cookbook_challenge | Entries tagged with pork

This is the end of the "Meat" section in Mum's cookbook - though if I'm interpreting the notes correctly Meat actually continues if I go to Fish and start working backwards. It's handwritten with no clue as to provenance. This is one of the few recipes I actual recall eating, even though I think it must have gone into the book after I left home. At the time I didn't like it because of the caraway flavour, but this time I rather appreciated that.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistake and Substitutions
I distinctly remembered this being served with sliced pork, and note that there is no mention of slicing the shallots or mushrooms, so I treated this as an omission because Mum knew everything was to be sliced, and sliced everything before starting. At that point though the 1/2 hour to cook the pork seemed somewhat excessive. Himself insists the pork fillet should have been boiled in the stock and then sliced after the fact. Maybe? Used onions instead of shallots.

Verdict
The pork wasn't terribly tender and felt a little on the dry side, but it was nice enough and different enough with the caraway flavour that we will try again. I may try slicing the pork before serving next time, though I shall still slice the onions and mushrooms before sautéing them.

purplecat

This is a recipe by Sophie Grigson, cut out from a newspaper by my mother. My guess, from its placement in my mother's cookbook, would be that the recipe is from the late 1980s or early 1990s. My parents took The Independent for which Sophie wrote a column in 1997-98 (according to Wikipedia) though that feels a little late to me (not impossible though). However it would appear that she's Oxford based and went to my school*, so this could conceivably be a recipe from the Oxford Times written at some earlier point in her career.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistake and Substitutions
It is relatively easy to get hold of dried apricots and apples, pears not so much and I confused dates for prunes in the store cupboard. Anyway, my dried fruit mix was apricots, apples, dates and raisins. Seemed OK. Grigson notes in the recipe that it is important to have tart fruit (particularly the apples and apricots). As usual (now) for this kind of dish we put everything in R2D2, the pressure cooker, for an hour rather than the oven for 2. In this case it may have been a mistake since the fat on the pork had not rendered down and the pork itself was still quite firm (though cooked).

Verdict
I actually liked this combination of pork and fruit, but himself assiduously separated the fruit from the gravy and took only the gravy, and then complained that the pork wasn't tender enough, so I won't be cooking it again.

* As, it appears, did Mel Giedroyc and, according to her Wikipedia page, she must have been just two years ahead of me at school. So I must have seen her around almost every day for most of my teens. Do I recognise her? nope! Rings no bells at all and it wasn't that large a school. I'd watched about five series of Bake Off before I was even aware of the connection and didn't even have that faint feeling one sometimes gets that you recognise someone from somewhere.

purplecat

From my mother's cookbook. There is a note at the top that says "can't freeze", though I can't see anything obvious in the recipe that would make it unsuitable for freezing.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substutions
I went with the soy sauce version of the recipe since I have soy sauce in the house and not cream sherry. I also forgot to keep the root ends of the onions intact - though to be honest, I'm dubious about the desirability of this. I'm not sure I want to be fishing large quarters of onion out of a casserole and then cutting the root off in order to eat them.

Now we have R2D2 the instant pot, the attraction of waiting an hour and half for a casserole has lessened, so I put the whole lot in R2D2 for 40 minutes. At the end of cooking we suddenly discovered we had no cornflour so we skipped the entire final step. This didn't seem to make that much difference.

Verdict
We have a lot of casserole/stew recipes in our repertoire. This is in part, I think, because they are relatively simple to prepare and very forgiving in terms of time needed to cook. So we had a bit of a discussion after making this about whether we really needed yet another casserole recipe. Final verdict was that we didn't actually have that many pork recipes and so this has been put into the rotation.

purplecat

From my mother's cookbook. Handwritten.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
I didn't have button mushrooms so sliced regular white mushrooms. Seemed to work. Skipped the parsley.

Verdict
A nice sauce for pork. I think if I had a lot of similar recipes, I might not make again, but I actually don't have a lot of recipes for pork chops, so this will probably go in the rotation.

purplecat

This is from my mother's cookbook written in her own hand-writing. Judging from where it turns up, I suspect it is a recipe from the 1970s. Aphelia is probably the source of the recipe but I have no idea if that is a person, a magazine, or something else - probably a person though the name is unusual and I don't recall my mother ever mentioning an Aphelia.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Changes, Mistakes and Substitutions
We had some discussion above whether "Doz coriander seeds" was some number of ounces, or a dozen. In the end we decided it was a dozen. I then decided to crush the coriander seeds and a similar number of peppercorns together with a pestle and mortar rather than having them floating whole in the casserole (I think this was a good choice). The recipe didn't say to chop the onions, though it did say to chop the green pepper, but I couldn't imagine that the onions weren't supposed to be chopped as well. I skipped the lemon rind since I was using shop bought lemon juice rather than an actual lemon.

Verdict
This was a perfectly nice but not very exciting pork casserole. The pork was a little dry but I think that was because "lean stir fry pork" was substituted for the stewing pork I'd ordered from Sainsbury's and I suspect the whole would have benefitted from more fat.

tielan

I've never been a PB&J kind of person. I don't mind it, it's just not my go-to, so to speak. PB & Honey? Yes, please! PB & J...well, I guess?

I've had the Weber Complete BBQ book for about four years now, and it's been excellent for all kinds of recipes, and lots of fun to experiment with. I figured I'd give this a go and see how it went.

( PB&J Ribs )

fuzzyred

This week I made skillet sausage stuffing from the tasteofhome 2012 Contest Winning Annual Recipes cookbook.

( recipe )

Thoughts and Variations
I couldn't find bulk pork sausage, so I bought a pack of uncooked "sweet Italian sausage" and simply cut the casings off then chopped the meat and used that. I used dried sage instead of rubbed sage because that's all I could find. I used one 5oz bag of Seasoned Multigrain croutons and a handful of Butter and Sea Salt flavoured Ciabatta croutons because all of my local stuffing mixes had dried meat bits in them and I found that idea kind of disgusting.

This was an okay dish. The croutons worked alright, since they did absorb most of the liquid, but I'm wondering if it would have been better with actual stuffing mix. Also, I have been reminded of the fact that I don't like soggy bread, so I probably won't make this again since stuffing is not my jam (and I forgot that before making this). It was a valuable learning experience though and an interesting experiment, so it wasn't a total loss.

Current Mood: discontent

stellar_dust

Tonight, in my ongoing experiments with cast iron, I made the next thing on thekitchn's list of The First Five Things to Cook in Your Cast-Iron Pan: Pork Schnitzel. ( photos & evaluation under here )

To go with it, I made Company Potato Casserole from the little pamphlet that goes with my mini crock pot. ( photos of recipe & dish under here with evaluation )

turlough

I've tested another couple of Nigella Lawson recipes. This time I tried out the Spare Ribs from her Forever Summer. It's not online so ( here's a scan... )

Changes: I forgot to buy star anise but I don't think that impacted the result much. (And I didn't add any chillies because I really don't like hot food.)

Verdic: Both my mum and I thought they were very tasty so I'm definitely using this recipe again.

As an accompaniement to the spare ribs I made coleslaw using a recipe from her site, New Orleans Coleslaw.

Changes: Used only cabbage and carrots and since you can't buy buttermilk in Sweden any longer I had to use a substitute. I usually use filmjölk in creamy dressings so that's what I choose.

Verdict: Nice but a little bland. I prefer the dressing I usually use - the mustard adds a little bit of zing. So probably not making this again.

Current Mood: determined

musesfool

This afternoon I made pork and ricotta meatballs. It's a New York Times link, so I'll paste the recipe in as it's probably paywalled.

( ingredients )

( instructions )

I heated my oven to 400°F because I thought the meatballs would burn at 425, and also because I wanted to simmer them in tomato sauce for 45 minutes. (For this purpose, I used Marcella Hazan's basic tomato sauce, which cooks in about 45 minutes - it's not a new recipe for me, but it is the easiest sauce I've ever made, so I recommend it, especially if you're pressed for time.)

I also seasoned the meat mixture with several shakes of Italian seasoning because otherwise the meatballs would basically be unseasoned, which seemed weird to me. I also only used 1/2 tsp of salt because I have Morton's kosher salt which is somehow saltier than Diamond kosher salt, so I always cut it down by at least half.

I got 16 meatballs instead of the 12 the recipe suggests, but I also made them slightly smaller than what the recipe suggests, i.e., the size I usually make meatballs (about the size of a ping pong ball, or roughly 1.5" in diameter). When I took them out of the oven, they were light brown all over and darker brown/crisp on the bottom. Then I put them in the pot of sauce and let them simmer for 45 minutes.

They are good meatballs - nice texture, nice flavor, easy enough to make, though softer than the ones I usually make (either with ground beef or with a beef-pork mix, and fried before simmering in the sauce). If you don't eat pork, the recipe recommends using ground chicken, and I bet turkey would work as well.

fuzzyred

This week's recipe is from the Eating for Life section of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

( recipe )

Thoughts and Variations
I used boneless pork loin centre and rib chops, nine in the package totaling just under 2 pounds. I used cider vinegar, left out the red pepper because I had none, and added an extra clove of garlic because one was small. I don't have a grill, so I baked them in the oven instead. I lined a ceramic baking dish with parchment paper and put in 7 chops first because that was all that would fit. Based on a quick google search, I set my oven to 400°F (it's a gas oven) and popped them in for 8 minutes because it said 7 for each half inch of thickness and I had no idea how thick they were. They definitely didn't look done after 8 so I put them back in for another 5, and found myself wishing for a meat thermometer. They looked closer to done but I couldn't tell so I poked them (as you do) and they felt a little squishy still so I put them in for 3 more minutes. When they were pulled out, they looked and felt done, so I put them on a plate to rest and put the last two chops in for 16 minutes.

The pork chops were pretty tasty. I don't know if I really picked up all the flavours, but I definitely got heat from the chili (not too much), the garlic, and the cilantro. I'm not sure how I feel about cilantro; it has a very odd and hard to place taste for me. Not bad, just very different. All in all, the pork chops were juicy, not too chewy, and had a decent flavour. If I made them again, I'd definitely make a side dish to go with them, maybe rice or thick noodles?

Current Mood: okay

panisdead

This recipe is from Natalie Perry's The Big Book of Paleo Slow Cooking, which I love and recommend highly if you have any interest whatsoever in the crockpot.

( Tangy Mustard Ribs )

Variations and Notes: I primarily made the recipe as written. I can't remember if I used spare or back ribs; I think my store only had one of them. I did end up cutting the rack in half to fit in the crockpot, then rubbed the halves with the marinade and let them sit in the crockpot in the fridge overnight before cooking the following day. The meat came out surprisingly flavorful before the addition of the glaze, and this may have been why. I forgot to add the extra water to the cooker, but it didn't matter; there was plenty of cooking liquid. When I went to prepare the glaze I did wish I had one of those tools that lets you strain off liquified grease, as the fattier cut of meat generated a lot and I wasn't sure where "cooking juices" ended and "grease" began.

My family really liked this recipe and it was overall quite easy; I will definitely make it again. I personally am not a big fan of ribs--I make them for my family--and I also enjoyed this. When I repeat it, I think I will look for two smaller racks of baby back ribs and use my giant crockpot, both in hopes of cutting down a little on the grease component and to increase the amount of meat generated. One rack of spare or back ribs actually didn't go that far for me and two big guys. I served it with some sort of vegetable that I've forgotten, salad, and garlic toast.

stellar_dust

A couple of months ago I acquired my mom's old cast iron skillet (which she was happy to let go of because she never used it). I've been slowly following thekitchn's list of the first things to make in your cast iron skillet, and the other day I made their Easy Creamy Mustard Pork Chops served over egg noodles & garnished with parsley, with some Roasted Carrots and Mushrooms on the side. (I've tagged this post "vegetarian" for the carrots & shrooms recipe.)

Substitutions for the pork:
Fresh (well, frozen fresh) rosemary instead of thyme, plus a dash of dried thyme
I only had whole-grain mustard so I used the same mustard at both steps. It was fine.

Substitutions for the veggies:
Same substitution of rosemary & dried thyme
Margarine instead of butter, and just a little bit of olive oil (I had fewer veggies than the recipe called for)
Added some honey when I added the mushrooms, not sure it made much difference

Both recipes turned out yummy and I really, really love the cast iron pan. I'll use this for the "It was a success! (would make again)" bingo square -- I don't cook pork much, but this is certainly a good way to do it, and I would definitely make the carrots & mushrooms again.

purplecat

Cross-posted to

cookbook_challenge.

Another recipe from The Roasting Tin around the World by Rukmini Iyer. This from the Central and South America section.

( Ingredients )

( Method )

Mistakes, Changes and Substitutions
Apart from only having 600g pork and no tortillas or coriander, I cooked this almost as specified. I sourced the achiote paste from the Internet as advised by the recipe.

Verdict
This is mind-numbingly easy so definitely worth it in terms of results for effort. The offspring picked at it politely (because sauce), but husband and I liked it so I'll be cooking it again, if only to use up the rest of the achiote paste. I had hopes it would make a good sandwich filling when cold, and it wasn't spectacular there, possibly it was bit too liquid (I may not have compensated for the reduced amount of pork entirely correctly).

conuly

I took this from 660 Curries.

( Recipe )

I carefully cut the amount of chiles in half, and it was still extremely spicy. I like spicy foods more than the rest of the family. I should've known better than to put 4 chiles in anything.

The recipe notes that this is often made with beef, mutton, or seafood instead of pork.

I used a stick of Vietnamese cinnamon instead of the usual cassia cinnamon that you can more easily find. I am not certain that cassia cinnamon would've pureed at all - it takes forever even to grind in a spice grinder.

I served this with rice and with sauteed cauliflower with mustard seeds.

affreca

My usual method of finding new recipes is to google, combine five different versions (weighted towards the variations I see the most of), and substitute heavily. On the other hand, I have a cabinet full of recipe books because of bag night at the library book sale and my practice with my sister of each of us buying the other cookbooks for Christmas.

I'm starting my first recipe for this group by following a recipe from the latest cookbook from my sister. Even better, I cooked like my sister does, and made no substitutions (except salted vs. unsalted butter).

The cookbook is America's Test Kitchen: Bowls.

1.5 lb butternut squash, peeled, seed and cut into 2 inch chunks
4 oz ground pork
1 large shallot, minced, divided
1 garlic clove, minced (be proud, I did not interpret this as 5 garlic cloves)
0.5 tsp ground fennel seeds (in my case, roughly ground in a bowl with the butt end of a knife)
0.25 tsp table salt
1 tbsp butter (I used salted because that's what's in the fridge)
2 cups chicken broth
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 apple, cut into sticks

Cut and peel squash, then microwave for ~10 minutes, until the flesh is easily pierced. Drain and save liquid.

Break up pork in a bowl, add in and mix one half the shallot, the garlic, salt and fennel. Melt butter in sauce pan (or pot in my case), and fry up the pork mixture until crispy. Remove pork from pot, keeping the fat in the pot. Add in the squash and other half of the shallot. Cook over medium-hot heat for 5-7 minutes, until squash starts falling apart. Add in stock, saved squash liquid and thyme. Simmer that for another 5 minutes. Remove the thyme, then blend. I used a stick blender, which is my preference so I don't have to dump hot slop into the blender. Fill up a bowl and top with pork and apple sticks.

Next time, I'll probably just add the pork and apple to the pot after blending, instead of to my bowl. I might increase the amount of the pork mixture, or use sausage. I might try topping it with the Savory Seed Brittle (basically a sunflower and pumpkin seed granola) from the same cook book if I make it again.

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Cookbook challenge

Make new recipes you already own!

Entries tagged with pork

Caraway Pork to serve with Pasta

Memories of a Silesian Heaven

Pork and Parsnip Casserole

Pork in Cider Sauce

Greek Pork Casserole (Aphelia)

PB&J Ribs

Skillet Sausage Stuffing

Schnitzel, with Potato Casserole/Soup

Spare Ribs & New Orleans Coleslaw

pork and ricotta meatballs

Herbed Adobo Pork Chops

Tangy Mustard Ribs with Balsamic Glaze

Creamy mustard pork chops with roasted carrots and mushrooms

Slow-Cooked Pork Pibil with Pink Pickled Onions

Chile-Smothered Pork with Vinegar

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Pork

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February 2024

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