Tag: pork
Boerewors
Boerewors
Boerewors is a popular South African sausage. The sausage is made up of 2/3 beef, 1/3 pork; with coriander, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and malt vinegar, with gives the sausage a particular taste that is specific to South Africa. The malt vinegar also acts as a preservative. The sausage is typically grilled in an untwisted single coil link. But you can definitely twist it into links and eat it on a bun. If you don’t have a grill, you can pan fry the sausage, or even broil it.
Equipment
- grinder
- sausage stuffer
Ingredients
- 3 lbs beef chuck
- 1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder
- 2 tbsp ground coriander seeds
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/3 cup malt vinegar
- hog casings
Instructions
- Mix all of the spices together.
- Grind the chuck and pork shoulder on a medium grind plate 1 time through. Mix in all of the spices and the malt vinegar.
- Let rest for an hour before stuffing to let the ingredients meld.
- Pipe the sausage through a sausage stuffer. I like to use the KitchenAde grinder and sausage stuffer attachments when it’s time to work the beef hammers.
- You can leave the sausage untwisted in a single coil, or you can twist them into 6” links. Let rest for a good 4 hours before cooking.
- Heat up a sauté pan with a tbsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Add in the sausages.
- Sauté for 12-14 minutes, flipping every few minutes to cook evenly.
Tacos Arabes
Tacos Arabes
This is not your typical Mexican taco. Tacos Arabes has its origins from Christian Arab refugees from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq forced into displacement to what is now the Mexican city of Puebla. An estimated 113,000 Arabs had made there home in Mexico in the 1870s. They introduced the concept of shawarma, roasting meat to an open flame upright on a spit, to the Mexican culinary world. Instead of serving the meat in a tortilla, the meat is served on a pita-like flatbread. Originally, lamb was used. But since lamb isn’t very popular in Mexico and is more expensive, the recipe had evolved into pork.If you were to get tacos arabes in Puebla today, you would see a large stack of thinly sliced herb marinated pork shoulder roasting upright on a spit. The meat is shaved off, much like the same way the meat is for a gyro or even tacos al pastor. It will be served with a simple vinegar based chipotle salsa. Since the overwhelming majority of home chefs don’t have an upright spit, you can sauté the marinated pork in a pan for 15 minutes.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork shoulder cut into thin strips
- 1 medium white onion sliced
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lime juiced
- 4 tbsp oregano
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 4 tsp vinegar
- 3 tsp salt
- 6 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Authentic Arabes Salsa
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tbsp chipotle paste
- 4 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together except the cooking oil.
- Marinate the pork in a gallon sized storage bag for at least 8 hours.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Drain the pork of any marinade juices. Add the pork to the sauté pan.
- Cook the pork for 15 minutes. The pork is done when the onions have cooked down.
- To make the salsa, purée all of the ingredients together in a blender or food processor.
Pita Bread
Pita bread can trace it’s roots over 14000 years ago to the Stoned Age in the Middle East. Today, pita bread is a staple of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine. The yeast leavened flatbread dough is rolled flat. The edges are then tucked up underneath itself into a ball. This allows air to be trapped, creating steam to puff up the flatbread and make a pocket once the dough is baked. There is also pita that is just rolled flat and use more as a wrap, such as is Greek cuisine.
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp sugar
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together.
- On a floured surface, knead the dough fo 7-8 minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm place.
- Let dough rise for 2 hours. It will double in volume.
- Roll dough out on a floured surface.
- Cut the dough into 4 pieces.
- Flatten the dough into a circle.
- Tuck the edges up under into itself to form a ball. This helps trap air inside, making the pita light and airy.
- Roll out the dough ball into 1/4” thick discs.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Cook the pita for 4 minutes a side.
Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Beans)
Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Beans)
Beans with potatoes and pork in them! Don’t mind if I do! Puerto Rican beans contain either salt pork or ham that is cubed. You could use slab bacon or even pork belly if you wanted to. Once the pork is cooked, sofrito is added to the pot. Sofrito is a Spanish style mire poiux that gives the beans it’s flavor. Pink beans are used instead of a pinto or a kidney. There is also potatoes and caper stuffed olives. The beans will need to simmer for about 25 minutes. These beans are usually served with rice.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz salt pork or ham cubed
- 1/2 cup sofrito
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 packet Sazon with Achiote no annatto
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cans pink beans drained
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1/3 cup Spanish olives stuffed with capers
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a pot over medium high heat. Sauté the ham for 5 minutes.
- Add in the sofrito, cumin, and sazon. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the beans, potatoes, stuffed olives, chicken stock, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper. Continue simmer for 10 more minutes until the beans have thickened.
Sofrito
Sofrito is used as a base for soups, stews, beans, and rice in many Spanish speaking countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. It is typically made out of a lot of green ingredients such as green bell pepper, cilantro, green onions, and culantro; similar to green seasoning used in African/Caribbean cuisine. Sofrito adds aromatics to whatever you add it to.Sofrito can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and store in gallon sized freezer bags. You can then keep your sofrito for up to a year.
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 2 small green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 1/2 cup culantro
- 1 head garlic
- 1 medium white onion
- 4 green onions chopped
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 2 tbsp oregano
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor.
- Purée until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month or in the freezer for put to a year.
