The Third Place Books close to us was having a blowout on used books a couple of weeks ago, and we picked up a copy of The Best of Cooking Light: Everyday Favorites for four bucks (I’m a sucker for cookbooks with pictures). This pork posole recipe caught my eye because it looked pretty much like a normal (aka, non-light) posole recipe. Pork is browned and then added to a stock made from chicken broth and pureed ancho chilies. This recipe is all about the condiments: a squeeze of lime and a bunch of cilantro really brings out the flavors in this soup.

We must love posole — I think we have four different recipes on the site.

Chris says:

Yep, and each one is a little different.

Lisa says:

I’m not sure about this one, you know I like the stewier ones.

Chris says:

Well, even though this one is broth-based, I think you’ll like it.

Lisa says:

Hmmm… kind of bland.

Chris says:

What? Ahhh… hit it with those garnishes. Squeeze that lime! Add those onions! Savor the cilantro!

Lisa says:

Wow, that makes a big difference… yum! It’s definitely growing on me.

Chris says:

Yeah, keep going…

Lisa says:

Awesome — I’m going back for more.

Chris says:

Mission Accomplished!

Pork Posole
4 ancho chilies, stemmed and seeded
2 cups boiling water
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless pork loin, trimmed and cut into (1/2″) pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 15.5-oz cans white hominy, undrained
sliced radishes
chopped green onions
minced fresh cilantro
lime slices

Heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Place chilies in pan; flatten with a spatula. Cook 10 seconds on each side or until blackened. Combine toasted chilies and 2 cups boiling water in a bowl; let stand 10 minutes or until soft. Place pepper mixture in a blender; process until smooth.

Cook cumin seeds in a large Dutch oven over medium heat for 1 minute or until toasted and fragrant. Place in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Do this in batches if you must — don’t crowd the pork or it’ll steam instead of brown. Remove pork from pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and garlic to pan; cook 8 minutes or until onion is browned, stirring frequently. Stir in pork, pureed chilies, toasted ground cumin, broth, sugar, salt, and hominy; bring to a simmer. Cook 30 minutes or until pork is tender. Spoon equal portions posole into each of 6 bowls; top each serving with radishes, green onions, and cilantro. Serve with lime slices.

6 Servings

I came across this recipe a few days ago on the Mixed Greens Blog, and it really caught my eye. Not only because it can be completely made with local ingredients, but because of the addition of pork to the salmon. It seemed that the ground pork would make for a really juicy burger, and it certainly did! Interestingly, a single mashed potato also plays a role in this burger and provides additional texture. The recipe originally comes from Harumi’s Japanese Cooking.

These are awesome — so juicy!

Lisa says:

Wow, yeah, what’s in them?

Chris says:

Pretty simple, mostly salmon, onion, potato… ground pork…

Lisa says:

Ground pork? Hmmm… I like them better before you told me that.

Chris says:

What? Why? You know that directly contradicts the title of this post.

Lisa says:

I don’t know, it just sounds weird.

Chris says:

Well, just let your tastebuds be your guide.

Lisa says:

Obviously my tastebuds didn’t find it to be a strange combination. My plate’s looking pretty bare now.

Chris says:

Great success!

Salmon Burgers
12 oz. salmon
4 oz. ground pork
1/2 small onion
1 tbsp butter
1 small potato, peeled
1 small beaten egg
salt & pepper
vegetable oil for frying

Remove bones and skin from salmon and chop until it is almost ground.
Chop the onion finely and cook lightly in the butter. Leave to cool.
Steam the potato for 15-20 minutes until soft enough to mash. Mash with a fork and leave it to cool without adding anything.
In a large bowl mix the chopped salmon and ground pork. Add cooked onion, mashed potato, beaten egg, salt & pepper.
Shape the mixture into 8 small burgers. Heat oil in a frying pan and cook burgers for ~3 minutes on each sides. Serve with your favorite toppings. We enjoyed them with wasabi mayo and sweet/spicy chili sauce.

4 Servings

Wow. Just, wow. I’ve been meaning to make carnitas tacos for at least a year now, and can’t believe how wonderfully they turned out. I started with a recipe from Elise’s site and made some modifications based on some of the comments, and changed the toppings to suit our tastes. Moist, spicy, fall-apart pork, crisped up in the oven and placed in a tortilla with homemade pico de gallo, crunchy cabbage, and sweet-tangy pickled red onions. This might be my favorite dish we’ve made this year.

Chris says:

Wow; do you smell that kitchen?

Lisa says:

The kitchen? Try the whole house! I’ve been drooling for the last three hours!

Chris says:

This is awesome — and amazingly simple for the results. It’s somewhat time-consuming, but most of it is unattended. The most complicated part was carving up the pork and trimming off most of the fat!

Lisa says:

Seriously? That rules — I think this is one of the best meals we’ve had in a while. Home-cooked or at a restaurant.

Chris says:

Everything works so well together: the savory pork, the freshness of the pico, and the tartness of the onions… I love it.

Lisa says:

You go ahead and keep talking about how good it is — I’m going to shut up and eat.

Chris says:

Actually, I think I’ll join you.

Tacos de Carnitas
4 lbs boneless pork butt (shoulder), cut into large cubes (remove as much fat as possible)
1 quart beef broth
2 cups chunky salsa, medium-hot

corn tortillas
pico de gallo (diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime juice)
pickled red onions (recipe below)
cabbage, shredded
creme fraiche (or sour cream)

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine pork, broth, and salsa. Add water to completely cover the meat, if needed. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 3 to 4 hours, until meat pulls apart easily.
Remove the meat from the liquid in the pot, set aside, and shred. (I use “shred” lightly, the pork will be so tender that just pressing it with the back of a fork will make it fall apart.) Pour the liquid through a colander to filter out solids, then return a third of the liquid to the saucepan. Heat over high heat for 12-15 minutes until it reduces to a gravy-like consistency. Add the reduced liquid to the pork and mix thoroughly.
Turn on the broiler in your oven. Place the shredded pork in a shallow layer in a roasting pan, or a wire rack over a cookie sheet, on the bottom rack of the oven. Broil for 5-7 minutes, until pork starts to crisp up. Use a spatula to flip the pork, and broil for an additional 5-7 minutes until crisp.
Serve the carnitas in warm corn tortillas with homemade pico de gallo, marinated red onions, and shredded cabbage. Drizzle with a little creme fraiche.

6-8 Servings

Pickled Red Onions
1 red onion, cut into 1-4″ half-rings
rice wine vinegar (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp sugar
orange juice
oregano
peppercorns
coriander seeds

Blanch the red onions in boiling water for 15 seconds, then drain, rinse, and pat dry. Dissolve the sugar into the rice wine vinegar. Place onions in a shallow dish, then add rice wine vinegar to just about cover the onions. Add about 1/4 cup of orange juice (enough to totally cover), the oregano, a few peppercorns, and a few coriander seeds. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. These will keep for about a week in the fridge.

This easy, delicious recipe comes from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless. Pork tenderloin is cooked in a sauce of roasted poblano peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The entire house smelled amazing with it on the stove.

Lisa says:

YUM! It smells so good in here.

Chris says:

Just wait until you eat it!

Lisa says:

This sauce rules — I heart those roasted poblanos.

Chris says:

…and the pork is cooked just the way I like it… with just a bit-o-pink in the middle.

Lisa says:

Yeah that tenderloin is so… tender!

Chris says:

In the spirit of “you are what you eat”, I freely admit to being a pig!

Pork Tenderloin a la Mexicana

2 large fresh poblanos
1 1/4 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 garlic cloves, crushed
28-oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup beef broth
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Roast the poblanos either over an open flame or under a broiler, turning regularly until the skin is blistered and blackened all over. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to cool.
While the peppers are cooling, pat the meat dry and salt well. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the pork in a single layer and brown on all sides, turning regularly, for about 4 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, keeping as much of the oil in the pan as possible. Set the skillet aside.
Remove the skin from the peppers, then remove the stems and seeds. Rinse, then cut into 1/4-inch strips and set aside.
Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Add the garlic and peppers and stir for a minute or so. Pour in the stock and tomatoes, bring to a boil, and let cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the pork and cilantro to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the pork is just cooked through, about 5 more minutes.
Taste, adjust seasonings, and serve with white rice.

4 Servings

This is a recipe that I’ve really been looking forward to making from Healthy Latin Cooking. We usually don’t make pork (Lisa’s not sure if she likes it) unless it’s in a stew, but after tonight’s meal I think we’ll be making it more often. The pork marinates in a delicious combination of chipotle peppers, citrus juices, garlic, and onions.

Lisa says:

Wahoo! Pomegranate seeds!

Chris says:

I love how they explode in your mouth. Hey, this dish looks Christmas-y. This Other White Meat(tm) has so much flavor! Guess that’s what 24 hours of marinating gets you.

Lisa says:

Dammit, you have to stop making such delicious meals — I just eat and eat and eat!

Chris says:

Isn’t that the point?

Chile-Marinated Pork with Black Bean Salsa
——————————————
1-1/4 lb pork loin, trimmed of all visible fat
3 canned chipotle peppers, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 small red onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp allspice
salt and ground black pepper
Black Bean Salsa (recipe follows)
1 pomegranate, broken into seeds

Place the pork in a shallow glass or ceramic baking dish.
In a blender, combine the chipotles, garlic, onion, orange and lime juice, vinegar, oregano, and allspice; puree until smooth. Sppon the marinade over the pork. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours. Turn 2 or 3 times while marinating.
Preheat a grill or broiler to medium-high. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Grill or broil the pork for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 160F. Let the pork sit for 3 minutes before slicing on the diagonal.
Mound a portion of salsa on each of 4 dinner plates. Divide the pork among the plates; dollop sour cream over the pork. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

4 servings

Black Bean Salsa
—————-
2 cups cooked black beans
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate.

Hmmmm, first time using pomegranate seeds in a dish, I guess I should submit this to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging!