A Goofball, a Gift, and a Giveaway!

Recipe below: Wasabi Ginger Soy Pulled Pork Ribs

If you read food blogs with any regularity, you’ve probably heard of CSN stores. They’re kind of like another popular online shopping website (you know, the one that started as a bookseller?) in that they sell everything...dinnerware, cookware, appliances, even fitness equipment! And one of their genius methods of marketing is sponsoring blog giveaways...can you guess where I’m going with this?

Welcome to Bananas for Bourbon’s very first giveaway! One lucky winner will be awarded a one-time-use $40 gift certificate, good at any of CSN’s 200+ online stores. Lucky ducky! I’ve entered many a giveaway for one of these puppies, but was never fortunate enough to win. So good luck!

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite Bananas for Bourbon recipe so far. Make sure you provide an email address if there isn’t one linked to your profile.

For additional entries, do one or all of the following, then come back and leave a separate comment for each, letting me know the deed is done.

1. Become a fan of (“Like”) Bananas for Bourbon on Facebook, and if you already are, just say so! 
2. Subscribe to my blog via an RSS feed (just click that “Follow” button in the toolbar on the right), and if you already do, just say so! 
3. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog, and let me know about it. 

The rules: open to US and Canada residents only, as that is where CSN store's products ship. The giveaway closes on Tuesday, August 10th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be selected by a random number generator and announced (and contacted!) sometime on Wednesday.



I was actually glad to have the opportunity to facilitate this giveaway because I feel like I won my own giveaway this week. Imagine my surprise when, completely out of the blue, I received a package on my doorstep containing this:

OMG! Whatever could be the cause of this wonderfulness? I'm not worthy!  Thankfully, there was a helpful note. Turns out my most awesome friend and former college roommate could relate to my predicament of being low on funds while trying to expand my culinary horizons, and she instructed me to consider it an investment in my future food blogging adventures. I almost cried, I was so happy. If there is one thing this unemployment experience has taught me, it’s that people can be truly beautiful during times of discord.  I'm not worthy!  I am definitely taking this seriously, and plan to post a recipe (eventually!) for each and every time shown.  If you can't read the labels, there are 4 sauces (honey barbecue, wasabi ginger, vidalia onion fig, and maple chipotle garlic) and 4 pestos (sun-dried tomato, basil, black olive, and artichoke).  

Now let's take a minute to drool and make noises...

Ok, back.  I've seen some Stonewall Kitchen products around a few random spots, like in winery shops and that kind of thing, and I have always drooled quite a bit over the vidalia onion fig sauce.  I can't wait to try that one, and I already have something in mind...  If any of these goodies sound especially delicious to you, leave me a comment with what you would would make!

I’m far from an expert when it comes to cuts of meat, seeing as how I’m still fairly new to eating meat, so I had to put on my thinking cap when I saw pork shoulder country style ribs on super sale at the store. They were large chunks of meat on the bone, obviously not like a baby back. Since pork shoulder meat always does so well in the slow cooker, I figured I would try braising them in the wasabi ginger sauce. Bones = flavor, after all!  I ended up cooking them low and slow in the oven with just a portion of the sauce along with some soy sauce and other delicious flavorings. Then when the pork was falling off the bone and delicious, I shredded it up and tossed it with the rest of the wasabi ginger sauce.  And since the sauce was a gift and the pork was on sale, it cost me less than $10.  Take that, Melissa D'Arabian!  Except not, because the sauce was a gift and the pork was on sale...  But whatever!

How good was this pork? Well, Husband came home and had an entire bowl for dinner. Then he got up and attempted to refill the bowl for a second helping. I had to beat him away with a stick words of reason in a very scolding tone! If that’s any indication. The pork was tender and succulent, and since it cooked on the bone, it had the rich pork flavor. Yum! I was glad I waited until after the pork was cooked to toss it with the sauce, or I think it would have gotten lost during the braise. The sauce itself is pretty sweet.  There are like 3 different kinds of sugar (sugar, brown sugar, and honey) listed in, I think, the first 5 or 6 ingredients, and it's not at all spicy, like I would expect something with wasabi in the name to be, but that said, it's a tasty sauce!  And I am, admittedly, very sensitive to sweet things since I've been weaned from processed foods and the like.  The application for the sauce, in my most humble opinion, was right on!  If you felt a little acid was necessary, you could always throw in a splash if lime juice or vinegar, but I think it was balanced enough as it was.

Overall, I would call this dish a success! Next time I see those ribs on sale, they’re getting snatched up quick! Next time I want to try adding a little wasabi powder or Sriracha hot sauce to the braising liquid, just to infuse a little heat while it cooks.

The only problem with this recipe is that it results in this:

Goodbye wasabi ginger sauce!  I hardly knew you!  And yet, you will fill my belly with deliciousness for days to come!

So thanks, friend! Thanks for so fantastically cheering me up.  I needed it. Thanks for believing in my cooking and food blogging. I'm touched.  And thanks for being a good person and a great friend. You are inspiring. I hope my first recipe didn't disappoint!

Wasabi Ginger Soy Pulled Pork Ribs

Makes about 8 servings

~4 pounds pork shoulder country style ribs
1 TB ginger, minced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TB mirin
1 TB rice wine vinegar
1 11 fl.oz bottle Stonewall Kitchen Wasabi Ginger Sauce, divided
8oz button mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. 
2. Place the ribs in an even layer in a dutch oven or other covered oven-safe vessel. Add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, rice wine vinegar, and 1/4 cup of the wasabi ginger sauce, then toss until the ribs are coasted. Add the mushrooms, if using. 
3. Cover and cook for 4-5 hours, or until the pork is tender and falling off the bone. 
4. Transfer the mushrooms and pork to a bowl, leaving the bones behind, and shred it with a fork. Toss it with the remaining wasabi ginger sauce, and serve. 

Serving suggestions: over a bed of wilted spinach or steamed bok choy, in lettuce cups, beside an Asian slaw, in soft tortillas topped with cabbage, as a slider, or whatever tickles your fancy! 

What are you still doing here?  Go make pulled pork!  Oh, right. You want to know where the goofball mentioned in the post title comes in, eh?  Well, how about this guy:

What can I say?  I'm a sucker for alliteration and things in threes.