Caribbean Holiday Style Pork Roast [Sponsored]

Are you stuck in the "turkey for Thanksgiving and prime rib for Christmas" rut?

We got that way a few years back.  Both are great meals but sometimes you just have to break out and try something a little different.  I turned to the Caribbean for inspiration.  Cuba and Puerto Rico both have fantastic pork dishes such as lechon asado (roast suckling pig) and pernil (roasted pork shoulder).  

In his world traveling BBQ book, Planet Barbecue!, Steven Raichlen sings the praises of these prized holiday roasts, "Spit roasting crisps the skin the way deep-frying would, and if you cut the skin with a sharp knife right away, you'll get perfect diamonds of one of the glories of Puerto Rican gastronomy: chicharrones, crackling crisp pork rind (197)."

Hmmm, deep-frying you say?  Maybe I could do a pork roast like a deep fried turkey?  I know - deep frying like that would be messy, waste about $30 of oil, and you don't want to burn your house down.  But I had an easier trick up my sleeve - the Char-Broil™ Big Easy Turkey Fryer.  Instead of using oil, it uses infrared heat to provide deep fried results without the mess, expense, and potential grease fires.

So our Thanksgiving Menu this year is:

Carribean Holiday Style Pork Roast 

Chile Rubbed Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Black Beans and Rice with Pickled Red Onions

There are lots of different ways to make Caribbean style pork roasts and everyone swears theirs is the "only authentic way to make it because it's how my Cuban/Puerto Rican grandmother did it".  Some involve stabbing the roast and inserting garlic slivers.  Some use a wet paste, some use a long marinade.  I borrowed a little from all of the styles and came up with this easy version.

The roast was amazing with the juicy pork but Raichlen was right - the pork cracklin's made it incredible!  In order to get that crispy pork candy, you have to get a skin on "pork picnic shoulder", not a whole shoulder or pork butt.  I trim my own but to keep things easy, ask your butcher to trim the skin flap back, but leave it attached at the shank (see pictures below).

Caribbean Holiday Style Roast Pork Shoulder

Ingredients

• 8 lb pork picnic shoulder
• 1-2 tablespoons black pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons adobo seasoning
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

For the paste

• 1/4 cup sour orange juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled

Instructions

1. Make the paste.  Place the paste ingredients in a blender, food processor, or one of those magic ninja bullet things and blend together.  
2. Season the roast.  Pull the skin flap back and season the exposed roast all over with the black pepper and adobo seasoning.  Smear the paste all over the exposed roast.  Pull the skin flap back over the roast and secure with kitchen twine.  Season the skin with the salt.  Place roast in a food bag or wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.  
3. Remove the roast and allow to sit at room temperature for one hour.  Meanwhile, preheat your Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer with the power dial on about two-thirds of the way.
4. Place the roast in the basket and insert the basket into the fryer.  Roast until the thicker end of the shoulder reaches an internal temperature of 180°f - about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.  
5. You can either serve after a 15 minute rest or put it in an empty cooler, cover with foil, a towel and let it rest in the closed cooler for 1 to 3 hours (this makes it easy to hit your scheduled dinner time). 

Substitutions

• Sour orange juice aka Seville orange juice - Mix 2 parts orange juice with 1 part lime juice.
• Adobo seasoning - I buy Baida brand in the Latino section of the grocery story but there are several good recipes online if you choose to make your own.

Simple yet big, bold flavors make this roast special.

Here is how I trimmed the skin flap.  Just start at the "big" end by making small slices between the fat/skin and the meat, opening the top flap as you go.  Stop when you get back to the shank end.  Again, your butcher should do this for you free of charge.

Here the skin flap is folded back towards where the leg shank comes out.

Here the roast is all tied back together.

You might notice that is an awfully big roast.  I was pushing it here because the Big Easy Turkey Deep Fryer says it can handle up to a 16 lb turkey or an 8 lb roast.  This bad boy weighed in at 12.2 pounds and the Big Easy still nailed it!  It ended up taking 6 hours to cook but it was 50% bigger than it should have been so that is to be expected.  I was really impressed with how the Big Easy handled this roast, even better than the turkey I did last year.

The Big Easy is a simple device and has a small footprint but produces big results. 

Looking down into the into the Big Easy, the stainless drum heats evenly from all directions.

The drip pan lets you capture the drippings in case you want to make a sauce or gravy.  Try doing that with a typical deep fryer.

The sturdy, silicone handles make it easy to move the unit, even when it's hot.

The controls are simple.  One dial to light the Big easy and one to control the temperature.

Here you really get an idea of how huge this roast was.

A shot of the skin or cracklin's side of the roast.  The infrared heat really delivered the deep fried crispy skin!

Here is the non-skin side when done.  It is dark but when you smoke this same cut of pork for pulled pork, it is darker, almost black.  A lot of flavor here!

While the roast was going, I roasted chile rubbed sweet potatoes on my Char-Broil Commercial grill.  Indirect set up, controlling the temperature with the far left burner.

These were spicy, sweet, and a delight.  I'm going to have to do a post on these babies alone.  Short version is salt, pepper, Ancho chile, garlic, and chili powder, roast at 375 for 40 minutes.

I loved everything on my plate, this is definitely going to be our Thanksgiving menu.

The Big Easy gave me exactly what I wanted with this Caribbean style pork roast.  The infrared cooking made it crispy on the crust but juicy and tender on the inside.  Learn more about the Big Easy turkey deep fryer.

My blogger pal, Kita (aka Girl Carnivore), has set up a giveaway of a Big Easy Turkey Fryer. Enter via the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
[Standard Disclaimer]  This post is sponsored by Char-Broil™ and the Big Easy Turkey Fryer, but I wouldn't post about it if I really didn't enjoy using it.

Leftover Turkey Idea: Turkey and Dirty Rice Soup

In just a few days, people will be staring a leftover turkey and wondering about what to make with the Thanksgiving remains.  One of my favorite things to do with turkey is make a Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich.  

This soup is a close second for us.  It puts a Louisiana spin on the wild rice and turkey soup that my mom made when I was younger.  I know for Cajun I should have just stuck with the Trinity (peppers, onion, celery) and skipped the carrot but I like carrots in soup. 

Orange and Bourbon Brined Turkey on the Grill

Since our daughter, her husband, and the grand baby are visiting from Florida, we decided to have Thanksgiving on Labor Day.   Brett and his girlfriend came over and we had the whole family back home at the same time for the first time in several years.  

For the turkey, I used an orange and bourbon brine to add flavor and moisture.  The brine worked because the turkey tasted great and my daughter said it was the juiciest turkey she's ever had.   The smoky flavor of the bourbon and the citrus tang is subtle but there, just the way I like it.

Note:  Not sure where we got this turkey platter but it is very close to this one:
HIC Porcelain Turkey Platter 17.5-inch
Two notes on brining.  First, if you can, get a bird that has not been pre-brined "packaged in a solution" but if you don't have a choice, cut the amount of salt in this brine in half.   Second, thaw the bird before brining.  I know it seems like a good idea to use the brining time as thaw time too, but the brine won't penetrate frozen meat particularly well.

I also spatchcocked the bird which means butterflying it in reverse, cutting out the backbone.   This technique helps the bird cook faster, more evenly, and I prefer the presentation of a laid out turkey.   I used the cooking times, temps, and technique that Pitmaster, Chris Lilly, used for his Charcoal-Grilled Turkey with Fresh Herb Butter at the Kingsford Invitational last year.  That bird was also spatchcocked. 

Leftover Ham: Cheesy Ham Pot Pies

Leftover ham is a wonderful problem to have. After 5 days of eating ham, last night Trevor still said this was the best ham ever. 

This has been one of our favorite leftover ham recipes.  The crispy pie crust gives way to reveal that hot creamy interior that is so delicious. 

You can serve it as a whole pot pie or make it for individual serving sizes.    The 1.5 cup ramekin size would be good for someone with a huge appetite.  For us, the perfect individual size is doing this in a large muffin tin.

Cheesy Ham Pot Pies

by www.nibblemethis.com

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients (4 medium or 6 small pot pies)

• 1 pie crust recipe (I used Cream Cheese Crust from the book Savory Pies by Greg Henry)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup onion
• 2 T jalapeno, seeded diced
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 3 oz block colby jack, shredded
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp season salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flake
• 2 1/2 cups diced ham
• 2 cups frozen mixed veggies

Instructions

1. Preheat a charcoal grill to 425f, set up for indirect heat. (For Big Green Egg, platesetter legs down, use a spacer between the plate setter and pie pans.)
2. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and saute onion and chile for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to form a roux. Whisk in the stock, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking until well blended each time. Whisk in the half and half.
3. Add the cheese to the mixture in small batches, stirring until well blended. Add the seasonings and taste the sauce. Adjust with salt/pepper as needed. Stir in the ham and veggies, remove from heat.
4. For single large pot pie - Place bottom crust in a greased 9" stoneware pie pan. Pour pie filling in. Top with the top crust and seal edges with a fork. Slice or poke holes in top.
5. For large individual pot pies - Cut pie dough discs into uneven fourth's as shown in the pictures. Roll one of the larger fourths into a 6" circle and fit into 1.5 cup greased ramekin. Fill to the top with the ham mixture. Roll one of the smaller fourths into a 3-4" circle and top the ramekin. Seal edges with a fork. Repeat with three more ramekins.
6. For medium sized individual pot pies - do as above but divide dough into sixths. and use a large muffin tin.
7. Baste with egg-wash. Bake on the grill until he crust is golden and crispy, about 30-40 minutes.

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For the ramekin version, cut in half and then off center because the bottom crust needs to be bigger than the top.

For the muffin pan version, we just cut into sixths.

Don't worry about them being perfectly round when you roll them out.  Unless you're into that kind of thing.

Fill to the top and then cover up.

While making the rest and getting ready, I covered each with a moist paper towel to keep the top crust from drying out.

Pinch and crimp, pinch and crimp.

The spacers between the plate setter and pan keep the bottoms from burning.  The "spacers" are just some stainless steel hooks but you could use many things like a trivet.

Better shot of the spacers under the ramekins here.

Like with any pies, cover the edges with foil after a while for even browning.

Steamy and delicious!

What is your favorite way to use up leftover ham?

How I Cook Ham on the Grill

"...then hang them in the house and neither bats nor worms will touch them."

I was going to be all "Hey guys, Easter is just around the corner, time to break out the ham recipes" and stuff but I found that opening quote much more shocking.  

That quote is from Marcus Porcius Cato in 50 BC writing about how the Romans cured hams in his treatises on Roman farm management.  From the old days until relatively recently, hams were made basically the same way.  They were cured in huge clay jars or containers for days and weeks, then smoked and aged.  Now most are injected with a witch's brew of nitrites and tumbled to expedite the process to just a few hours.

I did a test run on a ham this weekend and thought I would write up how I prepare hams on the grill.

Preparing the Grill (I use a Big Green Egg)

• As with any cook longer than an hour, I make sure to clean out the grill, removing ashes and unused coal.  I make sure that the vent intakes are all clear.
• For a ceramic grill, I load it with coal and 5 or 6 chunks of wood or 2 cups of wood chips (I don't soak either).   I prefer straight hickory for hams.  Why do I like a blend of hickory and fruit woods for ribs and shoulder but not ham?  I dunno.  I just do. 
• Once my fire approaches 200f, I slowly start closing the vents and try to let the temp coast up to 250f.  Then I put the plate setter in, legs up, with a drip pan on it and the grill grate*** on top of that.  
• For a kettle grill or offset smoker (Brinkmann, Charbroil, etc), I'd set it up indirect for a "fuse style" burn (aka Minion method).   See this link at Grilling.com for how to do indirect set ups. 

I do a layer of coal, a layer of wood chips and repeat several times until the grill is full.

Meat Prep

• Selection - There are a ton of hams out there.  
• Fresh - this is just the upper part of the back leg of a pig, no curing, smoking or aging.  
• City hams - most popular style in American, cured and boiled or smoked, partially or fully cooked
• Country hams - Cured, smoked and aged, required to be cooked before eating.  
• Picnic ham - from the front leg (picnic) instead of the back, it is less tender and has more fat
• Boneless hams - Some are deboned pieces of ham, they are okay.  But most are chunks of ham formed together, I consider them the McRib of hams and try to avoid them.  
• Specialty hams - Black forest ham, prosciutto, tasso, various European hams
• I like to get a semi-boneless, fully cooked half ham about 7-8 pounds.  I prefer the butt half instead of the shank half because it is meatier and gives nice big contiguous slices of ham.   I avoid spiral sliced hams, only because I like the control of slicing them myself.  
• Brine - None.  They have already been cured/brined by the supplier.
• Injection - Can NOT do this this a spiral sliced ham.  I took Chris Lilly's pork shoulder injection and modified it for ham as follows:  3/4 c water, 1/2 c pineapple juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce.   I place the ham cut side down and inject all over the ham every 2 inches or so.  I do this an hour before it goes on the smoker/grill.
• Rub - I take a basic BBQ rub that is high in sugar and low in salt (I modified Melissa Cookston's Quick and Easy rub) and then add a pinch or two of ground allspice and cloves.  It takes 3 - 4 Tbsp. I don't use a binder, I just slather any of the leaked injection around the ham before rubbing it.

Notice the plastic still on ham.  It helps minimize wayward squirts.

Season heavily on all sides except the cut end.

Smoking

• Once the smoker/grill is stable at 250f, I put the ham, cut side down, on the grill cooking grate (on the side without coals if you are using a kettle style grill) and cook with the lid closed.
• I monitor the internal temperature of the ham using a remote probe thermometer.  
• Glaze - Once the ham reaches an internal temp of 135f (about 3 1/2 hours), I place it in a stoneware pie pan (just to keep my grill clean) and glaze the ham with a cola glaze (4:3 ratio of brown sugar to cola) and continue cooking until the ham reaches an internal temp of 145f.  

Sure, you could just cook it in the oven but double smoked is the way to go in my opinion. 

The pie pan is just to keep the grill from being a mess with the cola glaze.

Finishing

• Not a lot is needed here.  Just slice and serve.
• My favorite sides for ham are a genre that I call "church social".  Casseroles, macaroni salads, and rolls.  

Almost too pretty to slice.  Almost.

This isn't even 1/2 of the ham.

Storing/Reheating

• Ham might be the best food for re-working leftovers.
• First, you can eat it cold, straight out the fridge.  Late at night.  In the dark.  Wearing only boxer shorts.  Don't judge me.
• Thy Daily Bread.  Thinly sliced, it works in sandwiches from basic ham and cheese to fancy classics like Croque Madam and Monte Cristos.  
• Green Eggs and Ham.  You don't have to eat it on a boat with a goat, but ham and eggs have tons of possibilities like omelets, breakfast burritos, or egg scrambles.  
• Casserole Central.  There are more ham casserole recipes out there than stars in the sky.  As Carl Sagan would say, "Billions and billions..."  and most of them are great comfort food (maybe not great for you).
• I made a cheesy ham pot pie with some leftovers that I will be posting later this week.

So what are your favorite ham tips or ham recipes?  

***Grill grate vs cooking grid - Yes I know that Big Green Egg refers to the grill cooking grate as "a cooking grid".  I saw someone on the forum mock someone for calling it a grill grate.  Everyone else calls it a grill grate. If a car manufacture decided to call the steering wheel for their cars a "navigation disc", I'm still calling it a steering wheel.  

Grilled Turkey Breast

I know.  You just got over your turkey overdose.  Why in the world would I be making turkey now?  Because I didn't get to at Thanksgiving. 

Normally I like to brine my poultry but this breast was one of those "packaged with up to X% with a solution" so it was already pre-brined so brining it was not an option.  Instead I came up with an injection to build flavor. 

This turned out to be my favorite injection I have come up with for turkey and the family readily agreed.  The clarified butter has a cleaner texture, the infused herbs bring the flavor, and the sweet agave comes through in the final product. 

Turkey Injection
servings:  1 cup, enough for 1 turkey breast


Ingredients

• 3/4 cup clarified butter
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 sage leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup Agave Amber Nectar

Instructions

1. Heat clarified butter to simmering.
2. Add the garlic cloves, sage leaves, thyme, and peppercorns and poach for 5 minutes.
3. Remove and reserve the sage and thyme.  Discard the garlic and pepper corns.
4. Add the wine, Agave nectar, and salt.  Stir to mix.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before using.

Note:  Our local grocery store carries Agave Nectar.  If you can't find it, you could substitute honey and a little brown sugar.  But agave has much better flavor, in my opinion.

Grilled Turkey Breast
Servings:  6-8

Ingredients

• bone in, skin on turkey breast
• 1 cup turkey injection
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Sage and thyme reserved from cooking the injection.

Instructions

1. Preheat your grill to 325 - 350f set up for indirect heat.  I was using a Smoke Hollow combo grill with 40 lit briquettes divided to each side with drip pans in the middle.  See pictures below for example.
2. Inject the turkey in several areas with the injection from inside the rib cage (the back side of the breast).  [For tips on injecting, see Five Tips:  Injecting Meat]
3. Make a rub with the salt, paprika, pepper, thyme and sage.  The thyme and sage should crumble easily.
4. Rub the breasts over and under the skin.
5. Place the breast on the grill over the drip pan, skin side facing up.  Grill for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the breast reaches an internal temperature of 155 to 160f.  Add a half dozen or so briquettes to each side occasionally as needed to maintain the grill temperature at 325 to 350f.  
6. Allow to rest 15 minutes before slicing.

Notes

• I used Kingsford Briquettes with Hickory (green bag) to get a little smoke flavor.
• Here's my time/temps chart.  [Update]  The grill temps listed were actual temps, not my target temperatures.  I was trying to hold a temp of 325f, which is much easier in my Eggs.

Time	Internal Temp	Grill Temp	Notes
0	46f	325f	Started with 20 lit coals on each side of a dripping pan
15 min	48f	300f	Added 8 unlit coals per side
30 min	61f	340f
45 min	84f	320f	Added 8 coals left side, 4 coals right side
1 hr	97f	320f
1 hr 15 m	120f	300f	Added 12 coals left side, 8 coals right side
1 hr 30 m	134f	325f
1 hr 45 m	145f	350f
2 hr	156f	315f	Removed turkey from grill

Poaching the garlic and herbs in butter draws out their flavor.

Kingsford with Hickory adds a kiss of smoke.

Injecting from the rib side (inside) avoids tearing and poking holes in the skin.

Indirect set up, coals pushed to the side to create a void, above which rests the meat.

Look how juicy!  I carve off half the breast and then slice that on a cutting board.

This disappeared quickly but I did manage to save some scraps for KY Hot Browns today.

Don't forget to entry the Drapers BBQ Gift Pack giveaway HERE.

[Standard Disclaimer]  I receive no compensation for this post from any of the brand names listed.