JJ's Asian-Inspired Slaw

My mom rarely cleans her plate at the dinner table, but last night when I cooked for the family, she had a second sandwich - and ate all of it. That's how I knew this was a recipe I will have to make again & again, so I'd better write it down.

Most of the time when I'm cooking I don't measure out the ingredients - I just fly around the kitchen, tossing ingredients together by intuition. I'm not sure of the measurements for this dish, but since I had a lot of requests for the recipe, I figured I will share the basics & let you all try it per your own intuition!

I initially was making this slaw to accompany BBQ pulled pork tenderloin sandwiches and was going to make my homemade BBQ sauce, but lost track of time. Last minute, I decided to top the pulled pork tenderloin sandwiches with this slaw, some vegenaise, Sriracha pepper sauce, and a little hoisin sauce. YUM. Directions are below for the pulled pork as well. :) -JJ

Ingredients:

• Half a head of green cabbage, shredded
• 2 large radishes, peeled & julienned
• Bragg's Apple Cider vinegar (add gradually to taste)
• Mirin (add gradually to taste)
• Fresh lime juice (maybe 1/4 lime?)
• Black sesame seeds (shake generously!)
• Tupelo honey (maybe a heaping teaspoon?)
• Toasted sesame oil (add gradually - it's a strong ingredient!)
• Fresh cilantro, chopped (to taste)
• Sea salt (to taste)
• Chopped roasted peanuts (to top)

Directions:

Toss cabbage, radish, vinegar, Mirin, lime juice, sesame seeds, honey, sesame oil, salt and cilantro in a large bowl. Taste it. Love it. Top with peanuts. Done.

✳✳✳

Asian Pulled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches...

• Pulled pork tenderloin
• JJ's Asian-Inspired Slaw
• Toasted buns
• Vegenaise
• Sriracha pepper sauce
• Hoisin sauce

Pulled Pork Tenderloin

Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 pork tenderloins (~2.5 lbs.), halved lengthwise & cut into 2.5 inch pieces
• 1.5 beers
• 3/4 cup Bragg's apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 5 garlic cloves, bruised
• Black pepper
• Dried chili pepper
• Kosher salt (~2 tsp)

Directions:

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, add the pork, cover, reduce heat to low, simmer for at least 1 hour or until pork is tender when stabbed with a fork. Remove pork from liquid, and pull apart using 2 forks.

Spicy BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Serves 4-6 

My mom found some delicious-looking organic baby back pork ribs yesterday at Native Sun in Jacksonville, FL, for me to make for a family dinner. I'd never cooked ribs before, so I researched some different cooking methods. I found a wonderful recipe on AllRecipes.com (link to original recipe below) that had rave reviews. I altered the sauce and cooking method, and got very lucky! The sauce turned out incredible (I will use it for different BBQ meats in the future), and the meat was literally falling off the bone. The garlic is a nice touch, and I'm going to double it next time! I cannot wait to make these yummy ribs again. :)

Ingredients:

Ribs:

• 4 pounds baby back pork ribs 
• 2/3 cup water 
• 1/3 cup Bragg apple cider vinegar 
• 6 large garlic cloves, barely chopped 
• 2 bay leaves 
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Barbeque Sauce:

• 1/2 cup Melinda's Jalapeño ketchup 
• 1/2 cup ketchup 
• 1 cup water 
• 1/2 cup Bragg apple cider vinegar 
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce 
• 1/4 cup organic creamy yellow mustard 
• 4 tablespoons butter 
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha pepper sauce 
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place ribs in two 10x15 inch roasting pans. Pour water and apple cider vinegar into a bowl, and stir. Sprinkle some freshly cracked black pepper over the ribs. Add the garlic and bay leaves to each of the pans. Pour diluted vinegar over ribs, and cover with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Baste the ribs with their juices. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F. Bake for 35 minutes more. 

In a medium saucepan, mix together jalepeño ketchup, ketchup, water, Bragg apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, butter, brown sugar, Sriracha pepper sauce, and sea salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer barbeque sauce for 2 hours. 

Place all ribs into one container, discarding cooking liquid and bay leaves, keeping garlic. Pour half of your BBQ sauce all over them. Cover and marinate for at least 2 hrs in the refrigerator. (I marinated for 3 hrs.) Take the ribs out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you're ready to cook them to let them get to room temperature. 

Preheat grill for medium heat. 

Lightly oil preheated grill. Grill ribs (with garlic) over medium heat for 10 minutes, turning ribs once. Baste ribs generously with barbeque sauce, and grill 2 minutes. Turn ribs, baste again with barbeque sauce, and grill 2 minutes. 

Place ribs on a serving platter, and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with extra BBQ sauce on the side for dipping. Garnish with grilled garlic.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com