Grilled Pork Shoulder Steaks, Maple Butternut Squash Purée, Ginger-Sesame Asparagus and Chunky Guacamole
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
AuthorJulie
Mix together; rub over pork or beef steaks before grilling.
Ingredients
Directions
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
AuthorJuliePut 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.
Ingredients
Directions
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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Hi Julie,
These look amazing.
While I would love to go to the Farm thing and the Asparagus Festival this weekend, our weekend will sadly be spent fixing our vehicles (well dh fixes, I provide moral support).
I hope to get to the mid-August farm thing.
Julie, please can you put a picture of your hand blender “Phillips” with details, 600W ? up on your blog, I’m going shopping later today. I’m not at home so no access to my email.
Thanks,
MFO
Nice meal! You know, I love cumin seeds so I might add them to the guacamole instead of the steak.
I think the banner looks really nice. And the dinner is awesome. Just my fave kind of meal.
Looks yup! Ontario asparagus up and running, I bought 4 bunches at the farmer’s market on Tues. that were picked on Mon., and brought them to my mom’s group potluck brunch and served chilled steamed spears with garlic aioli…mmmmm so yummy!
Love the pork steaks! I often buy lamb shoulder steaks, yum.
Very nice blog!
I love the dish, the pork looks delicious, guacamole, squash…..delicious.
What a pretty dinner!
Just made the steaks for dinner and they are amazing!