Tag: #EatALittleBetter
“The Triple P” Pulled Pork Pasta (Rigatoni with Pork Ragu)

“The Triple P” Pulled Pork Pasta (Rigatoni with Pork Ragu)

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If you are like me, an empty nester still transitioning from cooking for a family of 5 to cooking for 2, you probably still have some (ok, alot) of that luscious roast pork left.  As much as I love tacos, I can eat only so many.  Back to Sam Kass’s book, Eat A Little Better, to try one of the many recipes that makes use of that delicious roasted pork.

BINGO. Found another winner. Rigatoni with Pork Ragu.

The ragu’ comes together in minutes.  Chopped onion, garlic, are sautéed before adding the tomatoes and roasted pork.  Simmer until it is reduced to a lovely thick, rich sauce.  Voila’, a comforting, warm and homey lunch or dinner on the table. I added a pinch of chili pepper flakes, as suggested, for a little kick.  Make a big batch, this sauce is better a day or two later after the flavors really come together.

Better yet, it freezes beautifully.  Luckily, I threw the remaining sauce in the freezer on the way out of town.  We arrived home a week later, travel weary and hungry but happy with one of two new college graduates in tow.  I pulled out the sauce, boiled some pasta and minutes later we were all standing around the kitchen island enjoying our bowls of pasta.  Yummy eats and no more tuition.  Life is good.  Hmmm, Jordan comes home tomorrow, hope I have enough sauce left until then.

Rigatoni with Pork Ragu

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“The Triple P” Pulled Pork Pasta (Rigatoni with Pork Ragu)

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons EVOO
  • 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves smashed
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
  • 3 pounds ripe tomatoes cored and chopped or one 28 ounce can tomatoes in juice
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2-3 cups coarsely shredded cooked pork shoulder I used 2 cups, its a lot of meat
  • 1 pound rigatoni or pasta of your choice should be a thick pasta thats holds up well to the sauce
  • Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • Italian parsley for garnish

Instructions

  • Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add onion, garlic, chili pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook stirring occasionally until the onion turns a nice golden brown ~6-8 minutes.
  • Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste and pork. Let the mixture come to a simmer, while stirring, break up tomatoes. Continue to simmer over low heat until sauce has thickened. This will take approximately 25 minutes with fresh tomatoes and 15 minutes with canned tomatoes.
  • Season to taste with salt.
  • Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain well, toss with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan.
  • Garnish with parsley. Serve immediately. Have additional parmesan on table.

 

 

Roasted Pork Shoulder
The Name is Pork, Slow Roasted Pork (Sam Kass)

The Name is Pork, Slow Roasted Pork (Sam Kass)

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One of my favorite recipes from Sam Kass’s book: Eat A Little Better is his Roasted Pork Shoulder.  Don’t let the time commitment scare you.  Prep is as easy as rubbing salt all over the roast, letting it sit for 2 hours then popping it in the oven for…

5 hours

So, yes, you will need to plan in advance and start early.  By dinner time you’ll be ready to dazzle. You can serve the roast as is or transform it into delicious dishes like carnitas tacos, pulled pork sammies with your favorite barbecue sauce, or a yummy pasta ragu.  Sam’s book includes ways to use this roast as the base for a variety of tasty options.  All lip smacking delicious.

Roasted Pork shoulder shredded

 

Roasted Pork Shoulder
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The Name is Pork, Slow Roasted Pork (Sam Kass)

Ingredients

  • 1 5-6 pound bone-in pork shoulder Boston Butt
  • Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup low sodium chicken broth or dry white wine

Instructions

  • Rub the pork all over with 1 tablespoon salt. Let it sit for 2 hours at room temperature
  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees
  • Put the pork fat-side up in a heavy roasting pan lined with parchment or foil. Place roast in oven and roast for approximately 5 hours until the meat is deep golden brown and fall off the bone tender. Start checking at about 4 hours.
  • To finish you may broil the top for a darker crisper top.
  • Teansfer roast to a plate. Deglaze pan with stock or wine stirring up bits on the pan.
  • Serve with pork or drizzle on top.
  • You can jazz up the rub with garlic or rosemary, minced and mixed into salt.

 
Eat a Little Better with Sam Kass

Eat a Little Better with Sam Kass

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I received Sam Kass’s book, Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World to review QUITE a while ago.  I wasn’t too busy and it wasn’t because I didn’t feel like looking at it.  On the contrary, I really liked the book and kept finding recipes I wanted to try before posting.  For those of you not familiar with Sam, he was the personal chef to President Obama’s family and worked with FLOTUS on her healthy eating initiative.  Yes, I am biased and really wanted to like this book (plus he is easy on the eyes-I didn’t just write that, did I?). Luckily I can, in good conscience say, its a winner.

Eat A little better My fridge
Work in progress. Yep, all those fruits and vegetables were hidden in the bins below.

I love the stories about the White House, the first family and Sam’s tips on healthy eating and cooking.  The first change I implemented was rearranging my fridge.  I moved my fruits and vegetables to bowls and see-through containers. Now, when I open the door my weekend farmer’s market bounty is staring me in the face instead of hidden in the  “the crisper”.  No longer out of sight, out of mind.  Be honest, who hasn’t pulled out an unidentifiable fuzzy green object that might have once been an apple or orange, or worse a forgotten cucumber that morphed into a slimy swamp creature…ewwwww.

Those ignored apples stashed in the crisper?  Placed front and center, a visible “I’m here” reminder, turned into a couple of delicious apple crisps.  

The recipes are straightforward, uncomplicated, some healthy, some homey, some both.  Right up my alley.  I LOVE sweet potatoes so a recipe for a trio of dips/toppings for baked sweet potatoes caught my eye. It reminded me of an absolutely scrumptious charred sweet potato with a bone marrow Salsa Negra appetizer I had at Cala in San Francisco.  The potatoes were tender, smoky and sweet.  Borrowing from Smitten Kitchen, I slow roasted the potatoes in the oven and finished them under the broiler for that nice char.  The toppings, an herbalicious sour cream, and a brown butter orange juice were a snap to prepare.  I nixed the bacon dip and made the topping for Kaddo, an Afghani dish of braised pumpkin topped with two sauces, a tomato meat sauce, and a garlic-mint yogurt sauce.  The sweet potato stood in for the pumpkin, pretty yummy.  It deserves its own post which is coming soon.

 

 

 

 

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Sweet Potato In-skin Mash-ups

Ingredients

  • 4-6 Whole Roasted Sweet Potatoes I used Smitten Kitchen recipe see link

Brown Butter-Orange Juice

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into chunks
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • Kosher salt

Herbed Sour Cream

  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives or green onions
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Kosher salt

Instructions

  • While sweet potatoes are roasting you will have plenty of time to throw these sauces together.

Brown butter-orange juice

  • Place butter chunks in saucepan, preferably a light color one so you can see the butter turn color. Place over medium heat and let the butter melt and bubble, swirl the pot occasionally. The butter will foam and then start to color. Watch carefully, the milk particles will turn a nice toasty brown, remove from the heat and pour butter into a heatproof bowl.
  • Stir in orange juice and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt.
  • Make a slit lengthwise in each potato, season with more salt. Smoosh it with a fork and drizzle the sauce on the sweet potato.
  • Serve immediately.

Herbed Sour Cream

  • In a small bowl, combine sour cream, chives, thyme and lemon juice. Mix until well blended. Season with a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt.
  • Split potato, season with salt and place a generous dollop of the sour cream in the potato.
  • Serve immediately.

at A Little Better Slow Roasted Sweet PotatoesNext,  Butternut Squash and Kale Fried Rice.  The sweetness of the squash meshed well with the saltiness of the bacon and the slight bite of the kale.  Surprisingly good and easy to make. Feel free to use any kind of rice, use a mix of green onions and yellow onions and season to taste with soy sauce.  DON’T SKIP THE EGG.

Eat A Little Better Fried Rice

Leftover roast chicken? Sam’s tasty recipe for Chicken Salad was the perfect answer. Red onion, crispy green beans, fresh thyme, and mayo to bind. A breeze to put together.  For a touch of sweetness, grapes or diced apples would be a nice addition.

Eat A Little Better Chicken Salad

How could I not try the dish featured on his cover?  Braised Chicken with Olives and Oranges.  Bold, bright flavors, sweet from the oranges and tangy from the olives, like tennis a love match.  Even better the second day when the flavors mellowed and melded together.

You can see why it took me so long to review!

His Slow Roasted Pork served as the base for a couple of quick and delicious meals. I still had plenty left despite continually pulling shreds of pork off the bone and popping it into my mouth.

Eat A Little Better Slow Roasted Pork
Slow Roasted Pork out of the oven

First meal-CARNITAS. Topped with a cabbage slaw, homemade salsa, cilantro, and onions on warm corn tortillas, darn fine tacos.

Eat A Little Better Carnitas Tacos
Carnitas Tacos

Second meal-Rigatoni with Pork Ragu. Onions, tomatoes, slow roasted pork and a handful of grated Parmesan, so simple and satisfying.

Eat A Little Better Slow Roasted Pork Ragu

So, verdict? Wonderful, simple, straightforward cookbook with some sage advice.  I plan to use this book a lot.  Hope you will too.