Nigella's Shoulder. Maggie's Butt.

[maggiethecat]

We did the dead plain Nigella Lawson formula for a pork shoulder/butt: Twenty- two hours at 200 degrees. Actually, 225 degrees, because a gas oven will blow out at 200. On a rack, in a pan.

Absolutely glorious. I made RLB's Butter Dipped Dinner Rolls, and we served the shredded ambosia with a homemade salsa. Yes, Varmint, I know it's heresy.

And now we're gazing at Nigella's succulent shoulder, and thinking leftovers. It makes splendid tacos, superlative enchilladas. I'm thinking fried rice or Moo Shu Pork.

But I'd love some fresh thinking here. What are you going to do with your butt?

[Priscilla]

I know I'm going to look stone IGnorant, but I've been going RLB RLB RLB and nothing's coming.

As for the pork, crispified in a nonstick pan and used as for carnitas ... but you're thinking that way already. In a Cubana-type sandwich? Smashed onto baguette, with crunchy salt, like rillettes? Maybe a cornichon.

[maggiethecat]

I know I'm going to look stone IGnorant, but I've been going RLB RLB RLB and nothing's coming.

As for the pork, crispified in a nonstick pan and used as for carnitas ... but you're thinking that way already. In a Cubana-type sandwich? Smashed onto baguette, with crunchy salt, like rillettes? Maybe a cornichon.

My dear, Priscilla, you could never appear ignorant! I'm lazy. Rose Levy Beranbaum,---she has such a long name.

[jackal10]

Pseudo-cassoulet: Add onions, beans (I use tinned), garlic, maybe some duck or goose, and two sorts of sausage all in a casserole; breadcrumbs and put a hottish oven util bubbling and a crust forms...

Chinese style pork buns: Florence Lin has a good recipe.

[NeroW]

But I'd love some fresh thinking here. What are you going to do with your butt?

Park it on a bar stool as soon as humanly possible.

[maggiethecat]

Chinese style pork buns: Florence Lin has a good recipe.

Great idea. I have the book somewhere. Thanks.

[Varmint]

Absolutely glorious. I made RLB's Butter Dipped Dinner Rolls, and we served the shredded ambosia with a homemade salsa. Yes, Varmint, I know it's heresy.

Not heresy at all. Pork can be served with anything, and I don't mind any type of salsa. Just don't call it NC barbecue, however.

[jackal10]

Great idea. I have the book somewhere. Thanks.

Look after it. Florence Lin's Complete Book Of Chinese Noodles, Dumplings And Breads is now quite rare and sells for over £100...

[edsel]

We did the dead plain Nigella Dawson formula for a pork shoulder/butt:  Twenty- two hours at 200 degrees.  Actually, 225 degrees, because a gas oven will blow out at 200.  On a rack, in a pan.

Absolutely glorious.

Maggie, is this the recipe you followed? It sounds great, and I like the idea of not having to fuss over the roast for most of the duration.

I wonder if it would work with a rolled-and-tied pork butt (I picked one up tonight). I'd skip the high heat at the beginning and end since presumably that's for the benifit of the skin side of the roast.

[JAZ]

I used up some rather undistinguished pork shoulder meat in a variation of Julie Sahni's vindaloo recipe in Introduction to Indian Cooking. It was great.

[dannyboy]

Edited for having a moronic and inappropriate moment...crawling back under rock...

Edited January 23, 2004 by dannyboy (log)

[fifi]

I am known around my family and friends as the slow cooked pork queen. (Strike up... DA DA DA DA DA-DA) But I have never tried one at 200 for that long. I have got to try it.

First, I have to use up the one I did last weekend with bitter orange, latin seasoning (cumin, coriander, black pepper, salt and sugar) and lots of garlic. What am I doing with it? Wrapped in a tortilla with lime marinated red onion and Mexican crema. Sandwiches on bollios. Warming it up and shoving it in my mouth with a fork. (That is truly elegant. )

[chezlamere]

We did the dead plain Nigella Dawson formula for a pork shoulder/butt:  Twenty- two hours at 200 degrees.  Actually, 225 degrees, because a gas oven will blow out at 200.  On a rack, in a pan.

Absolutely glorious.

Maggie, is this the recipe you followed? It sounds great, and I like the idea of not having to fuss over the roast for most of the duration.

I wonder if it would work with a rolled-and-tied pork butt (I picked one up tonight). I'd skip the high heat at the beginning and end since presumably that's for the benifit of the skin side of the roast.

That sounds wonderful, it's even on sale this week here. I was humming and hawing about buying some, I'll have to go tomorrow and pick up a roast. I can smell it now just thinking about it

[maggiethecat]

Maggie, is this the recipe you followed? It sounds great, and I like the idea of not having to fuss over the roast for most of the duration.

The very one, although I skipped the rub this time. And after some discussion with various pork-loving eGulls, I think a concensus was reached that the initial period at high heat wasn't necessary.

Fifi, you are elegant; you use a fork! I just rip bits off with my bare hands.

[Priscilla]

Rose Levy Beranbaum,---she has such a long name.

Oh THAT RLB! I associate her firstly with The Cake Bible, I oughta update my mental reference. Consider it updated!

[ruthcooks]

Maggie, I have read that the initial high heat (and the residual oven heat) is necessary to prevent bacteria forming. The roast would take too long to heat up if you started it at 200. May be true or not, but I wouldn't take chances.

[fifi]

Maggie, I have read that the initial high heat (and the residual oven heat) is necessary to prevent bacteria forming. The roast would take too long to heat up if you started it at 200. May be true or not, but I wouldn't take chances.

That shouldn't be necessary. The interior of the meat is sterile. Any nasties will get killed off pretty quickly starting at about 160 - 180 degrees and the surface will reach that temperature quickly.

[ludja]

And now we're gazing at Nigella's succulent shoulder, and thinking leftovers. It makes splendid tacos, superlative enchilladas. I'm thinking fried rice or Moo Shu Pork.

But I'd love some fresh thinking here. What are you going to do with your butt?

Hmm... two simple sandwich ideas:

On good rye bread with mayonaise, salt and pepper and horseradish (fresh or prepared)

Make the famous Tony DiLuc (sp?) sandwich from Philly:

pork, sauteed broccali raab and slivered aged provolone

[snowangel]

Will pick up a shoulder tomorrow and get it in the oven. The idea of the oven on for 24 hours at 200 is really appealing. It's really cold.

[col klink]

We did the dead plain Nigella Dawson formula for a pork shoulder/butt: Twenty- two hours at 200 degrees. Actually, 225 degrees, because a gas oven will blow out at 200. On a rack, in a pan.

Is your oven relatively new or old? I have an ancient gas range and oven and I'd be worried about leaving it on whilst I slept. But then again, I'm a pantywaist.

[Dave the Cook]

We did the dead plain Nigella Dawson formula for a pork shoulder/butt:  Twenty- two hours at 200 degrees.  Actually, 225 degrees, because a gas oven will blow out at 200.  On a rack, in a pan.

Is your oven relatively new or old? I have an ancient gas range and oven and I'd be worried about leaving it on whilst I slept. But then again, I'm a pantywaist.

Colonel, I think you were busy (getting married, moving, smoking a loon, maybe) when we all joined together to save Maggie's butt the first time she did this recipe.

[col klink]

For once I'm not worried about the meat, what I'm worried about is the oven going out and flooding the kitchen with natural gas and possibly blowing the place up. I'm sure the pork is devine. Lord knows I've cooked shoulders almost that long on my smoker (18 hours is the record).

[edsel]

I discovered that the oven in my gas range switches itself off after twelve hours. (A "safety feature"). When I started the slow-roast process I did wonder if the oven would stay lit the whole time. It has an electronic ignition and thermostat rather than a pilot, so I wasn't too concerned about blowing up the house. I suspected that the electronic "brain" might have some sort of failsafe mechanism. Had I bothered to read the manual I'd have found the "safety feature" clearly stated.

Fortunately I was at home when the oven shut down. I set the oven control to "off", waited a few seconds, then turned it back on. My oven is surprisingly accurate at maintaining the correct temperature. I pretty much ignored the roast for the rest of the cooking time.

The rolled loin roast I used worked well except for drying out a bit on the outside. The inside was tender and succulent. I'll have to find a proper skin-on shoulder roast to try next time. As for using up the leftovers, I didn't do anything too creative - just rolled up some shredded pork along with cheese, lettuce, avocado in flour tortillas.

[maggiethecat]

We did the dead plain Nigella Dawson formula for a pork shoulder/butt:  Twenty- two hours at 200 degrees.  Actually, 225 degrees, because a gas oven will blow out at 200.  On a rack, in a pan.

Is your oven relatively new or old? I have an ancient gas range and oven and I'd be worried about leaving it on whilst I slept. But then again, I'm a pantywaist.

Dear Pantywaist:

My oven's about eight years old. I thought for awhile that indeed the oven might haver has an automatic shut-off at the twelve hour mark, but I was wrong. Simply raising the temp twenty-five degrees works perfectly

[Dave the Cook]

I did Maggie's butt, er, Nigella's shoulder last weekend. I employed the high-temp thing, but went easy on the spice rub, so I'd have more flexibility in the final dishes.

First night: pulled pork with a spicy sauce made from chicken stock, tomato puree, molasses and sherry vinegar (and small amounts of a bunch of other stuff). This used up most of the crispy exterior bits, and the sauce disguised the dry external layer. I hate to complicate a wonderfully simple recipe, but I'm considering brining next time.

Second night: carnitas, with tortillas, bell peppers, onions, red rice, and a watermelon/orange/red onion salad.

Third night: I was left with a meaty bone, the balance of the flesh having been depleted by lunches and late-night snacks. So I dropped it in a pot with a pound of pinto beans, a few bay leaves and a shredded ancho chile. I was thinking that I was done with Nigella, but the stock created by the bone and the seasoning was so wonderfully rich and porky that I strained out the bay and the chile and used it as the base for an excellent chili (which also consumed the pintos).