After a full year (plus a little bit) I am finally doing my first giveaway.  YAY!!!!!!  I’ll get to that in a minute, but rest assured…it’s a really cool package and it’s pork related because this post is about pork butt and butt paste (not of the diaper variety).  The package comes from the great people at the National Pork Board.

So I started this little blog over a year ago and have had an absolute blast writing it and meeting new people because of it.  I’ve also greatly expanded my cooking horizons.  (Quasi boring stuff here…) I started it because my internet consulting business saw a dramatic decrease in the number of clients and I had some free time that needed filling.  I have other sites, but I had more time available than those sites required, so My Man’s Belly was born (well, my man’s belly just started seeing his inputs being documented for the world – lol).

But I’ve always cooked (save for that 3 years that I was traveling 90% of the time) and love doing it.  So this was a way that I could share my recipes, since my friends and family kept asking me for them, and get to explore more of my creativity through cooking and writing.

Enough sentimentality….Back in the colder months, I wrote a post about braised pork butt.  I did a low slow braise and the headline read “Give Your Man the Butt.“  There’s that ‘creativity’ again, and I then began with the recipes and relationship advice.  Now it’s summer and it’s to darn hot to be cranking up the oven for several hours but a pork butt makes for some great picnic food.  This is where your crock pot or slow cooker comes in handy.  That little wonder can go all day and not heat up your entire kitchen to hell fire levels (and since the summer weather already does that…why add to the heat?).  And did you get that it cooks all day?  While you’re at work? So when you come home you’ve got the biggest part of dinner done?  Nice huh?

This little piggie butt was destined for a picnic.  I wanted to cook the meat in advance and have it ready for the next days festivities. (Get all the heavy lifting out of the way.)  Instead of using a dry rub, I made a butt paste.  No, this is not a diaper rash thing or something even remotely erotic (unless you like things that burn and this is not the place for you…so you should probably leave now).  I put together a dry rub then added an ingredient to wet it down to make it more paste-like, so it’s thick, not thin like a marinade.  My secret ingredient….peach preserves.  Is there anything better than the combo of roasted peaches and pork?  I think not.  (Okay, yes, BBQ sauce is pretty good with the pig too.)

So…the giveaway.  The National Pork Board has put together a really cool package for me to give away to one of my lucky readers.  It includes: a bundle of brochures with tons of pork recipes (natch), a jar of butt rub (not my recipe but one that I use and also works really well with the peach preserves), an amazing set of BBQ tools in a cool carrying pouch, a pork apron and a grocery store gift card for the grocer of your choice (to buy whatever you’d like…but it would definitely come in handy to pick up a nice pork butt and all the fixin’s).  This contest is valid for anyone living the 50 United States.

Relationship Advice

Believe it or not, I’m pretty much speechless with this one.  I mean, I’ve got Pork…and Butt…and Butt Paste…and FREE.  Even I don’t think I can top that.

But on a serious note, if you’d like to win the National Pork Board package, just leave me a comment.  I’m using RANDOM.ORG to pick the winner.  If you are chosen as the winner, I will send you an e-mail asking for your address and 3 local grocery stores (so make sure you’re e-mail address is on the form when you comment).  The winner will be chosen and notified on Friday July 30, 2010.

CONGRATULATIONS to our winner….Diane!  I can’t wait to see what you create with your gift packages.

Makes enough butt paste to cover a 3 1/2 pound pork butt

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 Pound Pork Butt
• 2 Medium Onions (sliced thin)
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Dried Thyme
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Hot Paprika
• 2 Teaspoons Sweet Paprika
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
• 2 Tablespoons Peach Preserves

Directions

In a small (microwave safe) bowl combine dry seasonings and spices.

Stir to combine thoroughly.

Add the peach preserves to dry ingredients.

Mix until a thick paste forms.  (If ingredients aren’t blending well, put the bowl into the microwave for 5 – 10 seconds.)

Slide the pork butt into a large plastic bag or sealable container.

Rub the paste all over the pork butt.  Make sure that all surfaces of the pork are covered.

Close the bag or seal the container and refrigerate overnight.

Add sliced onions to the crock pot/slow cooker.

Remove the pork butt from the bag or container and lay on top of the onions.

Cover and set the crock pot/slow cooker to the LOW setting.

Let cook, undisturbed for 8 hours.

At this point, the meat is done.  Shred and serve.  Or, you can let it cool and refrigerate overnight.  Then shred, and serve cold or re-heated.

Tags: butt paste, crock pot, Easy Cooking, Easy Recipe, Easy Recipes, gluten free recipe, Healthy Cooking, Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipes, Main Course, national pork board, picnic food, pork butt, Pork Recipe, Relationship Advice, slow cooker, slow roasted pork

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Making it a Date Night

If you’ve been reading My Man’s Belly for any amount of time, you know that I am a huge proponent for having a weekly date night – regardless of what is going on in your life.  These special hours (even if it’s only 1 or 2) are what can keep you sane in an otherwise moronic and chaotic world.  They also help you to grow together, as opposed to growing apart over time.

This week I had the opportunity to meet with the ultimate embodiment of the date night – Suzanne Phifer-Pavitt.  Suzanne and her husband Shane are the proud parents of 2 incredibly sweet boys and Phifer-Pavitt wines.  Yes, I also got to meet the future proprietors of Phifer-Pavitt wines, and I believe the winery will be in good hands as the boys have an exquisite food palate which includes items like Emmental cheese, fried lemon slices and calamari – it isn’t hot dogs and Lunchables these boys like to eat.

Suzanne and her husband Shane have been having their weekly date nights for more than 10 years.  The tradition started as a way to keep their long distance relationship going.  Since they both traveled extensively, they would carve out a trip that would put them in the same city at the same time and have a date night.  Four months later, they were married.

Their date nights allowed them to have discussions that the normal day to day conversations couldn’t allow time for…their hopes and dreams.  On a particular date night they challenged each other to think about what their ultimate vocation and life would be if there were no restrictions like time or money.  So was born the goal of owning and operating their own winery.  Not long after that they looked at a property, went out for dinner (yep, it was date night) and decided to go for it.  They wrote up their offer on the back of a paper menu, from the restaurant, and faxed it over for approval – it was approved.  Fast forward 8 years and they have released two vintages of their Date Night Cabernet, with a third on the way.  (Are you dizzy from the whirlwind yet?)

Suzanne is a Southern woman through and through and her generous spirit and enthusiasm is highly contagious.  When I arrived at the restaurant, Suzanne already had two glasses of 2006 Date Night poured for us.  (Yes, date night decisions and the tradition of date night is so important to Suzanne and Shane that they named their Cabernet Sauvignon – Date Night.)  But the glasses would have to wait.  We got to talking so much, that we didn’t even start into our wines until a good hour plus after we sat down (anyone who knows me knows that it’s got to be some conversation for me not to dive right in when it comes to tasting a new wine – my other hobby (aside from cooking) is wine).

While I could go on and wax poetic about bouquet and tannins and body, in this case I’m just going to be very frank.  There are a lot of fruit flavors in this wine so it’s a wine that most people will like.  It’s not super dry like some Cabernet’s can be.  It can be consumed with or without food.  Also, the grapes that go into their wines are grown organically.  For you wine enthusiasts out there….the 2006 vintage of Phifer-Pavitt Date Night Cabernet received 93 points from Wine Spectator.  It can be consumed now or cellared for another 7 years.  It’s made up of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot.

We eventually had the wine with some feta stuffed, prosciutto wrapped roasted figs and some meatballs.  The wine paired really nicely with both of the dishes.  Although we both preferred the wine much more than the food that was brought out (more on that in a bit ).  Suzanne and I talked more about what makes a perfect date night.  Because of her busy schedule, she says that now they find themselves calling a babysitter to watch the boys and they take a bottle of wine and some food out to their guest house and simply retreat there for a couple of hours.  It allows her and Shane to get caught up with one another and just be a couple rather than business owners, executives, parents and any other new titles they may have acquired during the week.  I relayed that Craig and I do something similar.  We’ll cook something together, sit down to eat and not talk about anything work related during that time.  Both of us find this allows us to renew and re-charge.

Suzanne gave me the remaining Date Night to take home and to share with Craig.  So I decided to make my own version of the prosciutto wrapped figs, which tasted much better with the wine.

Relationship Advice

Take the time to make a date night once a week.  Even if you just take a walk around the block together – make time for your relationship.  If the story of the creation of Phifer-Pavitt and Date Night Cabernet doesn’t prove to you the power of togetherness and date night’s, nothing will.

Makes 9 – 12  figs

Ingredients

• 9 Fresh Figs (I used Mission Figs)
• 1/4 Cup Walnuts
• 1/2 Cup Goat Cheese
• 1 3 Ounce Package of Prosciutto
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• Honey
• Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

Heat grill to 300 – 400 degrees Farenheit.

In a small saute pan add walnut pieces and toast over medium heat.  Nuts are done when the skins turn slightly darker brown and start to smell nutty.

Remove from heat, let cool and chop into small pieces.

In a small bowl combine goat cheese and walnut pieces.  Stir to thoroughly combine.

Wash and pat dry figs.

Cut a slit into one side of each of the figs.  Only cut on the body of the fig and do not cut all the way through.

Pinch the figs so that the slit you just cut pops open slightly.

Scoop about a teaspoon of the goat cheese walnut mixture and roll into a ball.  Insert the ball into the opening of a fig.  Close the sides of the fig gently around the cheese (you will not be able to completely close the gap and that’s fine).  Continue with remaining figs.

You may have some of the cheese mixture left over.  Cover and use it in salads.

Remove the slices of prosciutto from the package and stack them on top of each other.

With a sharp knife, cut the pieces in half lengthwise.

Take one slice of prosciutto and wrap it around one of the figs.  Make sure to cover the exposed cheese as much as possible.  Continue with remaining figs and prosciutto.  Extra pieces of prosciutto can be used for more coverage, if needed or re-wrapped and used later.

Lightly brush each fig with olive oil.

Place each fig, bottom side down onto the grill and cook for 2 minutes.

Turn figs on to their sides and cook for 1 minute.  Keep turning figs and cooking until all sides are golden brown.

When desired level of browning has been achieved, remove from grill.

Plate up the figs and drizzle with honey and balsamic vinegar (or balsamic vinegar reduction).

Phifer-Pavitt Date Night Cabernet is available direct through the winery.

Tags: Appetizer Recipes, Easy Cooking, Easy Recipe, Easy Recipes, gluten free recipe, gluten free recipes, Goat Cheese Stuffed Grilled Figs, Grilled Figs, long distance relationship, Prosciutto Wrapped Figs, Relationship Advice, Vegetarian Recipes

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