Bear-Sitters' Dinner

There are very few words that properly describe my appreciation to our lovely group of Bear-sitters. Our friends volunteered to rotate through the house, keeping Bear at home and in his routine. He was happily hanging out with his aunts and uncles and we didn't worry about him staying with a stranger or in a kennel.

As a small token of thanks, we invited everyone over to try out a couple of recipes from the Penzeys One magazine. When I subscribed in-store, the cashier said I could have a copy of the current issue.

One of their ingredients of focus was honey, so D. wanted to try their pulled pork sandwiches and the Scotcheroos. I thought cornbread would pair well with the pork sandwiches, so we added corn muffins.

Honey Barbecue Sandwiches
(Sourced from Penzeys One, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2008)

Pork:
6 lbs. pork (pork butt or chuck roast work well)
1 1/2 cups water

Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Hot Sauce)
1 cup classic Coke
1 cup honey
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. aleppo pepper (paprika is an acceptable substitute)
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Tools:
Crockpot
Medium-sized saucepan

Place pork and water in crockpot and cook on high until meat falls off the bone, approximately 5 hours. Discard bones and juice/fat in pot. Pull meat with forks or, alternately, cut into smaller pieces and place in stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, gently stir meat pieces until they shred. Place meat back into crock pot. Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan and heat on low while stirring thoroughly. Once warm, pour sauce over meat, stir, and heat for 30 minutes. Serve on French rolls. (Note: the photo has the pork served on crusty French bread, which is a little too porous)

Cornbread recipe can be found here. Two changes: adding corn kernels to the batter and baking it in a muffin tin. Grease muffin tin liberally. Reserve two tablespoons of the 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Drain one can of whole corn kernels and mix with flour to keep them from sinking. Mix into batter, scoop into the unlined tin, and bake for about 18 minutes.

As for the Scotcheroos, they were so good that I forgot to take a picture. They're a great take on Rice Krispy treats.

Scotcheroos
(Sourced from Penzeys One, Volume 3, Issue 1, 2008)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup (it doesn't matter if it's light or dark... I used dark)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Tools:
9x13 inch pan
Medium-sized saucepan

Grease pan. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and honey in saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir frequently until mixture begins to bubble (roughly 5 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in peanut butter and vanilla, and mix well. Add cereal and combined thoroughly. Grease hands very lightly and press mixture into pan. Melt chips together in microwave, heating at 70% power in 30 second intervals. Stir between each interval until all of the chips are melted and combined. Pour over cereal mixture. Cool, then cut into pieces and serve.

With the holiday weekend coming up, these dishes are quick and require very little face-time with an oven, which is a plus if the weather is a blazing inferno. Happy 4th of July!