Oh my goodness..... I can't believe it has been a week since I have had a chance to catch up on my blog. WOW..... that week flew by with hectic busy-ness and now here it is time for us to leave for our France trip. Joe and I are soooo excited, we have read travel guides, studied maps of France, and even the language itself. We didn't have a single thing packed until last night, but managed to get it all done and in bed early too.
I didn't sleep well last night, but then.... I never do before a big trip. My body rests, but my mind just won't shut down... and that is with the help of sleeping aids too. We have a very long flight (8 hours) so we have plenty of time to be well rested when we land. And the weather in France for the next 10 days is supposed to be in the high 70's and sunny! WOO HOO!!!!
I have an autobiography of Julia to read on the plane, which will only add to the excitement of landing in France. I still have plenty of reading material about her when I get back from this trip too. It's been hard to put Julia, cooking and my blog aside for the past week, but sometimes life really is that busy and the best you can do is just hang on for the ride!
I am sure to have plenty of material for my blog when I return from this trip. I will not have my laptop or my cell phone with me, so it will be another 10 days before I blog again. We have several nice restaurants on the itinerary to write about, and we always find the most wonderful little pastry shops, coffee shops, cafe's, food markets and such to grab out breakfasts and lunches from and the food is soooo fresh and yummy. And I certainly hope to be nibbling on a flaky croissant this time tomorrow!
Au Voir
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Girls Day Out.... Grandma Style
Yesterday Jessica, Lauren and I went to Louisville so Lauren could visit with all her Grandparents while she is home on break from LA.
We started at my Grandmother's (Grandma G), and had lunch with my Mom and my Sister-in-law. My Mom made homemade tomato soup that was quite good and I made grilled cheese sandwichs. My Mom also brought some chips and I brought some left over cake and we had a really nice meal. However, it was the conversation around the table that was most delightful.
It is always good to spend time with my Grandmother (who is 88 years old), especially when she is having a pretty good day. My Grandmother ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS is dressed and groomed.... this is VERY important to her. She always has her jewerly on as well as her makeup and a co-ordinated outfit. She is and always has been such a sweetheart...... EVERYONE loves my Grandmother.
After lunch, the girls and I drove over to my Mother/Father-in-law's for a visit. My Father-in-law has been struggling with health issues the past several months, and it was good to see him looking better too. He is tired (I totally understand that.... I too am still struggling with exhaustion and it's been 8 months since my surgery) but his color was good and he participated in the conversation.
It was a really nice day all around. Lauren rarely gets to see any of her Grandparents because she lives in LA, so it was a big treat for her. Since we had dinner with just women at my Grandmother's, with my Mother, making it two Grandmothers for my daughters, we decided to call it "Girls Day Out.... Grandma Style
We started at my Grandmother's (Grandma G), and had lunch with my Mom and my Sister-in-law. My Mom made homemade tomato soup that was quite good and I made grilled cheese sandwichs. My Mom also brought some chips and I brought some left over cake and we had a really nice meal. However, it was the conversation around the table that was most delightful.
It is always good to spend time with my Grandmother (who is 88 years old), especially when she is having a pretty good day. My Grandmother ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS is dressed and groomed.... this is VERY important to her. She always has her jewerly on as well as her makeup and a co-ordinated outfit. She is and always has been such a sweetheart...... EVERYONE loves my Grandmother.
After lunch, the girls and I drove over to my Mother/Father-in-law's for a visit. My Father-in-law has been struggling with health issues the past several months, and it was good to see him looking better too. He is tired (I totally understand that.... I too am still struggling with exhaustion and it's been 8 months since my surgery) but his color was good and he participated in the conversation.
It was a really nice day all around. Lauren rarely gets to see any of her Grandparents because she lives in LA, so it was a big treat for her. Since we had dinner with just women at my Grandmother's, with my Mother, making it two Grandmothers for my daughters, we decided to call it "Girls Day Out.... Grandma Style
Monday, September 21, 2009
Girls Day Out... LA Lauren Fashion Styling
Today Amber, Lauren and I had a grand girls day out...... SHOPPING!!!! Lauren loves helping you look great and helping you spend your money..... and she is so good at what she does.... so you just HAVE to buy the things she has picked out because they make you look and feel GREAT!
We all slept in, so we got off to a bit of a late start, but we sure did fit in (pun intended) a bunch of shopping and errand running in the few hours we were out and about. We started at this mexican restaurant, which is actually a teeny tiny hole in the wall mexican market that has a couple of bench tables in the back for dining in. But.... WOW.... the food is sooooo good because it is authentic and sooooo inexpensive.
After filling our tummies with tamales and tacos, off we jaunted to Ann Taylor Loft where we all enjoyed 50% off everything thanks to Lauren's discount. Amber desperately needed some fall clothing, Lauren needed more socks/leggings, and I went along just for the fun of it and for the good company. However.... dang Lauren found some really cute stylish things I found I just absolutely needed.... so...... I too became a shopper. Not that it was much of a stretch for me to join in at all! I just need the tiniest of encouragement! LOL
After an hour in Ann Taylor Loft, we scooted right next door to White House/Black Market...... just to see this one dress hanging in the window Amber was admiring. After another hour in that store trying on many many things.... and a smart jacket later (for me.... very Coco Chanel-ish looking) we were done with the shopping..... it was such fun to have an actual stylist (who truly had our best interests in mind....not someone trying to sell us something no matter how it looks) we all felt quite proud of our purchases and how we looked in them. And you just gotta love the discount!!!!
On the way home we stopped for some chinese take-out and ended the day/evening with hot and spicy chicken stir fry (me), hot and spicy vegetable lo mein (Lauren), and hot and spicy pad thai (Amber).... really yummy! Our tummies are full, our wallets are empty and we are all ready to climb in bed totally exhausted. Why is shopping so exhausting?!??
Wonderful day.... and even tho it was icky, rainy, cloudy, and gloomy all day.... we found the sunshine..... or maybe just really bright store lights! LOL Either way.... we felt the sunshine of happiness of just spending the day with each other, giggling and shaking our booties in the 'fat mirrors' of White House/Black Market.
Au Voir
We all slept in, so we got off to a bit of a late start, but we sure did fit in (pun intended) a bunch of shopping and errand running in the few hours we were out and about. We started at this mexican restaurant, which is actually a teeny tiny hole in the wall mexican market that has a couple of bench tables in the back for dining in. But.... WOW.... the food is sooooo good because it is authentic and sooooo inexpensive.
After filling our tummies with tamales and tacos, off we jaunted to Ann Taylor Loft where we all enjoyed 50% off everything thanks to Lauren's discount. Amber desperately needed some fall clothing, Lauren needed more socks/leggings, and I went along just for the fun of it and for the good company. However.... dang Lauren found some really cute stylish things I found I just absolutely needed.... so...... I too became a shopper. Not that it was much of a stretch for me to join in at all! I just need the tiniest of encouragement! LOL
After an hour in Ann Taylor Loft, we scooted right next door to White House/Black Market...... just to see this one dress hanging in the window Amber was admiring. After another hour in that store trying on many many things.... and a smart jacket later (for me.... very Coco Chanel-ish looking) we were done with the shopping..... it was such fun to have an actual stylist (who truly had our best interests in mind....not someone trying to sell us something no matter how it looks) we all felt quite proud of our purchases and how we looked in them. And you just gotta love the discount!!!!
On the way home we stopped for some chinese take-out and ended the day/evening with hot and spicy chicken stir fry (me), hot and spicy vegetable lo mein (Lauren), and hot and spicy pad thai (Amber).... really yummy! Our tummies are full, our wallets are empty and we are all ready to climb in bed totally exhausted. Why is shopping so exhausting?!??
Wonderful day.... and even tho it was icky, rainy, cloudy, and gloomy all day.... we found the sunshine..... or maybe just really bright store lights! LOL Either way.... we felt the sunshine of happiness of just spending the day with each other, giggling and shaking our booties in the 'fat mirrors' of White House/Black Market.
Au Voir
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Welcome Home Lauren
Lauren... 'our baby'.... arrived in Kentucky this afternoon from LA..... it's always nice to have her home for a visit. She is on break between school terms.... when she heads back to LA next weekend, she begins her final term of fashion school.... WOO HOO!!!!
So of course I HAD to make a spectacular dinner for her first night home, especially since all she has heard me talk about since her last visit in June has been about Julia and all her recipes I have been preparing. Joe's buddy from Michigan also happened to be in town this afternoon and he came to dine with us as well.
The original menu started out being salmon on the grill, my frissee salad, veggies and the queen of sheba cake. However, it started raining at 7:00am.... rained all day, so I went into comfy "Sunday Dinner" mode and decided to make Julia's chicken fricassee w/mushrooms and petite onions instead of the salmon, and kept the rest of the menu the same, which was, fennel frissee salad, french green beans, and roasted potatoes. All was amazing... Julia never fails me!
Today's dinner only took me 3 hours to cook.... big improvement over the Julia dinner that took 12 hours to cook. I love hearing the yumming, umming, and the scraping of eating utensils in constant movement, as well as seeing empty plates clean enough to just put away in the cupboard. As Joe said this evening.... "you know the food was good when everyone at the table used their bread to slop up the sauce on the plate after eating every morsel". And that is exactly what we all did.
So nice having baby Lauren home. She looks great, she looks happy and that makes Momma's heart sing. All the girls (and Winston) were here this evening to be with Lauren on her first night home. We are all ready for a crazy week trying to fit everything in during this short visit, that we all know will fly by. She is like an appetizer this week.... knowing she will be home for good in Dec.
Bon Appetite and Au Voir
So of course I HAD to make a spectacular dinner for her first night home, especially since all she has heard me talk about since her last visit in June has been about Julia and all her recipes I have been preparing. Joe's buddy from Michigan also happened to be in town this afternoon and he came to dine with us as well.
The original menu started out being salmon on the grill, my frissee salad, veggies and the queen of sheba cake. However, it started raining at 7:00am.... rained all day, so I went into comfy "Sunday Dinner" mode and decided to make Julia's chicken fricassee w/mushrooms and petite onions instead of the salmon, and kept the rest of the menu the same, which was, fennel frissee salad, french green beans, and roasted potatoes. All was amazing... Julia never fails me!
Today's dinner only took me 3 hours to cook.... big improvement over the Julia dinner that took 12 hours to cook. I love hearing the yumming, umming, and the scraping of eating utensils in constant movement, as well as seeing empty plates clean enough to just put away in the cupboard. As Joe said this evening.... "you know the food was good when everyone at the table used their bread to slop up the sauce on the plate after eating every morsel". And that is exactly what we all did.
So nice having baby Lauren home. She looks great, she looks happy and that makes Momma's heart sing. All the girls (and Winston) were here this evening to be with Lauren on her first night home. We are all ready for a crazy week trying to fit everything in during this short visit, that we all know will fly by. She is like an appetizer this week.... knowing she will be home for good in Dec.
Bon Appetite and Au Voir
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Epiphany.... New Day, New Ideas
All my "Julia" reading materials arrived... by mail and from the library. I am now officially out of my Julia funk...... thank goodness!!! In fact, I now have more stuff to read and less time to read it in, but.... as life keeps me busy, the books will wait for me to return, and I like having something always to look forward to.
I feel like Carrie Bradshaw in a designer shoe store...... I want to read everything at once and choosing where to begin has been quite difficult.... so I decided to just read them in the order in which I received them. But as I was reading the dust jackets of each book as I tried to decide just where to begin.... I discovered that Julia herself emerged into a whole new cook herself as she wrote each of her 9 cookbooks. She ALWAYS stayed true to correct methods and techniques, but.... as the world innovated itself and became more modern, Julia not only went with the changes, but she was a leader in new techniques and methods.
So..... my epiphany is this.... I don't need to prove myself by cooking my way through her first cookbook, because as I have been cooking from her cookbook, I realize I already know how to do it like she does because, I did go to a culinary school that taught the 'classic' french culinary methods and techniques just like Cordon Bleu taught her. She has so many other interesting cookbooks with modern techniques and methods and I now feel like I should just enjoy cooking from all her cookbooks. Also.... I do have a standing 4.0 GPA in my culinary degree with only 1 class left to go (Baking 1), which I will finish in Jan. 2010 for my Chef Certificate. I think the epiphany is that, I have already proven myself to myself and now just want to continue my learning by cooking, experimenting, and enjoying my way through all her cookbooks with her. Just like in the DVD shows I have watched of her and saw how she herself changed and evolved..... from black and white to color.... from the age of 50 to the age of 90..... from doing everything by hand, to using new equipment. And I do agree with Julia that there are just some things that are best done by hand..... I think it is the added love and attention that makes it taste better! : )
The main focus of this blog will still remain on Julia, but will incorporate all of her... all 40 years she was in the public eye, all 9 of her cookbooks, all 40 years we felt we knew her and she was our friend and would come for coffee or tea if we asked her over. In her cookbooks and cooking show series, she cooked with many different chefs and cooks of all sorts, so I too am broadening my spectrum to include other cooks, chefs, cookbooks and recipes I find interesting along the way. And of course on some days.... it will be just about life in general.
Back to my reading!
Au Voir
I feel like Carrie Bradshaw in a designer shoe store...... I want to read everything at once and choosing where to begin has been quite difficult.... so I decided to just read them in the order in which I received them. But as I was reading the dust jackets of each book as I tried to decide just where to begin.... I discovered that Julia herself emerged into a whole new cook herself as she wrote each of her 9 cookbooks. She ALWAYS stayed true to correct methods and techniques, but.... as the world innovated itself and became more modern, Julia not only went with the changes, but she was a leader in new techniques and methods.
So..... my epiphany is this.... I don't need to prove myself by cooking my way through her first cookbook, because as I have been cooking from her cookbook, I realize I already know how to do it like she does because, I did go to a culinary school that taught the 'classic' french culinary methods and techniques just like Cordon Bleu taught her. She has so many other interesting cookbooks with modern techniques and methods and I now feel like I should just enjoy cooking from all her cookbooks. Also.... I do have a standing 4.0 GPA in my culinary degree with only 1 class left to go (Baking 1), which I will finish in Jan. 2010 for my Chef Certificate. I think the epiphany is that, I have already proven myself to myself and now just want to continue my learning by cooking, experimenting, and enjoying my way through all her cookbooks with her. Just like in the DVD shows I have watched of her and saw how she herself changed and evolved..... from black and white to color.... from the age of 50 to the age of 90..... from doing everything by hand, to using new equipment. And I do agree with Julia that there are just some things that are best done by hand..... I think it is the added love and attention that makes it taste better! : )
The main focus of this blog will still remain on Julia, but will incorporate all of her... all 40 years she was in the public eye, all 9 of her cookbooks, all 40 years we felt we knew her and she was our friend and would come for coffee or tea if we asked her over. In her cookbooks and cooking show series, she cooked with many different chefs and cooks of all sorts, so I too am broadening my spectrum to include other cooks, chefs, cookbooks and recipes I find interesting along the way. And of course on some days.... it will be just about life in general.
Back to my reading!
Au Voir
Monday, September 14, 2009
Waiting on Julia
I'm in such a Julia funk! (exasperated sigh here!)...... last week was a short 'holiday' week and everything last week just felt 'off'...... good thing I had my phone programed with my schedule because, it would ding, I would show up...... in my mind I was a day behind all week..... any hooty.... I digress..... because of the hectic-ness of the past couple of weeks, I haven't been able to emerge myself in anything about Julia and I just miss her!
So..... I am waiting on two new biography books about her to show up on my doorstep Wednesday! Knowing I don't have time to play in my kitchen with Julia again for a few weeks.... it will be hit or miss until 2nd week in Oct (if you can believe that!!! I actually just said the word October and it is literally just a couple weeks away.... YIKES!!!!)... I needed something to at least read about her to feel her presence again. She's become my little kitchen buddy and I have learned to chat right along with her as she demo's her show. But then..... maybe I just need to get out more! LOL LOL
One reason for the kitchen hiatus is that our 'baby', Lauren is coming home this weekend for a week's visit on her break between terms. She is here from Sun 9-20/Sun 9-27, Sun afternoon we put her on a plane to head back to LA for her last term of school!!!! WOO HOO!!!, and then we just have 3 days before we put ourselves on a plane for France for 10 days.... so..... really.... I don't have time to get jiggy with Julia in the kitchen until we get back. I'm sure I will make a couple of her dishes while Lauren is home, but I'm not planning on making anything new. Plus.... the weekend at the end of her stay we have company visiting from Michigan for the weekend (their visit was planned prior to her visit).
I'm sooooo excited to see Lauren and have her home for a week. I can't believe her nearly 3 year stint in LA is almost over.... truly seems just like yesterday that I was moving her in to her first apartment in LA. I can definitely say she is not the same chica she was back then. LA is a very eye opening and maturing experience for the "fleeing of the nester".
That's why I really needed a Julia fix and ordered the two new books. I even went to the library to see if they had any of the books on my list, which they didn't, but I found this other book about Paul Bocouse, who is currently THE reigning chef in the world, and was also a close friend and worked with Julia (back in the day), so the accidental stumble upon this book lifted the disappointment from not finding the Julia books on my list.
In fact...... we are going to Paul Bocouse's restaurant while in France, and there are behind the scene folks working on our behalf for us to have a meet and greet with Paul Bocouse himself in person. OK!!!!!! I must admit..... I'm pretty stoked about that 'possible' opportunity! But even if we do not get to meet the Grand Chef, his book is really interesting and I already have a list of recipes I want to try from his book.
When we return from France, and after having eaten true Southern France cuisine, I'm sure to get lost in my kitchen for weeks afterwards, wanting to duplicate the yummy dishes we ate on our trip. But.... I will only have a couple of weeks before we head to Athens (biz trip this time) for a week and when we return from that trip, I hope to be starting my last and final class to earn my Chef Certificate.
In reflection about my summer with Julia..... it was summer time..... it was magical...... it was a reunion of two similar souls.... who, forever will be connected in mind and spirit, but realistically, life and it's schedule will keep our play dates sporatic until Feb, when hopefully we can hunker in and spend the rest of the winter together making hearty comfy french dishes! I'm still hoping that PBS will release more DVD's of her shows. I think there were 158 shows (give or take a few.... I just read that statistic somewhere) and only 48 shows of her original "The French Chef" series have been released to DVD. I want more! : )
Au Voir
So..... I am waiting on two new biography books about her to show up on my doorstep Wednesday! Knowing I don't have time to play in my kitchen with Julia again for a few weeks.... it will be hit or miss until 2nd week in Oct (if you can believe that!!! I actually just said the word October and it is literally just a couple weeks away.... YIKES!!!!)... I needed something to at least read about her to feel her presence again. She's become my little kitchen buddy and I have learned to chat right along with her as she demo's her show. But then..... maybe I just need to get out more! LOL LOL
One reason for the kitchen hiatus is that our 'baby', Lauren is coming home this weekend for a week's visit on her break between terms. She is here from Sun 9-20/Sun 9-27, Sun afternoon we put her on a plane to head back to LA for her last term of school!!!! WOO HOO!!!, and then we just have 3 days before we put ourselves on a plane for France for 10 days.... so..... really.... I don't have time to get jiggy with Julia in the kitchen until we get back. I'm sure I will make a couple of her dishes while Lauren is home, but I'm not planning on making anything new. Plus.... the weekend at the end of her stay we have company visiting from Michigan for the weekend (their visit was planned prior to her visit).
I'm sooooo excited to see Lauren and have her home for a week. I can't believe her nearly 3 year stint in LA is almost over.... truly seems just like yesterday that I was moving her in to her first apartment in LA. I can definitely say she is not the same chica she was back then. LA is a very eye opening and maturing experience for the "fleeing of the nester".
That's why I really needed a Julia fix and ordered the two new books. I even went to the library to see if they had any of the books on my list, which they didn't, but I found this other book about Paul Bocouse, who is currently THE reigning chef in the world, and was also a close friend and worked with Julia (back in the day), so the accidental stumble upon this book lifted the disappointment from not finding the Julia books on my list.
In fact...... we are going to Paul Bocouse's restaurant while in France, and there are behind the scene folks working on our behalf for us to have a meet and greet with Paul Bocouse himself in person. OK!!!!!! I must admit..... I'm pretty stoked about that 'possible' opportunity! But even if we do not get to meet the Grand Chef, his book is really interesting and I already have a list of recipes I want to try from his book.
When we return from France, and after having eaten true Southern France cuisine, I'm sure to get lost in my kitchen for weeks afterwards, wanting to duplicate the yummy dishes we ate on our trip. But.... I will only have a couple of weeks before we head to Athens (biz trip this time) for a week and when we return from that trip, I hope to be starting my last and final class to earn my Chef Certificate.
In reflection about my summer with Julia..... it was summer time..... it was magical...... it was a reunion of two similar souls.... who, forever will be connected in mind and spirit, but realistically, life and it's schedule will keep our play dates sporatic until Feb, when hopefully we can hunker in and spend the rest of the winter together making hearty comfy french dishes! I'm still hoping that PBS will release more DVD's of her shows. I think there were 158 shows (give or take a few.... I just read that statistic somewhere) and only 48 shows of her original "The French Chef" series have been released to DVD. I want more! : )
Au Voir
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Pork Butt..... YES!!! it takes 8 hours!!!!!
My middle daughter Jessica wanted to cook a pork butt for her carnita's tacos. She called and asked me how to prepare and cook it and so I gave her all the instructions over the phone. Which took me way back in time to the many phone call conversations I used to have with my Mom, Grandmother and Aunt when I was learning to cook as a newlywed.
The last pork butt we cooked for a gathering here at the house, I wanted to put the pork butt in the oven to cook all night, knowing it needed to cook for 8 hours on 275. Joe disagreed with me, he was going to smoke the cooked butt afterwards and felt it would be over cooked if I cooked it 8 hours. I argued that it did indeed take a full 8 hours to cook, but....... he insisted it would be over cooked. Here is the problem...... I'm a Chef, Joe is a career 'Meat Man'..... sometimes we disagree on how things should be 'properly' cooked. He was so insistent, so I only cooked it 5 hours like he suggested. Well....... because the meat had not cooked long enough in the oven, it took twice as long on the grill to smoke it and complete the cooking, and still.... it just wasn't as tender as it should have been. Lesson learned..... we both now agree it does take a full 8 hours to cook. Yep..... I REALLY wanted to gloat with "I told you so"..... but just let my sly smile do my talking! LOL LOL
After the above experience, I know you just can't rush pork butt. So when Jessica called wanting cooking instructions, I told her she needed to cook it in the oven 275 for 8 hours. She says...."I planned on putting it in the crockpot and it says to cook only 6 hours".......I say "I think it should still cook for at least 8 hours on high in the crockpot or 8 hours in a 275 oven, preferably in the oven". Jessica is sure this is going to over cook it and dry it out and I keep telling her to use the oven vs the crockpot.... but...... she wanted it to be perfect and therefore thought trusting the crockpot would be her best option.
After it had cooked in the crockpot for 6 hours, I got another phone call..... "Oh my gosh Mom, it is burnt and over cooked.... what do I do?" I'm thinking..... really!?! it's over cooked????? HUMMMM! She begged me to stop over and look at it and help her figure out what to do. I would love to just crack up at this point, but.... having been a newlywed myself and not knowing about roasting meats at that time.... I just smile with fond memories of my own roasting woes! When I got there, the pork butt was NOT burnt, in fact.... it was barely cooked at all. By this time she is near tears until I told her.... "honey, it's not ruined, it's just not done yet". I told her it would take at least another 2-4 hours to finish cooking and she again would not believe me. So..... I stayed with her for the next 3 hours it did take to finish cooking, and when it was done, it was absolutely perfect!
I helped her take it from the crockpot to the oven and set the timer for 45 min. We played backgammon, chatted and had a nice visit while we waited. Both Joe and Winston were working late on this particular evening and she really wanted to have the roast ready for when Winston got home. Did I mention that it was 7:00 pm when we started the oven roasting!? When the buzzer dinged after the first 45 min, we went to check the meat. It was starting to cook, but still needed another couple of hours, so we set the timer for 30 minute intervals and checked the meat every 30 minutes. I showed her what it should look like and how it should feel. And at 10:00 pm the pork was finally finished cooking and was pure perfection. She was soooo relieved and soooo proud! Winston literally walked in the door just as we removed the meat from the oven and had started shredding it. Jessica made him a piping hot fresh taco and handed it to him just as he came into the room. The timing really couldn't have been more perfect.
I kinda felt like Julia teaching a pupil how to see, smell, feel and taste when meat is done. Jessica now knows when she checks on meat cooking, just how long it still needs to cook just by feeling it with a fork. The reason she thought the meat was burnt was because when she tried to put her fork into it, it was really firm and the fork couldn't pierce into it. It actually was quite fun to stick and feel the pork with a fork every 30 minutes to feel the texture changes that the meat goes through as it cooks.
Conclusion........ it takes 8 full hours to cook pork butt...... don't rush the pork butt!!!! Now that I have not one, but two incidences to reflect back on that I am right on how long it takes to cook a pork butt...... I'm saying........ I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!! nana nana boo boo!!!!! LOL LOL LOL
The last pork butt we cooked for a gathering here at the house, I wanted to put the pork butt in the oven to cook all night, knowing it needed to cook for 8 hours on 275. Joe disagreed with me, he was going to smoke the cooked butt afterwards and felt it would be over cooked if I cooked it 8 hours. I argued that it did indeed take a full 8 hours to cook, but....... he insisted it would be over cooked. Here is the problem...... I'm a Chef, Joe is a career 'Meat Man'..... sometimes we disagree on how things should be 'properly' cooked. He was so insistent, so I only cooked it 5 hours like he suggested. Well....... because the meat had not cooked long enough in the oven, it took twice as long on the grill to smoke it and complete the cooking, and still.... it just wasn't as tender as it should have been. Lesson learned..... we both now agree it does take a full 8 hours to cook. Yep..... I REALLY wanted to gloat with "I told you so"..... but just let my sly smile do my talking! LOL LOL
After the above experience, I know you just can't rush pork butt. So when Jessica called wanting cooking instructions, I told her she needed to cook it in the oven 275 for 8 hours. She says...."I planned on putting it in the crockpot and it says to cook only 6 hours".......I say "I think it should still cook for at least 8 hours on high in the crockpot or 8 hours in a 275 oven, preferably in the oven". Jessica is sure this is going to over cook it and dry it out and I keep telling her to use the oven vs the crockpot.... but...... she wanted it to be perfect and therefore thought trusting the crockpot would be her best option.
After it had cooked in the crockpot for 6 hours, I got another phone call..... "Oh my gosh Mom, it is burnt and over cooked.... what do I do?" I'm thinking..... really!?! it's over cooked????? HUMMMM! She begged me to stop over and look at it and help her figure out what to do. I would love to just crack up at this point, but.... having been a newlywed myself and not knowing about roasting meats at that time.... I just smile with fond memories of my own roasting woes! When I got there, the pork butt was NOT burnt, in fact.... it was barely cooked at all. By this time she is near tears until I told her.... "honey, it's not ruined, it's just not done yet". I told her it would take at least another 2-4 hours to finish cooking and she again would not believe me. So..... I stayed with her for the next 3 hours it did take to finish cooking, and when it was done, it was absolutely perfect!
I helped her take it from the crockpot to the oven and set the timer for 45 min. We played backgammon, chatted and had a nice visit while we waited. Both Joe and Winston were working late on this particular evening and she really wanted to have the roast ready for when Winston got home. Did I mention that it was 7:00 pm when we started the oven roasting!? When the buzzer dinged after the first 45 min, we went to check the meat. It was starting to cook, but still needed another couple of hours, so we set the timer for 30 minute intervals and checked the meat every 30 minutes. I showed her what it should look like and how it should feel. And at 10:00 pm the pork was finally finished cooking and was pure perfection. She was soooo relieved and soooo proud! Winston literally walked in the door just as we removed the meat from the oven and had started shredding it. Jessica made him a piping hot fresh taco and handed it to him just as he came into the room. The timing really couldn't have been more perfect.
I kinda felt like Julia teaching a pupil how to see, smell, feel and taste when meat is done. Jessica now knows when she checks on meat cooking, just how long it still needs to cook just by feeling it with a fork. The reason she thought the meat was burnt was because when she tried to put her fork into it, it was really firm and the fork couldn't pierce into it. It actually was quite fun to stick and feel the pork with a fork every 30 minutes to feel the texture changes that the meat goes through as it cooks.
Conclusion........ it takes 8 full hours to cook pork butt...... don't rush the pork butt!!!! Now that I have not one, but two incidences to reflect back on that I am right on how long it takes to cook a pork butt...... I'm saying........ I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!! nana nana boo boo!!!!! LOL LOL LOL
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About Me
- Vickie G
- I am a short little lady with a passion for cooking and pilates. I have been married for 31 years to my high school sweetheart (my soulmate and love of my life!!!) and we have 3 amazing daughters. I am 50 years old and love living life with as much zest as possible.