Before I left for Istanbul I treated myself to a new cookbook – The Art of Living According to Joe Beef. Joe Beef is a restaurant located in Montreal, Quebec and tops my Restaurant Bucket List (This foodie destination has been featured by Anthony Bourdain and in numerous magazines). Their cookbook has done nothing but deepen my affection and desire to eat at Joe Beef. Tell me when was the last time you laughed (out loud) reading a cookbook?? When has a cookbook ever been nighttime reading?? I could not put it down, from the cheeky stories, to the insightful food “opinions” like how great bologna is, to the captivating recipes the cookbook is pure genius. One recipe that caught my eye was Scallops with Pulled Pork.. AND if that doesn’t sound gluttonous enough it was served on top of hollandaise sauce. While I thought this a little over the top, reading the description to T. he thought it was an amazing combination of three of his favorite foods. Making a mental note I knew this could be a show stopping dinner when a miss you/love you/sorry was needed.
With T. working away and my travels to Istanbul we went 3 weeks without seeing each other, it seemed like the perfect time to show him a little extra attention with a special meal… If homemade pulled pork doesn’t say love I’m not sure what does!
My one mistake was deciding just to follow the recipe and not cut down anything – it called for a 2 kg pork shoulder. You may be asking yourself was it just the two of you – Yes just the two of us. AND yes T. did leave to go back to work. Which left me with a ridiculous amount of leftovers. I ate pulled pork all last week.. had sandwiches, on a baked potato, wraps, mixed into scrambled eggs and mac and cheese. I did get creative and overall the leftover creations were tasty but still had to throw some away and really have no desire to eat pulled pork for a while.
While I was slightly trepidatious about this meal, I should never have doubted the genius of the Joe Beef chefs. If you do decide to recreate this just be sure to plan for the whole day as the pork takes 9 hours.
To make the pulled pork, preheat the oven to 275F. Stir together 2 tbsp paprika, and 1 tbsp of salt, pepper, and sugar.
First rub the meat with yellow mustard and then with the paprika mixture.
Place pork in a large roaster with 1/2 cup of water. Check after 5 hours – at this point I added more water. I roasted the pork for the full 9 hours.
After that I began the process (and it is a process) of shredding the pork. Then mix the shredded meat with BBQ Sauce. You could use any sauce.. homemade or not (no judgements.. 😉 )
BBQ Sauce **adapted from Joe Beef Cookbook
Makes 2 cups
- 1 can of Coke
- 1 cup of ketchup
- 1/4 cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp of molasses
- 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 1 tbsp of brown sugar
Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
The scallops are easy enough. Seared in a very hot pan (the oil should be near smoking) for 1 minute each side. Season with salt and pepper once cooked.
For the hollandaise I used my tried and tested version – check out the recipe here.
To balance out this meal I served it with a simple green salad tossed in a lemon vinaigrette.
A little closer view of this amazing meal…
I wasn’t sure about what wine to serve with this rich combination. Really didn’t want to serve a white (especially with the BBQ Pulled Pork) then Pirramimma Petit Verdot came to mind after commenting on it a few weeks ago in my bologna post. This red paired shockingly well with the meal. As much as I try I don’t always get wine pairings right this time it was spot on, probably a bit of luck more than anything but I won’t complain…