Pork belly is a cut of meat that’s not often used directly in Western cooking, though it’s the cut that’s used to make bacon and pancetta.  It usually has the skin attached, a layer of fat under that, and then tender, marbled meat under that.  Any Asian grocery store with a butcher’s counter will stock it, it’s very cheap, and it’s really, really good.  The only thing I’d add to the recipe is to be careful when you’re scoring the skin to put the herb/spice paste in.  Pork skin is tough to get through, so either use a sharp knife, or a serrated one, and be careful to let the serrations do the cutting, rather than pushing down and sawing the skin back and forth.  The deeper into the top layer of fat you can get the herbs and spices, the better.  As the pork belly roasts, the flavors from the rosemary, thyme, and fennel will be carried down with the melting fat, seasoning the rest of the meat as it drips into the pan.  I didn’t take any pictures, but below is the image from the recipe page, and it’s turned out exactly like this:

Slow-Roasted Spiced Pork at Cook Almost Anything

Okay not really.  This is going to be short and sweet.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Pork Chops

Parmesan Cheese (flaked if possible, shredded if not)

Italian Breadcrumbs (homemade or otherwise)

~2 eggs

Salt, pepper, spices as you desire

Canola Oil

This is incredibly easy.  First grab three good sized bowls large enough to dredge the chops through.  Fill teh first with your parmesan, crack your eggs into the second (whisking them smooth), and fill the third with your breadcrumbs.

From there, go down the line.  Dredge each chop through the parmesan to get a nice coating, then the egg to make em sticky (and layer the parmesan inside), and then dredge through the breadcrumbs.  After that, place them in a frying pan with enough canola oil to reach 3/4 of the way up the chops, or to barely cover them.  Fry until golden brown, be sure to cut them open to make sure the pork is cooked all the way through.  That’s it!

I consider pork to be the most mysterious of all the meats. An extremely reputable online encyclopedia has this to say:

Meat refers to animal tissue, especially that which is consumed as food. There are various kinds of meat, ranging from white meat such as (chicken or turkey) to red meat (such as beef). Some meats, such as ham and pork (both being meats of the pig) resist such strict classification.

As you can see, even creation scientists are baffled when it comes to pork. So far, pork is the most difficult meat I’ve tackled in the kitchen… Every now and then I get an urge to make something with lobster (like bisque! :q), but those recipes always begin with “dispatch the scuttling space monster by stabbing it in the brain stem, or by boiling it alive, you genocidal monster.” Yeesh!

The Pork Problem is probably well-known to all, but let me summarize: Pork sold in America has fairly low fat content, probably due to some arbitrary decree by the FDA. This means that it would be best not too cook it too much (as it dries out quickly on the stove), but! pork has also been known for centuries to harbor foodborne diseases (though less so today), so people are very wary of undercooked pork. Thus, if you want a nice juicy pork tenderloin without the whole “parasite” side effect, you really have to “cook it twice”: brown it in a pan, and then stick that pan in the oven for a while (until it has reached the federally mandated internal temperature of 150˚F).

Anyway, here is a unorthodox interpretation of a delicious pork-based meal I had while over in Germany, modified to fit the stuff in our CSA box this week + also a recipe from Gourmet that sounded yummy.

Curry-rubbed pork tenderloin with tomato-peach compôte (adapted from Gourmet 07/2009)

• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 tsp curry powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 3/4 lb pork tenderloins
• olive oil for browning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3/4 lb tomatoes, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 1 peach, pitted and chopped (I did into eights and then those into quarters)
• 3 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Smash the garlic, ginger, and curry powder into a paste using your favorite paste-making method. The Gourmet-recommended method is using a mortar and pestle, but we have neither mortar nor pestle, so instead we used the flat part of our Ikea meat tenderizing mallet and pressed down really hard with our huge manly muscles. *flex* Anyway, once you make the paste, rub your tenderloin (lol) down with salt and pepper, and then rub it with the seasoning paste. Delish! Brown the two tenderloins in an oven-safe* pan for 5 minutes on one side, then flip over and thrust into the middle of the oven, cooking for 10-15 minutes**, or until it is done all the way through, or a meat thermometer registers something between 145 and 150˚F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat. (Hehe… meat.)

Alright! Remove the pan from the oven (the handle will be hot… I touched it with my hands because I am dumb it was not fun guys). Place the pork on a cutting board and let rest while you make the compôte. With the hot oven-pan on the range (all its pork juices intact), heat it to medium-high, then add the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and soft. Add the chopped tomato and peach, and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes about, depending on the kind of peach. Slice the pork against the grain, serve with compôte and also the pork-fruit-juice stuff that runs off.

* If you don’t know if your pan is oven-safe, here’s a good tip: Any pan made entirely out of metal automatically is (and up to 500˚F if it’s got Teflon). If it has plastic, it’s eitiher labeled or you shouldn’t try.

** Ours took about 30 minutes, but we had doubled the recipe. I’m still not really sure this makes any sense.

The next item on the menu is something my mother makes every Christmas. She makes it from a pre-packaged mix, though, so I thought I’d try to make it from scratch. It was pretty hard and it didn’t come out quite right the first time (still not sure why that is). Anyway… maybe you will have more luck?

Kartoffelklösse (German potato dumplings)

• 6 medium potatoes
• 1/2 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs

Boil the potatoes until they are cooked through but still relatively firm, I’d say 15-20 minutes, then rinse them in cold water, dry them, and refrigerate them for at least two hours. Then grate them with the fine mesh of a cheese grater into a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, the salt, and the eggs, and stir it all up until it forms a pliable dough. If it’s too sticky, add some flour, and if it isn’t sticky enough, maybe add half an egg? it’s hard to say.

If you can form it into fairly solid 1-inch diameter balls, then it should be done. Do so, and then throw in “gently boiling” water for at least 5-7 minutes, or until they float to the top. Then remove and set aside.

And finally, something with vinegar to set the other flavors off. If you don’t know what caraway seeds are, they are what makes rye bread taste funny. They are not for everyone, and they are potent little f-ers, so “to taste” is key.

Summer squash “sauerkraut”

• 2 large summer squash, sliced into long, thin strips, then crosswise diagonally into 2-3 inch length slices (whatever!)
• 1/2 c white wine vinegar
• 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp salt (plus more to taste)
• 1-2 tsp caraway seeds, to taste

Just toss the ingredients together, adjust salt and caraway to your taste, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve cold.

And this is what it all looks like when it’s done:

I actually thought it came out very well, though the dumplings were less spherical and tasty than I had anticipated (do a google image search for “german potato dumplings” to see what I mean). The pork was juicy, and I actually really liked the squash stuff. I think it might be “what I do with summer squash from now on”… since I always kind of struggle with them. =)

Image from mochimama's blog (mine didn't turn out so well...)

This is a super delicious dish that my mom likes to make from time to time.  I love it because it has a bit of everything – protein, fiber, carbs, etc. – all stewed together until delicious and flavorful.  It makes use of almost every standard Chinese ingredient that you can think of, so it may be harder to pull together if you don’t have a lot of them on hand. However! If you have an asian grocery store readily accessible, I guarantee that you can get these ingredients cheaply and benefit greatly in future endeavors with Chinese recipes! You will also need a heavy, heat retaining vessel to make the dish in – traditionally it calls for a lidded clay pot, but I made use of Jo’s dutch oven.

Ingredients (I basically made up approx. measurements for those who like specific directions to follow, so feel free to improvise):

Makes about 5 servings…?

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 medium sized block of firm tofu (about a 3-inch square, give or take an inch)
• 1/2 cup minced green onions
• 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine (“cooking michu”)
• couple pinches of salt and black or white pepper
• pinch of sugar
• cornstarch
• veggie oil
• 6-7 cups of chicken broth (50ish ounces, equal to one of those big cans)
• 1 packet mung bean noodles
• 1 can bamboo shoots
• 1 pound napa cabbage

First, combine the ground pork, tofu, scallions, ginger, salt, pepper, sugar, beaten egg, rice wine, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a big mixing bowl with your hands.  Mix it good!! Then, start adding cornstarch about a couple tablespoons at a time, micing it in thoroughly. You want the consistency of the mixture to be somewhere between too wet and too dry, enough so that it seems to hold together in one mass.

If you’re using a dutch oven like I did, start heating it on medium-low heat right about now.

Separate the meat mixture into thick patties, about three inches in diameter. Pour veggie oil into a deep skillet so that it’s about 1/4- 1/2 inches deep. Heat on medium-high heat and then drop the patties in, frying one side until it’s browned and then flipping over. Remove and put them on a plate.

Stick the dried noodles into a large bowl of cold water.

Pour the chicken broth in the pot along with the cabbage and bamboo shoots, then bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, bring down to a simmer and then add in the meatballs. Add a splash of soy sauce- enough to turn the broth slightly brown- and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.  You want the cabbage to be soft and delightfully chewy.

Add in the noodles about 10 minutes before you want to eat the dish.  Serve and enjoy!

Some addendums:

• You can be creative with what you add to the dish – mushrooms and bok choy are pretty good additions!
• The most useful ingredents for chinese cooking that I mentioned before? Rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce!
• Makes for great leftovers, though the noodles do get squishy.  However, the cabbage only gets better.