Apricot Chutney

I made this chutney to go with a chicken liver terrine recipe. I found this recipe on the Web and wrote it down on paper. Now I can't find it.



2 t. olive oil
1 red onion, medium, coarsely chopped
1 T. finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 c. brandy
2 c. water
3/4 c. cider
30 g. diced dried apricots
3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
Handful of raisins (my addition)

Heat oil on low in a sauce pan and add the onion and ginger. Cook 10 minutes or until the onion is soft.


Add the brandy, cook 3 minutes; or until liquid has been absorbed.

Add the water, cider, apricot, sugar, and raisins. Stir, reduce to low, simmer 40 to 60 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened.


Transfer to a clean dry jar, fill with the chutney, cover; invert for 2 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

Chicken Liver Terrine

This is a recipe from my Mom, Dorothy Rosario. It takes a little time to put together, but it's a delicious terrine. Serve it with an apricot chutney (found here on my blog) and crusty slices of bread.


Ingredients:

1 lb fresh chicken livers, cleaned
1/2 c. port wine
1/2 t. dried thyme
4 bay leaves
1 lb. sausage meat (ground pork; or a combination of pork and veal)
1 slice bread
Enough milk to soak the bread
1 egg
1.2 c. dry white wine
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
Freshly ground pepper
1 slice ham, thick cut, about 5.5 ounces
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
Pistachio nuts - a handful, chopped
1/2 lb. thin slices of bacon (pound them if they are too thick)

Marinade the chicken livers with the port, thyme, and 2 bay leaves (crumbled) in a bowl. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Reserve 1/4 of the chicken livers. Place the rest through a food processor with the ham and coarsely chop.

Chop the onion and garlic.

In a large bowl, add the ground pork, the liver/ham mixture, bread, wine, garlic, pepper, pistachio nuts, and onions. Mix with a large spoon.

Line the bottom and sides of a terrine dish, meatloaf pan or 7" square pan with the bacon.


Add 1/2 of the meat mixture into the pan.

Layer the middle with the reserved livers (coarsely chopped). Top with slices of bacon and the two bay leaves.


Cover the pan with tin foil or with lid. Place in a pan of hot water 1/2 way up the sides and bake at 375 degrees for 1.5 hours, or until the center reads 150 degrees.

When out of the oven, place a weight* on top of the terrine and pour off the excess juice. Cool, keep covered, and refrigerate overnight. Three to five days is much better.


*For the weight (I use a curved terrine), I wrap in tinfoil a cardboard piece, lay it on top of the terrine, and weigh down with soup cans. This is weighed down overnight.

To Serve: I used French bread and toasted them, which were lightly brushed with olive oil. Serve with my apricot chutney recipe.

Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches

4/12/2010: This is a recipe I found on the foodnetwork (a Tyler Florence recipe), which I adapted. I made this for lunch for 11 people yesterday.

What I did or didn’t do:

- I didn’t marinate the pork at all and found it unnecessary.
- I placed the pork in the oven (covered tightly with tin foil) just as I turned it on.
- Roasted for 5 hours 45 minutes (came out perfect!)
- Removed the excess fat before shredding with two forks.
- Used store bought BBQ sauce and docker-ed it up with a spicy marinade (Sweet Baby Ryan's BBQ sauce and Stubb's pork marinade
- Cooked the day before
- Added to a crock pot the morning of the luncheon and heated on low for 2 hours. Added some of the pork liquid from the pan (previously placed in a pot in the refrigerator, skimmed the fat off the top).
- I added the BBQ sauce just enough to coat the meat and had extra sauce on the side for people to add to their taste.
- Served with my favorite Claussen Kosher dill pickle spears.
- 8 pounds serves 14-15 people.


Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Serves 12

Dry Rub:
3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons coarse salt (I used 2 T.)
I added: 1 t. onion powder (I actually had dried onions and placed in a food processor to mince), 1 T. thyme, 1 t. cayenne pepper

1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt (I used 8 pounds shoulder)

Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup yellow or brown mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 hamburger buns (I used Martin's potato buns)
1 recipe Spicy Slaw (didn’t make)
Pickle spears

Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 170 degrees F.

To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes.

While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other.



Put the shredded pork in a bowl.



Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto the bottom 1/2 of the hamburger bun, and top with the spicy slaw. Serve with pickle spears and the remaining sauce on the side.

8/2/10: I made this again, but used my crock pot.