Deliciousness with Pork Chile Verde

A very long time ago, one of my sisters sent me a recipe for a green pork "enchilada sauce." It was supposed to be something like the green canned enchilada sauce, which was never available in the eastern states. I had eaten something with that kind of sauce, so I knew I liked it. And I really, truly, meant to make the recipe. 

Somehow, as with far too many things - it just never happened.

Pork Chile Verde

Then, possibly within the last year, I found something that sparked my interest in that type of recipe. Again. Plus, soon after we moved to AZ, we ate at a little local Mexican restaurant and I ordered the pork chile verde over rice, and of course the ubiquitous refried pinto beans. It was delicious. I figured if I ever got around to making this, mine might be a big hit. I had the flavors all set in my head. They had just never yet made it into existence.

A couple of months ago, I bought two huge pork shoulder roasts. Not sure why, as I rarely buy something that big. There are only two of us in the household, after all. But I got one out and cooked it very slowly till it all fell apart and then proceeded to clean all the meat out, tossing excess fat and bones. Once I finished with all that, I chopped the meat. Half of it, I set aside to use. The other half went in the freezer for another time. That first half was used to make Pork Barbecue for sandwiches - one of my favorite things ever.

The frozen portion I got out from the freezer the other day and decided that it was finally time for some Pork Chile Verde. I had the meat all set. I had some Tomatillo Sauce already made in the fridge (it is SO good as a dip alone, as a dip mixed with guacamole, over eggs for breakfast, and multitudes of other uses). The basic necessities were all ready. To make the sauce for the meat was a snap.

In that sense, I do advise making life easier by first having the meat all prepped ahead of time. If you don't care for taking time to make your own Tomatillo Sauce, then buy your favorite brand of a Tomatillo Salsa and use that, though in general, the spicy heat factor is quite high in those.

Pork Chile Verde

Serves 8 or more

Pork Chile Verde

1 pound cooked, chopped pork shoulder roast

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced finely

1 - 1½ tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (no stems)

12 ounces canned green chilies (three 4-ounce tins)

16 ounces Tomatillo Sauce/Salsa

4 cups beef or chicken stock, unsalted

1 teaspoon dried oregano or 2 tablespoons fresh leaves, minced

½ teaspoon salt, or as needed

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

1 - 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

-----

THICKENING

1 cup water

½ cup corn tortilla flour (Maseca, Torti-ya)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Saute the onions until they are turning golden, then add in the garlic and fresh thyme leaves and continue to saute for a few more minutes, to cook out the raw garlic taste. Add in the next 8 ingredients and then the chopped/shredded pork. Stir well and bring to boil.

In a smaller bowl or large measuring cup, stir the water and tortilla flour together until there are no lumps, then whisk in the flour briskly to leave a lump-free slurry. Pour this into the pot and stir until the mixture thickens slightly. Continue cooking over lowest heat for at least 10 more minutes. 

Serve with rice and refried beans, or over enchiladas, over omelets. Use your imagination. This is really wonderfully flavored.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Goan Pork Vindaloo

Last year I made Indian food a lot. I mean a LOT. I don't think a month went by that I didn't make something Indian. So last year in January I made a Goan Pork Vindaloo, and here it is, May 2017, and more than a year later and I am finally getting to a blog post. I guess I put off blogging about a few really great dishes, just because since I did so much Indian cooking last year I thought I really had to get more variety in here. So this blog is about the Vindaloo, and I have a couple of other recipes, one for a pork curry from Coorg, and another is a chicken curry from Telangana. I will get to them soon, as I would love to make them again.

Goan Pork Vindaloo

As is usual with a new dish, I research it first, seeing what people do - and true to form, outside of a very few ingredients, the recipes and ingredients are vastly different from one recipe to the next. I finally came down to selecting ingredients and spices mainly from two recipes. One recipe is terribly long, and the other is terribly short. For the same basic recipe! So I look through, select what sounds good to me, discard what does not, and put together a mixture that most often turns out really great. Since all the ingredients are found in SOME version of the recipe, somewhere, I feel it is an authentic enough version of this dish.

Pork is not a meat eaten in most of India, but the state of Goa on the lower-western side of the country was colonized by the Christian Portuguese, and their foods and habits were mixed into the culture there. Thus, pork came to be eaten in this area of the country. I love pork anyway, and it is nice to see pork in an Indian recipe. I had never made a "vindaloo" before. My understanding was that vindaloo was a fiery hot and spicy dish, and this is indeed so, although if spicy heat is not your thing, simply reduce the amounts of the hot spice added to the recipe. My recipe is in no way over the top spicy, though it does have some. Other than that, I had no real clue to what constituted a vindaloo. Wikipedia has this to say:

" . . . derived from the Portuguese carne de vinha d'alhos (literally "meat in garlic wine marinade"), is a dish of meat (usually pork) marinated in wine and garlic."

Goan Pork Vindaloo

Though the Portuguese sailors' version of what made a "vinha d'alhos" (which the Indians found easier to pronounce "vindaloo) is nothing at all like what the Indianized version came to be, I really happen to love the Goan style of this dish. Once looking at the ingredients I had chosen for my vindaloo, indeed it is pork marinated in wine (vinegar) and garlic. Outside of that, I guess you'll have to give it a try and see just how delightful it is.

The dish calls for tamarind paste, which, granted, is not in everyone's list of pantry items, but I do happen to have it in mine. I have both the tamarind pods and a plastic jar of tamarind paste, which is very thick. I used the paste in this dish, and used a teaspoon if this thick stuff mixed into water to dissolve. I could have taken a few of the whole pods, peeled back the brittle outer casings and soaked them for a half hour or so, then squeezed and pressed through a sieve. Either way would work. If you do not own tamarind, add in more lime juice or red wine vinegar. The dish is meant to have a sour quality.

Curry Leaf Plant

Another ingredient that I did not have on hand at the time of making this recipe, was the curry leaves. Murraya koenigii, or curry leaf, is a bush-like shrubby plant with lots of long stemlets with leaves that run on either side of the stem. The leaves have a vaguely citrusy quality and add a lovely flavor to a dish. I found fresh leaves on Amazon (of course) and ordered them. They can be frozen, then pull out what is needed for a recipe (usually about one stemlet of leaves). They do turn slightly blackish in the freezer, but maintain their fresh flavor. Drying the leaves leaves them relatively tasteless, so they are best frozen, unless you happen to live in a more temperate climate and can grow your own. When I lived in Florida, I had a couple of good sized plants and used them often.

Goan Pork Vindaloo

Goan Pork Vindaloo

Serves 4 

2 pounds pork tenderloin, in small cubes
2 - 3 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
2 onions, finely chopped
4 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
10 fresh curry leaves, optional
2 teaspoons Tandoori Spice
2 "Indian Bay Leaves" called Tej Patta
1½ teaspoons salt

MARINADE:
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon black cardamom seeds
6 whole cloves
10 black peppercorns
1-inch true cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon Indian pure ground chili powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder or 2 tablespoons fresh turmeric, grated
2 - 4 green chilies, minced, optional
⅓ cup red wine vinegar or lime juice
2 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind paste (if very thick variety, dissolve 1 teaspoon in 2 tablespoons water)
6 - 8 cloves garlic, smashed
1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced

Make the Marinade: Place the first 7 marinade ingredients into a dry skillet over medium high heat and stir constantly until the spices are very fragrant, but not smoking. Turn them out onto a plate to cool.

Once slightly cooled, pour the spices into a blender container with the turmeric and pure chili powder. Blend to a fine powder, then add in the remaining marinade ingredients and blend to a smooth paste. Combine the marinade with the pork pieces and stir to mix well, then refrigerate in a sealed container of zip-top bag for 8 to 48 hours.

Making the Vindaloo: Heat the oil or ghee in a large skillet. Add in the brown mustard seeds and cook, stirring and swirling the pan until the seeds begin to pop. Add in the onion and minced garlic with the curry leaves and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Add in the Tandoori Spice and Tej Patta with the salt and stir for a few seconds, then add in the pork with its marinade and add just enough water to make a stew-like consistency. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and simmer until the pork is cooked through, about 20 - 25 minutes for tenderloin meat. If using other pork meat, simmer for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve with a squeeze of lime juice if desired. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Easy and Elegant Pork Dish

Whether you are looking for an elegantly easy recipe for a nice dinner with friends, or just something for any night, these Pork Rolls with Feta, Artichoke and Capers are just perfect. The idea for these pork rolls came when watching The Chew one day last week. Often there will be a segment where Michael Symon pairs off with Daphne Oz. Michael will make a certain dish in his normal fashion, with no skimping on either flavor or calories. Daphne will make a version of something similar, where she will use ingredients that really amp up the flavor, but tone down calories or excessive fats. It so happens in this particular episode, both the dishes sounded amazing. In particular, Daphne (using chicken breast meat instead of Michael's use of fattier chicken thigh meat) made a wonderful filling with Castelvetrano olives, capers and a few other things. 

Pork Rolls with Feta, Artichoke Caper Filling

I had some boneless pork loin chops in the fridge, and wanted to try using them this way, pounded thin and stuffed, then rolled. I really liked the sound of Daphne's olive-caper filling. The only difficulty fell in that my husband won't eat olives.

I love olives. Maybe the simple black olives in a can are not my favorite flavor profile, but I will eat them anyway, if they are in a dish. Possibly my favorite olives are Nicoise. I love stuffed green olives, Kalamatas and so many others. I believe I have tried Castelvetrano olives once some years ago, but cannot be absolutely positive at this remove. After researching a bit, I confirmed what Daphne said about Castelvetrano olives being milder in flavor, and less salty. I would have loved to try them in this dish, but I figured that whether mild or not, it still might be too much for my husband's taste. 

So, What Substitutes for Olives in a Recipe?

Browning the Pork Rolls

I spent a while looking online for suggestions to replace olives in a recipe. In most cases, capers were the suggestion. Since capers were already a part of the ingredients, more capers would not be useful. Since most olives are rather salty, some suggested meats such as prosciutto. I know that meats are used as ingredients in a stuffing for another meat, but I didn't want to go with that much meat in this case (the recipe called for a cup of Castelvetrano olives, so a cup of whatever ingredient to sub). Another ingredient in the filling was Feta cheese, and as that is also salty, it seemed to me using too much salty prosciutto would be less palatable. 

And then I found a suggestion for using artichoke hearts! This seemed the perfect solution for the dilemma. Artichoke hearts are mild flavored, enough so to make the bulk of the filling without going crazy on the salt level. Hurrah!


Daphne's recipe for the filling (found here), was used to fill chicken breast cutlets pounded thin. I had pork loin chops. The one thing I really would have added to the recipe I was adapting from Daphne's was fresh rosemary. She was going for Mediterranean flavors, and I liked that profile. Rosemary is also Mediterranean flavor. However, the rosemary I had in the fridge had gone all black, and it was too late to run to the store. The recipe would have to do without, at least this time. Both Michael and Daphne's recipes used cheese in the filling. Michael used goat cheese, which I love, but I wanted to keep Daphne's use of Feta in this recipe. The mixture just sounded so good. For now, the results were marvelous. A little rosemary would have really taken the flavors even more the direction I wanted, but for now, this worked very well.

The last thing I altered was browning the rolls before popping them into the oven to finish cooking. Michael did this with the chicken thighs, but Daphne's version went straight to the oven. I chose the fry first and oven finish method, because I wanted the pork to look golden and appetizing. Twenty minutes in the oven will not brown as nicely as a quick frying will!

Quite on its own, this recipe is also completely gluten free! Michael Symon's recipe used bread crumbs, though bread crumbs can also be made easily from gluten free bread.

Pork Rolls with Feta, Artichoke and Capers

Makes 4 servings

Pork Roll with Feta, Artichoke and Capers

4 boneless pork loin chops
salt and pepper for seasoning
4 ounces grated/crumbled Feta cheese
1 (7-ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
¼ cup chopped dates
2 tablespoons small capers, drained
2 cloves garlic
1½ cups loosely packed flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon grated orange zest (dried is fine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
more olive oil for browning

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the chops, one at a time, between plastic wrap and pound them very thin, until they are about 5 x 6-inches. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside. If using a block of Feta, grate it on a large holed grater, or chop or crumble finely. Set aside.

Place the drained artichoke hearts, dates, capers, garlic parsley, orange juice concentrate and orange zest into the bowl of a food processor. Process, while adding in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Scrape down as necessary to process evenly. Pour out into a bowl and stir in the Feta cheese until combined. Divide this mixture between the 4 pounded pork cutlets. Pat to evenly distribute, leaving the end farthest from you free for about 1-inch. Roll the pork, starting at the end closest to you, without smashing the filling out. Secure the rolls with a toothpick if necessary.

Heat a skillet to high and add a little olive oil. Brown the rolls quickly on all sides, about 5 minutes, total. Set them on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees. Remove from oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

It's Cinco de Mayo, Hurray for Carnitas

I am not Mexican. I did live in Guatemala (the country just south of Mexico) for 12 years before anything really "Mexican" started to take over the US. Hard to imagine, I know! But the Mexican, or pseudo-Mexican foods are here to stay, I believe. As with my post yesterday about Tres Leches Cake (which I turned into my own spin: Coffee Flavored Quatro Leches Cake), today's is also a Mexican dish. Pork Carnitas. I have made pulled pork many times, but always to mix with barbecue sauce. In Guatemala there were Carnitas also, and though I never made them, I did eat them while down there. They were far different than this soft and juicy Mexican style.

Pork Carnitas with refried beans and cilantro

Jumping on the bandwagon, though in our house we do not celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I decided to try my hand at making this juicy pulled pork called Carnitas. "Carnitas", in case you have not seen it just about anywhere on the internet in these last few days, means little meats. To me, this term seems to fit the Guatemalan version better, as they were always little chunks, never "pulled." Whatever. I have eaten Carnitas in restaurants, and some were delightful while others were, well, not quite so delightful. 

As usual, I spent an hour or more perusing the web, looking at people's ideas on recipes for Carnitas. And then I shut down the web and wrote down what I wanted to try. As my recipe stands, it was delicious. Certainly it turned out worthy of the name. Wonderful all on their own, these little pieces of pork goodness were tender and oh, so flavorful. I had some ideas in mind to use in making this dish, and as it turned out, they were spot on. I wanted to use beer and orange juice. I wanted jalapenos in there. Check. This morning I got everything out and prepared to make Carnitas. 

This dish is best cooked low and slow, whether in a tightly-lidded Dutch oven in a very low temp oven, or in a slow-cooker. If in the oven, it is best to use a heavy enameled cast iron pot, if possible, just because they hold heat well and cook amazingly. For the oven, keep the temperature at whatever will maintain a low simmer, which is somewhere between 265 and 275 degrees in my oven. If cooking in a slow cooker, there are all sorts out there these days, some with actual temperature gauges, and some like my oldie, with three settings: Off, Low, or High. In this type of slow cooker, LOW is where it's at.
 

meat browned, seasoned; onions & Garlic sauteed; beer added; lard added; all in the pot    

Making the Carnitas as I chose to do, it was a messy business. Lots of cleanup after. Not what I usually like, but occasionally I make the effort. I chose to cut the meat into smaller chunks and sear it before putting it in the pot to cook. The meat came on a bone, so while I separated the meat from the bone, I still added the bone to the cooking pot, for flavor. This is what I did:

Pork Carnitas

Pork Carnitas

Serves 6 to 8

1 (5 pound) pork butt or shoulder roast
2 tablespoons bacon fat or lard
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced finely
12 ounces strong flavored beer
½ cup lard
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaf
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, stripped from stems
2 fresh jalapenos minced, seeds and stems removed, if desired
zest of one orange
zest of half lime
juice of 2 oranges (¾ cup)
juice of one lime (1½ tablespoons)

Cut the meat into approximately 3-inch cubes. In a hot skillet, melt the 2 tablespoons bacon fat or lard. Sear the meat until well-browned on all sides, removing to a plate when done. While meat is searing, mix together the salt, cumin, oregano, chipotle, paprika, black pepper and allspice. Sprinkle this over the meat, then move the meat to either a Dutch oven or a slow cooker. In the skillet, saute the onions quickly until nicely browned and tender. Add the minced garlic and cook about 3 minutes. Pour in the beer and deglaze the pan, then allow the beer to cook down by half. While beer is cooking down, add the thyme leaves, jalapenos, zests and juices to the meat. Once beer is reduced, scrape all the contents of the skillet in with the meat. If baking, have the oven preheated and allow at least 3 hours at very low temperature to cook until very tender. If in a slow cooker, start on high for the first hour, to get things started, then on low for about 6 hours in total.  

cooked meat cooling         |       shredded meat being fried         |        nicely crisped meat

Once meat is tender, remove the meat from the pot to a plate, until cool enough to handle. Shred with two forks, or just break into small chunks with clean hands. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add in some of the fat skimmed from the top of the cooking liquids in the pot. Let the meat become browned and almost crispy at the edges. Serve as tacos, mixed in with other ingredients for burritos, or just eat with plain rice. However you choose to use it, you will enjoy!


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.