desired, and enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Smokey Chipotle Coffee Rub

June 28, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

As I’ve shared in many of our recipes over the past year, we’re enthusiastic fans of big flavors around our camp, and have rarely come across a spice rub we didn’t enjoy.

For years now we’ve played with a variety of rubs (and sauces & marinades) featuring coffee in one form or another, and this Smokey Chipotle Coffee Rub has come to be our very favorite coffee based rub for most proteins – it’s absolutely wonderful on beef and pork.

As with most spice mixtures, using the freshest spices you can get your hands on yields the best results, as does grinding the coffee beans just before use (if you’re geared to do so). Chipotle peppers bring such a nifty smokey flavor to the flavor game here and it plays incredibly well with the coffee notes; using a good smoked paprika adds another layer of flavor as well.

As we’ve become Primal/Paleo aligned in 99% of our cooking, I’ve taken to leaving the brown sugar out or cutting it down, though both my wife and can taste the difference, and frankly you can count us among the crowd that considers a whisp of sugar in a marinade or rub a reasonable indulgence now and again.

Try this one using the core five spices at least once, and experiment with the optional flavors listed as well, or throw your favorites into the mix next time around. I used this on a couple of grass-fed New York strips last weekend….

2 parts dark roast or espresso coffee, finely ground
2 parts fresh chipotle chile powder
2 parts kosher salt
1 part ground coriander
1 part good paprika (try a smoked paprika here too)

Optional
1 part brown sugar
1/2 part freshly ground black pepper
1/2 part garlic power/granulated garlic
1/2 part powdered ginger

Combine the 5 core ingredients (the first in the list) along with whatever optional ingredients you’d like to throw in the mix. Stir to mix well.

Rub your protein generously with the rub and let rest for at least an hour (in the fridge if longer).

Grill/roast/smoke per your routine; the NY strips I did this past weekend were some of the best steaks we’ve done in a long time – one hour at 129 in the sous vide followed by a quick sear over hardwood charcoal. Hot damn.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 14 June: Rain Day Spice Dusted Spareribs

June 14, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

A few years back our family lived, worked, and played hard in Montana; I was involved (more than) full time in a medical practice, and as a family we ran a horse farm, training facility, and equestrian event center.

We were unbelievably busy, and tended by necessity to be very efficient in our food preparation and cooking. Our food prep challenges were compounded during the winter season; winters in Northwestern Montana can be long, dark, snowy, and brutally cold.

Back several years ago we were catering an event at the barn, and the group wanted a Texas-inspired barbecue with brisket, ribs, and all the trimmings. Brisket is another issue, but the ribs were a particular challenge as we were deep in a teeth-chatteringly-cold snowy spell and couldn’t spend a day outside tending ribs in our commercial smoker.

Long story short, we sorted through a pile of recipes and experimented for several weeks to craft the predecessor of this rub. The beauty of this approach was simple: we could rub the ribs and do the majority of the cook in a relatively slow oven, then finish them up over a quick turn on the grill (something we could do no matter how damn cold it was at at time).

The ribs were so easy, and more importantly, so danged good that we’ve ended up making this our default, go-to rib rub recipe, whether we’re cooking in the smoker or in the oven, as I did again a few days ago when a day-long rain make a long cook in the smoker impossible.

I make the rub in fairly large batches and have outlined the proportions used for the ingredients below – you can make as big or small a batch as you desire. You can substitute fresh cilantro and oregano for the dried, add any dried pepper you care to for heat (we like chipotle), and add a bit of brown sugar or cane sugar for a hint of sweetness, though I haven’t done that in years.

3 full racks 3/down pork spareribs

2 parts sweet paprika
1 part chile powder
1 part ground cumin
1 part ground coriander
1 part granulated garlic
1 part freshly ground pepper
1 part good salt
1 part dried cilantro
1 part dried oregano

Optional
Sub 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro for the dried
Sub 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano for the dried
1-2 tsp chipotle powder
Up to 1 part brown sugar

Prep your ribs by removing the membranes, washing off the bone, then patting dry.

Combine the rub ingredients and mix well, paint the ribs with cider vinegar and coat both sides liberally (very liberally) with the rub.

The rain day oven cheat version: Place on a baking sheet (they can be stacked) and place in a 225 to 250 degree oven for at least 4 hours, I typically try to shoot for 6 hours. No need to turn these beauties; your slow-cooking in dry heat and letting those spices work their magic.

Thirty minutes before the end of your planned cook time, fire your trusty grill to a low heat setting (real wood is so much better here). When the ribs are done, throw them over the low heat fire for about 10 minutes, turning once. Your goal here is color them up a bit and add a bit of a crunchy sear.

The low and slow smoker version: Fire the smoker with a gently flavored wood; we favor oak with just a little mesquite for this one (though use your favorites). Smoke for 4-6 hours at a target temp of 200 to 225. These beauties won’t need to be tuned up on the grill like their oven-roasted kin above.

We like to trim these into single ribs right at the table and let everyone ‘grab it and growl’. These are so good, and tender, we most often don’t serve with any sauce; if you insist on one, use your favorite, though we most often reach for a tomatillo-based sauce/salsa like this one, or use a taqueria-style guacamole.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 5 April: Thai-Inspired Pork Burgers

April 5, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

I’ve been working with a couple of clients this past week on incorporating more flavor into their weekly menu rotation; there’s a host of good reasons to do so, including keeping things interesting enough to stay engaged with a healthier eating plan, but my principle argument is the food we eat should always taste great.

I’m particularly interested in home-cooked food that’s reasonably simple to prepare; most people don’t have half a day (or more) to work on preparing elaborate, Instagram worthy meals every day.

Here’s a recipe – Thai-Inspired Pork Burgers – that we’ve welcomed back into our rotation now that Spring has sprung (at least in our neighborhood); I shared this one with the clients mentioned above as an example of a meal prep that’s brings a load of flavor to the table, is a simple and quick, and frankly very economical to boot.

Three quick notes: one, for the lemongrass, if using fresh lemongrass stalks, you’ll need 2 or 3 prepped via the usual technique. A very viable and much quicker option is to use 2-3 tbsp of lemongrass puree (usually available refrigerated in the produce section). I know it’s a cheat, but a great option for the busy home cook. Two, I’ve been cooking these using a two-hour sous vide bath (130-134) followed by a quick sear finish producing incredibly moist burgers with a great crust, though they’re of course equally tasty grilled or sautéed on the stove.

And third, my chef friend in Austin (hey Chef Libby!) recently reminded me that classic Thai cooking often calls for sugar or another sweetener in recipes; given the natural sweetness of pork, she and I think this recipe is wonderful without any additional sweetener, but it’s listed below as an option.

And finally, stir together your favorite dipping sauce for these, though my personal favorite is avocado oil mayo with a big dollop of sriracha.

2 lb ground pork
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, greens only (roughly 8 onions)
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
Lemongrass, see note above
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 and 1/2 tsp good salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Optional
1-2 tsp sugar of choice
1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

15-18 large lettuce leaves
1/2 cup or more of chopped cilantro, Thai basil, or mint in a pinch
Dipping sauce of choice

Prep the green onions, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass, then mix into the ground pork either using a stand mixer or your hands, adding the fish sauce, salt, and pepper as it comes together (along with the optional sugar and pepper flakes). Don’t over-mix.

Gently form into patties (we do 6 patties of 5-6 ounces) and chill for 30-60 minutes until they firm up.

These can be grilled over fire, sautéed in your favorite cast iron, or (our favorite for their texture and finish) cooked using sous vide (2 hours at 130-134 degrees) with a quick sear finish.

Wrap in two or three lettuce leaves and serve with the dipping sauce of your choice, though they’re great with avocado oil mayo and sriracha too.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 18 January 2019: Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1

January 18, 2019 By Older Bolder Mark

I know it might be considered to be out of fashion in some food circles, but we’ve been playing around with Southwestern and Tex-Mex inspired meatza preps lately.

We’ve dialed in our meatza / pizza sauce recipe (on the schedule to share in the next few weeks), and have been using both bulk pork sausage and seasoned ground beef as our meatza base. Last week I cobbled together a very good Tex-Mex meatza using this homemade Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1; it was amazing.

Having spent many a year growing up (and schooling) here in the Lone Star state, we’ve been fans of good chorizo around our camp for some time, having fiddled with chorizo recipes off and on now for well over a decade.

Sourcing good chorizo can be a challenge in that many if not most of the commercially prepared and marketed versions (of bulk chorizo, not the cured Spanish version) are incredibly greasy and contain parts of critters that you’d never ponder eating if you really knew they had been tossed in the grinder.

Speaking of grinder, hopefully you’re fresh grinding pasture-raised pork for your sausage at home; your homemade sausage game will never be the same with a grinder within easy reach.

And like most comfort foods prepared with care and attention, using the freshest ingredients, this version of chorizo is very likely nothing like you’ve tasted before and much more akin to the artisanal sausages (think Bruce Adell’s) you’ve thrown on the grill. Even better, this one is child’s play simple, and you can tinker with spices to make you and your clan happy.

Finally, we’ve taken to adding in just a few whole cumin seeds too; they add some interesting texture much like fennel seeds in good handmade Italian sausage.

Best made a day in advance to fully develop the flavors, you can cook this crumbled, in patties, and even stuffed into casings for the grill. And oh yea, it’s a masterpiece meatza base…

2 lb fresh ground pork or turkey (mix of white and dark meat)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and small stems, chopped
2 serrano chile peppers, seeded and finely diced
1-2 tbsp red chile powder
1 tbsp sweet paprika (though smoked would work great here too)
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
Scant 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

This is another one of those recipes that couldn’t be easier.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl (using your hands if you’re of the mind to) until well combined. I like to let it rest in the fridge overnight before use, and I’d suggest taking a tablespoon or two of the mixture, cooking it, and adjusting spices to your taste.

Use and store as you would any fresh sausage.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 28 December: Rib Rub Pork Shoulder

December 28, 2018 By Older Bolder Mark

In keeping with our recipe theme of late focusing on traditional Southern foods that, according to folklore, bring good luck for the New Year, here’s a wonderful, and ridiculously simple, recipe for a tasty pork shoulder prep, the Rib Rub Pork Shoulder.

Pork is of course a celebrated protein in many cultures around the world, and the fact that pigs root moving forward symbolizes (ostensibly according to tradition) progress and attainment for the New Year. As noted before, both my wife and were raised in the South and learned these traditions around our Grandmothers’ tables; we eat pork today because it tastes so good.

A slowly smoked pork shoulder is still considered a treasure in the modern South today, pulled and most often served with a regionally-favored sauce (for example, the mouth-puckering vinegar-based sauces in the Carolinas). Not always having the time to tend a smoker for the day, we oven roast a pork shoulder using this recipe every six weeks or so and eat on it for a week in various preps. This technique is simple as can be, and produces foolproof results every time.

Two summers ago, in the days before my son married, we even catered a backyard party he and his then fiancé threw for visiting family and friends, using the very rib rub recipe my son had crafted years before (Jake’s Rib Rub). I’ve included a link to that recipe below – it’s delicious, but you’ll note it contains sugar, as do many rubs you’ll find commercially these days. We typically make a batch of one of a number of our favorite rubs without any sugar; there are a number of great recipes around, and Jake’s recipe works well (in terms of flavor profile and balance) with the sugar greatly reduced. You make the call…

6-10 pound whole bone-in heritage pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt)
Your favorite pork or rib rub (we use Jake’s Rib Rub occasionally, see above)
Apple cider vinegar

Preheat your trusty oven to 425.

Rinse the pork shoulder and pat dry; paint with the ACV and coat with a generous layer of the rub (all surfaces).

On a foil-lined baking sheet place a rack covered with a sheet of parchment paper; settle the rubbed shoulder atop the paper, skin side up, and side into the oven for 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 250 and plan on at least a 6 hour cook; you need a deep meat temperature of 185 for the fat to render out and the toughest meat fibers to fully (and magically) tenderize. Bigger shoulders (9 to 10 pounds and up) may even need times more in the range of eight hours.

When done, rest for at least 30 minutes before pulling, slice or shredding.

For those making tacos tonight, here’s a little trick to put this one over the top – pull or shred the shoulder and heat a skillet over medium high heat. Place a healthy layer of meat in the skillet, sprinkle with a bit more rib rub (you’ll know when it’s enough), and heat, turning now and again, until hot, sizzling and just beginning to caramelize.

Enjoy.

Older Bolder Holiday Mains: A Baker’s Dozen for Your Table

December 17, 2018 By Older Bolder Mark

Though I’m guessing a lot of our Older Bolder readers have their holiday menu already planned by now, we thought it would be fun to throw out a list of suggestions for an uptown, something-different holiday meal main dish. (And yes, the list is protein-centric in terms of main dish offerings.)

We’re huge fans of flavorful, interesting, creative food, hence the inclusion of several “not your grandma’s typical holiday fare” recipes below.

And for the traditionalists out there, who can’t imagine the Christmas or New Year’s table without a medium rare Prime Rib Roast, the first link in the series is to Kenji Lopez’s Serious Eats post on Prime Rib – it’s the best we’ve ever come across; watch his video (on his site) if you’ve not before. (Image below via Serious Eats)

Break out of your routine this year and craft a culinary masterpiece that you’ve not shared with friends and family before.