[119] Pork Shoulder with Chipotle-Orange BBQ Sauce

Cover of Simply Organic by Jesse Ziff Cool

Note: this was made prior to buying the hog. It is NOT from our share of the hog.

We made this one for a party. I’m not sure if I was prompted by a Whole Foods sale on pork shoulder, a cut I am loving more and more and more. My friend Dylan tells me it’s commonly turned into sausage, do to its ratio of fat:meat. I say, “What a waste!” This is good for so many other things!

I have a slightly tilted photo there. No idea why.

Anyway, as you can see, there’s a lot of good stuff going on in that photo. Aside from a nice cut of meat, the oranges, green onions & chipotles!

I recall it being pretty simple to make as well.… Continue reading →

[110] (Vegetarian) Baked Beans

Cover of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman

More beans!

Okay, beans have entered our food life in a big way. Mostly because they’re fairly inexpensive and filling, but partially also because it’s supposed to be “the” way to have a substantial vegetarian meal.

Plus, Bill likes them. Especially if they’re black beans. I don’t know why black beans are his favorite, but they are. I suspect it has to do with a woman he dated previously, and her preferences. You’d have to ask him.

This was my second foray into baked beans, though it’s the initial recipe all of Bittman’s vegetarian baked beans derive from. I tell you this so you don’t get weirded out by the sense of deja vu you’re about to have. I did, in fact, basically copy what I wrote for the Maple-Baked Apple Butter Beans and adjust what needed to be adjusted.… Continue reading →

[39] Honey-Mustard Glazed Chicken

Cover of No Red Meat by Brenda Shriver

I totally chose this recipe Tuesday during my meal planning for the week because it involved the grill, looked crazy simple, and we had all the ingredients on hand. I am not ashamed of making such a choice. I am, in fact, very pleased with that choice since we didn’t manage to go grocery shopping Tuesday night, as planned.

Our menu schedule is a bit off of most people’s two major days due to the CSA delivery we get Monday nights/Tuesday mornings. It’s my sense that most people who plan their menus for a week do the planning and shopping on one of two major days: the weekend day most convenient for them or the day the store circular sales start. In Chicago, the circulars arrive on Wednesday and sales start Thursday.… Continue reading →