pulled pork barbecue with hoisin sauce, grilled corn bread, and poached egg + blueberry buckle + doughnut muffins

This is beach week for us. Together with my parents and Karen’s parents, we’ll take over a house in Cape May that’s close enough to the beach that our walk to it means we won’t be completely exhausted by the time our feet touch the sand (this is good to remember with children, I’m told). It’s also far enough away from the beach that we will be able to afford Christmas presents come December. The delicate balance between proximity to the water vs. financial collapse.

We’ve not vacationed with either set of parents since we married (14 years), so this will be something new for all of us. Karen and I have a sense that we might be able to go to a dinner or two alone, but I’m looking forward to family meals the most. 

I imagine smeared smiling faces of our kids asking for another something to eat, getting all the attention that two sets of grandparents can heap on them.

I think about four sets of coffee pots gurgling in the morning. Not joking.

I think of all the gelato I’m going to make from the new Ciao Bella cookbook which is filled with lactose dreams.

But I think most about breakfast. Mounds of muffins and pancakes. Fluffy eggs. So much bacon. 

Here are three things that I know we’ll make:

• Blueberry Buckle - Debra at Smith Bites and her husband, The Professor, have come up with a perfect blueberry coffee cake for breakfast. Or in between meals. Or when no one else is looking. It’s perfect and easy and screams “make me.”
• Doughnut Muffins - Just like the name says, they taste like doughnuts. Coated in cinnamon and sugar. The glory of a hot fresh doughnut right out of your oven, but easier to make. Karen and I had them at a food blogger gathering last weekend, Big Summer Potluck (more on that soon). Jen over at How to Simplify made them, and after we bloggers got home, the Doughnut Muffin tore through Twitter like wildfire. Make these this weekend, and you’ll feel like you’re on vacation. Even if you’re not.
• We love Esquire magazine, mostly for its food. Consistently tasty, its recipes are sometimes bang up brilliant. This one is brilliant. The hoisin takes the pork to somewhere new, exploding flavor in your mouth. The fatty richness of the poached egg. The smoke and crunch of the cornbread. It’s full-on crave. And if you’re good at poaching eggs (Karen’s got me trained well), this is easy to assemble and serve.

Tips

• Buy yourself your favorite pulled pork the day before you’re ready to eat. Ideally you’ll have extra pork ribs leftover for an amazing rack that night before, but we don’t live in that kind of world.
• Make the cornbread the day before if you don’t want to wait around in the morning.
• The cornbread demands moisture. Not that it’s dry. But you’ll want to make sure you’ve got saucy pork.
• The ratios below serve two with a bit leftover. Adjust accordingly.

recipe | pulled pork barbecue with hoisin sauce, grilled corn bread, and poached egg

ingredients

• 2 c pulled pork barbecue
• Extra barbecue sauce, just in case
• 1 to 5 T hoisin sauce, depending on how much your taste buds want
• Cornbread
• 2 eggs
• 1 T white vinegar

prep for the eggs
Remove the eggs you want to poach from the refrigerator. Crack them into separate small cups or ramekins so that they can come to room temperature.

Bring a saucepan filled with water to a low simmer. You could start this a little later in the process, but you want it ready once you’re grilling the cornbread.

prepare the cornbread
Make your favorite recipe. We used Gourmet’s Skillet Cornbread. Which is gluten free and incredibly moist. I’m pretty sure this will be your new favorite, especially after you pour that sizzling brown butter into the batter.
prepare the pork barbecue
While the cornbread is cooking, place your pulled pork into a medium saucepan. Turn the heat onto medium low. Assess the sauciness. Is there an abundance? No? OK, get out the backup sauce. Add some. Assess. Good? Good. 

Add 1 T of hoisin to the barbecue. Taste. Want more? Do it. I’m supportive. Keep adding and tasting until you’re happy. Maybe you’ll add the 5 T. Maybe you’re going to add the entire bottle. I believe in you.

put it all together
Let the cornbread cool enough so it doesn’t fall apart. Cut out two servings. Get a grill pan hot (or use a griddle. Or a cast iron skillet). Once hot, add the cornbread. Flip after 90 seconds. You’re looking for some caramelization. Cook for another 90 seconds. Place on separate plates.

If you don’t know how to poach an egg, read the instructions at the end. Otherwise, poach an egg the way you like.

Place plenty of the pork on top of the cornbread. Place egg on top. Sprinkle with some kosher salt. Eat.

poaching an egg
Make sure the water is at a good simmer. Add 1 T of white vinegar to the water to help hold the egg white in tact. Turn down the heat so no bubbles are coming up from the bottom of the pan. Carefully slip one egg into the water and cook for 2 minutes. Lift up the egg to determine if the white is cooked but the yolk still runny. Place it back in the water if the whites aren’t done. Check in another 30 seconds. That should do it. Dry it on a paper towel.