Recently in Pork Category

One of our favorite vendors at the market is Sea Breeze Farms.  Patricia has talked about them before, but I haven't.

We've gotten a little bit of everything from them.  Some lamb, porchetta, milk and cream, ricotta, kielbasa, pepperoni, wine.... Haven't tried their beef yet.  Or their wool.  Yes, they sell wool.  Really damn soft wool.

Once upon a time, we got some chorizo.  We had just found a taco truck... well, ok.  I found a taco truck while Patricia was out of town and she's hated me ever since for having gone there once without her, even tho she's been there once without me since.  Not to mention her trip to Lunchbox Laboratory without me.  Annnnyways.

The week after those first, delicious, greasy, fantastic chorizo tacos, at the Farmer's Market, we happened to see chorizo at .. I'm sure you figured out where by now.

It was, like everything else from them, fantastic.

But then it never showed up again.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, we were picking up some pepperoni for pizza, and ask offhandedly 'Are y'all ever gonna make the chorizo again?'  I had had a hankering, so we had to find out.

"Huh.  Yeah, that chorizo was pretty good, wasn't it.  We should do that again."

The week after, not really surprisingly, there's chorizo on the chalkboard.  Hot damn.  Links or bulk?

Uhh.  Bulk.  How about a pound.  We can put some into the fritatatatatatas.  We can... well, we can figure out what else to make with the rest.

So, now we're staring at a little over half a pound of chorizo.  What do we do.

What. do. we. do.

Well, we cook it.  Thanks, wise ass.

We had some squash from our CSA basket still.  Patricia remembered an old recipe we made last winter.

Except, we have no tomatoes, and it's too late to head back out to get some.  Time for some creative work.

Ingredients

• Chorizo
• Patty Pan Squash
• Onion
• Garlic
• Pasta
• White Wine
• Olive Oil
• Butter

1. Chop the patty pan, discarding the stems.
2. Chop the garlic and onion, saute in olive oil over medium heat.
3. Before they caramelize, once the garlic smells toasty, add the chorizo.
4. Once the chorizo has browned, add the patty pan and cook covered for a good 35 minutes.
5. Start some pasta cooking.  I think a good linguine or angel hair would be best suited for this dish.
6. Once pasta has finished, strain pasta and dump back in the pan you cooked it in.
7. Dump the chorizo, onion, garlic and squash mix into the pasta.
8. Deglaze the pan with some butter and white wine.
9. Pour over pasta and mix it all up and serve.

Over all, this was good.  I wish I could say it was quick (it wasn't).  I wish I could say it was simple (it isn't.. I mean, who has bulk chorizo on hand).  I wish I could say it was awesome (it wasn't).

But, for a spur of the moment recipe, it wasn't bad.

I've said, I think, that I want to start making our own recipes more.  Branch out into actual recipe creation. 

And this is a good start.  Look for us to flex our creative muscles more in the future.  But don't worry, we'll still be sharing recipes we find on all the blogs we read too.

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

So... I love a good pork tenderloin.  I love a good pork kebab.  I love a good thinly sliced pork.  I love pork chops.  I love bacon.  I love sausage.

But I hate ham.

I do like a honey baked ham, or, at least, the sweet, crunchy exterior of it.  The interior, not as much.

But, I had something... a feeling... a wanting... Chicken Cordon Bleu.  Chicken?  Great.  Cheese?  Awesome!  Crispy outsides?  Love it.

Ham?  ...

So, why not find a way to make it better?  And by better, I mean less ham, but still chicken-y, cheesey goodnees.  The wife-unit doesn't like swiss, the traditional filling of a Chicken Cordon Bleu, so we need to swap that out.

I don't like ham, so we need to swap that out.

And it's hot out, so we are going to cook on the grill, where breading doesn't necessarily work quite well, so we need to swap that out too.

Let's start with cheese.

Gouda.  Gouda is good.  We like gouda.  Oh, look, there in the petite fromage bin.  That's a lovely bit of gouda.

Hmm.  No lomo.  No Iberian or Serrano jamon.  There's some nice prosciutto.  How about six slices of that.

And, over to the butcher section, a nice package of a couple boneless, skinless breasts.

Quick, to the SMART CAR!  To Home!  To the GRILL!

You might be wondering, by this point, where in the blue blazes the recipe is.

Well, honestly, there isn't one.  I made it up as I went along. So, here's the 'recipe':

1. Slice the cheese nice and thin.
2. Then, plop the chicken down on the cutting board, put a hand down on top of the breast and using a big ol' chef's knife, slice the breast in half almost all the way through, basically, imagine that you want to fold it open like a book.
3. And then, no surprise really, fold it open like a book.
4. Lay the thinly sliced cheese down on each side, then, atop the cheese, lay the prosciutto.
5. Fold shut, stick some toothpicks in so it stays shut and grill until cooked.
6. Then... eat.

You can swap out the cheese for some other cheese product.

You can swap out the prosciutto for some other pork product (Bacon? Soprasetta? Pancetta?)

And that's it.  Seriously.

Now, what's really funny is that, after grilling, it looked like an awesome low carb version of a Monte Cristo sandwich.  No, really.  Even tho the pictures don't show it, the chicken just looked like toasted bread.

Personally, I wanted more porky taste.  Patricia thought it was perfect.  Next time, I'd try cheddar.  And bacon.  Or... well, really, the pig is our oyster.

Have you ever had one of those meals where not only did everything taste good, but everything meshed perfectly together? Where the empty spot you never even knew was in you suddenly filled perfectly?

Well, I've just had one. (Three if you count the leftovers).

We got this recipe from Accidental Hedonist, another great local food blog. We adapted it slightly ourselves, but for the most part we used the recipe as is.

Ingredients

• 2-4 pound pork butt or shoulder roast
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar (or brown sugar substitute)
• 1 onion
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 2 cups green salsa
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• Corn tortillas
• Cabbage (optional)
• Avocado
• Cheddar or Cojita cheese

Directions

The night before you want to cook the pork, mix 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon regular paprika, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. These amounts are just guidelines, feel free to adjust the quantities to suit your tastes.

Rub the pork roast with the mixture and refrigerate overnight. 

Next, chop the onion. Put the meat in a large pot with the onion, 2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, the green salsa, chopped oregano and chicken stock. Boil the mixture on high and then reduce the heat to medium and cover.

Simmer until the pork is tender and registers at least 165 on a meat thermometer.

Remove the pork from the pan, turn the juices down to low, and preheat the oven to 400.

Using two forks, tear the pork into shreds. Spread the pork on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. You want some of the shredded pork to be crispy.

Turn the heat back up on the pot and boil the mixture in the pan for 8-10 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat. Pull the pork out of the oven and add it back into the pot, mixing well. When we did this, it did not look like there was anywhere near enough sauce for all of that pork. Even after I mixed everything together, I was worried it was going to be dry. But never fear. This recipe did not disappoint.

To serve, heat up a corn tortilla and fill it with the pork mixture, add a little shredded cheese, some avocado, and some cabbage (we skipped the cabbage).

This was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Despite how dry the mixture looked, when I bit into the tortilla, it was tender, juicy, and rich.

This will soon become one of our staple recipes. I think it would work well in the crock pot as well. Just throw everything together in the morning (no pre-cooking required), simmer all day, and then shred and roast the pork when you get home at night. I can't wait to make this again.

Do you want an easy recipe for dinner? It doesn't get much easier than this.

To summarize:

Sear pork tenderloin.

Baste.

Cook.

Ok, so it's slightly more complicated than that, but only very slightly.

Here's a picture to keep you reading.

That's the pork tenderloin, an onion roll, and spicy garlicky kale.

This was another recipe from Get Your Grill On, though I have to admit that we didn't grill the pork. We have a great grill, but sometimes it just doesn't like to get all the way up to 500 degrees. So we improvised a bit and adapted the recipe for the oven.

Ingredients

• Pork tenderloin (preferably organic)
• 2 teaspoons of oil
• 4 ounces Hoisin sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons BBQ sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325.

Mix the hoisin sauce, sesame seeds, orange juice, sesame oil, and BBQ sauce together in a bowl. Set aside.

Salt and pepper the pork. In a heavy skillet, add the oil and sear the pork on all sides.

Transfer to an oven safe baking dish or cookie sheet and baste on all sides with the sauce mixture.

Cook, turning and basting occasionally, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Slice and serve.

We loved this recipe. It was incredibly easy. I was a little worried as the pork was cooking. I'd expected the glaze to caramelize a bit more than it appeared to, but in the end, it was perfect - just a little crunchy, but not overdone. My only regret was that pork tenderloins tend to cook down pretty significantly, so by the time the pork was done, there was only enough for one serving each. Next time we'll buy a bigger tenderloin.

One of my next projects will be to find a Hoisin sauce without High Fructose Corn Syrup in it.

I love our crockpot. Or rather, I love the idea of our crockpot. I love the idea that I can throw food in, turn it on, go to work, and then come home to a delicious, hot meal. Unfortunately, slow cooker meals rarely work out this way.

For one thing, they almost always involve lots of slicing, pre-cooking, searing, browning, or boiling. For another, even when some of these things can be done ahead of time, there's usually one or two steps that would leave the meat half cooked which, as you can imagine, isn't very safe.

So I was thrilled when I found today's recipe. All of the prep work can be done the night before, and in less than 10 minutes. In the morning, all you need to do add stuff and turn on.

As an added benefit, this recipe is fantastic. It's rich and flavorful and is great with a low carb tortilla or over rice or emmer.

Ingredients

• 1-2 pounds of thinly sliced pork
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 onion
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• Red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions

The night before, slice the peppers and onions and mince the garlic. Throw them in a tupperware and add the soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Refrigerate over night. (NOTE: This is optional. You can do all of this in the morning before you leave.)

When you're ready to cook, place the pork in the crock pot and add the tupperware full of stuff. Cook on low for anywhere from 4-10 hours. It'll be done after 4, but if you cook it for 8-10 hours, the pork practically falls apart and the bell peppers melt in your mouth.

About 10 minutes before serving, use two forks to shred the pork and add the peanut butter. Continue to cook for 10 minutes to thicken the mixture.

Serve over rice or in a tortilla.

This winter was especially brutal in Seattle. We had more days below 40 than above, the winds were stingingly cold, and the air was quite dry. I wore my heavy wool coat and gloves nearly every day and I was still freezing every time I had to venture outside. We had snow that stuck around for a few days (a rarity here) and numerous fires in the fireplace.

What better meal to come home to on a day like this than a hearty winter soup?

This recipe couldn't have been much easier. All of the vegetables were either local or organic. Usually we would use Skagit River Ranch sausage, however since they were on vacation, we ended up at Whole Foods instead. Next time I make this (and I will make it again) I'll use mushrooms from Foraged and Found and Skagit's hot Italian sausage.

Ingredients

• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 8 ounces Italian sausage
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 2 1/2 cups mushroom broth
• Crushed red pepper
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• 3 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 7 ounces farro
• Olive oil

Directions

First, the prep work.

Chop the carrots, celery, and onion.

Mince the garlic.

Slice the mushrooms.

Cut the sausages into pieces.

Mince the thyme.

Now onto the recipe. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic and saute until the onions are soft.

Add the sausage and cook until slightly browned.

Add the mushrooms. They will start to release water into the pot. When they have released most of their water, add the tomatoes (and their juice), red wine, both broths, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, thyme, and farro.

Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the farro is tender.

Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

What's better than pork wrapped in more pork? The answer is - not much. For dinner the other night, John found a recipe from one of the food blogs we read: Get Your Grill On. Well, it's not so much a recipe as it is some easy instructions.

Ingredients * = local, & = organic

• Bacon *&
• Pork tenderloin *&
• Pineapple &
• Sauce mix (below)

Yes, that's really all you need.

Directions

Cut the pork tenderloin into equal pieces. The number of pieces is up to you, and will probably be dependent on the number of bacon slices you have.

Wrap each pork cube in a slice of bacon. Skewer the bacon wrapped pork cubes and alternate with a pineapple chunk. If you want, you can pre-cook the bacon a little to render some of the fat. This is probably a good idea as we didn't and some parts of the bacon were a little underdone.

Those are our curved plate skewers. Aren't they neat? They are designed to fit perfectly on a plate. No more long skewer hanging over the side ready to impale your fellow diners. Although, they can be a bit difficult to pick up. Since they're curved, the balance is a little off. But we like them.

Now, here's where you can get creative. John mixed some Harry and David's Mojito marinade, some red pepper flakes, and a few dashes of some Jerk sauce we had in the fridge. He grilled the kabobs for 10 minutes, then flipped them and brushed them with the marinade. He cooked them another 5 minutes and repeated the flip and brush. Another 5 minutes and another flip and brush. Your timing will vary depending on the thickness of the pork and the doneness of the bacon.  

Here's the finished product along with some grilled pineapple rings:

This was excellent. Next time we'll precook the bacon slightly, but otherwise, this was near perfection on a plate.

My favorite ribs come from a little restaurant in the Napa Valley called Rutherford Grill. They have these ribs that are so tender, they practically fall apart as you're eating them. Since I rarely get these ribs any more (living 700 miles away makes it difficult) and since Skagit River Ranch had a sale on ribs the other day, we decided to try making our own. The results were good, although there was room for improvement. They were easier than we anticipated, though, so we'll definitely be trying ribs again. This recipe originally came from Accidental Hedonist (one of our favorite local cooking blogs).

Ingredients * = local, & = organic

• 4 pounds spare ribs *&
• 4 tablespoons agave nectar
• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 5 garlic cloves *&

Directions

1. Combine the agave nectar, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and crushed garlic cloves in a bowl. (If you have a marinating container, use this.)

2. Place the ribs in a large container or dish, and cover with the marinade. Marinate for at least 2 hours and flip once or twice.  

3. Set your oven to 350. Take your broiling pan and line the bottom with foil. Place the ribs on the top pan and reserve the extra marinade.

4. Bake for 30 minutes and then brush the ribs with the extra marinade. Flip the ribs and bake for another 25 minutes.

5. Remove the ribs from the oven and let them sit for a few minutes. Cut and enjoy.

Notes:

The original recipe called for honey, but agave nectar is a good, diabetic friendly substitute. It also called for both light and dark soy sauce. We couldn't find both types of soy sauce in our local supermarket, although I'm sure the asian foods store would have them.

These were good. I wouldn't call them great, but they were easy and had a good flavor. Next time we'll add some minced ginger, and possibly some bourbon to the marinade.

Pulled Pork is one of those dishes that I never thought I could replicate well. I'm not sure why I held this belief. After all, it should just be pork and spices, right? I think it was more the fact that I've had good Pulled Pork at restaurants and I was worried that if I tried it at home, it would end up being a miserable failure. When we saw this recipe from Skagit River Ranch, however, we decided to give it a try.

First the Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 4 lbs of boneless pork shoulder
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup catsup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1/4 cup light molasses
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• salt and pepper

So how did we do on our goal to use local ingredients? Not very well, I'm afraid. We used olive oil from Napa and the cider vinegar, catsup, brown sugar, molasses, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, salt, and pepper were all purchased from the local grocery store. At least the catsup was organic. The yellow onion came from the Ballard Farmer's Market and the pork shoulder was from Skagit River Ranch. Well, I guess 2 out of 12 isn't as bad as 0 out of 12.

Now the process:

Cut the pork into several equal pieces. We had to use two pieces of pork shoulder in order to get 4 pounds, so I took the larger piece and cut it in half first. Head the oil over medium high heat. Brown the pork on all sides, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer the pork to the slow cooker.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the frying pan. Note: We had to skip this step. There was almost no fat in the frying pan. Oh how we love Skagit's meat. Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the onion. Saute for about 5 minutes until the onions are golden in color. Add the vinegar and use it to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits of meat. Add the catsup, brown sugar, molasses, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, and some salt and pepper. Cook until the mixture begins to bubble, stirring occasionally.

Pour the sauce over the pork, cover, and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.

When the slow cooker is done, transfer the pork to a dish and shred the pork using a pair of forks. Discard any large pieces of fat. Skim off any excess fat from the sauce (we had none). Return the pork to the sauce and stir.

We decided that next time we made this, we would add some bourbon to the sauce as well. The recipe encourages you to serve this over rolls, but we usually just pick up a loaf of bread from Tall Grass Bakery and have that on the side. The pork is also excellent cold, on a salad the next day.