Pork BBQ and Strawberry Glaze Pie

Today’s lunch menu included an easy Pork Barbecue and an equally easy Strawberry Glaze Pie. I like to buy about 2 lbs. of lean boneless pork ribs (called Pork Loin Gourmet Ribs in my store).  The ribs are cooked overnight in a slow cooker, then the next day the meat is pulled, combined with a sauce and baked in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours.  I like the slow cooker for cooking the pork but prefer the flavor and consistency of the barbecue when it’s baked after the sauce is added.

MOM'S PULLED PORK BARBECUE

• Servings: Approx. 10)
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• 2 lbs. boneless country style ribs

Trim any fat from meat and place in slow cooker.  Let cook 8-10 hours on low. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F Remove meat from slow cooker, drain and allow to cool until it can be pulled apart.  Place the pulled pork in a 9×9 baking pan. Make the sauce:

• One 24 oz. bottle of catsup
• 2 Tblsp. dark brown sugar
• 2 Tblsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 2 Tblsp. dried minced onions
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup white vinegar

Pour the above sauce  ingredients directly on top of the pork in the baking dish. Mix well and place in preheated 300 degree F oven.  Bake uncovered for two hours, stirring occasionally.  Barbecue is ready at this point but can be covered and kept in a 170 degree F oven until ready to serve. Serve on buns with coleslaw on top or on the side.

STRAWBERRY GLAZE PIE

• Servings: 6
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Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Roll out pastry for a single crust, 9″ pie (see my Sure-Fire Crust recipe).  Prick the crust with a fork on the bottom and sides. Put a piece of aluminum foil loosely on top of the crust and fill with dry beans.  I keep a jar filled with a pound of dry beans which I use over and over again. Bake crust @ 410 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and lift out foil with beans.   Place the pie plate back in the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Strawberry Filling and Glaze

• 5 cups of fresh strawberries, divided
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tblsp. cornstarch

Hull strawberries and if they are small they can be left whole.  Otherwise, cut in half to make fairly uniform pieces.   Place one cup of strawberries in a small saucepan. Crush berries with a big spoon or potato masher.  Add water.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and continue simmering for 2 minutes.  Pour the berry mixture through a sieve into another small saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch – slowly whisk this mixture into the berry/water mixture and place on medium heat.  Cook and whisk constantly until mixture is thick and clear – about 2 minutes. In the baked pie shell, place one-half of the strawberries and top with one-half of the glaze. Repeat with remaining berries and glaze. Chill for at least an hour – an inverted pie plate makes a good cover.

Serve with whipped cream or topping. A really tasty lunch – and the leftovers are good, too!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

 

About this time of year – a week or so before Thanksgiving, I start getting ready for the big day.  At this point, it’s mostly paper work.  I only feed 6 people but I need enough food to cover a big Thanksgiving dinner at noon, leftovers for supper and a huge bag of food to send home and eat over the weekend.  This requires organization, so this week I do my lists:  Menu, groceries needed, groceries on hand, shopping list, to do list, cooking schedule.  I do all of the cooking myself – my choice – and do as much as possible beforehand.  My family likes pie so I make a lot of them – one apple, three pumpkin and sometimes one by popular request (in past years these have been pecan, blueberry peach, grape, cherry).  Two crust pies can be made in advance and put in the freezer.  The trick is to take them out the night before and in the morning, do a quick bake to crisp them up.  I also make the pie crust for the pumpkin pies ahead of time but like these pies baked fresh on Thanksgiving day. 

My schedule calls for picking up the turkey on Tuesday so I can have Wednesday free for advance cooking.  On Wednesday, I make a Polish Sausage Stuffing, bake sweet potatoes (less marshmallows), steam cauliflower, and get fruit pies and yeast rolls made the previous week from the freezer.

Thanksgiving Day starts with having the turkey stuffed with regular dressing in the oven by 5 AM.  With more space in the refrigerator, I put the cranberry sauce inside to chill, then fill the pumpkin pies and take the turkey out long enough for them to bake.  At the same time, I crisp the fruit pies, then put the turkey back in the oven and sit down for breakfast – usually pretty light on Thanksgiving.  I prepare the relish tray, put other items in the refrigerator to chill and peel, cook and mash potatoes.  These can be kept warm in a crock pot for up to 2 hours.  Then I set the table and get the turkey out of the oven to rest.  I use this time to heat the sweet potatoes and Polish stuffing.  In the final minutes, I fry the breaded cauliflower that my daughter always requests, put the rolls in the oven and get the turkey onto a platter.  By noon, it’s time for everyone to come to the table.

Every year, I make up a souvenir menu for each person, usually using a photo from the year before.  My menu photo last year was of my youngest daughter and her children doing the traditional testing to see if the turkey is done.

I always call this my yearly cooking marathon.  I’ve had marathons in past years when I had fruits and vegetables to process quickly from a large garden and a lot of baking to do in preparation for a fair, but this is my only marathon now and I enjoy it.