Pulled Pork, Instnat Pot, and Why Cooking is Helpful

For the first time yesterday I made a true pulled pork for the game. The Instant Pot did a perfect job of this by the way, so those that own it I followed Bob Warden's Great Food Fast recipe and it was better than most restaurants! But, holy yikes I guess I never realized just how much fat is in the pork used for that. I am not a meat person by any means, and this uses a Boston Butt cut. Just learned that is bacon that is uncured. No wonder it is so good. I was shocked at how much fat cooked off when browning, and of course you don't strain that off or anything during the prep sequence. So I love pulled pork, but sometimes just reading the nutritional stats on something doesn't really connect with what you are actually eating, so hence the cooking is helpful part of the title. Is there dishes out there that you were surprised at how icky it is during prep due to stealth nutrition issues that may not be so obvious when you eat it in a restaurant or simply have it prepared for you?

I made baby back ribs in the IP yesterday.  They were sooooooo good!!  It was nice seeing all the fat at the bottom of the pot that dripped off and knowing we weren't eating it.

I loved hummus but I think a serving was 1 tablespoon and only had a gram or so of protein.  I made an edamame hummus that for 1/2 cup has 9 grams of protein and because I used chicken broth and no oil, it had no fat.  Mom loved it!   (cooked the edamame in the IP!!)  

Oooh, that sounds really good! Willing to share the recipe? :)

I would love the recipe too- I might assume that one just finds the beans and cooks them, well like dried beans. Then grind and season like hummus?

I had a bag of edamame in the freezer from trader Joes.  the directions said to boil in 4 cups of water for 5 mins so I threw them in the IP for 5 mins to make them mushy.  Then I used typical hummus stuff: Garlic, salt, fresh lemon juice and I use chicken broth/stock (whatever I have on hand) in place of oil and tahini.  I also had some cherry tomatoes I needed to use so I threw those in too.  It looked like guacamole!   (I also made some almond meal crackers)

Fantastic! I love hummus, but the high calories don't love me back. I am picking some of this up next trip to Trader Joes. Thank you for posting!

Cooking meat in general has been shocking. I actually had to trim fat off for my pot roast and let's just say...that was gross. I don't like any fat on my meat but now that I'm cooking more...I have to deal with it a little. 

I know right? It is so gross to me. I was quite pleased with myself for not being a total pansy about rubbing the dry rub on the meat and slicing it into slabs. ugh. 

The amount of fat hidden in red meats even after you trim the visible fat is one of the reasons I try (and sometimes even succeed!) in limiting red meat in my diet. Even chicken has quite a lot of fat compared to seafood, egg whites, tofu, and beans. 

And after that little lecture, I'm here to tell you I just downloaded Warden's "Great Food Fast" book onto my Kindle and plan to make pulled pork in the Instant Pot this summer for my husband and friends, who absolutely love it. And don't worry, I'll have a bit too! 

Thanks for the tip, happyteacher.

psychoticparrot

happyteacher wrote: "Is there dishes out there that you were surprised at how icky it is during prep due to stealth nutrition issues that may not be so obvious when you eat it in a restaurant or simply have it prepared for you?"

No, from years of calorie-counting, I pretty much know how much fat and calories are in just about anything, even in restaurant meals that I would never make at home. I read in one of Bourdain's books recently that nearly all restaurants, even the good ones, ladle on the fat, which confirmed what I already knew. I think that's why my husband prefers to eat out, while I prefer to eat what I prepare at home.

I'm not sure but I think the Boston butt cut comes from the shoulder. Pork belly is what bacon is made from (not that there isn't plenty of fat in a shoulder cut!). My daughter-in-law made a brined, herbed, rolled-and-tied pork belly roast (lechon) for Christmas this year. It was delicious, but it was very rich. I could only eat a small amount of it. Predictably, my son and husband fell head-over-heels in love with it, so I expect it may appear on the table pretty often when we visit. Plus, my husband wants me to learn how to make it too! That darn, delicious Philippine food!

psychoticparrot