Real Food for Real Life

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Not quite a hoedown...

Grilled Chipotle Lime Pork, Loaded Hoecake, 
Cucumber Salad, and lightly dressed bibb lettuce

Yesterday's morning dig through the freezer found some nice boneless pork, and since it was a sunny (if not particularly warm) day, I decided to grill them.  Not in the mood to barbecue them, I concocted a simple marinade from pantry staples, and it turned out very tasty indeed (the little guy didn't even complain about the bit of heat).  I love to eat cornbread with grilled (esp. BBQ) pork, but Ben complains if I make it too often.  Undeterred (yes, I can be a bit stubborn), I decided to make hoecakes, but not any hoecake, a loaded, savory one.  For those who may be unfamiliar, a hoecake is merely a pancake made with cornmeal, but a favorite of the south, as well as the northeast, where they call they johnny cakes.  To finish out the meal, we had a simple cucumber salad and torn bibb lettuce dressed in the same vinegar as the cukes.
Grilled Chipotle Lime Pork

about 1 1/2 lbs. boneless pork (loin or sirloin)
1/2 cup lime juice (I used bottled)
3 cubes Knorr Chipotle Seasoning (or 3 canned chilies, mashed)
2 tbs. sugar
 3 cloves garlic, minced (1 tbs.)

Pour the lime juice into a measuring cup.  Into the same cup add the sugar and crumble the chipotle cubes (or stir in the mashed chilies); stir until the sugar and cubes are dissolved, add the garlic.  Place the pork (cut into serving size pieces if necessary) and marinade in a large ziplock bag; marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, but preferably all day.  An hour before grilling, set the bag on the counter to come to room temperature.  Grill, then let rest for 10 minutes before serving
Loaded Hoecakes

1 package of corn muffin mix
2/3 cup half-and-half (or milk)
2 tbs. canola oil
1 large egg
1 cup corn kernels, thawed if frozen
1/2 bell pepper (I used orange), diced about the size of the corn
4 scallions, sliced
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar 
2 jalapenos, finely diced (optional, but I would have added them if I had had them)
fat of choice for cooking

Pour the dry muffin mix into a bowl and stir to break up any lumps.  Pour the half-and-half into your measuring cup and then add the egg and oil to the cup; beat with a fork to combine well.  Stir the liquid into the muffin mix, then fold in the veg and cheese. Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium heat, then melt in fat of choice- I used 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter, but when we make hoecakes while camping we use bacon fat- cooking spray would work just fine too.  Ladle in small amounts of batter and cook as you would a pancake, but allow a little more cooking time on each side- they will get really brown, but the dense batter and veg needs a chance to cook through.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate and put into a warm oven while cooking the rest (my lowest temp is 170).  I got 12 four inch cakes.

Cucumber Salad

1 large (or more) cucumber
red onion slivers, to taste
DeLalallo Golden Balsamic Style Vinegar

If the cucumber(s) has a waxy or thick skin, peel it; if it is an English or thin skinned garden cucumber, leave the skin on.  Slice the cucumber very thin and layer in a bowl with the red onion slivers, drizzling each layer with the vinegar.  If eating these the day you make them, leave on the counter for an hour to marinate, tossing occasionally.  These taste even better after a day or two in the fridge, but be warned, the cucumber slices will take on a slight pink tinge from the onions.
As you can see from the photo, I love this product and have both a small spray bottle and a large bottle for pouring (and refilling the spray bottle).  This is wonderful on the cucumbers, as well as any delicate green, even the little guy loves it.

2 comments:

  1. everything looks wonderful Mary...really really good!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love chiplote on anything..yum
    great blog name by the way!!

    sweetlife

    ReplyDelete

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