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.

Recipe: Fast Easy Barbecue Bacon Chicken Breast

From Denny: How many times have we all wished for a wonderful meal in just minutes from ingredients already in the house? I've made this same recipe many times and loved it both for its simplicity, ease of making and speed to the table.

Barbecue Bacon Chicken Breast

From: Jeanne Besser

Note from Jeanne Besser: Crystal Ellis of Marietta writes, "Here's a great-tasting easy main dish created from my refrigerator. Kids love it!" This is truly a meal most of us can cull from our reserves, but that still makes a substantial dinner. I added the step of crisping the bacon under the broiler, but if you like softer bacon, you could skip this.

Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 (1 1/2-pound) package boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 strips thin bacon, cut in half

9 ounces ( 1/2 bottle) honey barbecue sauce (or your favorite flavor)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with foil. Sprinkle chicken breasts with pepper to taste. Place 2 bacon strip halves horizontally to cover chicken breasts. Top with barbecue sauce and fold foil over to make a packet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until chicken is just done. Increase heat to broil. Open foil and broil until bacon crisps, 1 to 2 minutes. Top with cheese. Put back in oven and cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Nutrition:

Per serving: 420 calories (percent of calories from fat, 34), 43 grams protein, 26 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, 16 grams fat, 128 milligrams cholesterol, 952 milligrams sodium.



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Video: Marbled Chocolate Cookie Bark

From Denny: Apologies to everyone looking for yesterday's and today's posts. Yesterday we had a power outage from the severe thunderstorms that came into our area like the heavens opened up and burst forth. It was beginning to look like Noah's Ark would suddenly appear and float by in front of our house for sure...! :)

Anyway, while I'm getting the next brownie recipe ready to post here is an awesome and very simple video on making your own chocolate cookie bark: addicting! Great recipe for the weekend and kids really like snacking on this.




chocolate bark, chocolate cookie bark, food video, peanut butter

Video: Making a Difference - Father's Heart Ranch

From Denny: This is a wonderful story full of love to heal abused and abandoned boys in California. A retired professional baseball player turned non-denominational minister took his life savings to begin this endeavor. Heart-warming story from another person who chose to "make a difference" in the lives of others!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

abuse, Kids and Teens, Society and Culture, Religion and Spirituality, Making a Difference, NBC

Recipe: Epicurious Best Cocoa Brownies

Another version of brownies called Bangor Brownies from the UK - Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Epicurious is such a great resource online! I've been following them off and on for years now. This is a recipe from 2003 with over 250 reviews.

Second in this week's series on brownie recipes... I'm always looking for easy method recipes that involve chocolate for the beginner cook. Sometimes, I just want fast and easy minus the preservatives when I don't have much time to bake but am craving something wonderfully chocolate; brownies are usually a fast fix. I'm after that intense perfect chocolate taste! :)


Yield: Makes 16 large or 25 smaller brownies

Note from Epicurious: Cocoa brownies have the softest center and chewiest candylike top "crust" of all because all of the fat in the recipe (except for a small amount of cocoa butter in the cocoa) is butter, and all of the sugar is granulated sugar rather than the finely milled sugar used in chocolate. Use the best cocoa you know for these fabulous brownies.

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cold large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Special equipment: An 8-inch square baking pan

Directions:

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Chocolate note:

Any unsweetened natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder works well here. Natural cocoa produces brownies with more flavor complexity and lots of tart, fruity notes. I think it's more exciting. Dutch-process cocoa results in a darker brownie with a mellower, old-fashioned chocolate pudding flavor, pleasantly reminiscent of childhood.

From Denny: Here's an interesting twist on baking this reviewer tried: I use epicurious a lot but had to become a member just now for the sole purpose of reviewing this recipe. Three words that may change your life: coarse sea salt. I sprinkled large coarse crystals of sea salt on top of the batter prior to baking. This could also probably be done right when they come out of the oven. Words cannot describe how delicious they are. My boyfriend and I are both currently intoxicated with these brownies.

by gardengnome from Boston, MA on 07/26/09

From a reader in the UK who gives a substitute take on this as well as the equivalent temperature to bake: Will definitely make these again. I agree with another reviewer - the 'crackly' crust really only appeared when the brownies were cut but it did appear a bit, and the brownies were fantastically chewy and chocolatey. Baked for 20 minutes at 160 degrees Centrigrade (the equivalent of the Farenheit temperature listed in the reipce) in a fan oven. Spot on. I had run out of real unsalted butter so I used half 'slightly salted 'spreadable'' butter* (and reduced the salt) and I only had supermarket 'own brand' cocoa, but the brownies were still excellent. I look forward to making them with all real butter and better quality chocolate, but I'm thrilled to find a good chocolatey recipe I can make from a couple of eggs and not much else: Actual chocolate doesn't stay in my storecupboard for long ;-) * in the UK we have 'spreadable' butter which comes in containers like margarine and is butter with a little bit of added oil to make it easy to spread straight from the fridge. The brand I buy is slightly salted.

by justinepow from Edinburgh, Scotland on 07/07/09