When last the weather was warm enough to barbecue, I decided to innovate several methods for preparing a boneless pork loin, besides roasting it for Sunday dinner to produce crackling. While making a pork loin crackle without drying out the meat is no easy task, a lean cut of pork with a well developed layer of fat has uses beyond roasting.

Why? During one of my weekly shopping trips, I overhead two gentlemen arguing over a refrigerated display. "Hey! Look at this. Isn't a buck forty nine a good price for pork", said one gentlemen to the other. "Yeah, but we don't need that much meat. What are we going to do with something that big?" As they left empty-handed, I wandered over to find halved boneless pork loins. I fetched one and thought to myself, "Plenty!"

Firstly, let's start with the obvious. What are some of the most prized pork chops at the butcher's counter? That would be "center cut" loin chops (routinely: $2.99/lb). Centre cut loin chops are almost completely composed of one muscle. As such, they cook evenly under high heat, lending themselves well to grilling or pan roasting. Guess what? A halved pork loin, with or without the sirloin portion, is nothing more than unsliced boneless pork loin chops. Even better, you can cut them as thickly or as thinly as you like. Thicker chops lend nicely to being stuffed. Just start slicing at the end where the lighter loin muscle is largest.

I sliced mine on average 2-3 cm (3/4") thick. Since they were destined to be grilled, I applied a dry rub and let them sit in the fridge for an hour to draw out some juices. This way, the chops browned nicely on the flame. On the flame, I turned them every 2 minutes, until they reached an internal temperature of 140°F.

Sliced Loin Chops with Dry Rub

Loin Chops after an hour with the Rub

Loin Chops Grilled to an Internal Temp of 140°F

Loin Chops Served

Here's the dry rub I use:

• 8 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder

It borrows from Alton Brown's 8:3:1:1 dry rub, which he used it to season ribs for braising.

Secondly, usually a halved pork loin has a portion of sirloin on board. This is the darker coloured muscle. I find this muscle takes longer to cook, so I excised it into individual roasts. Besides, why not carve out a piece of sirloin, leaving the fat layer intact, and try to make some crackling.

For the individual sirloin roasts, I seasoned them with kosher salt and pepper and drizzled them with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. Then, I tossed them on the grill. I also cooked them to an internal temperature of 140°F, turning often.

Marinating Sirloin Roasts

Marinated Sirloin Roasts

Sirloin Roasts Grilled to an Internal Temp of 140°F

BTW, the crackling didn't work and the fat run off started some unnecessary grease flame-ups. Here's what turned out:

Failed Crackling

Lastly, a pork loin can easily be cut into strips for stringing onto a skewer. This can be done with either the loin or sirloin portion.

For me, I sliced out strips of sirloin and marinated them in President's Choice Korean Barbecue sauce for an hour. I then skewered the strips and tossed them on the grill. They were the last on and the quickest to come off. They make great appetizers or can be served on rice or cous cous for an entrée.

Sirloin Strips Marinating

Sirloin Strips Grilled

And skewers allow for great service options!

Skewered Sirloin Strips Served

Skewered Sirloin Strips Top Angle

Skewered Sirloin Strips Side Angle
If sticky sweet Korean Barbecue sauce doesn't suit your fancy, think coconut flavoured spicy satay!

As has been demonstrated, a single halved pork loin easily produces three dishes.

My advice: pickup a pork loin when they're on sale ($1.49-$1.99 are steals), slice it up into manageable portions, and freeze the portions you don't need. Pork loin is a very versatile cut.

Heck, I've been known to just cut one up into thick strips and make Chinese Barbecued Pork or Char-Siu. Cheers!

Sometime during the fall, a friend and colleague threw a party to bid farewell to the house he designed and built himself. He had just put the property on the market and decided to invite friends and co-workers over to admire his handiwork.

The approximately 2200 square foot bungalow with custom baths, a spacious kitchen, solid wood cabinetry, and laminate hardwood floors is located in Cornwall, Ontario. Personally, my main draw was my friend's custom built barbecue enclosure. It weather proofed his barbecue from rain, wind, snow, and sleet, permitting him ready access to a propane grill year round. I had heard so much about the enclosure that I had to see it before the property sold.

Since this was the first time my better half and I ventured into Cornwall, we volunteered to drive down with my colleague to setup for the party. On the way, we stopped by a cheese co-op to purchase curds for the party and had lunch at Shoeless Joe's.

St. Albert Cheese Co-operative Inc.
According to its website, the St-Albert Cheese Co-operative Inc. (aka: St-Albert Co-operative Cheese Manufacturing Association) is located in the Casselman region (just a few kilometers from Ottawa) and represents approximately 50 producers. It employs approximately 60 people and has been producing quality cheese for over 100 years with 100% pure milk.

There, I purchased a package of pre-sliced old (fort) cheddar from St. Albert's dairy bar.

100% Milk Old Cheddar

At $4.78, quite the bargain

Nutritional Information
Originally, I intended the cheddar to make a baked macaroni and cheese. However, after I sampled a slice, its strong sharp cheddar flavor - tangy, slightly salty, and smooth - made me reconsider. I ate the rest of the cheese over the period of a week with whole grain crackers. It has to be the best cheddar I have ever sampled.

Shoeless Joe's
When we arrived in Cornwall, we had lunch at Shoeless Joe's. Shoeless Joe's is a chain sports-oriented restaurant with well over a dozen establishments throughout Ontario. According to my colleague, the Shoeless Joe's in Cornwall had newly opened. My better half and I, however, were quite familiar with Shoeless Joe's pub fare and menu. You see, we often frequented the Kingston establishment while she schooled at Queen's. We are particularly fond of Shoeless Joe's freshly made lattice fries and garlic dip.

Here are pictures of our orders:

Fish and Chips w/Garlic Dip ($12.45)

Pulled Pork Sandwich w/Lattice Fries($10.68)

San Diego Chicken Wrap w/Lattice Fries($9.95)

Personally, I ordered the San Diego Chicken Wrap. With its fresh vegetables, soft tortilla, and slices of crisp seasoned breaded chicken, I had a good lunch. The wrap must have been made to order because wraps made with slices of freshly fried chicken quickly go soggy with the moisture from the vegetables and sauce (typically mayonnaise or ranch dressing).

Total cost for 2 platters of fish and chips with garlic dip, 1 pulled pork sandwich with lattice fries, 1 chicken wrap with lattice fries and 3 drinks: $63.58 (before tip, after taxes).

Oh and here are pics of my colleague's barbecue enclosure. It was made with several sheets of plexi glass, pressure treated lumber, and a composite material that fits snugly around the pressure treated lumber:

Barbecue Enclosure

Composite Material
Cheers to my colleague for coming up with this solution. If I ever get the opportunity, I plan on plagiarizing the design :)

Particulars:
St-Albert Co-operative Inc.
150 St-Paul Street,
St-Albert Village
(613)987-2872

Shoeless Joe's
1110 Brookdale Avenue,
Cornwall
(613)937-4838

After two unsuccessful attempts making cevapcici, I decided to try again. This time, I substituted baking soda for mineral water and used a food processor. This modification to the recipe and mechanical means to combine the meat together, produced cevapcici with the proper texture: moist and chewy. Previous failed attempts saw me mixing groud meat with club soda and hand-chopping the meat with a pair of clevers. Both methods produced crumbly cevapcici.

This time around, I used my new Rachael Ray food processor to further breakdown ground meat and incorporate the baking soda. Like before, I then mixed in an atypical ingredient in the form of finely chopped onions. This is non-traditional, but, walking by the Parkdale Market (a popular outdoor farmer's market) the day before, a bunch of fresh white onions literally called to me. As such I was looking for recipes to add fresh onions that never met the ciln. The onions were sweet and what onion pieces were exposed ot the heat on the outside of the cevapcici actually caramelized.

Regarding this blog entry's title, cevapcici is traditionally served with sour cream and ajvar. Ajvar is an all-vegetable spread, which is tomato-based. It provides bright fruity flavors that compliment well the Earthy flavors of the ground meat mixture. It can be purchased already prepared in bottles. The sour cream provides two things to the cevapcici. Firstly, like ajvar, sour cream provides some brightness. Secondly, sour cream provides a little fat to carry flavor.

Recipe follows:

More after the jump...

There's nothing more characteristic of a Chinese deli than the glazed Char-siu hanging in the window. Char-siu, otherwise known as Chinese Barbecued Pork, isn't really barbecued in the traditional sense. It consists of strips of fatty pork that are hung from forks and cooked in a vertical roaster. Its Chinese name, Char-siu, means "fork roasted."

Because most home cooks don't have access to a powerful vertical roaster, we need to resort to slow roasting Char-siu horizontally in an oven. One weekend, I decided to determine if the Chinese Barbecued pork can actually be made on the barbecue. What turned out was actually more authentic than any recipe I've tried in an oven. Moreover, the pork actually developed smoke ring. Its added smokiness complemented the sweet and tangy glaze.


Sliced

Smoke Ring

A smoke ring is the pink discoloration under the surface "crust" of smoked meat. According to about.com, it is caused by nitric acid build-up from the absorption of nitrogen dioxide through the surface of the meat. Nitrogen dioxide is produced from combustion. It reacts with the moisture in the meat, creating nitric acid.

Recipe follows:

More after the jump...

Having repeatedly enjoyed traditionally prepared Bosnian cevapcici from Skela on 956 Merivale Road, I decided to try my hand at making my own. Besides, with the summer more than half over, I have to exploit my access to a gas barbecue as much as possible. I thus armed myself with a modified recipe from the Frugal Gourmet, some tips from a colleague, and some information from various websites and made an attempt.

My first encounter with these caseless sausages appeared on foodiePrints sometime ago. What ended up coming off the grill was visually acceptable. The grill marks made the suasages look authentic. However, the texture was very different. The cevapcici that I had had from Skela were moist and chewy on the inside. Mine were drier and more crumbly.

I served my failed cevapcici with skewered vegetables and mini-potatoes.


Cevapcici off the Barbecue

Plated Cevapcici

The recipe follows:

More after the jump...