Braised BBQ Pulled Pork

I've been looking over Market Manila's blog and I realized how sad my baking blog is. I love to bake. I really do. As proof, I've got a batch of pizza dough rising as I type. Only 30 minutes left until I can punch it down, roll it out and then drench it with pesto for a late pesto pizza lunch. Of course, I'll have greens, too. More than likely it will be a spinach salad.

I get lazy and I post everyday over at my other blog, completely neglecting this one. My other blog is not about food. Au contraire! It's about my other passion - nail polish. One day I'll condense all of it into one thing, but I keep all my blogs separated. I'm a jewelry girl by trade, baker by night!

Anyway, I made some pork shoulder the other night that really sent hubby and friends into a tizzy. I served it with brown rice. My secret to lovely brown rice is to toast the rice with a pat of butter, browning it. Instead of cooking it with water, I use a low sodium chicken broth. That's it. :)

Enough of my paltry rambling and on with the recipe!

Ingredients

1 red onion, cut into quarters - no need to try and make a pile (for easy distribution later)
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 to 4 pounds of pork shoulder
3/4 cup to 1 cup white vinegar
1 12 oz bottle of the BBQ Sauce of your choice
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water

METHOD

Cut the pork into 6 pieces, removing excess fat.

In a medium pot over medium heat, put the 6 pieces of pork at the bottom - do not stack but try to give them enough space when placing in a single layer. They can touch! :)

Add your liquids - vinegar, bbq sauce and water. Drop garlic in and add the quartered onion throughout the pot.

Bring to a light boil, bring heat down to low, then cover and let simmer for 2 hours or until pork is tender. Check an hour later, making sure that all the liquids do not completely boil out.

After 2 hours, remove the pork and put on a cutting board, letting it rest for five minutes. Do not discard the braising liquid!

For this step you can either use your hands (make sure to wash them first!) or 2 forks to shred.

Place shredded pork on a serving dish or bowl. You can either add the braising liquid to the dish or put it on the side.

Serve. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pizza

This chocolate pizza utilizes my pizza dough.

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

2 TSP butter (1/4 of a stick), melted
1/4 c chocolate-hazelnut spread (like Nutella)
1/2 cup chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate
2 TBSP chopped high quality white chocolate (like Lindt or Perugina)
2 TBSP chopped toasted hazelnuts

METHOD

Preheat oven to 450F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 11-inch round. Transfer dough to prepared sheet. Make indentations all over dough with fingertips. Brush melted butter over. Bake until pale golden, about 20 minutes.

Smooth chocolate-hazelnut spread over hot crust. Sprinkle chopped bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate over. Bake until chocolate begins to melt, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle chopped hazelnuts over, cut into wedges and serve.

Pizza Dough

My most favorite pizza dough - it's very simple...and yet so delicious. I will also add on a recipe for chocolate pizza that will utilize this recipe. If you don't want chocolate pizza, feel free to garnish with your favorite tomato based pizza sauce (or whatever sauce you fancy, really) and go to town.

Preheat oven to 450F

3/4 c warm water (105F to 115F)
1 envelope active dry yeast

2 c (or more) all purpose flour
1 TSP sugar
3/4 TSP salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into a small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 TBSP oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to a ligtly floured surface.

ALTERNATELY

If you are using a stand alone mixer, use the dough hook attachment, spraying the hook with Pam. Process the dough on medium-high until the dough starts to climb the hook. Keep an eye on it because it happens quickly - about 2-3 minutes. When that occurs, remove the dough from the hook. Make sure to not overwork the dough or you'll have to start again.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface.

Knead the dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute.

Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough.

Can be done ahead by 1 day. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Roll out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Spread your favorite pizza sauce on it (I don't use sauce, I tend to make pesto pizza...mmm) and toppings, then pop into the oven, baking until the cheese bubbles and the crust looks golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Notes:

Knead - when the dough is smooth and no longer sticks to your hands, you're done.
Punch - punching down the dough pops air bubbles, resulting in even texture.
Roll - If your pizza dough is elastic and hard to roll, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes so the dough relaxes. Start in the center and roll outward.