Tag: pork
Smoked Pork Loin and Sirloin
Smoked Pork Loin and Sirloin
I wanted to smoke some Salvadoran inspired pork to go with my curtido and rice, so I brined a pork loin and sirloin for a day. I made a dry rub consisting of paprika, guajillo chili powder, garlic, oregano, and black pepper. The pork roasts got rubbed nicely. They were thrown into a 250 degree preheated smoker. At the 2 hour mark, I probed them with a thermometer. You want the internal temperature of pork to be 150 degrees before you pull it. It took another 15 minutes to reach that. I let the pork rest for 15 minutes before slicing.Now to compare the textures of both the loin and sirloin. The pork loin is leaner, but nothing short of juicy. The sirloin has a little more fat to it, but is still fairly lean. It turned out juicy and tender as well. Both cuts were 3lbs and took the same amount of time to smoke. You don’t even have to have a dry rub with the pork. It will be plenty flavorful from the brine. Or you can season it with any specific flavor you want.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork loin or sirloin
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tbsp white peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
Dry Rub
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp ground guajillo chili powder
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
- pecan wood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Add the pork to a gallon sized storage bag. Pour in the brine. Brine for 1 day.
- Let dry on a rack in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before smoking.
- Mix together the dry rub spices.
- Rub the pork on all sides. Let rest at room temperature for an hour before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Place the pork in the smoker and maintain the smoke for 2 hours.
- At the 2 hour mark, temp the pork with a probe thermometer. Continue to smoke until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees. It was another 15 minutes for the 3lb pork roasts.
- Let the pork rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Mustard Green Pork Rice
Mustard Green Pork Rice
While this dish doesn’t look like anything fancy, I would go as far to say that this is now one of my top 10 favorite recipes on this site. It is seriously that good, with many complex flavors and textures in this simple dish. It is even better the next day. Mustard green pork rice has it’s influences from Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. Pork is sautéed with dried shrimp, black fungus, garlic, and ginger. Uncooked rice and mustard greens are stirred in. At this point, the rice is traditionally transferred to a rice cooker, then cooked according to the manufacturer’s directions. I used an Instant Pot since I’m able to sauté and pressure cook the rice all in the same pot, limiting dishes, which is my ultimate goal when cooking. It also takes a fraction of the time to cook.
Equipment
- instant pot or rice cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1/4 cup dried shrimp soaked in warm water
- 1/4 cup dried black mushrooms soaked in warm water; drained and chopped
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly or pork sirloin cut into cubes
- 2 1/2 cups jasmine rice uncooked
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 bunches mustard greens washed; chopped into 1” strips
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Using the sauté function on high on your Instant Pot, heat up the cooking oil. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes.
- Add in the dried shrimp. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the black mushrooms. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the pork. Sauté until it is cooked 50% through; about 4 minutes.
- Stir in the rice. Sauté for 2 minutes. Pour in the soy sauce. Give it a stir.
- Add in the mustard greens. Stir them in with the rice. Pour in the water. Set your Instant Pot setting to pressure cooker on high for 4 minutes. Put on the cover and press start.
- Once finished, release the pressure. Give the pork rice a stir. Drizzle with sesame oil.
Brazilian Style Collard Greens
Brazilian Style Collard Greens
When you think of collard greens, you think of how they are prepared down south: stewed with ham hocks or smoked turkey, cut with a little bit of vinegar. If you go further south, like South America, you will find that collard greens are sautéed with a ton of garlic. The Brazilian way is to cook them with diced bacon. This way of preparation only takes 10 minutes opposed to multiple hours of stewing. Collard greens pair great with any meat, especially feijoada.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 strips bacon chopped
- 2 bunches collard greens washed and chopped
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook the bacon until 3/4 of the way through.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Toss in the collard greens and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Hickory Applewood Smoked Bacon
Tips For Smoking Bacon Pat your pork belly dry before dry rubbing. Do not skip adding the pink curing salts to the dry rub. Without them, you will just have smoked pork belly and not bacon. Store and cure the bellies in gallon sized storage …