Another day, another Friday, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you’ve had a terrific week. While we’ve not quite got the spring temperatures we’ve all been hoping for here in the Northeast, the sun has been shining and not setting ‘til way past 7pm. So, that means we’re moving cooking to the great outdoors!
We recently picked up an outdoor stove top to compliment the ol’ Traeger. Makes searing much easier than lighting up a wood fire, and also is nice for cooking fish or other lingering odors out of the house. Purists may guffaw, but we do live in the future now — propane is a breeze! And sure, we could have gotten a grill, but that seemed a little redundant.
I’ve been on a bit of a pork heavy kick the last couple dispatches, so why stop now. We’re making pork souvlaki — kinda. I say kinda because technically souvlaki means “skewer,” and if you cook this as written, you’re not really skewering anything. Whatever — if you want to be technically correct, thread your pork onto bamboo or metal skewers and cook them over a live fire (or just on the grill).
Anyway, here we go!
Find yourself a big cut of pork — shoulder is ideal, butt will work, and country ribs are too. With a very sharp knife, cut the meat into 1-inch cubes and place in a big bowl. Douse the meat in olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano and let it marinate for at least an hour and ideally overnight.
Heat a large cast iron pan (or, as mentioned above, your grill) until it’s very hot, and then drop the pork right in. Let the pieces crisp up, fat render, and pork cook through to your liking. Serve with pita, tzatziki sauce, chopped lettuce, and whatever veggies you desire.
*On our honeymoon, Mrs. CWD and I took a cooking class with an old Greek yia-yia. Here’s her recipe for tzatziki sauce: Into a sieve, grate one cucumber and press out as much liquid as you can. Finely dice or grate a few cloves of garlic. Add all this to a cup of Greek yogurt, add a splash of wine vinegar or lemon, mix thoroughly, and season with salt to taste. Finish with your choice of dill or mint.
There you have it — dinner al fresco! Enjoy the weekend and see you next week.