Holiday -- that is to say "Food" -- Report
So glad we did not try to go to the big fireworks display. Watching it on TV everything looked rainy and miserable. We did see an unexpected live display somewhere a few blocks north of us while the Macy's show was on. I still can't figure out where it was from, exactly. We had seen lovely live fireworks after the symphony concert in Central Park last week, so I don't feel too deprived.
In the afternoon, we did manage to have a picnic.
My friend A was bringing her daughter over from NJ to see the Dora the Explorer exhibit at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, which happens to be right down the street from me. Her husband was coming too, so we invited them to have a picnic with us in the park. (The three-year-old insisted on calling it a "pic-pic".) This, of course, means cooking.
The menu:
Pulled pork sandwiches
Potato salad
Three-bean salad
Tostitos Hint of Crack Lime chips
Peach pie with streusel topping
The pulled pork was a definite do-it-again choice. I've been getting this odd cut at Fairway called Pork Bits. It turns out to be the tailings of some very fine pork roasts, just cut in odd little shapes. I first bought it for beans, then upgraded to stir-fry duty, and now I wanted to try it BBQ style in the crock pot. For the sauce, I mixed about equal parts Hunts Honey Barbecue sauce (sweet!) and A-1 steak sauce (tangy!) with a generous squeeze of sri-racha (hot!). I put a chopped onion in the bottom of the crock pot, then one slice of a smoked pork shank, layered on a pound of pork bits, and dumped the sauce on top. It cooked all night and in the morning I separated out the wet sauce, removed the bones and gristle from the shank, and shredded everything with a fork. It yielded enough for six sandwiches on kaiser rolls. Very succulent, and I've got the reserved sauce for something else now, maybe noodles.
There were three smoked pork shanks in the package, but only room for one whole one in my tiny crock pot. Leit helpfully cleaned the other two and got a nice pile of meat out of it. I chopped about half of it roughly and wedged it into the pot, and the rest got cut up into tiny bits for the potato salad. It was nicer than bacon, a lighter flavor and less grease. I used white rose potatoes, peels on, and dressed them with low-cal mayo and a lot of horseradish. Besides the pork, I threw in two hard-boiled eggs and seasoned with a bit of black pepper. I really should make this more often, but I tend to forget about potatoes unless I have a specific dish in mind.
The bean salad used one can each of kidney, garbanzo, and green beans, well rinsed and drained. For the dressing, I was finally able to use up a bottle of horribly sweet fat-free sundried tomato dressing I'd bought without properly reading the label. I added some ketchup for body and a bit of light wine vinegar. Most people would probably put in some Bermuda onion, but I don't really think raw onion helps much of anything, so I just let it marinate all night and it came out quite tasty, too.
The peach pie was had some bits of candied ginger inside, and an oatmeal streusel topping. I completely failed to realize that the instant oatmeal packet I dumped in with the Bisquick, brown sugar, and butter contained bits of walnuts. Leit started getting an allergic reaction, and though it was mostly controlled by a sudafed, I felt especially terrible because he had actually done all the work of blanching and peeling the peaches. I did have a backup dessert for him, of some angel cake slices with strawberries and blueberries. And I guess it just means I'll have to bake another peach pie that he can eat, this time with no walnuts.
Pic-pic pic:
In the evening, we ended up going over to the Children's Museum ourselves. A alerted us to a wonderful exhibit of original art from Little Golden Books, and to the fact that on the first Friday of each month, museum admission is free after 5:00. We saw illustrations by Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, and a number of others. There was even a spread from my all-time favorite Golden Book, Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself. Beautiful, nostalgic fun.
And I hope you had a happy Fourth!
In the afternoon, we did manage to have a picnic.
My friend A was bringing her daughter over from NJ to see the Dora the Explorer exhibit at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, which happens to be right down the street from me. Her husband was coming too, so we invited them to have a picnic with us in the park. (The three-year-old insisted on calling it a "pic-pic".) This, of course, means cooking.
The menu:
Pulled pork sandwiches
Potato salad
Three-bean salad
Tostitos Hint of Crack Lime chips
Peach pie with streusel topping
The pulled pork was a definite do-it-again choice. I've been getting this odd cut at Fairway called Pork Bits. It turns out to be the tailings of some very fine pork roasts, just cut in odd little shapes. I first bought it for beans, then upgraded to stir-fry duty, and now I wanted to try it BBQ style in the crock pot. For the sauce, I mixed about equal parts Hunts Honey Barbecue sauce (sweet!) and A-1 steak sauce (tangy!) with a generous squeeze of sri-racha (hot!). I put a chopped onion in the bottom of the crock pot, then one slice of a smoked pork shank, layered on a pound of pork bits, and dumped the sauce on top. It cooked all night and in the morning I separated out the wet sauce, removed the bones and gristle from the shank, and shredded everything with a fork. It yielded enough for six sandwiches on kaiser rolls. Very succulent, and I've got the reserved sauce for something else now, maybe noodles.
There were three smoked pork shanks in the package, but only room for one whole one in my tiny crock pot. Leit helpfully cleaned the other two and got a nice pile of meat out of it. I chopped about half of it roughly and wedged it into the pot, and the rest got cut up into tiny bits for the potato salad. It was nicer than bacon, a lighter flavor and less grease. I used white rose potatoes, peels on, and dressed them with low-cal mayo and a lot of horseradish. Besides the pork, I threw in two hard-boiled eggs and seasoned with a bit of black pepper. I really should make this more often, but I tend to forget about potatoes unless I have a specific dish in mind.
The bean salad used one can each of kidney, garbanzo, and green beans, well rinsed and drained. For the dressing, I was finally able to use up a bottle of horribly sweet fat-free sundried tomato dressing I'd bought without properly reading the label. I added some ketchup for body and a bit of light wine vinegar. Most people would probably put in some Bermuda onion, but I don't really think raw onion helps much of anything, so I just let it marinate all night and it came out quite tasty, too.
The peach pie was had some bits of candied ginger inside, and an oatmeal streusel topping. I completely failed to realize that the instant oatmeal packet I dumped in with the Bisquick, brown sugar, and butter contained bits of walnuts. Leit started getting an allergic reaction, and though it was mostly controlled by a sudafed, I felt especially terrible because he had actually done all the work of blanching and peeling the peaches. I did have a backup dessert for him, of some angel cake slices with strawberries and blueberries. And I guess it just means I'll have to bake another peach pie that he can eat, this time with no walnuts.
Pic-pic pic:
In the evening, we ended up going over to the Children's Museum ourselves. A alerted us to a wonderful exhibit of original art from Little Golden Books, and to the fact that on the first Friday of each month, museum admission is free after 5:00. We saw illustrations by Eloise Wilkin, Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, and a number of others. There was even a spread from my all-time favorite Golden Book, Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself. Beautiful, nostalgic fun.
And I hope you had a happy Fourth!