Shanks for the memories

Wanted to post a recipe we cooked over the weekend that was off-the-hook tasty. With a little time on my hands, thought I'd try a new recipe and a new technique, braising lamb shanks. Super easy, though it takes a while to cook, and uber tasty. We served it over a root vegetable puree with roasted brussel sprouts on the side. Left out the demi-glace and subbed milk for cream in the puree, worked out great.

Braised lamb shanks with root vegetable puree
(from theKitchn)

Ingredients

For the lamb shanks

• 3 slices bacon, diced
• 2 lamb shanks
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 onion, peeled and diced
• 1 leek, rinsed thoroughly and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 3 cups beef stock
• 1.5 ounce container veal demi-glace (optional)
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves Kosher
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the vegetable puree

• 2 carrots, peeled and medium diced
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and medium diced
• 2 parsnips, peeled and medium diced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream, warmed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Lamb shanks:
Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over high heat until crisp and all the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and set aside for another use. Meanwhile, pat the shanks dry and season with salt and pepper. Add the shanks to the pan (one at a time if necessary) and brown well on all sides. Remove the shanks and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium. Add the celery, carrots, onion, and leeks and sauté until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. Stir in the tomato paste until the vegetables are well coated.

Pour in the red wine, increase heat to high, and reduce until almost cooked out. Add the beef stock, demi-glace, thyme, and bay leaves. Nestle the shanks into the braising liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and place in the oven. Cook the lamb for 2 - 2 1/2 hours, rotating the meat once during cooking time, until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.

Remove the shanks from the Dutch oven. Strain the braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve, discarding cooked vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve the shanks atop root vegetable puree and drizzle with sauce. (This would also be good served over mashed potatoes, creamy polenta, or pappardelle.)

Vegetable puree:
In a medium saucepan, cover the carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnips with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until tender and easy to pierce with a knife, about 20 minutes.

Place root vegetables in a food processor fitted with blade. Add butter, warm cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Process until the vegetables are smooth, creamy puree. Return to the saucepan and keep warm on lowest heat until ready to serve.

Food for a wintry day in NYC. Sausage and fennel ragu from the folks over at the kitchn. Trying to keep a new year's resolution to cook more - this takes a little while but most of the time is simmering, and you end up with a meaty blend of sausage, tomato, and fennel (I threw in diced eggplant too). East as you like - we had it over whole grain pasta.

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 2 small to medium white onions
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 small fennel bulbs
• Two 32-ounce cans diced tomatoes, with their juices
• One 15-ounce can tomato puree
• 1 long sprig rosemary
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Cooked pasta, to serve
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Preparation:

1. Heat a Dutch oven or wide, extra-deep sauté pan over medium heat and drizzle the pan with a tiny bit of olive oil. Spread the oil around as the pan heats up. When the pan is hot, crumble in the raw sausage. Brown the sausage over medium to medium-high heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring and scraping frequently.
2. While the sausage is cooking, peel and finely dice the onion, and mince the garlic. Remove the stalks and fronds from the fennel and reserve the fronds for garnish later. Dice the fennel bulbs into a similar size and shape as the diced onion
3. When the sausage is browned and partially cooked in small crumbles, add the diced onion, garlic, and fennel. Stir thoroughly so the vegetables are coated with the sausage fat. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook the vegetables with the sausage for at least 15 minutes, or until they are beginning to be tender.
4. When the vegetables are beginning to be tender, add the two cans of diced tomatoes and the tomato puree. Stir thoroughly and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the rosemary sprig, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Lower the heat to a bare simmer, and cover the pot loosely with a lid. Cook for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
5. After an hour, take off the lid and taste the sauce. It should have cooked down into a jammy, thick sauce with still-juicy bits of fennel and small chunks of sausage.

While we're at it, check out this neat trick for peeling a whole head of garlic lickety-split:

Habits

Warm-up:
half-court box drill
dynamic squat stretching

5x5 bench press (45x5, 95x5 then 115/125/135/145/150[dna 4,5])

2 rounds of:
3 dips
5 pull-ups
10 standing plate twist (45)
15 back extensions

Getting into the gym regularly is always much easier when you're in a groove, just went in to keep myself moving today. Bench felt pretty good, probably could have gotten the last two reps up at 150 but didn't want to push it without a spotter - seen too many vids like these. Wanted to OHS, but left hip flexor still a little strained from squatting the other day - getting old aint easy...

Speaking of habits, thought I'd return to posting recipes again. Here's a super simple one for scallion-crusted broiled char we cooked last night, we had it with roasted carrots with cumin and a pea puree:



Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 scallions
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 2 (6-ounce) pieces arctic char fillet

Preparation:

1.  Preheat broiler. Line rack of broiler pan with foil.
2.  Finely chop scallions and stir together with mayonnaise. Pat fillets dry. Place fillets, skin sides down, on broiler pan and season each fillet with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Spread scallion mixture evenly over tops of fillets.
3.  Broil 3 to 4 inches from heat until scallions are slightly charred and fish is just cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Brisket boat of garlic sailors on a mushroom sea

Just wanted to post a recipe I made last week, found here. Awesomely simple, if you have a slow cooker (crockpot). Doesn't really require a recipe, the steps are almost stupidly simple: take a hunk of brisket, poke it full of holes, fill said holes with peeled garlic cloves, season and throw in the slow cooker with sliced mushrooms and extra garlic, turn on for 8 hours on low.

Enough moisture comes out of the mushrooms and beef to let it simmer in its own juices. After 8 hours, the brisket pulls apart easily with a fork. We paired it with some sour cream mashed potatoes to soak up the goodness, and plenty of sauteed kale and onions. Mmmm...

Simple Slow Cooked Garlic Studded Grass-fed Beef Brisket 
(from Feasting on Fitness)

Cooking Time: Start to finish, about 8.5 hrs but 8 hrs of that are spent unattended while slow cooking

Ingredients:

• grass-fed beef brisket (we used about a 3-lb brisket--you could probably use any similar cut of roast)
• lots of garlic cloves (to save time and effort, you can buy whole, peeled garlic cloves*)
• lots of sliced mushrooms (to save time and effort, you can buy these sliced as well*)
• salt
• pepper

Method:

1. Add 1-2 packages of sliced mushrooms (or about 3-6 cups if you prepare them yourself) to the bottom of the slow cooker pot. Depending on the size of your brisket and your slow cooker, leave enough room for the brisket to sit on top of the mushrooms and still lid the pot. Add some whole garlic cloves to the mushrooms and distribute them.

2. Prepare the brisket by creating deep slits with your knife and inserting a garlic clove in each.  Try to get good coverage and be as thorough as you have the patience for.  Turn over the brisket and repeat on the underside and then try to get as many in the sides of the meat as possible.  Once finished, sprinkle on salt and pepper and rub it around the brisket to season it.

3. Place the brisket on top of the mushrooms and add another package or 3 cups of mushrooms on top and around the sides--basically jam in as many mushrooms as you can fit--remember, they cook down and they are adding some of the moisture that is keeping the roast tender and juicy.  Add any remaining garlic cloves you had leftover from the brisket studding or if you just want to add some more you have around, feel free--the more the merrier!

4. Now, set your slow cooker to Low for 8 hrs and walk away.

Mmmmmmeatballs

Too good to not post up: Maggie made meatballs over the weekend, using a recipe from Food Network stalwart Alton Brown. The breadcrumb coating really gives it a toasty, tasty finish. We had it with white bean puree, sauteed greens, and mushroom sauce.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 pound ground round
• 5 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 1 whole egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork, lamb, ground round, spinach, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl. Using a scale, weigh meatballs into 1.5-ounce portions and place on a sheet pan. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs and place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Moules marinieres et frites: yummy and cheap.

This is cheap, about $6 for a bag of mussels at Whole Foods. For 2 person you can make 1 bag or 2 (I would suggest 2 since you can make good stuff with the leftovers). Make sure they are fresh, and if they are relatively clean, its much quicker to prepare. When you put them in a bag, in order to bring them home or ti keep them in your fridge, don't close the plastic bag.

1. 2 bags of fresh live mussels


2. 2 cloves of chopped garlic


3. 6 chopped green shallots


4. 1 large handful of chopped parsley


5. 200 ml / 7 fl oz dry white wine


6. 2 oz (55 g) of butter


7. 4 tbsp of creme fraiche


8. salt and pepper

Clean and rinse the mussels in cold running water (throw away the ones that are open). Put the mussels, the garlic, the green shallots (I put the green part which I haven't chopped in there too), most of the parsley, the wine, and half the butter in a large saucepan (like a Creuset). Bring to boil with the lid on and cook until the mussels open. Then reduce the heat to medium, take out the mussels, put the rest of the butter, put the cream in, the rest of the parsley, salt and lots of pepper. Cook for a few minutes. Reduce to low heat, put back the mussels in for a few minutes.

Serve in a bowl with lots of the juice. We make fries with this (I recommend peanut oil for your french fries). Also have a nice piece of bread to eat the leftover juice in your bowl. We also make a light side salad with it.

If that meal is too light for you (i.e. if you are like Chloe), cook some spaghetti, when its done, add butter to it, then throw some of the juice over it and some mussels and eat that as a side dish.

If you have leftovers, take them out of their shells, and put them in the fridge with the rest of the juice. The next day, use this as a base for an amazing clam chowder.

A toast to the roast

Took a much needed rest day today, and subsequently put my energy into work and dinner. The second was much more productive: found a huge 5.5 lb beef roast at the Essex Street Market and Maggie discovered a great recipe for horseradish-crusted roast beef online.

Ingredients

• One 6-pound sirloin tip roast, preferably grass-fed, tied
• 1/2 cup prepared horseradish
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Set a rack in a large, deep roasting pan and place the beef roast on the rack.
2. In a small bowl, blend the horseradish with the salt, Dijon mustard, chopped parsley, ground pepper, sugar and sherry vinegar to form a paste. Slather the paste all over the top and sides of the meat. Roast in the lower third of the oven for about 2 hours, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the roast registers 125°. Transfer the roast to a cutting board and let rest for at least 20 minutes.
3. Discard the string and thinly slice the roast beef across the grain. Transfer the meat to a platter and serve.

Super easy, really entails just slathering the top and sides of the roast with the horseradish/mustard paste and popping it in the oven for a few hours. A meat thermometer helps greatly, since the time is going to be very cut dependent. The recipe calls for a tied sirloin tip, but any roast cut will do: top round, prime rib, etc. I managed to have the guy at the meat stand dig up a roast cut out of the back walk-in, the only thing I could get him to tell me was that it was a "roast beef cut". Good enough for me! Enough for dinner for four, with another meal's worth of leftovers for four.

Served with roasted brussel sprouts, roasted cauliflower with raisins and anchovies (mmm...), and parmesan smashed potatoes.

Chicken Coconut Soup: Yummy

This reminds me of the amazing Bangkok curried noodles soup (without the noodles and the eggplant) from Kelly and Ping although with much less spice. In the ingredients below, I replaced the red chili paste (which I couldn't find) for diced green chili sold in a can in the Mexican section at my grocery store. It is as good as it is easy to make.

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth

8 large slices peeled fresh galangal or 4
slices peeled fresh ginger

1 large lemongrass stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces,
crushed

16 fresh kaffir lime leaves, torn in half, or grated zest of 1 large lime

2 cans (each 14 oz.) coconut milk

1/4 cup lime or lemon juice

2 to 3 Tbs. Thai fish sauce

2 Tbs. light brown sugar

1 Tbs. red chili paste

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into
bite-size pieces

1/2 lb. fresh white mushrooms, brushed clean and
thinly sliced

5 small fresh red or green chilies, sliced
crosswise paper-thin

Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine the broth, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves. Place over medium heat and slowly bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Reduce the heat to low, add the coconut milk, stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar and chili paste; mix well and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and simmer until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and simmer until tender, about 1 minute more.

To serve, ladle into warmed bowls. Float the chili slices and cilantro leaves on top. Serves 4 to 6.

Tofueatin'

Easy recipe for some tasty protein goodness, mapo tofu is a cheap and quick meal. Ground pork is inexpensive, but the dish can easily be made with ground beef or turkey. You can skip the peppercorn powder but don't spare the hot bean paste - it's essential for the Sichuan spiciness.

For sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons hot bean paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Additive-free kosher salt to taste

1 lb regular or soft (not silken) tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons corn, peanut, or canola oil
1/2 lb ground pork shoulder (preferably 75% lean)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons Japanese sesame oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon toasted Sichuan-peppercorn powder
3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallion

Make sauce: Stir together broth, bean paste, soy sauce, and kosher salt. Set aside.

Poach tofu: Slide tofu into a saucepan of simmering water and keep at a bare simmer while stir-frying rest of dish.

Stir-fry pork: Heat a wok or large heavy skillet over high heat until hot and add 1 1/2 tablespoons corn oil, swirling to coat. Add pork and stir-fry, breaking up lumps and adding remaining 1/2 tablespoon corn oil if meat sticks, until no longer pink. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry over moderate heat until very fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Finish stir-fry: Stir reserved sauce, then add to pork and bring to a simmer. Drain tofu in a large sieve and slide into sauce, stirring gently. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to stir-fry. Bring to a boil, stirring gently, and cook until thickened and glossy, about 15 seconds. Turn off heat and sprinkle with sesame oil, Sichuan-peppercorn powder to taste, and 2 tablespoons scallion. Stir once or twice, then serve sprinkled with remaining tablespoon scallion.

Grilled Asian flank steak with sweet slaw

1/4 cup soy sauce
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1 1/2-pound flank steak
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 red jalapeños, thinly sliced into rounds
5 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage (about 9 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided

1) Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Mix soy sauce, oil, 3 teaspoons ginger, and garlic in resealable plastic bag. Add flank steak and seal bag; turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

2) Stir sugar and vinegar in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves; remove from heat. Add jalapeños and remaining 2 teaspoons ginger. Place cabbage and 1/2 cup green onions in medium bowl.

3) Pour vinegar mixture over and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand while grilling steak, tossing occasionally.

4) Grill steak until cooked to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to work surface. Let rest 10 minutes. Slice steak thinly against grain. Sprinkle 1/4 cup green onions over slaw.

Super easy and very tasty. I increased the meat to 1.75#. Even with more meat, there is no way this is 4 servings. It's not even a big meal for 2 people. Oh, and if you use a slotted spoon or tongs to dish out the slaw, you can avoid most of the sugar.

You can view the complete recipe online here, and the nutritional breakdown here.

Grilled tuna steaks with cantaloupe salsa

Fresh off a few days in the midwest and a very satisfying diet of airport food, hot dogs, beer, and Dairy Queen, went back on the wagon last night with this recipe for grilled tuna and cantaloupe salsa. Super easy and delicious; could try this with honeydew melon and maybe a little pineapple. Tuna's a little pricey, but this would work well with swordfish or something similar...

Grilled tuna steaks with cantaloupe salsa

3/4 cup coarsely chopped cantaloupe
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced seeded jalapeño chili

2 5- to 6-ounce fresh tuna steaks (about 1/2 inch thick)

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Mix cantaloupe, onion, cilantro, 2 teaspoons oil, lime juice and jalapeño chili in small bowl. Season salsa to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, brush tuna steaks on both sides with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill tuna until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side.

Transfer tuna to plates. Spoon salsa alongside and serve.

Spicy honey-brushed chicken thighs

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation:
Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

This is super easy and super good.

Source, which includes nutritional information.

Keep It Simple Salmon

Tried this super simple and tasty recipe for salmon last night. The touch of sugar balances the vinegar's acidity, and both offset the heartiness of the salmon. I'd recommend some simple fresh greens to offset the flavors; we ate this with sauteed fiddlehead ferns and shitake mushrooms, and a little bit of brown rice.

Salmon with Agrodolce Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (1 inch thick) with skin
2 medium red onions (about 1 pound total), each cut into 8 wedges
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Pat salmon dry and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, then cook, skin side up, until undersides form a golden crust, 12 to 15 minutes. Turn fish over and cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté onions until golden brown and crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until sauce is syrupy, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

Spoon onions with sauce onto plates and top with salmon, skin side down.

Delicious Salsa

So with the rash of easy healthy foods on here, I decided to post my salsa (pico de gallo) recipe here. I seriously just made it up out of the blue when we couldn't find any decent salsa at the grocery store. As such, this recipe changes every time I make it and you should adjust to your own personal taste. Anyway, here goes.

Fresh Pico de Gallo:
(serves roughly five)
6-8 medium size tomatoes
1-2 medium onions
2 bunches fresh cilantro
3-5 limes
2 anaheim green chiles
2-6 jalapenos (adjust spice accordingly)
3-6 cloves garlic
(sea) salt

So, I've made this with a food processor once but usually I just do it all by hand. Dice the tomatoes and onions and put them in a bowl. Rinse and de-seed the peppers, then dice them and add them to the mix. Rinse the cilantro thoroughly as it tends to accumulate sand. Cut roughly half of the stems off and throw away, chopping the remainder as fine as possible (or desired) and adding it to the mix. Now comes the balancing act. Mince 3 cloves of garlic and add to the mix, then cut up 3 limes and squeeze their juice into the mix. Finally add a dusting of salt on top of the whole mixture. You should add more lime juice (my personal favorite), garlic, and salt to taste. If you find there's too much of one, adding one of the other will usually help balance things out, so keep mixing until you get it just right.

Dinner

I like Kenway's idea of posting good recipes. My dinner tonight was super easy, salad and steak.

Lime Avocado Chicken Salad:
1# chicken breast
1 avocado
1 lime
1 box/bag romaine hearts
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
salt, pepper and olive oil

Season the chicken breasts with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Pan fry, then remove to cutting board and squeeze lime juice over the chicken, and leave to cool.

Dice avocado and add to mixing bowl with chopped romaine hearts, tomatoes and cilantro. Chop chicken and add to bowl, squeezing any remaining lime juice over the mixture. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

The salad was followed by about 8oz each of sirloin steak. Very nice and easy meal.

What's cookin'

Eating well is much easier when you cook, but cooking well is difficult given time constraints and work schedules. Seeing Brian stock up at the Essex Street Market this weekend reminded me of how simple a good fast meal can be: quality meat, one or two vegetables, a little olive oil, and the right seasoning.

A great source for quick recipes is The Minimalist column and blog in the NYT food section, written by Mark Bittman. This weekend I tried the following simple recipe for pernil, or Puerto Rican roasted pork shoulder.

1 pork shoulder, 4 to 7 pounds (or use fresh ham)
4 or more cloves garlic, peeled
1 large onion, quartered
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ancho or other mild chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil as needed
1 tablespoon wine or cider vinegar

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Score meat’s skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern. Pulse garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, chili, salt and pepper together in a food processor, adding oil in a drizzle and scraping down sides as necessary, until mixture is pasty. (Alternatively, mash ingredients in a mortar and pestle.) Blend in the vinegar.

2. Rub this mixture well into pork, getting it into every nook and cranny. Put pork in a roasting pan and film bottom with water. Roast pork for several hours (a 4-pound shoulder may be done in 3 hours), turning every hour or so and adding more water as necessary, until meat is very tender. Finish roasting with the skin side up until crisp, raising heat at end of cooking if necessary.

3. Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it up; meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks. Serve with lime.

This recipe uses relatively few ingredients and has only two steps - make the rub and roast the pork; it requires only enough time to slow roast the meat (3-6 hours depending on the size of the roast). Pork shoulder, also called pork butt, is a cheap and easy to cook cut of pork: it is tender enough to be undercooked and safe, and fatty enough to stand up to long cooking times and come out juicy and soft.

Three and a half pounds cooked for a little over 3 hours, served it with mashed yams and roasted brussel sprouts - it was awesome. Fresh lime juice almost requisite. Could be a tiny bit tenderer, next time will turn down the heat a bit and cook longer (or maybe even try a crockpot).