Victory in Defeat, Part II: Pork Ain't Just a Verb

As I mentioned in Part I of my postgame recap, I had a whole lotta pork loin, courtesy of Mandy.  I halved it into two equal 28 once portions and decided to go with a West Indian spiced marinade for the first half.

But what to do with the second?

When I'm in bind as far as finding a recipe, my go-to cookbook has often been Steven Raichlen's "The Barbecue Bible".  Perhaps it's because this book is stocked with a myriad of recipes with influences from all around the world.  Maybe it's the fact that it has separate sections devotes to marinades, sauces and rubs.  Or it could be the fact that Raichlen is a fellow member of the tribe who loves to barbecue and grill pork.

In any case, I came across a recipe that I hadn't tried before: Pork with Moorish Seasonings. As he explains, it's a hybrid recipe; The spices have a heavy North African influence (read Muslim) but the meat is a Spanish favorite - pork. A quick perusal of the ingredient list indicated that I had everything on hand in my pantry, so it was a pretty easy decision to make.

Pork with Moorish Spices

from The Barbecue Bible, by Steven Raichlen

2 pounds pork loin, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 medium onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons minced fresh flat leaf parsley

1 tablespoon Spanish paprika

1/2 teaspoon crush red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

In a small bowl, add all ingredients except pork and mix well.  Place pork in a ziploc bag or covered container and add marinade.  Toss to coat well and seal, removing as much air as possible if using a bag. Refrigerate 3 hours minimum, preferably overnight.

To cook, remove pork from marinade and remove excess. Grill over medium heat 3-5 minutes. Turn over and grill 2-3 minutes longer, until meat is moist and slightly pink in the center.  Remove from heat and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Notes:

With the copious amount of parsley mixed with garlic and olive oil, this marinade is reminiscent of an Argentinean chimmichurri.  Fresh parsley is an absolute must here.  The herbaceous flavor is the foundation for the marinade.  If possible used whole cumin and coriander seeds and grind them yourself.  The essential oils will add additional pungency to the dish and the small amount of extra effort is certainly work it.  

Saffron in one the most expensive spices in the world.  But a little goes a long way.  And it is a key ingredient if you are looking to preserve the Spanish influence on this recipe. If you desire additional heat, feel free to add extra crushed red pepper flakes as I did.  Also, I used dry sherry.  If you don't have sherry, feel free to use a dry white wine instead.

As good as the West Indian pork was, this upped the ante big time. This is definitely a meal I will be making over and over again.  

Victory in Defeat: Revs get Porked, Riders get Pork

Saturday was my first chance to actually tailgate before a Revs game this year. I made it to the home opener, but I went to the Bruins-Rangers game at the Garden earlier in the afternoon. But with the Revs starting at 4:00, I just barely made it down to Foxboro in time to see kick-off.

I pulled another double-header, having attended the Bruins-Senators game in the afternoon. But this time I knew I'd have plenty of time to spare as the Revs game had a 7:30 kickoff.  So, as soon as the horn sounded signaling the end of the Bruins 3-2 victory, I hightailed it out of the Garden and onto the Orange Line at North Station to get my car at Sullivan Square.

As I got on 93 south, I rolled down the windows and popped open the sunroof.  It was sunny and 65 degrees. Ideal grilling weather. Even better, there weren't really any major traffic slowdowns to deal with, so I got down to the Stadium in about 30 minutes.  The only problem was that it was 4:30 and I'd had a half an hour to kill until the gates to the lot opened. So I did what I always do: hang out in the parking lot at the liquor store up the street.

So once 5:00 rolled around, I pulled into the Riders' lot. Now, as some, if not most, of you already know, the Riders have a new setup this year. Our lot has moved back to almost the same spot we used to have when Gillette opened back in 2002. So I pulled into a space along the back row and quickly set up shop. Get out the grill stand, get the grill out, uncover it and fire that baby up.

So the big question entering the week was what was I going to cook? Fortunately, the answer was easy to find. I had been gifted with a four plus pound center cut pork loin a few weeks ago by my friend Mandy. Sadly (for her) pork was no longer appealing for her in her pregnant state. So she offered it up gratis. And what's the first rule of schwag? Never say no to free schwag!

Now sometimes you could view this as dealing with house money - you can do anything you want with it and throw caution to the wind.  Or you could do it up right.  I chose the latter.  I love pork loin.  It's a perfect neutral medium, low in fat and cooks fast.  However, some of these benefits are also its undoing. It can be bland if not seasoned properly.  It can dry out like nothing.  And if a bunch of your friends keep kosher or are vegetarians, they won't eat it.  Not really a problem, but I needed a third drawback there.

I sat down in my dining room with a stack of cookbooks from my kitchen bookshelf and set out to find a couple of recipes.  Having found pounds of meat to prepare, I figured it might be nice to divide it in half and make two separate items.  I like variety.  And if one recipe didn't pull its weight, the other had a chance to make up for it.  Alas, this is the first recipe I came up with:

Grilled Pork Kebabs with West Indian Flavors
Adapted from The Cooks Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue


2 lbs boneless pork loin, cubed into 1 inch pieces

1/4 fresh lime juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 scallions, sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon dried or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Place all ingredients except pork in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Place pork in ziploc bag or plastic container and add marinade. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for at least three hours (preferably overnight).

To cook, remove pork from marinade and remove excess.  Grill over medium heat 3-5 minutes.  Turn over and grill 2-3 minutes longer.  Remove from heat and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.  Pork should be moist with a slightly pink center.

Notes:

This marinade is very much like a modified jerk seasoning.  There's a lot more lime juice and not nearly as many spices (much less allspice, no cinnamon).  The original recipe called for half of a habenero chile.  Sadly, my local supermarket was out of them, hence the serranos.  Being cautious, I omitted the seeds and ribs from the chiles.  But I think next time I'll leave a little bit in so as to add a little more heat. The citrus flavor of the limes really shined though.  It is essential that fresh squeezed juice is used.  The brightness and acidity are key.

A New Season Awaits...

I started a cooking blog about a year ago to chronicle my various charades in my my kitchen.  I was inspired by a good number of friends, most notably my friend Kaela and her Local Kitchen blog, who wrote about all sorts of tasty treats with innate detail and supplemented with wonderful photography.

It was my first ever attempt at blogging and while I thoroughly enjoyed the concept, the execution left much to be desired, at least in my mind.  I tried having a design formula so that each post would be nothing more than updating a template that I had laid out with various categories with witty titles.  Having had no prior blogging experience, I had to learn how to navigate Blogspot's website and design scheme, as relatively straightforward as they may seem.  But the biggest hinderance was that I had no set schedule for posting.  I'd cook at random times and post recaps haphazardly.  Pretty soon, my posting trailed off.

Fast forward to the 2010-11 NHL season. I've been a Bruins season ticket holder for 13 years now and I figured that it my be fun to document my experiences all season long as I went to games.  I'd share what I did on gamedays, including pregame festivities at the local watering hole, the trials and tribulations of my hockey family from our seats in Section 307 of the Garden, the overall vibe at the game, and most notably, photographs of obscure hockey sweaters, centered around with my funky fixation on sports uniform design.

The result of all this was my blog The Bear Maximum.

With 40 some-odd games and a set schedule, I challenged myself to keep up with the blog on a timely basis.  Save for a small stretch in December and a few recent posts that I've yet to publish, I've pretty much accomplished my goal.

Which brings me to here.

As April comes around, so does the Major League Soccer season.  Like the Bruins, I have season tickets to the local MLS franchise, the New England Revolution. I've actually had season tickets to the Revs longer than I've had them for the Bruins, having bought my first set for the 1997 season.  Only college and work commitments, along with a bit of naiveté, prevented me from buying season tickets earlier in the inaugural MLS season in 1996.

But I was able to go to a good number of games in that first season.  Prior to then, I had never watched professional soccer in any way, shape or form, live or on TV.  But the Revs were the new local entry into the brand new Major League Soccer and my friend Tim was a huge fan of the sport.  Tim and I had been going to all sorts of Sox, Bruins and Celtics games pretty much ever since we became friends and I trusted his judgement when he recommended hitting up the new guys in town.

Back then, at the old Foxboro stadium, fans had to pay for parking.  Being the college students that we were, Tim and I used to be cheapskates and would park south of the stadium in a gravel parking lot.  There were closer lots, but none cheaper. It was only $5, versus the $10 or $15 we'd have to pay for something closer.

It was in that lot, where Bass Pro Shops now stands, where I learned of the concept of tailgating.  Having never been to a Patriots game at that point, it was an unfamiliar notion - showing up well before gametime, cooking out of the back of your car, having a few drinks and just chilling out with friends.  It was fun.  It was novel.  It was straight-out addictive.

At first, Tim and I brought subs with us.  But we noticed the plethora of people bringing grills of all sizes, portable and full-size, gas and charcoal, cheap and expensive.  We wanted in on the fun, and fast.

So I went out to a CVS and picked up a cheap charcoal grill for us.  Now we needed something to throw on the fire.  Not content with such bourgeois treats as hot dogs and hamburgers, Tim and I set the bar a bit higher with marinated steak tips and chicken.  With the Butcher Boy butcher shop at our disposal near Tim's house, we had access to a variety of tasty pre-packaged meats to choose from.

That 1996 season was a learning experience for the Revs on the pitch.  But just as much, it was one for us as well.

As the 1997 season rolled around, Tim and I decided we'd make the plunge and get season tickets.  The first home game of the year was going to be huge: The Revs' home opener against the Tampa Bay Mutiny, preceded by the United State's Men's National Team taking on Mexico in a World Cup Qualifier for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Knowing this was going to be a big deal, Tim and I decided we'd live large and spend the $15 to park in the main lot on the east side of the Stadium.  Furthermore, we'd decided to tailgate with the Revs' main supporter's group, the Midnight Riders.  We'd had noticed them standing in the north endzone in section 2 whenever we went to games in the prior year.  Back then, we sat in the midfield sections, sometime splurging for the fancy chairback seats down in the 100 level.  But for some odd reason, we decided that we wanted to be in section 2 for the upcoming year, quite possibly because those wear the cheapest season tickets in the house, but probably because we wanted to be part of the scene over there.

So we got to the lot, not really knowing anyone, but welcomed into the group nonetheless.  We were brand new members of the Riders, but they made it seem like we had been there already.  Food and drinks were proffered.  New friends were made.  I had a blast.

So much so, that we kept coming back to that lot.  For years upon years, even as the location shifted slightly with the construction of the new stadium.

There were many constants: friends, general misery over the teams' on-field performance, good beer and food. Oh, the food.

What I first noticed is that this group, as a whole, tended to raise the bar over traditional backyard grill fare:  Sausages, steaks, grilled figs stuffed with marscapone cheese, even pots of mussels steamed in white wine.  Right up my alley.  So I was inspired to up my game.

Eventually, Tim went to the dark side and became a member of the soccer media.  But my friend Skip jumped in to take the second ticket.  Like me, he loved to cook.  Often, we'd get together on Thursday nights to prep food for games on Saturdays.  We'd gather recipes wherever we cold find them and try out things we'd never even considered tasting.  We did buffalo and ostrich steaks. Funky marinades for steak tips. Stuffed pork tenderloins.  It was a learning experience and wonderful all the same. And now with my wife Jen and an expanded group of friends, I continue to try new things all the time.

All the while, I continued to gain knowledge of the sport of soccer.  And I made new friends as I went along.  Traveling with the Riders and Sam's Army on roadtrips all over the country and even outside of it introduced me to an even greater set of friends.

Which brings me to today.

With this blog, I am endeavoring to chronicle my tailgating experiences for this season and beyond.  Food will be the primary focus, but I'll try to give a flavor of the atmosphere and surroundings as well.

It's going to be a learning experience for me, bound to change here and there as I go along.  But it's my hope that you'll enjoy the ride as much as I will.