Pork in Green Sauce

I love to make a Roasted Pork Shoulder for Christmas. And I love to make Pork in Green Sauce with the leftovers. The tangy sauce perfectly complements the rich pork. Wrapped in a flour tortilla, it is one of my favorite meals. I haven't actually tried eating it every week, but I feel as if I could.

The leftover pork means I'm halfway there, but for times when I haven't been hosting a big celebration then the Carnitas recipe below does the trick. It is fairly simple and hands-off, though it does take some time.

The Green Sauce is a variable that I always wish I could buy somewhere but I've never found a prepared version that isn't either blazing hot or weirdly viscous (ick). And it isn't as if I'm super picky because just about any version I've made myself works great. I've got links below to a couple of good ones.

CARNITAS
Make this, add green sauce, and wrap in a flour tortilla. 
[Via Homesick Texan, adapted from Diana Kennedy]

Step 1
3 pounds of pork butt
1 cup of orange juice
3 cups of water
2 teaspoons of salt

Cut pork into strips (three inches by one inch), add to a large pot with the liquids and salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered on low for 2 hours. Do not touch the meat.

Step 2
After two hours, turn heat up to medium high, and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the pork fat has rendered (about 45 minutes). Stir a few times, to keep pork from sticking to bottom of pan.

Step 3
When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready (there will be liquid fat in the pan). Serve either cubed or shredded (pork will be tender enough that just touching it will cause it to fall apart).
Serves 4-6


GREEN SAUCE

I tend to pick up whatever Mexican cookbook that comes to hand and find a green sauce. As long as it has tomatillos I'm happy.

There are two you can try right here. The green sauces from this Chilaquiles recipe and this Rick Bayless recipe for Tacos of Tomatillo Chicken are both delicious. See which you like best.

Sauage and White Bean Gratin

This gratin is very nearly one-dish, very good, and very easy. This is from Kathy Brennan's and Caroline Campion's Keepers.

2/3 cup panko or regular dried breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
1 small yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
1 scant tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 scant teaspoon dried
1/2 cup dry white wine
1.5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Two 15.5-oz cans white beans, such as cannellini or Great Northern, drained and rinsed
Pepper
4 large handfuls of baby spinach (optional)

Preheat oven to 425, with a rack in the middle position. In a small bowl, combine panko and butter, season with salt and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat until it shimmers. Add the sausages and cook, stirring often and breaking up the meat, until browned, about 4 minutes. Leaving as much of the oil in the pan as possible, transfer the sausage to a medium bowl and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and thyme and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the wine and briskly simmer, scraping up any caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan, until almost evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a simmer, then add the beans, cooked sausage, and any juices. Season with salt and pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, until heated through and some of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. The mixture should be wet, but not drowning in liquid. Off the heat, stir in spinach (if using). Check the seasonings, then transfer the mixture to a 3-quart baking or gratin dish.

Top evenly with the panko mixture and bake until bubbling and the top is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Pork & Sausage Jambalaya

After hearing The Catholic Foodie talk John Besh's cookbook, My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking, I requested it from the library. I’m always up for a book that encourages people to cook with their families on a regular basis, usually with basic recipes that can be adapted.

The book is all that with gorgeous photography added. Although not as long and more oriented to New Orleans style cooking, this book really reminded me of Julia Child’s The Way to Cook. Both have an easy-going, instructional quality that doesn’t stress too much over details while giving you the tools (and general recipes) to find your own way in the kitchen.  I’ve certainly gotta give Besh full props for not being afraid to show his two boys proudly holding two just-killed wild birds or showing a just dead chicken. Way to reconnect us to where food really comes from. I like it.

I was particularly interested in the Sausage and Pork Jambalaya and the Eggplant Dressing, although the Stuffed French Toast (stuffed with Nutella) seemed a bit over the top. Full disclosure, I am not really a fan of French Toast, but that’s another story.

As it turns out the Pork & Sausage Jambalaya is absolutely delicious. And simple. I am giving it as a sample to lure you into trying the book for yourself.

Now that I am rereading the recipe, I see that I should have used only half the bell pepper instead of the whole thing. However, that is what's so great about these recipes. Adapt at will, just as the people who came up with it would. They used what they had.

Also, I am confessing here and now that when I saw the recipe called for 3 cups of rice, I should have known it was to feed a large number of people. We have a lot in the freezer as a result.

Pork & Sausage Jambalaya
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 pound smoked pork sausage, sliced (I used kielbasa)
3 cups uncooked converted Louisiana white rice (I used plain long-grain rice ... again, it's what I had)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomato sauce or canned chopped tomatoes
2 cups diced cooked pork (I had none on hand so bought a few pork chops, diced them and sauteed the meat in the bacon fat.
3 green onions, chopped
Salt
Tabasco

1.
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until the fat is rendered about 3 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until browned. Add the bell pepper, celery, and sausage. Cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes, then add the rice, paprika, thyme, and red pepper flakes.

2.
Increase the heat to high and add the chicken broth and tomato sauce, then the pork and green onions. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 18 minutes. Remember the pork and sausage are already cooked, you're only making the rice at this point. Remove the pot from the heat and it's ready to serve! Season with salt and Tabasco. (We didn't need either. It was superb.)

Chilaquiles

Rose may be gone to L.A. but the cooking she did during her months at home lingers on with us, making memories bright and mouths water.

Here's a delicious one that actually would be a good make-ahead recipe for Super Bowl Sunday, now that I think of it.

CHILAQUILES
Adapted from “Tortilla Pie with Chorizo” in Mexican (page 140)

Vegetable Oil
1 1/4 lb ground pork
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp dry sherry
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
12 corn tortillas
3 cups Monterey Jack, grated
1 1/4 cups creme fraiche
2 cups tomatillos
4 tbsp stock or water
2 fresh serrano chiles, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
Small bunch of cilantro
1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the pork and garlic. Stir over medium heat until the meat has browned, then stir in the oregano, chili powder, cloves, and pepper. Cook for 3-4 more minutes, stirring constantly, then add the sherry, sugar, and salt. Stir for 3-4 minutes, until all the flavors are blended, then remove the pan from heat.

Cut the tortillas into 3/4 inch strips. Pour oil into a frying pan to a depth of 3/4 inch and heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry the tortilla strips in batches until crisp and golden brown all over.

Spread half the pork mixture in a baking dish. Top with half the tortilla strips and grated cheese, then add dollops of creme fraiche. Repeat the layers. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling.

To make the tomatillo sauce, put tomatillos, stock or water, serrano chiles, garlic, and cilantro in a food processor or blender. Reserve a little cilantro for sprinkling. Process until smooth. Scrape into a saucepan, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir the sour cream into the sauce, with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture on top and serve immediately, sprinkled with cilantro.

Variation: Substitute cinnamon for chili powder.

Lemon Grass Pork

This is another knock out that Rose made from one of her international cookbooks. It's an absolutely delicious stir-fry which was wonderful over rice noodles though we agreed that we would have it with rice the next time.

LEMON GRASS PORK

1-1/2 lb boneless pork loin
2 lemon grass stalks, finely chopped
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
12 black peppercorns, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh red chilies, seeded and chopped
1 tsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
Salt and pepper

Trim excess fat from pork. Cut meat into 1/4 inch slices and then 1/4 inch strips. Put pork in bowl with lemon grass, green onions, salt, and crushed peppercorns. Mix well. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.

Preheat wok, add oil and swirl around. Add pork mixture and stir-fry over medium heat for about 3 minutes, until browned all over.

Add garlic, chilies and stir-fry 5-8 minutes over medium heat until pork is cooked through.

Add sugar, fish sauce, and chopped peanuts. Toss to mix and then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice noodles or vermicelli pasta.

Chinese Pork with Eggplant and Rice Sticks

Turn Rose loose with a lot of eggplant from our CSA and a recommendation that my Cooking Light cookbooks usually include lots of vegetables in main dishes ... and certainly get a really delicious result for dinner.

She made this a few weeks ago. I loved it so much that I ate leftovers for breakfast ... three days running.

The one change I might make would be to use either thicker pasta or serve it over rice. The rice sticks we had were of angel-hair pasta consistency and didn't mix gracefully with the mixture.

CHINESE PORK WITH EGGPLANT AND RICE STICKS
Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2000 (November, pg 278)

1/2 lb boneless pork loin roast
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
Vegetable oil
4 cups eggplant, 1/2 inch cubes (8 oz)
2 cups onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Trim fat from pork; cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Combine salt, pepper, and ground red pepper. Sprinkle pork with pepper mixture.

Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and stir-fry until tender. Remove from pan. Add pork, and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add onion; stir-fry until translucent. Add garlic and crushed red pepper, and stir-fry 1 minute. Add broth, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce; bring to a boil, and cook 2 minutes. Return eggplant to pan and cook until thoroughly heated.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cilantro. Serve over rice sticks, angel hair pasta, or sticky rice.

Lomo de Cerdo en Chile Verde (Loin of Pork in Green Chile Sauce)

My mother had been asking if I had Dad's green pork recipe copied down. Sadly no, but I am sure it's genesis was in Elisabeth Ortiz's original The Complete Book of Mexican Cooking. This is from waaay back in the day ... wait for it ... 1967. Yet it is fascinating to look at how authentic the results were that Ortiz communicated in her recipes using canned tomatillos and jalapenos. In fact, looking up the recipe, I was seized with the desire for green pork and also seized with curiosity about making it old-school Ortiz style.

I remembered when I was in the store and saw a pork roast on sale. Then I ran all over the store picking up the ingredients. Turns out this is not actually the recipe my parents favored. (They used the recipe under this one which I may actually get around to sharing one of these days.)

This was absolutely delicious. We scooped it into flour tortillas. Mmmmm ...

These days pork is not what it was then and I'd use a pork shoulder, though my roast did very well. Also, my ... ahem ... handful of cilantro is actually an entire bunch. What can I say? I'm a fan.

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz did update her book (The New Complete Book of Mexican Cooking) and making this recipe made me curious as I am sure she now uses fresh tomatillos and the like. I have requested it from the library.

Lomo de Cerdo en Chile Verde
Loin of Pork in Green Chile Sauce

2 tablespoons lard or oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 pounds boneless loin of pork, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 pounds tomatillos, shucked, washed, and cut into quarters
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
2-3 mild jalapenos, cut into strips
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Heat the lard or oil in a skillet, and saute the onion and garlic until limp. Drain, and place in the bottom of a heavy, flame-proof casserole that has a cover. Add the pork, tomatillo, cilantro, and chiles, and the nopalitos. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover; and simmer over a low heat until the pork can be pierced easily with a fork, or about 2 hours. Serves 6. I usually make this the day after Christmas when I have lots of roast pork shoulder leftovers. In that case, simmer the sauce for an hour and then add the cut up pork and simmer for another hour.

Noodles with Bean-Paste Meat Sauce

From "The Key to Chinese Cooking" by Irene Kuo

As with most Asian recipes, the ingredients list can be intimidatingly long but this does not mean the recipe is complicated. It is simply a matter of preparing a meat sauce, cooking noodles and cutting vegetables, all of which can be done ahead of time.

"The Key to Chinese Cooking" is the cookbook I used to learn Chinese cooking. Despite the plethora of Chinese cookbooks that followed this one remains my favorite both for technique and recipes. If you are at all interested in Chinese cooking I strongly urge you to seek it out at used bookstores.

1 pound noodles, boiled

Garnish:
1 large firm, slender cucumber
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
2 cups shredded* romaine lettuce
1-1/2 cups shredded* celery
4 large cloves garlic, minced or mashed
1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 pound ground pork (I often use ground beef instead)
4 tablespoons oil (I often omit this and just cook the meat alone)
1 large scallion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dry sherry

Sauce:
5 tablespoons bean paste (I use black bean sauce which is widely available and add a pinch of sugar as Kuo suggests for a substitution)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup water

To Make Noodles:
Cook fresh noodles or spaghetti or linguine according to the instructions. Rinse, drain, and set aside. Toss with a little sesame oil to keep them from sticking together. When ready to serve, either reheat in microwave or plunge them into a pot of boiling water to boil briefly till hot and drain well.

To Prepare Garnishes:
Cut off the ends and peel the cucumber; halve and deseed it. Cut the halves diagonally into 1-1/2-inch-long slices, then shred* them. Rinse and drain the bean sprouts. Parboil them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain into a colander and spray with cold water. Drain well.

Separate lettuce leaves; rinse and shake dry. Cut the larger leaves in half lengthwise; then shred them crosswise thin. Cut the tender core diagonally into thin slices and then shred* these.

Wash, scrape, then cut the celery stalks diagonally into thin slices, shred the slices thin. rinse in cold water and drain well.

Crush and peel the garlic; then either mince it or mash it in a garlic press. Mix with the sesame oil in a small dish.

Put each vegetable in a separate serving dish. If doing this step in advance, cover the dishes and refrigerate. Bring out just before serving.

To Make Meat Sauce:
March-chop** the pork a few times to loosen its formation. Place it with the finely chopped scallions on a platter. Combine the sauce ingredients and stir well.

Heat a wok or large, heavy skillet over high heat until hot; add the 4 tablespoons oil, swirl and heat for 30 seconds. Turn heat to medium and add the meat, stirring briskly in poking and pressing motions until the meat separates. Scatter in the scallions and stir a few times; then add the sherry and stir rapidly to mingle. Give the sauce ingredients a big stir, pour over the meat and stir to even out the contents.

Turn heat to low to maintain a gentle simmering, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened, stirring now and then. At this point, add a little sugar if the sauce needs it -- it should be on the salty side with a subtle sweet aftertaste.

Turn the heat high, add the sesame oil, and give a few fast folds before pouring into a serving dish. The sauce may be made ahead of time, covered and chilled. Reheat over very low heat just before serving.

To Serve:
Place the vegetable garnishes in a circle in the center of the table with the hot meat sauce in the middle. Pile the hot noodles on a platter or in a deep bowl. Serve the noodles to each person and let him or her spoon on a little sauce and a sprinkling of vegetable garnishes. The mixture should be tossed well before being eaten. Serves 6-8 generously.

*"Shredding" is cutting ingredients into uniform strips about the size of wooden matchsticks.

** "March-chop" is a polishing finish for refining hand-minced meats or loosening the tight formation of machine-ground meats. Gather minced or ground meat into a flat pile; chop with a cleaver or big knife, straight up and down from one end of the pile to the other a few times. Then flip the pile over with the side of the cleaver and chop now at 90 degrees to the first row a few times.