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Jamon del Pais (Peruvian Country Ham)
Jamon del Pais (Peruvian Country Ham)
Jamon del Pais is a Peruvian style ham used to make butifarra sandwiches. While technically not ham since it isn’t cured(it’s really more roast pork), it’s nothing short of delicious. Traditionally pork leg is used to make the ham, but you can use pork sirloin or loin. The pork is simmered in stock for 90 minutes, then rubbed with a garlic and aji panca marinade and baked in the oven.
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork leg, pork sirloin, or pork loin
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion quartered
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 gallon chicken stock or enough to completely submerge the pork
- 2 cups pork braising liquid saved from the boil
Ham Seasoning
- 1/4 cup aji panca paste
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 packet sazon with achiote
Instructions
- Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat up olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Place the pork into the pot.
- Sear the pork on all sides for 10 minutes.
- Pour enough chicken stock into the pot to cover the pork completely. Add in the onions and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 90 minutes.
- Take the pork out of the pot and let it cool.
- Mix together all of the ham seasoning ingredients.
- Cover the entire ham with the seasoning.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pork on a baking pan lined in foil. Pour 2 cups of the braising liquid in the pan.
- Bake the ham for 40 minutes, flipping half way through. Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
Cottage Bacon
Cottage Bacon
There’s no question about it: bacon is king. But have you ever had cottage bacon? The bacon you are used to eating is made from cured pork belly. Cottage bacon is made from cured pork shoulder. The results are even better then I expected. It has the flavor of belly bacon. It cooks up the same way. What makes cottage bacon even better in my opinion, is how meaty it is. It has a larger meat to fat ratio. I love my belly bacon, but I’m starting to think that cottage bacon is the way to go.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs boneless pork shoulder
Dry Rub Cure
- 3 tbsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp pink curing salts
Wood Chips
- 1/2 hickory wood chips
- 1/2 applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the dry rub ingredients.
- Cover the pork shoulder with all of the dry rub.
- Place the pork shoulder In a gallon sized storage bag. Place in the refrigerator for 1 week. Flip everyday so the pork marinates in it’s juices.
- After 1 week, take out of the storage bag. Place on a rack and put back in the refrigerator for 1 day to help dry out the pork to develop a pellicle. When ready to smoke, let the pork shoulder rest at room temp for an hour.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Throw the pork shoulder in the smoker. Once the woodchips are smoking, turn the smoker down to 200 degrees. Repeat this step every time you change out the wood chips.
- At the 3 hour mark, take the temp of the pork shoulder. Continue smoking until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.
- Let the pork rest until completely cooled. Place in the refrigerator for 1 day before slicing.
- Slice to the thickness of your liking.
- To cook, preheat a skillet or a griddle over medium high heat. Place slices on the pan.
- Cook for 6-8 minutes, flipping the pieces every 2 minutes.
Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin
Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin
I’ve wanted to make this recipe for quite some time. It started to get cold outside and I had a lot of basil in garden to use up. I took a pork loin and butterflied it open, hammered it thin, and brined it for a day. Then I stuffed it with mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, red onions and my basil. Then it got rolled up and tied, then smoked. Once the pork reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees, I pulled it from the smoker and let it rest for 20 minutes. I sliced the loin into 1” thick pieces, resulting in a pinwheel effect of stuffing in the pork loin.
Equipment
- Meat Mallet
- Butchers Twine
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 4 lb boneless pork loin roast
- 9 slices mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups Italian basil leaves
- 8 oz sun dried tomatoes
- 1/2 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 3 tsp black pepper
- 3 tsp garlic powder
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
Wood Chips
- 2/3 hickory wood chips
- 1/3 applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the brining ingredients. Set aside.
- Place the pork loin fat cap side up.
- Slice a third of the thickness of the pork loin horizontally almost all the way through. You are almost butterflying the loin, except you are cutting into only a third of the thickness instead of in half.
- Butterfly open the thicker side of the pork loin. It should look like you have 3 sections wide open of pork loin.
- Using a meat mallet, hammer down the pork loin all over until it is equal thickness; about 1”-1.5” thick.
- Placd the pork loin in a gallon sized storage bag with the brine. Squeeze out any air. Brine for 24 hours.
- When ready to stuff, pat dry with paper towels. Lay out the pork loin flat.
- Place the mozzarella across the entire pork loin.
- Layer whole basil leaves and sun dried tomatoes on top of the cheese.
- Cover with sliced red onions.
- Carefully roll up the pork loin.
- Using butcher’s twine, tie up the pork loin. I start by tying in the middle, then 3 ties on each side of the center. Then tie up the loin once horizontally. Let the pork loin sit at room temperature an hour before smoking. Season the outside with paprika, black pepper, and garlic powder.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Placd the stuffed loin in the smoker.
- At the 3 hour mark, take the temperature with a probe thermometer. Continue smoking until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.
- Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
