Comments on The Morning News

Let me know when you make that pork shoulder and I'll come help you eat it. I'll even help with the injections!

The Stranger should throw a party and serve the pork shoulder. It probably feeds 40 people.

Also, I love that Huckabee doesn't like mini skirts or burkas. Where is the line? You can't have it both ways.

Of course it's Hamas that takes over the building and not Fatah taking over a Hamas building.

Mini skirts = no good. Banana hammock = A-ok

This man should never give any fashion advice. Ever.

Oh Libby...my poor stud!

Huckabee: "I want people to be attracted to me because they find me interesting".

Sorry, it's not working.

Ouch.

There used to be a band called PORK in Austin about 10 years ago, husker du?

I think they called it quits when Dana married and spawned with Alejandro Escovedo. I hope she's doin well. She visited our house when she dated my brother during his art school days. Nice lady- she patiently sat there ironically while I played my teen version of Bridge Over Trouble Water. Anyway, I made it up to her at the Croc many years later, buying PORK a round of Maker's Mark.

Thanks for the recipe! I'll think have me some BBQ for breakfast!

I have a nice American way to solve the Hamas/Fatah problem. Palestine Idol! Where they decide! You could have Simon critique them, and Seacrest as the mediator...

"If you want Hamas to represent you, please call 1-888-555-3801. Phone lines open after the show, so keep calling! You can also text your vote to..."

Why bother using kosher salt in a pork dish?

Pat is right about this immigration bill. How many neato capital hill lefties are trecking off to live down on Martin Luther King Way for the sake of proving they are not racists?

Answer: None

ecce homo-
we don't want the CH lefties down here on the notsofar-south end. and if they do come, be prepared for a slow indoctrination (at least that's been my experience as a u-district-cum-east coast lefty, oh gawd, i think i'm 'right?!' these days). there's a nice group people here as it is. if anything, we'd like more skyway, rainier beach, and renton folks.

Erica, this has probably been said before and you're probably sick of hearing it, but it is a bit confusing how a person can be such a staunch environmentalist and yet at the same time such a staunch meat-eater (although I'm guessing being from Texas has a lot to do with that). Not trying to tell you how to live your life, just something I was thinking about.

Im a CH righty. what should I do?

@13

Oh God [sic], here we go.

levislade, its confusing how anyone can be human and consume anything and participate in a society that causes enviromental damage, and be a staunch enviromentalist.

One can be a steward of the land and still find fault with other parts of pollution. For isntance I love meat, but I still think burning fossil fuels is a bad idea? is that confusing?

I love computers but I don't agree with the amount of nitrogen farmers put into the soil to grow crops? is that confusing?

enviromentalism is truly ala carte.

Wrong wrong wrong. Pat is a pig, as always.

The immigration bill was defeated by a resurgence of know-nothingism. It was shot down by the many people in this country who are guided by fear, ignorance and a willingness to listen to demagogues. Immigrants, whether or not they are "legal" in an ever-changing definition, form the spine of this country. They are the hardest working people of any of us, taking the tough jobs that White folks are too good for, and their kids grow up to be the engineers, scientists and scholars who keep the country competitive on the world market. Building fences and passing restrictive legislation hurts all of us.

Ironically, the know-nothings formed to keep "illegal" Irish Catholics like Buchanan's ilk out of the U.S. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. Pat would do well to remember his immigrant roots.

@18 - no, it was shot down because it doesn't include 5 year jail terms for CEOs and top execs of firms that employ and subcontract illegal workers.

kosher salt has a different mineral composition than regular table salt; no iodine. it also has a different texture.

I'm no vegetarian, but there's something a little off-putting about knowing that I'm eating a shoulder. Same with "pulled pork." That freaks me out every time because I can picture it a little too well.

I do make an effort to only buy organic meat. I know it's a contradiction, but so is traveling, another thing I love to do that has a huge impact on the environment. It's very difficult to live in the world (as an environmentalist) without doing things that are hypocritical.

And re: Kosher salt, I think the idea is that it has larger crystals than table salt. (Sea salt would probably work just as well.)

GODDAMNIT ERICA I ALREADY SAID ALL THAT! GET OUT OF MY MIND!

Josh #3:

(From the Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2102303,00.html

"Alvaro de Soto, the just-retired UN coordinator for the Middle East, has warned that international hostility to Hamas could have grave consequences by persuading millions of Muslims that democratic methods do not work.

"In a confidential report published in the Guardian today, Mr de Soto criticised the international boycott imposed after Hamas won elections, which he argues contributed to the current crisis."

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2007/06/12/DeSotoReport.pdf

Erica --

I just had a pulled piggy sandwich at the Coastal Kitchen. Not Texas-y, but delicious nonetheless!

@24,

In all fairness, it's entirely likely that Hamas itself will prove to Muslims that democracy doesn't work. When was the last time ideologues proved competent to run a government effectively?

A couple of points on the pulled pork recipe, from someone who has smoked many pounds of it over the years (those at the Stranger who know who I am can vouch for me on this).

1. Kosher salt tastes better than regular table salt, that's another reason to use it in the dry rub. Doesn't have the additives. Also a tablespoon of Kosher salt has less salt in it by volume than a tablespoon of regular table salt. So you may want to use less salt, if you are going to go the table salt route. But if it were me, I'd just buy a box of Kosher salt. It's great to have around and I find it much easier to cook with, because you can more easily see how much you are adding to a dish.

2. I'd be careful with the Cayenne in the dry rub. That's a bitter hot flavor killer. I'd start with a third the amount in the recipe and then add it in gradually. Personally, I swap in some red pepper flakes for most of the Cayenne. For most people, they yield plenty of heat, and they're not quite as oppressive on other flavors as Cayenne. From there, judicious use of Cayenne adds a nice biting hot to the mix. But it's more of a flavorful tease than a bitter whack upside the head.

3. It's very important to maintain a consistent low temperature in the grill, oven, pit, etc. Over 300 is a big mistake. Somewhere around 210-225 is the way to go for most of the smoke time. Too much heat too soon is going to tighten up the meat and make it tough. Pork Shoulder is much more forgiving than Brisket, because it has so much fat. But it still responds best to a long slow cook time. If you need to finish it in the oven in a foil covered pan at 300 degrees that's OK, but at least 7-8 hours of lower temperature smoke is a real must (imho). Usually my buddy Scott and I give the meat 10-12 hours on the Weber. You get a nice crust that way. And the crust is one of the best parts of pulled pork.

Of course we don't inject the meat with liquid. So this may also make it more forgiving of higher temperatures. But in bbq, low and slow is usually best. The waiting is part of what makes it so good.

As for the band Pork. I once saw them open for Soul Asylum in 1995 at SXSW.

Has Huckabee been surfing the 'net looking at pictures of Britney's coochie again?