Pulled pork
I can't imagine life without cooking shows. That's pretty much all I watch on TV. Well, maybe with the exception of Szkło Kontaktowe and the news on TVN24.
Today, every self-respecting chef will sooner or later host his own cooking show. Many of them are great personalities, but for me the true guru in this field will remain Anthony Bourdain, a New York-born American chef and culinary traveler.
Unpretentious, full of passion and genuine curiosity about the world. He made dozens of culinary reports from all over the world, but his programs were really about people, their customs and history. I often followed his restaurant recommendations, which always guaranteed excellent food, even, or maybe especially, when they led to the most neglected districts of European capitals and places I would never have entered on my own initiative. He passed away three years ago, taking his own life with the belt of his bathrobe, just before his sixty-second birthday, while filming another episode of the series "Unknown Places", which can still be watched on the Kuchnia+ channel.
I decided to dedicate my dinner today to Tony, who, of all the earthly diet, loved pork the most. He didn't fail to remind us of this in almost every program.
I made pulled pork with coleslaw in a brioche bun.
Prepare the brioche dough the day before so that it rises well and ferments in the fridge. For about 600 grams of flour, take three country eggs, half a teaspoon of salt and mix, pouring in less than a glass of lukewarm milk, which you mixed ten minutes ago with four tablespoons of sugar and 30 grams of fresh yeast or a small packet of dry yeast. When everything is well mixed, leave it in the fridge for a day. Divide the dough into 8 parts. Form a ball from each, which you gently flatten, spread with beaten egg and sprinkle with black cumin or sesame seeds. Let it rise for an hour, then put in the oven preheated to 180 degrees for 45 minutes. When it cools, cut in half, grease with butter and place on the grill or pan for a while.
Marinate a large piece of pork shoulder overnight in your favorite marinade. I make mine with oil, garlic, soy sauce, hot paprika, turmeric, garam masala, and honey, then spread it well over the meat. You can bake it in the oven, but I chose the grill because nothing beats the smell of smoke. I don't put the meat directly on the fire, but next to the coals. I put a small iron box filled with cherry wood scraps on the coals, but you can also put a regular piece of wood. When the air supply decreases, the wood won't burn quickly, and instead will smolder. I baked the meat for 6 hours. I added more coal every 2 hours. After 3 hours, I covered the meat with foil so that it wouldn't dry out too much. The skin on the outside was crispy, burnt in places, but inside the meat was juicy and falling apart.
I made the meat sauce from raspberry tomatoes. It is worth the effort to peel the tomatoes and rub them to remove the seeds, thus obtaining a real passata. Fry two chopped onions, two rhizomes of chopped celery, half a head of garlic in oil. Then add port or bourbon, and when the alcohol evaporates, pour in the passata, add soy sauce, a sprig of rosemary, thyme and marjoram. Cook for at least two hours, until it turns brown and reduces well, creating a very thick sauce. At the end, add honey and stir often, because it tends to burn.
Cut the white cabbage into long, thin strips. Add half a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of wine or spirit vinegar. Let it stand for a few moments. Add coarsely grated carrot and mayonnaise made from one egg yolk, a teaspoon of mustard and half a glass of oil, and salt and pepper.
Fry the torn meat with the sauce. Put a handful of meat with sauce on the bun, then a handful of coleslaw and cover with the other half of the brioche.
Tony, you'd love this.
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