Pulled Pork!

Sooo I had a bit of an incident with this recipe. I spent a whole day roasting and simmering the pork, then made a lovely coleslaw accompaniment, thoroughly enjoyed the meal with some good company and accidentally deleted all but one photo from my camera!

Quite devastated by this and obviously it detracts from the quality of the post but I just couldn't not post it! And I'm not ready to go through all of that again any time soon; especially because I still have some in the freezer ;)

Here is the lone solider... coleslaw sadly absent.

No pulled pork will ever live up to the BBQ goodness I had at Hot Wings on Queen st. in Toronto, however, this isn't so bad!

Roasted Pulled Pork

Serves 6

1.5-2kg pork shoulder roast
1 cup beef broth
1 cup of your favourite BBQ sauce (I like anything smokey)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
6 hamburger buns (I won't lie, nothing comes as close as those cheap soft white store bought ones)

rub;
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil

coleslaw;
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
3 carrots, shredded/grated
2 spring onions, finely sliced (optional)
1/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise
1/4 cup greek/natural yoghurt
2 tbsp white wine/cider vinegar
1 tbsp mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper


Pre-heat oven to 150ºc. Rub spices and oil in to a paste and cover the pork roast. Roast in oven for 5-7 hours until tender and falling apart.

Remove pork and place on a board, shred apart with two forks and place in a pot with sauces and beef stock. Add more/less stock if it's too runny/thick. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer on a low heat for 1-2 hours; it's reasonably flexible, whatever suits your time constraints.

Meanwhile, shred cabbage, carrot and spring onions for coleslaw and whisk dressing ingredients in a separate bowl.

Toss together coleslaw and serve on top of the sticky sweet pork between two toasted hamburger buns!

Squid and Lentils

Not as gross as it sounds, in fact it's a lentil salad with pan-fried calamari rings.

I was home late from work and wanted something more than just a can of beans. Incidentally part of this did come out of a can - although if I'd had time I'd have cooked the lentils but I was time poor, and feeling pretty lazy. You could throw in some feta, goats cheese or nuts with the salad, whatever you please!

Calamari Lentil and Pumpkin Salad w/Tahini Lemon Dressing

2 main or 4 side serves

1 400g tin or 200g dried puy lentils
2 (scant) cups cubed pumpkin
1 cup (tightly packed) baby spinach
2 spring onions, thinly sliced

200g squid tubes, sliced

dressing;
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp tahini
salt and pepper to taste


Boil pumpkin (or roast!) and/or lentils in salted water until tender but not mushy.

Let cool slightly and combine salad ingredients in a bowl with dressing ingredients; toss to combine. (whisk dressing together in a separate bowl first if you're worried about the tahini being lumpy)

Saute calamari in a pan with a little olive oil for a minute or two so - until they turn from translucent to just white. Season with a little salt and pepper and take off heat. Let sit for a further 30seconds or so and let the residual heat do the rest of the work.

Toss through lentils or perch on top and don't forget any potential calamari pan juices to go over your salad ;)