Fall is for Football

This is the kind of food I want to have bubbling away in the oven making my kitchen smell of divine porkiness while I am preparing to entertain a group of friends waiting for my beloved Buckeyes to take the field.
(whew...  how's THAT for a run-on sentence?!)

For most people, this is summer food... For me however,  I equate having my oven going for over 4 hours with cooler temperatures and for me, cooler temps automatically mean football.

I'm sure this seems absurd to most of you.  Everyone else in the blogosphere is making pumpkin this and cinnamon that and here I am making pulled pork.  Well, I'm sure someone somewhere understands my particular brand of crazy...  it's called football people and it's not just football, it's my Ohio State Buckeyes. 

If you are from the Midwest or the South where meetings are rescheduled and Saturday afternoons are off limits "on account of there's football", then I needn't explain any further. 
To the rest of you who can't quite conceive of this, it's irrational.  Those of us that love football with the fervor of a sale-seeking Jersey Housewife with a platinum card understand what it's all about.

This is one of those great "do ahead" meals that you can cook the night before and then put in a crock pot to stay warm for game day!  I will admit, I ate this for 3 days in a row.  It was that good.  One thing concerns me though,  the amount I consumed and that old saying "you are what you eat"...  oink oink.

Oh yeah,  I'll try to get to that pumpkin-cinnamon thing soon...

Pulled Pork

5 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cleaned
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 large onion, quartered
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
2 cups orange juice
4 cups water
1/4 cup canola oil
2 + cups of your favorite BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat.  Season pork with salt & pepper.
Sear pork on all sides.

Add onion, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, orange juice and water.  Cover and place in oven for 4 hours.   Check liquid level after 2 hours and add an extra cup of water if needed.

After 4 hours, remove pork from oven and let it sit for 10 - 15 minutes, then place in a large bowl or on a platter.   With two forks, pull the meat apart until all of it is shredded.  While warm, add BBQ sauce and mix well to completely coat pork with sauce.
Pile onto your favorite roll or hamburger bun, sit back and watch some football...


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For the Love of Pork...

It may not be 100% authentic Alsatian, but how can you go wrong with three kinds of pork, sauerkraut, apples and a bottle of beer poured over the whole mess?!

Traditionally, Choucroute Garni is made with white wine.  However, being the good Midwestern girl that I am, beer seemed the natural way to go.  These flavors are more familiar to me...  cooking with beer is not exactly a foreign concept.  The smell of bratwurst & onions simmering in beer is something that greeted me as I came in the kitchen door of my parents house after school on many afternoons.

This is the kind of meal that you gear up for, like Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm in no way suggesting that you make this every week.  Like Thanksgiving,  this is reserved for once in a while when you need a good stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal.

The sharpness of the sauerkraut cuts the fattiness of the pork and it is complemented beautifully by the sweetness of the apples. This is French comfort food at its best.


Choucroute

• 3 lb pork roast
• 2 - 3 lbs assorted sausages (bratwurst, knock wurst, kielbasa...  whatever you like)
• 1 bottle beer (an Amber beer is perfect)
• 5 strips of bacon
• 3 medium apples, cored & quartered  (I like honeycrisp or gala)
• 2 lb. sauerkraut, drained
• 3 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 2 large onions, peeled & quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 6 juniper berries
• mustards for sausages (grainy, hot, sweet, dijon...)

photo: Food & Wine magazine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a small piece of cheesecloth, tie the juniper berries, peppercorns & bay leaves into a sachet.  If you don't have cheesecloth, add them to the pot and remove before serving.
3. Line the bottom of a Dutch oven (or large, enameled cast iron pot) with the onions and half of the sauerkraut.
4. Place the pork roast on top of the onions and place the carrots, potatoes, apples and sausages around the sides.
5. Place the spice sachet in the pot.
6. Layer the remaining sauerkraut on top of everything, lay the strips of bacon over the sauerkraut and pour the beer over everything.
7. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and bake for 3 hours. 
8. Serve with assorted mustards and a good beer.