Snap Pea and Pork Stir-Fry

Over the past few posts, I've walked you through several pulled pork recipes from my friend Nick's cookbook: Love Your Leftovers. You can find the core pulled pork recipe in my post from last week.

I had frozen about a half pound of the pulled pork when I initially cooked it a few weeks back. I decided it was time to make one more dish with the leftovers and I must say this was my favorite of the dishes I've made from the book so far. Perhaps it's because I love a good stir fry, or because it was the first time I utilized pork in this way in a stir fry, but this was awesome. I cut the recipe in half and got three meals out of it, but I'm including the recipe for four below.

I enjoyed this while sitting on my roof deck and skimming through some issues of Cooking Light that have been piling up during my busy summer. I'll be back to cooking dishes from other sources next week, but you better believe I'll be revisiting Nick's book and blog again soon. Because I just can't quit you, Nick Evans.

Snap Pea and Pork Stir-Fry (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of thin asparagus
• 1 3-inch piece fresh ginger
• 2 large shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. (about 3 cups) chopped pulled pork
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups sugar snap peas
• 3 TB vegetable oil
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• Cooked rice for serving

Stir-Fry Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 TB rice wine vinegar
• 2 TB fish sauce
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside for later.

Cut off hard ends from asparagus and chop into 1-inch long pieces.

Mince the garlic, shallots and garlic finely and set aside.

If there is liquid in the pulled pork (if you cooked this fresh), drain off as much as possible. You'll want the pork to be relatively dry to start. For the recently thawed pork that I used, this was not an issue.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and season well with kosher salt. Once boiling, add the asparagus and snap peas and cook for 1 minute. Drain and rinse vegetables under cold water to stop the cooking.

Heat a large wok over high heat. Once hot, add oil followed by pork. Cook pork over high heat until it starts to turn crispy, about 5 minutes.

Add diced red peppers and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add garlic, shallot, and ginger to wok and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to ensure ingredients don't burn.

Add the sauce to the pan and toss to combine. Let sauce reduce for about 30 seconds.

Finally add blanched vegetables and toss to combine. Serve stir-fry immediately over rice.

Let the Grilling Begin: Corn!

Last week, I traveled to Pittsburgh for Mother's Day. I've blogged about all the wonders of Pittsburgh food before, and I will again later this week. But for today's post, I'm going to write about the way my family always ate. Which is pretty healthy when you consider all of the starches upon starches upon meaty goodness that most people experience when eating "Pittsburgh-style."

I grew up on a lot of grilled meats, and my dad is a master at the grill. No matter what the weather is doing, he is always up for grilling. Snowstorm? Just wheel that grill a bit closer to the door. But for this trip, we were lucky to have wonderful weather and could even sit out and enjoy our dinner.

For one particular meal, we enjoyed chicken and steak kebabs with fresh corn on the grill. Here are some basic instructions for grilling corn, for the novice.

Corn on the Cob on the Grill

Ingredients:

• Fresh ears of corn
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

If the ears of corn have many layers of husk on them, peel off only the first couple of layers. Do not remove all of them. Then, soak the whole cobs in a pot of cold water for 15 minutes. Be sure the ears are completely covered with water. While soaking, preheat the grill to a medium temperature.

After soaking, remove the corn from the water and shake off excess water.

Begin by pulling the husks of the corn back. Remove and discard only the silk.

Brush the kernels with olive oil or butter.

Place the prepared ears of corn on a medium heat on the grill, rotating the corn as needed to keep it from getting charred too much on one side. After a couple of turns, place the corn husk on an indirect heat (moved to the side of the grill) or on the top shelf of your grill, and close the cover. Cook slowly for approximately 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the corn from the grill (it will be hot so use mitts!). Peel the husks and silk from the top down. Once you've removed most of the silk, rise the corn under warm running water to remove any excess ash and silk.

Serve with butter and enjoy!