IMPROVISED

I wrote this first entry after having a change of plans. Originally I was going to have my first post be about our (wife, daughter and I) first farm share pick-up and the subsequent amazing meal. I would come home that night and make some completely local and organic meal that was so delicious my wife would fall off her chair and the little one would tell me again, "you're a great Daddy". I would take beautiful farm to table photos for a great first impression on my newly minted blog. Sounds idyllic. Sometimes things don't go as planned.

This past weekend we went to the in-laws and had some of my father-in-laws amazing pulled pork. Since they don't eat leftovers (something I am still confused by) I took home all the leftover pork, including the bone that they tried to throw away (normally I would rant about why I think wasting pieces of food like this is sac religious for a whole host of reasons but I will save that for a later date and entry all its own).

This morning I had about a pound of smoky pulled pork crying out to me from inside our fridge begging to be made into something good. I kept picturing a scene from Ghostbusters and that creature inside Sigourney Weaver's fridge. In my world there is nothing more magical than a piece of pork being smoked for 14 hours so its dark and crispy on the outside and unctuous and tender on the inside, so to not use those leftovers would have been akin to killing a unicorn. I generally keep some canned beans in the pantry for quick weeknight meals, usually involving leftover meat, and some type of canned tomato product for a myriad of uses. Black-eyed peas where in there along with roasted diced tomatoes. Perfect. Leftover chicken stock in the freezer. Check. Beer in the fridge. Check. Here's what I came up with...

1/2 # pulled pork
2 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 can roasted tomatoes
1/2 bottle of beer
1 qt chicken stock
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1T ancho chile powder
1T ground cumin
1T corriander
1/2 cinnamon stick
salt and black pepper to taste
1 lime and 1/2 avocado for serving

In a heavy bottom pot sweat the onions and garlic till soft over medium-low. Add the red bell pepper, ancho, cumin, corriander and cinnamon and saute for a minute. Turn the heat to high. Deglaze with the beer, bring to a boil, simmer for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, pulled pork and season with salt and black pepper. Let simmer for about 45 minutes uncovered so the liquid reduces slightly. Skim off excess fat as needed. Serve with sliced avocado, lime wedges and maybe tortillas. (I happened to have fresh corn and chive polenta in my freezer which I served with it, yes that is the type of stuff I have in my freezer...)

I want to finish this first post by saying that while most of my recipes won't generally contain canned beans because making them yourself tastes better, is easy and cans have a BPA lining in them now that has been linked to cancer (although garden of eden brand doesn't) I still want to say 'don't be afraid to use leftovers'! Be creative. IMPROVISE. Make something out of nothing. Pulled pork was created out of necessity. People figured out if you smoke cheap, tough cuts of meat for 14 hours it taste pretty darn good. Some of the best food was created through necessity. Making due. Using what you have and finding a way to make it delicious. I could have wasted that pork butt and made some fancy dinner from the vegetables (arugula, spinach, green garlic, bok choy, spring mix and strawberries) I got from my farm share today but I'm glad I didn't. I'll find a use for them tomorrow...