Good Eating - Low Cost - If you see a bargain take advantage of it.

A Great Price on Pork Shoulder Is Always Good

When we are out grocery shopping I keep an eye open for bargains. Recently we were at Coles Supermarket, near our house.
We were just getting some milk and eggs, but I normally take a look at the meat section to see if there is something on sale.

There was. They had pork shoulder on sale for $6.50 a kg. 
Last week I bought some to make Pork Jambalaya, and paid $10.00 a kg.  A real bargain if you have a use for it.

And I Had a Use For It

It was cryovaced and had a use by date over 2 weeks away.

Pork shoulder makes a nice pulled pork.

Smoking it in your BBQ or smoker is the best, but if you don't have the time and want to take advantage of the sale; consider cooking it your slow cooker.  It does a surprisingly good pulled pork.
Put it on low before you go to work and when you get home you have the makings of a good meal.

Helen suggested cooking it with just a basic pork rub and not not putting a sauce on it.
Her idea was to portion it out into a few containers and have different meals with it. She figured we could add the appropriate sauce when we made the meal.

Cooking Just

About  Finished 

First Day Was 

BBQ-Pulled Pork
Sandwich

Helen 

Doesn't Like Coleslaw

On Her Sandwich

Grandpa
Does

But We Both

Like Slaw

On The Side 

Future Meals From The Same Batch

Will Be

• Burritos with the pork mixed with Mexican spices, along with black beans and rice.
• Toasted pulled pork and cheese sandwiches with a side of slaw.
• Cajun Spiced Pork in a roux gravy over rice.

Make American Chilli Powder - It Is Very Different Than the Australian Kind

You see a great  looking recipe for some Mexican or other spicy food on an American Food Site or cookbook.

• You cook it. It looks great.
• The aroma has you shouting, Olé!
• You put it on a plate; anxious to taste it.
• You take that glorious first bit.
• Suddenly you let out a small gasp and yell out “don’t eat it”.

What the heck happened?

I’ll tell you what happened; you used Australian chilli powder in an American recipe.

No, we don’t have hotter chillies, than the Americans, we just make our chilli powder differently.

Australian powder is usually dried and ground chilli. I may be one type of chilli or it may be a blend, but it is all chilli and hot.

In the United States, if it is called, chilli powder it is normally a blend of chilli and other seasonings.
A cup of Aussie chilli has a cup of chilli. A cup of US chilli might a teaspoon in it. The rest will be complimentary spices that give a nice flavour but not much heat.

The advantage to the US method is that the spices do go together and form a good flavour, plus when you make a Tex-Mex meal you have the complete spice all in one container.

In Australia we can buy Mexican Chilli Powder. It is similar to the US kind, but it cost over $3.00 for 30 g (or $100.00 a kilo), and you can't control the different flavors in it.

It is far better to buy cayenne and the other spices and make your own. It is easy to make and will have a better, heartier taste.

The recipe I am going to share will give you a mild chilli powder. If you want it hotter you can just add more cayenne. You can also adjust the other spices to suit your taste.
If I am serving to guest I normally use the mild in the cooking and have some additional spice on the table.

List of ingredients to use and suggested amounts

• 12 teaspoons sweet paprika (might just be called paprika, or Hungarian paprika)
• 6 teaspoons dried oregano
• 6 teaspoons ground cumin
• 6 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 3 teaspoons granulated onion
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Some Suggested Uses for Grandpa's American Chilli Powder: general spice for Mexican cooking, taco and burrito seasoning, sprinkle on nachos, sprinkle on hamburgers before cooking them - this will give them a good Mexican taste, dust on chicken wings and cook in the oven, or on the bbq, flavour Mexican Beans. 

Australian Cooking Problem Solved! Preparing US Recipes When You Live in Australia

You cook, what looks like a great recipe and it is a total flop. Finding recipes on the internet is a great way to try different things, but sometime a recipe that gets rave reviews taste like garbage; when you cook it.

• The food pictures and food videos, caused you to drool.
• The ingredients sounded like all the things you like.
• You followed the directions exactly.
• Still, the meal was so bad you had to order a pizza to feed your family.

 Inaccurate measurements may be the culprit.  A US measuring cup and Australia measuring cup are pretty close in volume. Not exact, but will work in most recipes, but measuring spoons are a different story.

To Add to The Confusion

Both countries share the same size Teaspoon. They both hold 5ml but when we get to the Tablespoon the problem starts. 

A Tablespoon, isn’t always a Tablespoon

          On the other hand, anAustralian Tablespoon holds 20ml, 

          an American one, only 15ml. 

So if an American recipe calls for a tablespoon of vinegar and you use an Australia Tablespoon you are going to be puckering some lips. Of course if you are measuring chocolate you will probably be forgiven. 

There is a solution

       If you are cooking an American Recipe, but measuring 
       with an Australian measuring spoons use 3 teaspoons in
       place of a tablespoon. 

You might want to watch this video for a more thorough explanation