Recent Posts
Smoked Pork Leg
Smoked Pork Leg
Most people I feel aren’t very familiar with raw pork leg. Once cured and smoked, you may know it as ham. But the raw pork leg is a great cut that is really inexpensive and doesn’t deserve the neglect it gets. A whole pork leg is around 10-12lbs. You can usually find half legs at any grocery store if you don’t want 10lbs of pork. For smoking purposes, you will want to trim off the outer skin.The marinade is an oniony/garlicky blend with orange juice and vinegar acting as a tenderizer. Marinate the leg for 24 hours. If you are going to smoke the leg, it will need to rest in the refrigerator on a rack for 24 hours. If you are going to roast the pork leg, it will be ready to go. Smoke for about 5 hours in your smoker at 250 degrees. If roasting, bake for 2 1/2-3 hours at 350 degrees. Let your pork leg rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.
Equipment
- food processor
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 5 lb pork leg
- 10 garlic cloves
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
Wood Chips
- 1/2 applewood
- 1/2 pecan
Instructions
- Dry toast the onions and garlic in a sauté pan over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Place the onions and garlic in a food processor along with the other marinade ingredients.
- Pulse until all of the ingredients are blended. The marinade doesn’t need to be puréed smooth. Semi-chunky is ok.
- Remove the outer skin of the pork leg.
- Place the pork leg in a gallon sized storage bag with the marinade. Marinate for 24 hours.
- Place the marinated pork leg on a rack. Allow to dry out in your refrigerator for 24 hours. Let rest at room temperature for 2 hours before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place the pork leg in the smoker.
- Smoke for 5 hours.
- Let the pork leg rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Piquin Chili Salsa
Piquin Chili Salsa
This salsa is pretty damn hot, yet refreshing and full of flavor. Piquin chili salsa is best when sparingly drizzled on something and not as a chip and salsa dip. To make this salsa properly requires a mortar and pestle. A food processor is not the same and will change the texture. Try the salsa on top of empalmes or huevos rancheros.
Equipment
- mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp piquin chilies
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 4 black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp white onion chopped
- 1 garlic cloves dliced
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 6 tbsp water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Dry toast the the chilies for 1 minute over medium heat. Move the chilies to the mortar.
- Dry toast the cumin seeds and peppercorns for 30 seconds. Move to the mortar.
- Gring the chilies, cumin, oregano, and peppercorns down with the pestle.
- Heat up the vegetable oil. Sauté the onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Move to the mortar.
- Grind the onions and garlic with the chilies.
- Stir in the vinegar, water, and salt.
Smoked Char Siu Baby Back Ribs
Smoked Char Siu Baby Back Ribs
This recipe is another reason why we need to legalize marijuana federally, if not globally. Without it, I might not have came up with this concept. Char siu is my absolute favorite. So why not marinate ribs in char siu marinade and smoke them? It happened. All I can say is that this might be my favorite way to prepare ribs. It’s rather simple to do. It will take some patience since it’s really a 3 day process if marinating, 1 day of drying, and the next day to smoke. If you don’t have a smoker, you can bake these in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours, wrapped in foil. Then place the ribs under the broiler, brushing the ribs with the cooked marinade every 3 minutes until the top side is browned.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
Marinade
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsp honey + 1 extra tbsp for glazing
- 3 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 3 red bean curd cubes + 2 tbsp of liquid
- 1 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
Wood Chips
- 1/2 cherrywood
- 1/2 applewood
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Place the baby backs in a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in all of the marinade. Marinate for 3 days; flipping the bag over a couple of times a day.
- After the ribs have marinated, place on a rack and let dry out in the refrigerator for a day. Save the marinade. Let sit at room temp for 1 hour prior to smoking.
- Place the ribs in a preheated 250 degree electric smoker.
- Simmer the saved marinade with an extra tbsp of honey for 10minced until reduced. At the 2 hour mark of smoking, brush a layer of the marinade on the racks of ribs. Smoke for another hour, brushing another layer of the marinade on the ribs. Some for 1 more hour.
- Let the ribs rest for !5 minutes before serving.
