Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I got 4lb package today which has 3 of these steaks, each about 2" thick. This is a first for me. The butcher said this was the same meat used for pulled pork and she suggested braising in a low oven for a few hours.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do with them?

Thanks

Nance

Nance,

Definitely braising material. Pretty much any recipe you'd want to use pork shoulder in a cubed state would be a good option. You've simply got pork shoulder in a cut-up state.

I've been craving carnitas recently...that would be good.

Amy

CARNITAS:


Note: Carnitas may be prepared up to three days in advance before broiling. The pork should completely fill the bottom of its cooking vessel. Use a casserole, paella, roaster, sauté pan or rondeau just large enough to hold the pork

Ingredients:
3 1/2-to 4-pound boneless pork butt, trim fat cap to 1/8” thick, cut into 2” chunks
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 medium orange , halved
1 medium onion , peeled and quartered
1 cinnamon stick broken into 1” pieces
4 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 cup pork stock (you may use water or other stock/broth)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees
Season pork chunks with seasonings and lime juice.

Place pork in the casserole dish. (9’ X 13”) (it should fill the dish with no spaces.) Squeeze the orange and pour the juice over the pork. Halve the squeezed oranges & place them into the pork. Add the onion quarters, cinnamon and garlic. Nestle everything into an even layer. Pour the stock over the pork. Add a thin layer of vegetable oil over the surface.

Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil. Cook in oven until fork tender, about 3 1/2 hours.

Remove orange peel, onion, garlic, cinnamon and bay leaves. Transfer pork to a large strainer over a bowl. Let drain 10 minutes. Transfer pork back to casserole.

You should have about 1/2 cup liquid and 1/2 cup of fat. Skim fat from surface and add back to the pork. Shred pork into large bite sized chunks with your fingers or two forks. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to three days.

The remaining liquid may be reduced for service or used for salsa.

To finish before serving:

Place the casserole dish with pork 4 inches under a high broiler and broil until brown and crisp on the surface, about 6 minutes. Remove from oven and turn pork to expose new bits to heat. Broil again for 6 minutes to crisp.

You may serve with rice, aromatics using the reduced carnitas juices to season.


Tim

Weird, I had decided to make carnitas with exactly this, butt chops, tonight. I'll probably PC them and then deep fry, but I might broil instead too.

Made them tonight. Used Tim's recipe w.r.t. spices, did them in the pressure cooker for 40 mins. Very very good! I think especially the cinnamon adds a subtle complexity. About the only thing I'd change is maybe add some hot peppers next time (something red and rich, not harsh). I deep fried some of them; got some left, will do those under the broiler.

Nancy, probably too late, but I like this recipe that I had posted on TOB:

Serve with rice and a bitter green like rapini or brocolli. I buy the ends of prosciutto from the deli counter when they have them and keep them diced in the freezer just to make this recipe. I usually double the pork so we have leftovers but only increase the other ingredients by 50-75%.

Basque Pork Stew
2 lb lean pork shoulder
3 tbsp olive oil
1 salt
1 pepper
2 onions, thickly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 sweet red peppers, in strips
1/4 lb prosciutto or ham, coarsely chopped
10 garlic cloves, thin sliced
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 orange


Directions

Cut pork into 1-1/2-inch cubes. In deep skillet or shallow saucepan, heat 1 tb of the oil over medium-high heat; brown pork in batches, adding more oil as necessary. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer to plate.

[Tip: Brown meat in batches. Adding too much meat to the skillet at one time will cause meat to steam, not brown nicely.]

Add onions to skillet; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add stock and tomato paste; bring to boil, deglazing pan. Return pork to skillet; stir in red peppers, prosciutto, garlic, paprika, thyme and hot pepper flakes.

Grate rind from orange; add to stew. Peel orange; chop coarsely and stir into stew. Reduce heat; cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until pork in tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

[Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, covered and refrigerated. May be frozen for up to 2 months, thaw in refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Reheat over medium-low heat.]

4 servings for $8.82 CDN [Mar/95]

Per Serving: about 520 calories, 56 g protein, 24 g fat, 19 g carbohydrate high source fibre, excellent source iron.

Serving suggestion: steam broccoli while stew reheats and serve it over rice.

Source: Canadian Living magazine, Feb 95 Presented in article by Rose Murray: "So Good To Come Home To"
Servings: 4 servings

Oooh, which one to try first. I'm in a cooking mood today. Halloween dinner for the grandkids and this sounds good.
fitzie

The package of Pork I bought had 3 large bone-in steaks and since this was the first time trying them I wanted to keep them on the bone. So I braised in the oven on low temp in an apple cider concoction (bay leaves, red pepper flakes, s/p, shallots and garlic) for a few hours, then reduced the braise to a thick sauce. Fell off the bone, delicious.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm keeping them handy for the next sale!

Nance

Oh Nancy that sounds wonderful!

Tim, I am making your Carnitas tomorrow for dinner. I can hardly wait!

Laurie

Hi,

Does anyone have ideas to serve with carnitas? I have served with rice that I sauteed with aromatics/peppers and cook with carnitas juices and some mole. (Rancho Santa Maria's Poblano Mole comes in a plastic bag and is excellent!)

I'd love to have a good black bean recipe that doesn't take a few days.

Tim