Man, when did it become so incredibly HOT outside? I'm definitely not one of those people who loves the sweltering heat. What's there to like? Burning my hand on my steering wheel? Sweating like a pig? Ugh. If my little cottage didn't have CH&A, I don't know what I'd do. Seriously. I don't care if that makes me seem like an entitled brat. Whenever that thermometer starts climbing past 75 degrees, my air goes on- STAT. I would never survive in the South, where they have the double whammy of heat and humidity. I'm a total wuss. So this weekend when it reached over 100 degrees, I tried to minimize my time spent in the kitchen. On Friday night, I convinced Mr. S. that we should go out to eat...I called it a date night but in all honestly, I just didn't want to cook. We tried the new Turkish restaurant on J Street, Istanbul Bistro. Not bad. The lamb beyti kabob was heavenly. The chicken shish plate...meh, probably wouldn't order that again. It was a bit bland and the portion was skimpy for the cost ($15).
Saturday night, I headed to the wilds of Rocklin for a wonderful get together of a few food bloggers in the area, including- Bake It With Booze, Guava Rose and Tate's Kitchen. There was such a delicious array of foods and cocktails. Man, can those ladies cook! I even got to try some tasty homemade orangecello that made my made my eyes bug out on the first sip. Those Bake with Booze girls aren't messing around with their booze. That orangecello may have put some hair on my chest, it was hardcore! I loved it though. :) Sunday was spent helping Kidlet #2 with his report (I now know more than I ever wanted to about FDR), reading my book for book club (Home by Toni Morrison, which I'm enjoying immensely) and cooking. Yep, I said cooking. I cranked up the AC and ventured into the kitchen...and I even used the oven! I guess I just can't stay out of there. I thought a little luau food would be fun for the kidlets so I braved the heat and made Kalua pig, Hawaiian mac salad and coconut rice. The kidlets and Mr.S. loved it. It was such an easy dish to make and pork butt is so cheap, I think we'll be making it more often. We even had enough for leftovers for the next day. Kalua pork is so versatile- you can throw the leftovers in tacos and quesadillas, stuff them into sandwiches and even toss some onto a pizza. It also freezes well. The only thing that would have made that meal better, would have been a GIANT mai tai. Um...for me (not the kidlets).
Kalua Pork
Ingredients
5 lb. pork butt, bone in
1.5 tablespoons Liquid Smoke
2 tablespoons of Hawaiian Alaea sea salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Score the pork butt on all sides.
3. Rub liquid smoke and salt onto the pork butt. Use your hands to pat it into the meat.
4. Place the pork butt on a large piece of heavy aluminum foil, fat side up. Wrap the foil tightly around the meat in a tent-like fashion. Place in a roasting pan or baking dish.
5. Cook for about 4-5 hours (about 45 minutes per pound of meat).
6. When it's done, remove the pork butt from the oven and let it sit, untouched, for another 10-15 minutes.
7. Open the foil. Remove the meat from the foil and shred the meat with two forks. It'll be really tender and will fall apart easily. You can also use some of the remaining roasting liquid to moisten the pork (optional). Serve.