I spent a few hours last night staring at/fiddling with this website, and editing some photos for an article I was working on, and then went to bed at a little past eleven, thinking I was doing well. And then woke up in the middle of the night realizing I had neglected to mention dinner. Again.

One definite bonus to working as a foodstylist is at the end of the day, you generally have dinner. Some (most) people just throw stuff out after shows, having been out on display or whatever, but as you know I hate to waste stuff. Especially food.

So last night was grilled pork shoulder steaks a la Ron. I have only cooked shoulder blade in the slow cooker or braised it in the oven; I would never have thought to throw them on the grill. I assumed they would be too tough. They weren’t. You have to navigate the ripples of fat, unless you are the type to devour that part and the leftover bits on everyone else’s plates too, but the meat in between was divine.

Ron paints the steaks with a little Dijon – I only like the grainy kind – and then sprinkles them with toasted cumin seed, which sticks to the mustard. (I thought it was a little cumin heavy, so I’ll just leave that out next time. Nothing against cumin, just, you know.) Then he liberally flings a spice rub overtop – and you could use any one here – and drizzles them with some olive oil. These looked as great when I did them at home as when we made them in the parking lot at Shaw on Tuesday. But when I threw them on the grill, a lot of the rub stuck to it. I likely didn’t massage it all in like I should have – I loved that sort of rustic look. At any rate, they tasted fantastic. Just grill them for a few minutes per side, until they’re just cooked through.

Ron’s Pork Shoulder Steak Rub

2 Tbsp. ancho chili powder (or any chili powder)
1 Tbsp. granulated garlic (the stuff that looks like sand)
1 Tbsp. granulated onion (ditto)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. chipotle powder or cayenne
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley

Mix together; rub over pork or beef steaks before grilling.

With them, leftover puréed butternut squash with maple syrup and ginger, and some marinated asparagus – I made another batch of the stuff from the recipe Elna Edgar gave me. (Everyone’s coming to the asparagus festival this weekend, right? We’re heading up on Sunday.)

Maple Butternut Squash Purée

Adapted from Barbecue Secrets Deluxe, by Ron Shewchuk (I boosted the maple syrup and cut back on the butter! And omitted the parsley garnish. I hardly ever garnish at home!)

2 butternut squashes, peeled, seeded and cut into 1″ chunks
6 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp. ground ginger (or 1 Tbsp. grated fresh)
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 Tbsp. each butter and canola or olive oil
salt and pepper

Put the squash and carrots into a steamer basket in a large pot, or just into the pot with a couple inches of water; bring to a boil, cover and steam for about 30 minutes, until very tender. Transfer to a bowl, add everything else, and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Transfer to a food processor or use a hand-held immersion blender (oh yes – mine is a Phillips “Billy”! I love it. I used a fancy-looking big chrome industrial one the other day and it was crap in comparison) and puree until smooth. Add a bit of hot water if it’s too thick. Serve hot, or chill and reheat later. Serves 6.

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