Instant Pot vs. Sous Vide! A Saucy Food Fight featuring Baby Back Ribs

I've been doing a lot of sous vide cooking lately, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. So, when I picked up a pack of baby back ribs, I decided I'd give them a try. I've cooked pork loins and pork chops with great success.

One thing I've found with many meats I've cooked via sous vide is that if I want to brown them after cooking, it works best to refrigerate the meat first to let it cool down. For me, this means I usually cook the food so it's ready the day before I actually want it, then I refrigerate overnight.

On the day I want to dine, I finish cooking. This way, I'm just searing the outside and warming the middle, rather than driving more heat into the meat, which could overcook it.

This might not be necessary with every cut of meat, but I also find it convenient, particularly for small, thinner cuts. The meat is fully cooked and resting in the refrigerator so I can have it on the table in a very short time when I decide I'm hungry. And these days I'm mostly cooking smaller cuts of meat.

Except when I go on a pork rib binge. That's totally different.

So anyway, After puttering around a bit, I decided to cook the meat three different ways. First, I cooked one batch in my Instant Pot, using my usual method. I know this method works, and I wanted it to be my control sample.

This isn't the same as cooking ribs on a grill or in a smoker, but it makes decent ribs. And crazy fast.

Then I started looking up sous vide recipes. I didn't care so much about spices or sauces, but I wanted to pick two different cooking temperatures and times, to test the results.  I settled on 165 degrees for 12 hours for one batch and and 145 degrees for 36 hours for the other batch.

I cut each rack in half to fit the bags, and for the fun of it, I put a little bit of sauce in one of each pair of bags. I don't know if that made a heck of a difference. I think a little bit of the sauce flavor did get into the ribs, but not so much that it made a huge difference once the ribs were sauced and broiled.

Next time, I might try a rub and see how that works.

When the pressure-cooked ribs were done, I slathered them with sauce, then broiled them to get the sauce all sticky and bubbly.

When the sous vide ribs were done, I let them cool slightly, then tossed them in the fridge, still in their bags. When I wanted to eat them, I took them out of their bags, got rid of the accumulated juices, slathered them with sauce, and broiled them just like I broiled the pressure cooked ribs.

And yes, I had two pots with different sous vide sticks set for different temperatures going at the same time. I know how to have fun!

The Results!

The winner, for me, was the sous vide ribs cooked for 12 hours at 165 degrees. They were slightly pink, very plump and juicy, and super tender. They still hung onto the bone when I cut them into single ribs, and when I bit into them, my teeth knew I was biting something.

They also fared well when reheated, which I find is pretty typical with sous vide meats. They don't seem to tighten up or dry out as quickly as conventionally cooked foods. Of course, the sensible thing to do was to broil as many ribs as I needed rather than broiling all, but I did have to reheat some and I didn't notice any quality issues.

12 hours at 165 degrees

The second best were the pressure cooked ribs. They were also plump and tender, but not pink and not quite as juicy, particularly when I reheated them. What, you thought I ate all of them in one big meal? And not quite as ... hmmm ... fluffy, I guess, compared to the sous vide ribs. Yup, the pressure cooked were just a little more dense than sous vide. Which is actually okay, I like that texture a lot, too.

I'm sure I'll still be pressure cooking ribs once in a while. It's so fast! I can bring home a slab of ribs from the grocery store and have dinner in a reasonably short time. The other advantage to the pressure cooked ribs, though, is that I save the stock and use it to make tomato soup.

Pressure-cooked ribs. Recipe here.

My least favorite (although not actually bad) was the batch cooked at 145 degrees for 36 hours. They were a little too tender for my liking. I had a hard time cutting them into individual ribs because as soon as there was slight pressure from the knife, they just slid off the bone. When I bit into them, it was almost like the meat flaked apart (kind of like flaky fish) rather my teeth letting me know we were biting into something meaty.

While the ribs at the thicker end of the rack fared better, some of them were verging towards being a little overcooked and dry, too. And some parts were pinkish while the thinner sections were more white. I might try the 145 temperature again, but this time limit it to a 24-hour cook time.

36 hours at 145 degrees

Of course, preferences for cooked-rib texture is a personal thing. You might like yours softer than I do, or you might not want to see any pink in the meat. Or you might appreciate more chew. Make 'em the way you like 'em!

Have you tried sous vide cooking yet? What's your favorite recipe? Or, if you're curious about it, is there anything you'd like to see me try?

Sous Vide Boneless Pork Loin

As a blogger, I get a lot of stuff sent to me. Books, food, gadgets, samples, snacks. Some of it gets reviewed and then it's seldom mentioned again. But other things turn into recipes, and then recipes turn into blog posts.

This is one of those instances. It started with an offer from Butcher Block Box, a company that ships meat to people who subscribe to the service. I said, sure, send me meat. I will review it. I mentioned them recently in a gift guide, because a meat subscription would be a nice gift for a lot of people.

Not the vegans or vegetarians on your list. They wouldn't be thrilled with you at all. But just about anyone else would probably like a box of frozen meat.

My shipment was delayed by a day because of a train derailment. Sheesh. Of course the perishables would get delayed. Even though the package arrived a day later than it was supposed to, the meat was frozen solid. So they get bonus points for good packaging.

This is just part of what arrived:

I chose the beef and pork option, because I had just bought chicken and I've noticed a much greater variation in quality with beef and pork than with chicken. I mean, yeah, some chicken is better than others, but it's never chewy, like a bad steak can be.

I got a nice variety of meats - some steaks, ground beef, thin-cut steak, a pork loin roast, and bacon. Everything was packed in reasonable amounts. Nothing too big to deal with. The pork loin roast was the biggest item.

I tried one of the steaks first, followed by the thin-cut steak. I had no idea what to expect with that, but the slices were really really really thin. Like for sandwiches. Which is what happened after I have that a quick saute on the stove.

I stared at the pork roast for a while. I thought about roasting it, but then decided to cook it sous vide. Yup, me and my sous vide. Again.

I considered cooking it in the same bag it came in, considering it was nicely vacuum-sealed, but decided I wanted to season it first. After it was fully thawed, I tossed it into a sous vide bag, then sprinkled on some Penzeys seasoned salt, then some Penzeys Mural of Flavor. It's an unsalted seasoning mix that's one of my favorites. Good flavor, but kind of universal and non-threatening.

In retrospect, I should have sprinkled the spices onto the meat before putting it in the bag for more even distribution, but it wasn't a big deal. As soon as the meat had released some juices and the bag was looser, I massaged the spices around to get the meat more evenly coated. It was just fine.

The finished meat was decidedly pink rather than white. If that bothers you with pork, you'll need to raise the temperature. But despite what your grandmother told you, pink pork is perfectly pleasant.

Sous Vide Pork Roast

• 1 smallish boneless pork loin roast - I'm guessing it was about 2-3 pounds - I didn't check the label before I tossed the packaging.
• Seasoned salt - I'm guessing I used about 1/2 teaspoon, or perhaps a little more.
• Penzeys Mural of Flavor (or other seasoning you like) a generous teaspoon or more.
• Olive oil - about 2 tablespoons, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the seasonings on the meat and place the meat in a vacuum-sealer bag. Vacuum seal the bag. Obvious, right?

Set up your sous vide. I have an Anova sous vide with wireless and I use a large stockpot for cooking. Set the heat for 140 degrees and the time for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

When the time is up, remove the meat from the water bath. Open the bag and remove the meat.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the meat, fat-side down. Let the meat brown on that side, then turn it so that all sides get browned.

Remove the meat from the pan. Slice and serve.

This is also really good cold, for roast pork sandwiches. Yum.

I received meat from Butcher Block Box at no cost to me. I received the Anova sous vide at no cost to me quite a while ago. I have no obligation to continue posting about it, but I use it a lot. I have no relationship with Penzeys except that I like a lot of their products.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin over Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Once again, the nice folks at the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission asked to sponsor a post here on Cookistry, and of course I said yes. I love berries, and I like to have frozen ones on hand for smoothies or for cooking.

In season, fresh berries are a wonderful thing. But they're also very perishable. Frozen berries are great year-round, and I can use a few or a lot and not worry about having the rest go bad before I get to them.

Raspberries are actually one of my favorite berries, but I'm sort of a weirdo since I like them better cooked, juiced, macerated or otherwise manipulated than I like them fresh and raw. Yep, I'm odd.


I decided to use the berries two ways - or three, if we want to count the garnish.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin over Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

For the raspberry vinaigrette:
Frozen Oregon raspberries, to fill small jar
Cider vinegar, as needed
Olive oil
Salt, as needed

For the pork:
1 cup frozen Oregon raspberries
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 pork tenderloins

To make the raspberry vinaigrette:
Fill a small jar with frozen raspberries and add cider vinegar to fill. You can leave this at room temperature for a few hours, if you need it quickly. If you're planning ahead, refrigerate until needed - you'll have more raspberry flavor if you let it sit for a day or so.

When you're ready to make the salad dressing, combine 1 part vinegar with 2-3 parts olive oil, to taste. For example, 1 tablespoon of vinegar with 2 or three tablespoons olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, to taste, and whisk to emulsify. You can also combine the oil and vinegar in a small jar and shake it. Taste and add more salt, if needed. If you like a sweeter dressing, add sugar or honey to taste.

Serve this over fresh salad greens. Garnish with some thawed frozen berries, if desired.

To make the pork:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and have a baking sheet standing by.

Put the berries, along with about 1/4 cup of water, in a small saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat, stirring as needed, until the berries have fallen apart. Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Set the sauce aside.

Put the butter in a saute pan and heat on medium until melted. Add the onion, apple, and salt. Cook, stirring as needed, until the onions are softened and translucent. Add the raspberry sauce, and stir to combine. Cook until the mixture is jammy rather than saucy. Add the thyme and give it one more stir.

If the tenderloins have any silverskin, remove it, then butterfly the meat and pound it flat. The thinner the meat is, the more of a spiral you'll have with the filling. You don't want to pound so thin that the meat will tear and shred, though.

Spread half of the filling on each tenderloin and roll each one up, jellyroll-style. You can fasten the seam with toothpicks, tie the rolls with kitchen twine at intervals, or just very carefully lift the rolls and place them on a baking sheet.

Roast the tenderloins at 375 degrees, until done to your likeness. I prefer tenderloins at 140 degrees, which takes about 30 minutes.

Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with salad greens drizzled with the raspberry vinaigrette. Garnish with a few berries, if desired.

Thanks to the Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission for sponsoring this post! Oregon brands of frozen berries include Stahlbush Island Farms, Scenic Fruit, Columbia Fruit, and Willamette Valley Fruit Company.

Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

Mmmm. Ribs, potato salad, and asparagus!

Way back in the stone age, when I was a mere youngster, my mom always boiled pork ribs before slathering them with sauce and finishing them in the oven. I know, the horror of it all.

But ... it's the best we could do. There was no back yard or barbecue grill or smoker. There were pots and ribs and an oven, though.

If I have to admit it, those ribs were pretty good. Obviously, they weren't smoked. But they were tender and juicy and saucy and just fine. And since I'm being honest here, I've had smoked ribs that weren't great.

After a few people told me how great the Instant Pot was for cooking ribs, I decided to give it a go. I mean, why not? I looked online and found tons of recipes. A few proclaimed that the ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender. Which is fine if you want them that way. Me, I prefer a little more toothsomeness. Yes, I want them tender. But I don't want them totally falling apart if you give them a strong glance. I want them to have a little fight left.

I'm happy with the result I got. I would have been happier if I had a working broiler or a normal oven to finish the ribs. But for ribs that never saw a grill or smoker - I sure as heck can't complain.

And, yes, of course you could use a different brand of pressure cooker. There are plenty to choose from.

Pressure-Cooked, Oven-Finished Babyback Ribs

1 or two slabs of baby back ribs
Water, as needed
Apple cider vinegar, optional
Salt, optional

Put your ribs in your pressure cooker. I sort of coiled mine up so they were sitting on the protruding bone ends. I'm sure they'd be fine cut and stacked as well. Add about an inch of water to the pot along with a splash of apple cider vinegar (optional) and a pinch of salt (also optional).

Put the cover on the pressure cooker, set it to the seal rather than vent, and set the cooking time for 15 minutes at high pressure.

When the time is up, turn the pressure cooker off and let the ribs rest for 15 minutes before venting any remaining steam.

Stick a fork in a rib to test the tenderness. If you need to cook a little longer for your preferred tenderness, do so, and make note of how long you like your ribs cooked for the next time you make them. At 15 minutes plus the resting time, my ribs were fork tender, but not soft.

Remove the ribs from the cooker, place them meat-side up on a baking sheet (line it with foil for easy cleanup) and slather with your favorite sauce.

Heat your oven to 250 degrees and put the ribs in. Cook for another 30 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and grabbed onto the ribs. Cook longer or less, if you like. Or slather with sauce and just put them under your broiler for a few minutes.

Serve hot with more sauce on the side. Because more sauce is never a bad thing.

I received my Instant Pot at no cost to create a blog post for 37 Cooks, but my obligation to them is loooong over. I'm just having fun now.

Spicy Pork and Mac Stew - Is it chili, or is it hot dish?

My mother was the queen of transforming leftovers into something that didn't look like leftovers. Sure, sometimes we had reheated reruns. But other times, it was alchemy.

Some might say it was her depression-era need to use every scrap of food. But really, I think it was everyday lack of funds that meant that dollars needed to be stretched.

I inherited some of that, I guess. I'm always looking at leftovers with an eye at making them something new and different. That's particularly true when it comes to roasts. As much as I like a perfectly-cooked pork or beef roast, they're usually a lot of food for two people. The price-per-pound is tempting, but the leftovers can be daunting.

A while back, I made a lovely pork roast ... but then what? After we'd eaten it sliced and as sandwiches, I knew it needed transformation. Mom's usual leftover pork dish was her chop suey, bolstered by canned Chinese vegetables and copious amounts of soy sauce. With rice on the side, that chop suey could stretch a humble pork roast for several days.

I actually considered chop suey, but decided to go with a spicier option. Some might call this chili, while others might be horrified at calling it chili. Some might call it hot dish (hello Minnesotans!) What it is, though, is a throwback to mom's chili mac - it's comfort food, pure and simple.

When I was done cutting up the roast, I had two pounds of diced meat in one pile, and some bones, bits, fat, and crusty parts that went into a saucepan with some water to make about a quart of pork stock that I used for soup.

See, nothing wasted!

You can make this as hot (or not) as you like by using mild, medium, or hot versions of the peppers and spices. Make it your way!

Spicy Pork and Mac Stew

2 pounds cooked pork shoulder roast, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-size cubes
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 15.5-ounce can red kidney beans, drained
1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained
1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 10-ounce can Hatch diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 4-ounce can diced Hatch chilies
1 can beer* (I suggest something mild, like Corona or similar)
2 tablespoons Penzey's Chili con Carne spice (or chili powder)
2 tablespoons dry masa (maseca)
1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
1 tablespoon** salt (or to taste)
4 ounces dry elbow macaroni, cooked al dente, drained

Put everything except the pasta into a slow cooker (yes, you can also cook this in a Dutch oven on the stove, if you like). Stir to combine and cook on high for 4 hours, or until the vegetables are cooked through.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if needed. If it's not spicy enough for you, add more chili powder.

Add the cooked pasta, and let the stew simmer for just a little longer, uncovered, to let the pasta soak up just a little of the sauce.

Serve hot.

You can garnish this with any of the things you like with chili - sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, or diced avocado are all wonderful.

*If you're not a beer drinker and you have no urge to buy beer just for this recipe, use water. There's enough flavor here that the beer won't be horribly missed.

** If your chili powder and adobo seasoning are heavy on the salt, hold back a little bit on the salt until you taste - you can always add more if you need it.

Roast Pork Shoulder with Sepo Sauce

I bought a pork roast specifically so I could test a device called The Ribalizer. I'm reviewing it for my review blog, but when I'm reviewing a cooking tool, it usually means I've got some cooking to do.

The Ribalizer is designed for cooking ribs, but the instructions said that with the rib separator rack removed, you could use it for roasts. Well, okay. I had already cooked ribs with it, so it made sense to try its other function.

While The Ribalizer is intended to be used on an outdoor grill, the weather wasn't cooperating. It was chilly and rainy and I wasn't in the mood for going in and out of the nasty weather. Staying in a warm, cozy house made more sense.

So I fired up the oven instead of the grill. And then I checked the size of The Ribalizer to make sure it would fit in my oven. Luckily, it did.

The ribalizer is covered in more detail on my review blog, but basically it's a two-piece metal rack that's designed to fit into disposable aluminum roasting pans, and its main purpose is cooking ribs. If you don't happen to have a ribalizer sitting around, you can cook your roast with this method in a lidded roasting pan with a rack.

I knew that I wanted to use some spices or a sauce or ... something ... on top of the roast, but I didn't make the final decision until the roast was at that stage (you'll see). So I started digging around in the refrigerator to see what might be interesting.

I grabbed a jar of Sepo Sauce that I got from a company called Seponifiq. It's supposed to be used as a dip, sandwich spread, or salad dressing, but I thought it might be just right for adding a little flavor to the crust of my pork.

I had already tried it drizzled on vegetables, so I knew what it tasted like - it reminded me a bit of Caesar dressing, but not quite the same. I thought the garlic flavor would work really well with the pork. And, gee, I was right.

The beauty of this recipe is the versatility of the leftovers. You can slice thin for sandwiches (hot or cold) or cut the meat into chunks for stew, green chili, or mom's midwestern chop suey. You can continue cooking it until it falls apart for pulled pork. Or ... I'm sure you can think of more!

Roast Pork Shoulder

Roast pork in the oven!

1 8-9 pound* pork shoulder roast
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup (or as needed) Sepo Sauce
Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Season the roast on all sides with salt and pepper, as desired.

Put the pork shoulder, fat-side up, in a ribalizer or in a roasting pan on a rack. Add about water to the pan to cover the bottom of the pan with about 1/4 inch of water - just make sure it's below the level of the rack - you don't want the meat swimming, you just want to create steam.

Put the lid on the ribalizer or the roasting pan. Place it in the oven and cook, covered, for 4 hours.

Remove the cover. The pork should be tender if you stab it with a fork. It shouldn't be falling apart, but it should be easy to poke. Brush Sepo Sauce on the top and sides of the roast and return it to the oven, uncovered. Cook for another 45 minutes.

Let the roast rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

*it doesn't need to be exactly this size - a little larger or smaller isn't going to kill the recipe, but if you stray too far, the cooking time might need to be adjusted.

I received the Ribalizer for the purpose of a review on Cookistry Reviews; I was not required to mention it in a recipe. I received Sepo Sauce from the manufacturer; I wasn not required to use it in a recipe.

Shallow-Braised Chardonnay Pork Shoulder Steaks

When I was growing up, one of my mother's signature dishes was shallow-braised pork shoulder steaks. She didn't call it that, and I doubt she thought in terms of signature dishes, but it was something that she made quite often.

When I watched my mother make those pork steaks, it was the most puzzling bit of cooking alchemy that I ever witnessed. She used a huge wobbly frying pan that had warped from abuse, so it was impossible for the bottom to heat evenly.

Sometimes the pan was covered, sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes she'd let the liquid cook out, and then she'd add more and cover it again. Sometimes she'd turn the heat off and just let it sit, and then turn it on again later.

It was almost like she had no idea what she wanted to do, or that she had no idea how long it would take to cook properly. But in the end, the dish turned out exactly the same every time. She probably knew what she was doing, but it confused the heck out of me.

Or maybe she was just lucky.

I still love pork shoulder chops, but I don't make them exactly the way mom made them. Hers typically had green peppers, maybe some onion, and they were finished with just a little bit of a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce at the end of cooking. And that's about it. They were simple, but good.

On the other hand, I tend to add extras.

If you think it's unusual to cook with Chardonnay, as far as I'm concerned, you can cook with pretty much any wine that you like - you just need to make sure the flavor of the wine pairs well with the food. And a glass of wine to go along with the meal would be a great idea!

This post is sponsored by Sutter Home, who sent me Chardonnay to work with. Other participating bloggers received other types of wine. Sutter Home also provided the giveaway items.

Shallow-Braised Chardonnay Pork Shoulder Steaks

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pork shoulder steaks
4 stalks celery
1 onion
1 cup Sutter Home chardonnay
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 generous cup bell pepper strips
1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)

Heat the vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a large frying pan with a lid or other wide shallow pan that will easily fit the steaks.

Add the shoulder steaks and brown on both sides.

While the pork shoulder is browning, you should have time to slice the celery into 1/4-inch pieces and to quarter the onion and slice it into a similar thickness.

When the steaks are browned, add the celery, onion, chardonnay, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and paprika, and give it all a little stir.

The shoulder steaks shouldn't be submersed in the liquid, but there should be at least 1/4-inch of liquid in the bottom of the pan. If you have a very large pan, you might need more liquid. Add more wine, or you can add water, if you prefer.

Bring the liquid to a low simmer and cover the pot. Let it simmer slowly for 60 minutes, then add the parsley and bell pepper strips (I used frozen multi-colored pepper strips, but you could core, seed, and slice fresh bell pepper, if you prefer.

Cover the pan and continue cooking on a low simmer for another 15-20 minutes, The pork should be fork-tender. Remove the cover and continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated and thickened to create a sauce.

If you like (and it's what mom did) add a teaspoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of cold water and add it to the pan, Cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens even more and coats the meat and vegetables.

Serve hot. I served it with rice, but it's also good with simple boiled potatoes.

But there's more!

Don't forget to check out the other two bloggers participating in this giveaway to see what they made and what wines they used.

Foodhunter's Guide to Cuisine made Orechietti with Veal, Porcini, and Spinach.
Miss in the Kitchen made a Tex-Mex Cheesy Rice Casserole

Thanks to the nice folks as Sutter Home, we're doing a giveaway of these items - all to one winner!

• Napa Valley Olive Oil    
• Sutter Home Wine Koozie
• Sutter Home Logo Tote
• Napa Valley Cabernet Portobello sauce
• Napa Valley BBQ sauce
• Sutter Home VinoAir
• Napa Valley Peach Salsa
• Napa Valley Garlic Mustard
• 2 Sutter Home Logo Vino
• Capabunga Sutter Home Logo
• 4 Napa Valley Chocolate Bar
• Sutter Home Ahso wine opener
• Sutter Home coaster
• Napa Valley soaps x 2
• Sutter Home Bubbly stopper
• Napa Valley Lotion

The giveaway has ended.

This post, as well as the giveaway, is sponsored by Sutter Home.

Grilled Barbecue and Ham Pizza #Evergriller #sponsored

When I was growing up in the Chicago area, winters meant snow, mittens, freezing cold, and hibernation. When I moved to the Denver(ish) area of Colorado, I found out that winter doesn't necessarily mean "white." It snows here, but most often in the spring than in the dead of winter.

And of course it gets cold, but not as bitter as Chicago winters. And when it's sunny - which it often is - it can be pretty pleasant outside. Not shorts and flip-flops pleasant, but pleasant enough to do some grilling without turning into an icicle.

Yup, if you've got a yen for grilling, the smart thing to do is pick a sunny day, and, well, grill in the sunshine. If you wait until after dark, it feels a lot chillier.

When I got an offer through Clever Girls to work with Kraft on an outdoor, out-of-season grilling recipe, I figured it would be a no-brainer. I love barbecue sauce, and the grill was waiting. They sent along some of their revamped barbecue sauce (which they said features high-quality ingredients like tomatoes, sweet molasses, cider vinegar and cane sugar. And  NO high fructose corn syrup).

I received the Original, Hickory Smoke, and Sweet Honey; the other flavors are Mesquite Smoke (oooh, I need to try that!), Sweet Brown Sugar, Sweet & Spicy, Spicy Honey, and Thick & Spicy.

Besides the sauce, they sent some grilling gear, including an ingenious mitt called the Evergriller Grill 'N' Flip Mitt that has a pocket-like mouth on the front end, so you can insert the handle of your chosen barbecue tool and grab onto it while keeping your hand safe from both the heat of the grill and the chill of winter air. And from the chill of the barbecue tool, if you left it outside in a snowbank, I guess.

Armed with sauce and swag, I tried to decide what to make.

For inspiration, I opened the Hickory Smoke sauce first, because I was curious if I'd like it or not. A lot of hickory-flavored sauces taste fake to me, but this one was pretty darned good. As in, I'll probably buy a whole lot more of it.

I slathered the sauce on chicken wings and baked it onto chicken thighs - got to do some quality control tests, right? I was thinking about buying some ribs for the official test and post, but I thought ribs might be way too simple.

I wanted to do something different. Creative.

Then the idea hit me. Pizza. But not just any pizza. Pizza with HAM.

The idea of combining ham with barbecue sauce came from a sandwich served one of my favorite places in Chicago that served a barbecue ham sandwich. I know it's not traditional, but it's really good.

And I figured that pizza would be a perfect vehicle for my barbecue sauce and ham, because it gave me an excuse to add some melty cheese.

For my crust, I used a flour tortilla, to make a super-thin-super-crunchy crust. I used the smallest ones - labeled "fajita" size - about 5 1/2 inches in diameter. While you could use a larger tortilla for larger pizzas - the burrito size are pretty big - the smaller ones are easier to handle, and you can customize the toppings, if you like. And since these are small, two of them make a nice serving size.

The key to these little pizzas is to prep the tortillas ahead of time, cooking and flipping them on the grill until they've become somewhat crisp. That can be done ahead of time, and then the pizzas can be topped and finished as needed.

Grilled Barbecue and Ham Pizza

For each pizza:
1 flour tortilla, about 5 1/2 inches in diameter
1 tablespoon Kraft Hickory Smoke barbecue sauce
1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) shredded cheese (I used the Kraft Mexican four-cheese blend)
1/2 of a slice of deli ham, torn or sliced

Figure out how many pizzas you're going to need and multiply the ingredients accordingly. You can adjust quantities to taste, but I thought this ratio worked well. Extra tortillas won't go to waste, if you grill them until they're crisp. You can break them up to make crackers, or save them for another day of pizza-making.

Make sure you've got the grill set up with direct heat to pre-cook the tortillas, and indirect heat for finishing the pizzas.

Over direct heat on your grill, cook the tortillas, flipping them regularly so they cook and get grill marks, but they don't burn.

The tortillas are done when you can pick one up and it's rigid rather than floppy. They don't need to be completely solid - just rigid enough to hold their shape.

Remove the tortillas from the grill (if it's freakishly cold out, bring the finished tortillas indoors to prep them.Spread the barbecue sauce on top of each one, almost to the edge. Top with ham and cheese.

Place the pizzas back on the grill over indirect heat and close the lid. Let them cook until the cheese has melted and the ham has warmed - this takes just a minute or two, depending on your grill.

These are nice served with a green salad, but if you want to offer additional toppings on the pizzas themselves, then diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and pickled jalapeno peppers would work well.

About that MITT:

If you're interested in winning your very own Evergriller Grill ‘N’ Flip Mitt, along with a year’s supply of Kraft Barbecue Sauce, go to GrillinFools.com between now and January 30. The winner will be randomly selected at the close of the giveaway.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and provided product samples by Kraft Foods, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Meatloaf! File this one under "not Mom's"

Some of the best inventions came about by accident. And by inventions, I mean food inventions, too.

The microwave oven wasn't intended for cooking food, for example, and the first instance of cooking food probably had more to do with something accidentally burning rather than some primitive ancestor deciding that mammoth tartare was getting boring.

Cornflakes were an accident, and nachos happened because a desperate cook threw together what he had on hand when some late customers wanted something to eat. Caesar salad allegedly was invented in the same way. Cookies were small amounts of cake batter that were cooked to test the cake.

And, allegedly, chocolate chip cookies were an accident as well, although some sources say that's a bit of a fiction.

Yes some good things happen when we step out of our comfort zone, reach into the fridge, and accidentally grab the wrong spice.

This meatloaf isn't quite that accidental, but it wasn't really deliberate, either. I was cooking a recipe from a cookbook, and I used 1/4 pound each of ground beef and pork. But I had bought 1-pound packages. So I had 3/4 pound each of the ground beef and pork.

So ... what could I use that meat for? The weather said, "meatloaf" and I obliged.

My usual meatloaf is all-beef, so the half-and-half pork and beef mix was different. And I usually add cubed or torn bread. But ... I ended up using bread crumbs, because that's what I had.

The bread crumbs themselves were a little unusual. I had made a loaf of bread that included cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and oregano, so that's what the crumbs were made from.

So the bread was definitely different, since I normally use a plain white bread. The tomatoes added specs of red to the meatloaf, and the cheese and oregano added some subtle flavor.

The biggest difference between this loaf and my usual was the texture. My meatloaf is usually fairly chunky and ... not exactly crumbly, but coarsely grained. This one was a lot smoother - more like the lunchmeat style meatloaf that you'd find in the deli.

Definitely a success, and I'm sure I'll make this again. But I'm not going to abandon my mom's old fashioned meatloaf, either. There's room for both.

Not-Mom's Meatloaf

3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork
1 egg
1/2 onions, diced
1/2 - 1 cup bread crumbs*, or as needed
Splash of heavy cream (or milk)
Salt and pepper, to taste (1/2 teaspoon each, if you're unsure)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and have a suitable baking pan standing by.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Your hands are the best tool for this, since the feel of the meatloaf is important. You want a loaf that's not particularly wet or dry. It shouldn't be mushy or sloppy, but it also shouldn't be as dense as ground meat. The texture going into the oven is similar to what you'll get coming out - more cohesive, but similar.

If your meatloaf is too wet, add more breadcrumbs. If it's too dry and dense, add a splash more cream or milk.

Form meat into a loaf. It should hold together well and not sag or collapse.

Place this on a baking pan or lipped baking sheet. I used a glass casserole (reviewed here).

Bake at 350 degrees until the internal temperature reaches at least 180 degrees - this took about 2 hours, but the shape of your loaf, the pan, and your oven will make a difference. Check after an hour to see how far you have to go.

Let the meatloaf rest at least 15 minutes before slicing.

*I used flavored bread crumbs, but plain crumbs are fine. If you're using plain crumbs, you can opt to add some herbs, spices, or other flavorings to the loaf.

Neil Anderson's Bolognese of August from Adventures in Comfort Food

When I agreed to participate in a blog tour for a book with "comfort food" in the title, a number of things came to mind. Pasta with a tomato sauce was high on the list. So when I saw this recipe for bolognese, I knew I had to try it.

This isn't typically how I make tomato sauce for pasta, but then again, I'm not Italian. When I went to the store for supplies, there was no veal to be found except for some tiny chops that cost more than my mortgage. The butcher said they stopped carrying the ground veal because of quality issues.

There was also a celery shortage, but I averted that disaster by buying celery sticks that were cleverly hidden in the prepped-foods area, along with must-haves like pineapple chunks and asparagus packed with lemon slices.

As for the veal, there was nothing I could do except buy something else. I briefly pondered using ground turkey or chicken, but then decided to use beef. So that's what I used here. If you can find veal, then by all means, use it. But beef worked just fine, if that's holding you back.

The one thing I quibble with here is the serving size. This might feed 3-4 people if they're all teenagers or athletes, but around here a half-pound box of dry pasta is good for 4-6 servings. Then again, we probably don't eat as much as the average person. So take my thoughts with a grain or two of salt.

The intro to the recipe said:
Neil Anderson was the second chef I ever hired. He came into the restaurant one day, turned to the waitress and said, “I want to work here.” We took him on. During Neil’s first summer, I told him we were going to make Bolognese sauce.

“Right," said Neil. "We are making Bolognese, and you are going to go sweat over it." He was not incorrect that heavy, long-cooked meat sauces are not entirely appropriate for the dog days, but I am contrary. Neil is now a professor of languages somewhere, and every summer we make this out of season in his honor.

This is our version of a traditional Bolognese: a meat sauce flavored with a bit of  tomato. It is not the red sauce with meat that sometimes gets called by the same name. Through long cooking, the meats gain a velvety texture and a flavor so addictive that you won’t be able to stop eating it, no matter what the weather.

Look for more bloggers posting more recipes from the book, including: FAB Bowl of Meet, Steak Bomb, Wontons from Space  Deconstructed Nachos,  Woo-Tang Clam, Fish Hash,  Vacation in your Mouth, Jerry Fries, and Steak House.

Did I mention that some of the recipe names are quirky? Why, yes they are.

Neil Anderson’s Bolognese of August
Recipe from Adventures in Comfort Food: Incredible, Delicious and New Recipes
Used with permission. All rights reserved.Serves 3 to 4

1/2 cup/120 ml olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 onion, sliced
1 rib celery, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup/60 g carrot, cut into medium dice
4 oz/113 g ground veal
4 oz/113 g ground pork
1 (28 oz/794 g) can tomatoes
2 tbsp/33 g tomato paste
1/2 cup/118 ml heavy cream
1 lb/454 g dried rigatoni pasta, cooked

Place a 4-quart/4 L nonreactive pot over medium-high heat. Heat the olive oil and add the garlic; fry until the cloves are almost golden, 4 minutes. Add the fennel seeds, count to 3, and drop in the onion, celery and carrot. Sweat the vegetables in the olive oil until they are sweet and the garlic is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the veal and pork, breaking up with a spoon to distribute the meat and vegetables as evenly as you can (you’ll mash it later).

When the meat is cooked (it should take 10 to 12 minutes) add the tomatoes, tomato paste and 1/2 cup/118 ml of water. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for at least an hour, preferably 2. Mash with a potato masher to break everything up until it looks like a sauce.

Add the cream. If you’ll be storing the sauce, wait to add the cream until reheating.

For this dish, I prefer boxed rigatoni (not homemade noodles). Add the cooked noodles to the pot of sauce and stir carefully so that you don’t break any noodles.

Distribute onto plates, pour some red wine and eat.

Chef’s Tip: For foolproof seasoning: Remove a small amount of the sauce and add some salt and pepper until it tastes perfect. Using this as a guide, add salt and pepper by small amounts to the pot until it matches the sample.

Recipe by Kerry Altiero and Katherine Gaudet from Adventures in Comfort Food: Incredible, Delicious and New Recipes from a Unique, Small-Town Restaurant. Printed with permission of Page St. Publishing.

I received the book from the publisher for the purpose of this book tour.

A couple notes on this recipe:

This recipe has a lot of oil - there's 1/2 cup at the beginning, along with the fat from the meats you use. If you're bothered by that amount of fat, the easy way to get rid of it is to refrigerate the finished sauce. The fat will rise to the top and harden a bit, so you can remove as much as you like. Leave at least a little - there's flavor in fat. I left it as is, and once the cream and pasta were added, it just sort of disappeared.

I was a little concerned about the whole garlic cloves - I didn't like the idea of someone eating a whole clove with their pasta, so I hunted them down in the finished sauce and made sure they were smashed. If I make this again, I might dice or slice the garlic thinly rather than leaving it whole. Maybe.

The admonishment about not adding the cream if you're going to reheat has to do with the possibility that the cream could curdle. I have the same problem with a tomato soup I make. The solution is to heat the sauce slowly and gently, and never let it boil. If it does boil, you're doomed. The cream is probably going to curdle. It's still edible, but it's not pretty and it the texture is grainy.

So, if you make the sauce ahead, or if you have leftovers, heat gently to warm it, but don't boil it, and you should be fine.