A little pulled pork and chicken job

Just finished up from my catering gig today. Pulled pork and pulled chicken for meats and a few sides. Nothing fancy, but, the client is a start-up tech company, with everyone working in the very cheap (the dark side of tech, nobody making more than $30,000). So, figured they would want meat a nice meal.


My office for the night. Was working in a kitchen that I actually helped to layout and it was rather a fun thing to do. All it needs is a real smoker and they would have a hard time getting rid of me.

End of summer, so the produce here is rocking, I figure it's best not to get in it's way, so just a little bit of cookery.


A tomato and corn salad. The corn was lightly grilled over lump, no smoke as I wanted high heat and a very fast cook. Just looking to convert the sugars a bit. Tomatoes and Mayan Sweet onions, just a light vinaigrette to pull it all together.


The Apple-Wasabi coleslaw, which I ended up having to use my very expensive real Japanese wasabi, because the cheap stuff I wanted to use up had lost it's kick :tsk: Still, it was well worth it. This does have a small amount of mayonnaise, but, was really meant to be tart and zingy. It was actually really good on the pork. Really good.


Macaroni and Cheese, and it is gluten free. I decided to experiment, because, hey, when you are getting paid to cook for someone, why not do stuff you have never done before. Even the roux was made without any wheat flour. And it was not detectably different. In fact, it was really quite delicious.


The starts of the show, pulled pork and pulled chicken. This pork was outstanding, and yes, even though I am really farking humble, this was a great effort. Moist, tender, perfect pulled pork. I provided my own red sauce, as well as Melvin's Mustard, and The Rub Company Southern Smoke. Not a whole lot of sauce was used, the pork was that good. Nothing more than Kosher salt. black pepper, granulated garlic and onion, and some turbinado sugar. The chicken was injected with a butter and olive oil mix, which was seasoned with Ted and Barney's H3, a little star anise and white pepper. The chicken was moist and very tender. Smoked just right for pulling. I did use whole chickens, I prefer the mixed texture of the white and dark meat.

No, I will get money, I like money

There's all kinds of brands of wasabi. I just look at the cans of powder looking for the one with real wasabi and not just horseradish. Out here, I can find pure powdered wasabi sometimes, but, not always

I'll post the recipe here, I got no secrets. At least, none that I have written about. :shock:

Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese:
1/2 cup Gluten free flour mix (I used King Arthur, see note below)
1/4+ cup Olive oil
1 cup milk, warmed
1/8 cup sherry
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 cup finely diced onion, really finely diced
3 cloves garlic, really finely diced
1/2 teaspoon fine grind white pepper (see note 2 below)
4 ounces grated Cheddar cheese
4 ounces grated Jack cheese
2 ounces grated Mozzarella cheese
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
36 ounces dry gluten free pasta, boil to al dente (see note 3 below)

1. Combine milk and sherry, reserve vinegar, all should be warm to the touch

2. Saute the onions and garlic in a little bit of oil, using a non-stick pan if you can. Things will get a little gummy. Using the same pan, add in the olive oil, and flour mix, this will make a roux, cook until thickened.

3. Add all liquids to roux and stir to combine, this will take a few minutes, things will get gummier here. It turns out Gluten free flour really gets gummy. Add the Cheddar and Jack cheeses and combine.

4. In baking dish, place cooked pasta and glop sauce over it. You will need to combine these sauce with the pasta with some manipulation, as it tightens up a lot. Mix thoroughly.

5. Bake, covered, in a 325°F oven for 30 minutes. Spread Parmesan cheese over the top, and broil until it looks good. You could mix some gluten free bread crumbs with the Parmesan for a better crust.

Notes:
1. There are many gluten free flour blends, one could even just use potato starch, which will work fine. I find that the gluten-free flour blends have a nice tendency to work just like regular flour.

2. You could use black pepper, but, it makes for small black flecks. White pepper just looks better.

3. I use Tinkyada, it is really good pasta, and happens to be gluten-free. Always cooks up right.

4. you will probably want to grate your own cheese, as some pre-grated cheese are not gluten-free. That is not really ever clearly discusses on the package.

5. In case you're wondering, the sherry and vinegar are to brighten the flavor of the cheese, I find that it makes the dish taste a lot better to have a little acid and alcohol in the sauce.