Tag: pork
Collard Greens with Smoked Pork
Collard Greens with Smoked Pork
Southern style collard greens is one of my favorite side dishes. They take a little bit of time to cook, but are extremely easy to prepare. Simply boil pork shanks, onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper for an hour. Add in the collard greens and continue to boil for 45 minutes. Remove the shanks from the pot. Take the meat off the bone and chop up, returning back into the pot with vinegar. Simmer for another 15 minutes and you’re done. If you happen to not eat pork, you can substitute smoked turkey to the greens.
Ingredients
- 2 smoked pork shanks
- 1 gallon water
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 1 head garlic peeled
- 3 tsp crushed red pepper
- 3 bunches collard greens centered rib removed; washed
- 1 cup vinegar
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in the shanks, onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Boil for 1 hour.
- Add the collard greens to the boiling water. Boil for 45 minutes.
- Take the shanks out of the water. Carefully remove the meat from the bone and chop up into bite sized pieces.
- Add the meat back into the pot along with 1 cup of vinegar. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Smoked Pork Shanks
Smoked pork shanks are great to have around when making collards greens, split pea soup, beans and rice, and many more dishes. They add copious amounts of hammy goodness to whatever you’re making. They also cost a fraction of the price smoking them yourself compared to buying them already smoked. The raw shanks I purchased are $1.49/lb compared to $5-$6/lb smoked.So what’s the difference between pork shanks and pork hocks? Shanks are from the front shins of the pig, aka forshank. They will have the shin bone through the center with a lot of meat surrounding the bone. The bone also contains marrow, which will add a lot of flavor. Pork hocks are from the ankle of the pig. They contain a little less meat. They contain a lot of collagen and cartilage that also adds flavor. The shanks will only need a day to brine. In the brine is pink curing salts, which will turn your shanks to ham. The shanks will take about 2 1/2 hours to smoke. I use hickory wood since it is a nice neutral flavored wood for smoking. They can be instantly used once finished, stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, or frozen in freezer paper for up to 6 months.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 2 pork shanks around 2” thick
Brine
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup sea salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp pink curing salts
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the brining ingredients.
- Place the pork shanks in a gallon sized storage bag with the brine. Brine for 24 hours.
- Pat dry. Place on a rack and leg dry out at room temp for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place your shanks in the smoker.
- Smoke your shanks for 2 1/2 hours.
Smoked Beans with Bacon
Smoked Beans with Bacon
This recipe is inspired by an old coworker of mine who ran the seafood department from years ago. He always talked about making ribs and baked beans in his smoker. He would place the ribs over the pan of beans toward the end of the smoking process and let the drippings fall into the beans. Now that I own a smoker, I decided to make that happen. I put a lbs of dried northern beans in my Instant Pot, taking only 30 minutes of cooking time, no soaking required. While that was going, I sautéed 1lb of diced bacon. I sautéed onions and garlic in the bacon grease. Then I added in tomato paste, molasses, brown sugar, and a cup of the northern bean stock that I saved. Let that simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in the beans. I placed my beans in a foil pan with deep sides. I preheated my smoker to 250 degrees. I used hickory chips for smoking. Hickory is a great all purpose wood chip with a neutral flavor. You can also use mesquite, pecan, or maple wood chips. The pan of beans will take 2 hours to smoke. I happened to have also made homemade hotdogs the same day. I placed the pan of beans underneath the hotdogs the last 30 minutes of smoking, letting the drippings go into the beans. If you don’t have a smoker, you can bake these beans in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Equipment
- instant pot
- foil pan
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried northern beans prepared according to package directions
- 1 lb bacon diced
- 1/2 medium white onion diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup bean stock saved from the northern beans
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Sauté the bacon in a large sauté pan until crispy. Set aside.
- Sauté the onions and garlic in the bacon grease over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, molasses, brown sugar, and bean stock.
- Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt, white pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the northern beans, making sure that the beans are evenly coated in the sauce.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place your beans in a foil pan. Place the pan in the smoker for 2 hours.
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.
