Search
Feb
7
Pre-gaming with Spotted Salamander.
Filed Under Uncategorized
The All-Local Farmers’ Market is one of the best places in town to recover from a big night out. Yesterday morning, post-dinner at MoMo’s and Tiptons show, the Shop Tart was in desperate need of such help. Gervais and Vine’s vegetable scrambled eggs and sausage gravy doused with Palmetto Pepper Potions’ Trenholm Venom came to her rescue. On the mend, the Shop Tart made her way around the market. Although she missed out on Spotted Salamander’s house-made marshmallows, she did get to taste their pork mole nachos. Ding dang, that is some serious Super Bowl fare.
To quote her brother in law, “Are you ready for some football?” He is from Maine and has been bracing himself for some football for quite some time now. (And the Shop Tart appreciates his effort to embrace such foreign traditions as Super Bowl parties with his wife’s southern family. Mr. Shop Tart also struggled with and conquered his aversion to football. Well, the American type. As a child of European parents, he’s all over futbol. Or whatever.) So, are you ready?
You can be with Spotted Salamander’s most excellent nacho recipe. Seriously, these are amazing. The Shop Tart has never been a fan of chocolate-based mole sauce, but Brad Weeks of Spotted Salamander explained that the key to a good mole was balancing the cocoa powder with cinnamon so the dish doesn’t taste weird and chocolatey.
Spotted Salamander Pork Mole Nachos
Start with one package of local Caw Caw Creek pork shoulder. (If you can’t get that right this second, a pound to a pound and a half of sto’ bought pork shoulder will suffice.)
Sear the pork with salt and pepper in an oven-proof pan, one to two minutes on each side. Remove the meat.
To the empty pan, add one cup salsa, one cup chopped tomatoes, one cup chicken broth and half a sweet onion, chopped. Sauté for five minutes.
Add one teaspoon each cocoa powder, cinnamon and garlic powder. Sauté for ten more minutes.
Return pork to pan and cover. Roast at 350° for one hour.
Once the meat is fork tender, chop it and put it in a bowl, pouring the sauce over the top to taste. It should have the texture and appearance of a typical southern pulled pork. You should only need about half the sauce.
Serve it as a dip topped with plenty of shredded cheddar from Happy Cow Creamery, available at the All-Local Market or Rosewood Market. If you don’t want television viewing to be obstructed by individual dippers, you could always spoon it over a tray of tortilla chips, top with shredded cheddar and put it back in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.
Tips:
- According to Brad, the recipe makes enough sauce to do this twice. Freeze half of it and cut your cooking time for next time.
- The Shop Tart is lazy and would use a can of tomatoes instead of fresh, drained of course. She might also use Rotel, because she likes it spicy.
- Also? She would use that chicken broth in a box, also available at Rosewood Market.
- Feeling super lazy? Ain’t nothing wrong with buying pre-shredded cheddar.
- One more thing - and the Shop Tart sincerely hopes Brad is not reading this - if you want to make this super easy, consider searing the steaks and onion and throwing all ingredients into a Reynolds oven bag, cooking for the time recommended in the package insert. In the Shop Tart’s experience, meat cooked in a Reynold’s oven bag doesn’t look pretty, but comes out nice and tender. The bags are perfect for preparing pulled pork or chicken, which is not meant to be pretty.
Happy Football and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
P.S. Check out Otis Taylor’s great story in the State today about Terra. Go, Chef Mike! Go, Howard! Go, Terra! Watch out, James Beard House. Prepare to be amazed!
Email this • Share on Facebook
Comments
2 Responses to “Pre-gaming with Spotted Salamander.”
Leave a Reply
-
The Shop Tart Loves...
I’m ready for some FOOTBALL — mainly just the eating part.
The only kind of football worth considering has a marching band playing at half-time, and, ideally people you know in the stands.
I do, however, heartily endorse Reynolds Cooking Bags. I love them for turkey—you aren’t supposed to eat the skin anyway, and the meat comes out sooooo juicy–no work, no mess….