Recipe: Boston Butt Braised in Coke

Another version of Boston Butt - Image by leshoward via Flickr

From Denny: This is one of those super easy slow-cooking recipes people just love, both for the ease of cooking and it's a crowd pleaser. That and I'm getting hungry just loading this recipe into the online editor! :) (Shameless, I know...)

People in Louisiana love to cook with soft drinks, usually it's Dr. Pepper or Coke, used for meats that smoke or slow-cooking like this in the oven or a slow cooker. Dr. Pepper is a popular favorite when it's Thanksgiving time to smoke a turkey for 12 hours. There is something about the dark syrup soft drinks that makes magic for meat dishes. It could be the high fructose corn syrup that tenderizes the meat and sweetens the taste. Whatever it is the taste is divine! The ultimate is cooking a dish that is low maintenance in labor and is a big hit at the table. Works for me!

Boston Butt Braised in Coke

From: John Kessler, published in Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Serves: 6-8

Note from John: The biggest investment in this delicious dish is time. To prepare a Boston butt for dinner, you'll have to start soon after lunch. You need only sear in oil, put in a pot with a little liquid in the bottom, cover it tightly and let it simmer for hours, turning every now and then. This recipe is similar to one I published once before but much, much better. That can of Coke — a new addition — does strange wonders for the flavor.

Hands on time: 14 minutes
Total time: 4 hours and 15 minutes

Ingredients:

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder or Boston butt

Salt and pepper

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly

1 (12-ounce) bottle or can of Coke

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 ounce fresh ginger, scrubbed and cut into thick coins

2 pieces star anise

1 green onion, thinly sliced, for garnish


Directions:


Trim thick fat from the pork and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a Dutch oven with a heavy fitted lid, and brown meat on all sides, finally turning so the fat side is down. Spoon out any excess grease.

Fry onion in bottom of pot until it wilts, then add the Coke and soy sauce, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits. Add the ginger and star anise. Bring to a simmer and cover.

Braise meat until very tender, about 4 to 4 1/2 hours, turning occasionally. Remove meat to a heated serving platter. Collect braising liquid in a measuring cup and spoon off fat. Press juice and soft onion through a strainer over meat, and discard the spices that collect in the strainer. Garnish with green onion.

Notes: To make the meal, serve with rice, noodles or potatoes

Nutrition:
Per serving (based on 6, using boneless pork shoulder): 298 calories (percent of calories from fat, 40), 34 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 13 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 110 milligrams cholesterol, 829 milligrams sodium.

Joke: Cat Goes to Heaven

Tokoyo Cat Cafe where for $10 customers can play with their favorite cat - Image by Getty Images via Daylife

From Denny: Today's my birthday so I thought I'd mellow out and lay back on the early AM posting. Found this over at Jokes.net, enjoy!

Cat Goes to Heaven

One day a cat dies of natural causes and goes to heaven. There he meets the Lord Himself. The Lord says to the cat, "You lived a good life and if there is any way I can make your stay in Heaven more comfortable, please let Me know." The cat thinks for a moment and says, "Lord, all my life I have lived with a poor family and had to sleep on a hard wooden floor." The Lord stops the cat and says, "Say no more," and a wonderful fluffy pillow appears.

A few days later, six mice are killed in a tragic farming accident and go to heaven. Again, there is the Lord there to great them with the same offer. The mice answer, "All of our lives we have been chased. We have had to run from cats, dogs and even women with brooms. Running, running, running; we're tired of running. Do you think we could have roller skates so we don't have to run anymore?" The Lord says, "Say no more," and fits each mouse with beautiful new roller skates.

About a week later the Lord stops by to see the cat and finds him snoozing on the pillow. The Lord gently wakes the cat and asks him, "How are things since you got here?"

The cat stretches and yawns and replies, "It is wonderful here. Better than I could have ever expected. And those 'Meals On Wheels' you've been sending by are the best!"



Cat, Roller skates, Heaven, Family, Pets, Lord, jokes, Humor

The Story of Snakeheads aka FrankenFish

From Denny: This is such a good article from Country Roads Magazine I just had to share it with you. It's about those bizarre snakehead fish we keep hearing about in the news. There was a lot of description, information and first-hand experience with this weirdo fish that might end up required reading for everyone across America as this greedy destructive fish invades our waterways. The folks over at Country Roads Magazine out of St. Francisville, Louisiana, write in an entertaining manner that is an easy read along with the information.

Here's an excerpt:

The Story of Snakeheads

by Lucile Bayon Hume @ Country Roads Magazine

"This time, Satan swims instead of slithers.

"Snakehead fish may be coming to a lake, pond, puddle, river, stream or creek near you. Go ahead, scream. I began checking into these invaders after a perfect weekend of fly fishing on the Little Red River in Arkansas with Philip, my boy turned pro fishing guide who practices catch and release and has the utmost respect and affection for the trout whose habits he’s studied. Heading home, we heard via radio that snakeheads, the topic of fishy horror stories, were found in a creek in Arkansas. OMG, were our beautiful fish the color of the rainbow in jeopardy along with other native fish? I should’ve saved this topic for Halloween. It’s a scary one. Incidentally, a snakehead costume would be way more original and spooky than has-been standards like witches, devils, goblins and psychotic Freddy Kruger.

"Snakeheads, nicknamed “Frankenfish” by media, are ecological terrorists and ugly monsters with cavernously big mouths packed with oversized razor sharp teeth that can cut prey in half, a slimy mucus coating (yech!) on their blotched brown or greenish cylindrical bodies, enlarged scales on their heads and eyes set unusually forward in the same position as old snake eyes. No, this isn’t just another pretty little fish face.

"And snakehead capabilities that send up red flags are its ability to breathe using air sacs so it can exist as a fish out of water, and, get this—some species can “walk” by flip flopping and wriggling across muddy terrain to take a stroll of sorts from location to location, which makes the slippery varmints hard to confine.

"There’s not much redeeming about them. Mr. S.H. is a nasty character who hits hard and eats prey in one gulp. There’s a horrifying YouTube video of a poor dumb bass dumped in a tank with a snakehead who strikes viciously over and over until the bass goes belly up then into the snakehead’s belly. Our villain’s hungry and can swallow prey (fish, frogs, water birds, small mammals, possibly pets) as large as he is without batting a fish eye.

"One observer calls him “a belly with fins.” And temperament is at best peevish, particularly when parents guard nests of their young. One story tells of a snared snakehead lunging and leaving tooth marks in steel-toed boots, though there’s skepticism among some who say the Northern snakehead, our most prevalent species, doesn’t attack humans as the Giant snakehead does. Thanks, I’ll still keep my distance.

"But the real Frankenfish nightmare is his potential to upset the ecological applecart if he moves in with slimy luggage and embodies the old saying about the smell of guests who overstay. In waters inhabited by our native fishes, his appetite is unleashed on them, plus he takes over the real estate, displacing the locals, particularly if there’s a pair of interlopers reproducing in staggering numbers. He also carries parasites and diseases lethal to our fish.

"Having no natural predators puts him at the top of the food chain and lands our American fish in a position lower on the eco-totem pole, endangered in their own natural habitats. The ultimate illegal alien is indeed both an alien creature and illegal to import or transport live across state lines because of the threat authorities believe he poses to our native fish, to their aquatic systems, to the balance of nature and to the fishing industry, including recreational fishing.

"As it stands now, the fish can be imported frozen, i.e. dead. The intruder is native to Asia and Africa and has been purposefully introduced to various areas including the Philippines and Hawaii as a food source. U.S. fish markets profitably sell them, now only frozen, i.e. dead. Snakeheads are reputed to be a delicacy when smoked, dried, grilled, fried, or cooked with noodles or in watercress soup. Some Chinese believe it helps heal wounds and keeps human skin supple, soft, young. Pass the snakehead, please."

For the rest of this funny yet informative article, just click on the title link!

Here's a National Geographic video on the Snakehead:





Snakeheads United States America catch and release outdoors recreation fishing fly fishing food source

Funny: My Cats, Their Names, and What They Made Me Call Them Instead

My Cats, Their Names, and What They Made Me Call Them Instead

"In this hub:

Ah, cats (sigh)
On naming your cats
Excuse me?
His Royal Highness wants to go by something else
Our favorite cat mysteries
Kao K'o Kung
Mistaken Gender and embarassed cat
Thomasito Vincenzo

Cats are finicky creatures. We've all heard that. We've all experienced that. Cats also feel and know more than many give them credit for. Any cat lover will tell you they are as bright as they are ornery.

It's the little things in life that they choose to notice. They are opinionated, so you can be sure that you will in one way or another find out what they think about the things that matter most to them.

One thing I've learned over the years, sometimes the hard way, is that one of the keys to getting a cat to respond to you properly is giving it the right name. That comes through trial and error."

By Frieda Babbley @ HubPages, humor writer

Common Edible Wild Plants - Part I

Image via Wikipedia

Common Edible Wild Plants - Part I: "Sitting at nature's dinner table, most would be surprised at the goodness and variety of the bounty. By learning about just a few wild edible plants, you'll soon be able to recognize them, and never have to be worried about being hungry worldwide, as many wild edible plants are commonly found around the world.

Don't try to learn them all in a short time, learn a few well, and add to your list of nature's wild dinner table from time to time." 4 videos.

By Jerilee Wei

I Love You!

Sunday is a great time to thank God for inventing chocolate and wonderful readers like YOU!

Also, let me take this time to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who subscribes via feeds and email. THANK YOU for reading this amusing little chocolate blog! It's a repository of awesome chocolate recipes as I run across them or have the time to transpose them from aging cookbooks in my own collection or cookbooks I find at book fairs.

Thanks for visiting, keep coming back and keep letting me know about new chocolate recipes and products - thanks for your emails!