This is a time consuming recipe, but very easy, very tasty, very filling, and pretty healthy considering.

ingredients:

1 lb. of fava beans soaked overnight
1 pint of vegetable broth
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
10 mint leaves, minced
1/4 cup of olive oil

Cook on low heat for hours and hours (occasionally stirring), until the beans are soft. Partially mash a few beans. Let cool and add olive oil. Serve in a pita, or over rice/cous cous with sliced onions, tomatoes, and pickles. Dress with tahini sauce.

Tahini sauce:

6 oz. container (3/4 cup) of plain yoghurt
3/4 cup of sesame tahini
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp of salt
5 – 10 mint leaves depending on taste

Puree that bastard in the blender until smooth and well mixed and that’s all there is to it.

Tags: beans

After a heavy dinner, a nice long concert and 7 open bars last night, I was in the mood for something nice and comforting. I started making Coneys (full name – Coney Island Hot Dog) Detroit Style a couple years ago when my Michigan-bred love of life requested her homestate hot dog concoction. There are two styles, Flint or Detroit: Flint Style is a drier meat mix, basically just seasoned ground beef – these are Detroit Style, a “wetter” chili sauce style.

Never having made them (or even eating them) prior to trying this recipe, I had no idea whether or not they would even be close to the real thing. Having done some field research to Flint area and Detroit area Coney joints, I’ve found that this is the closest thing to being there.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
14 oz. chicken broth
6 oz V8 juice
4 T. Flour
1 T. Chili powder
1 T. Paprika
1 T. Turmeric
1 T. Cumin
1 T. Chicken Bullion Powder (or three cubes, crushed)

Hot dogs with a natural casing – Koegel’s if possible
Hot dog buns
Yellow mustard
Diced onion (optional)

Brown the ground beef in a skillet. In a blender, mix together the broth, V8, flour and spices. Blend to combine, and add to the ground beef. Let reduce (about 10-15 minutes) and in the meantime, heat water for the dogs, dice the onion, sort through your mustard selection, pound aspirin for the headache, wonder exactly how you got home last night, and so on.

When the Coney sauce mixture is reduced, return half to the blender and puree. It’s not going to look good – but it’s going to taste good. Heat the dogs for 3-4 minutes, and top with Coney sauce, yellow mustard, and diced onion. Other options include a “loose only,” serving the sauce in the bun – no dog – or just out of a bowl, topped with mustard, like regular chili. Best part – it reheats perfectly, so make a ton and freeze it.

Tags: chili, coneys, detroit style, flint style, ground beef, hot dogs

I love barbecue. And let’s be clear: when I say “barbecue” I don’t mean burgers on the grill. Hell, I don’t mean anything on the grill, really. Grilling does not equal barbecuing. Both do involve fire, and both (usually) involve meat. Real ‘cue needs smoke. This is where the two part ways. And none of this really matters, because I don’t have a smoker, nor do I have the hours and hours required to properly prepare pig parts for ‘cuing.

What I do have is a slow cooker. A nice, 6-quart capacity slow cooker that I use far too rarely – until today. The corner market & butcher was having a run on pork butt (tee-hee) for a buck a pound, which made me wonder what exactly I could make with about 3 bucks worth of pig. Easy-peasy answer: pulled pork sandwiches.

You’ll need:

1 big ol’ white onion, sliced
3-4 lbs. Pork shoulder or butt (tee-hee)

So far, so good – right? Here’s where personal preference comes into play. What type of pulled pork to pick? The sweet, tangy red sauce of traditional barbecue? The mustardy, vinegar-y Carolina school of bbq? I kinda opted for both, mixed with the “what do I have in the fridge” approach.

I whisked together some cider vinegar, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, ketchup, hot sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a touch of bottled BBQ sauce. Purists will argue that no bottled sauce should ever get near good BBQ, but since this is make-it-up-as-you-go BBQ, it should be okay.

Then I set the sauce in the fridge for the flavors to hang out and get to know each other overnight. Not much is needed, maybe a half cup of this sauce when all is said and done – it’s just to flavor the meat a bit while it cooks. And remember: No Liquid Smoke. That’s cheating.

Slice the white onion and cover the bottom of the slow cooker. This is like a bed for the pork. Any leftover onion not needed to cover the bottom I just quartered and put in around the meat. Your pork will benefit from some space – if you have a whole uncut piece of meat, give it a slice and spread it out a bit throughout the cooker. Taking the extra time to cube the meat is sometimes suggested, but I like nice long strands of pork – cutting it too much prevents that.

When the pork is in the cooker, pour your homemade sauce over the pork. Now, like the man says: set it and forget it. Anywhere from 8-12 hours on low will take care of the cooking process. Simple enough, correct? Like the title says, I’ve Never Made This Before…so the easier, the better.

After cooking, remove the meat and let it rest on a cutting board. Discard the onion and juices in the bottom of the cooker. Pull apart meat with two forks and return to slow cooker. Pour in anywhere from 12-18oz. of your favorite BBQ sauce, homemade or bottled. In a perfect world, my well-smoked pulled pork wouldn’t need sauce at all – the sweet smoked meat would be all I’d need. As it is…the more sauce, the better. Give it another half hour on high to incorporate the liquid and reduce the sogginess factor.

The Verdict: Not bad. Not perfect, but again, I don’t have a smoker outside my back door. But it’s a good stopgap when one feels the need for BBQ, and if nothing else it’s cheap.

Tags: barbecue, pulled pork, slow cooker