Tag: Latin American
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.
Tetelas Oaxaca
Tetelas Oaxaca
Tetales are a refried black bean stuffed masa cake; much similar in concept to the Salvadoran pupusa. The tetelas are pan fried until crispy and topped with crumbled cheese, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.
Equipment
- tortilla press
- gallon sized storage bag; cut into 2 sheets of plastic
Ingredients
- 1 cup masa harina flour
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 2/3 cup refried black beans
- vegetable oil for frying
Garnish
- queso fresco crumbled
- cilantro chopped
- Mexican sour cream
- red or green salsa
Instructions
- Mix together the mass flour and warm water.
- Roll into 4-6 equal sized balls.
- Place 1 sheet of plastic on a tortilla press. Place 1 of the dough balls in the center, with the other sheet of plastic on top.
- Flatten to 1/8” thick. Remove the top sheet of plastic.
- Place a heaping tbsp of refried black beans in the center of the pressed dough. Spread it around.
- Using the plastic, fold up the bottom third of the tetelas. Fold back the plastic.
- Fold over the right side at an angle. Fold back the plastic.
- Fold over the left side, creating a triangle. Seal the corners.
- Heat up vegetable oil on a griddle over medium high heat. Place the tetelas on the griddle.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes until crispy.
Yucatán Fried Beans
I love refried beans. This is possibly the easiest and most flavorful recipe to make Yucatán style fried black beans. Toast the onions and habanero. Purée the black beans with the onions. Fry the purée with the habanero until it reaches your desired consistency. That’s it. You can use either vegetable oil or lard to fry the beans in; depending if you want them vegan or not.
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 2 slices white onion
- 1 habanero
- 4 cups cooked black beans with broth
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or lard
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Dry toast the onion and habanero for 5 minutes in a sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Place the onions and black beans in a blender .
- Purée until smooth.
- Heat up vegetable oil or lard in a sauté pan over medium heat. Pour in the beans. Add the toasted habanero back in. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the beans are thickened to your liking. Season with salt.
