Sunday, January 23, 2011

Jalapeno-Roast Pork, Braised Red Cabbage and Jalapeno-Cilantro Rice


I received a few cookbooks from good friends as wedding gifts.  Some of them we registered for, others were sent to us by friends who knew how much Alex and I love cooking.  My friend Jen gave me the Susan Spicer cookbook because she and her boyfriend (who lives in New Orleans) both love the cookbook.  Actually, Jen went through and starred all of the recipes that they have cooked from it and thus far all of their starred recipes have been delicious.  I think my favorite recipes that we have tried are the Asian Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce and the Watermelon, Cucumber and Feta Salad.  Actually, I think that all of the recipes we have tried from the cookbook have come from the salad chapter, which is totally random.  This recipe was the first one from the cookbook that really caught my eye and I have been waiting to make it since last summer.  I proposed it to Alex on a number of occasions as a wonderful entree for a dinner party, but somehow we have never made it.  But we are rectifying that mistake tonight!  And as a side I decided to try the Braised Red Cabbage, also from the Susan Spicer cookbook.  I'm not sure why pork makes me think cabbage, I guess because when I was younger my dad used to make me pork and sauerkraut and I tend to like my pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top or on the side.  The two just go hand-in-hand for me.  Then I read the blurb in the cookbook and saw that Susan Spicer recommends serving the pork with Green Rice for a Latin-inspired meal.  So I made up my own Latin-inspired rice with jalapenos, scallion and cilantro.  As a meal it was a little schizo with the Latin-inspired rice and pork and the braised cabbage, but that's ok.

While the pork roasted in the oven, the entire apartment started to smell absolutely wonderful.  You could smell the aroma of garlicky meaty goodness wafting out of the kitchen for hours.  By the time the pork was ready I was starving and super excited to finally try my pork!  Yum.  The pork was good.  Actually, the entire meal was good!  The braised cabbage was a standard braised cabbage, no surprises there, but Alex and I both enjoyed it.  I think it would be the perfect side dish with schnitzel or sausages.  I also thought that the rice was pretty fabulous.  It had good mix of flavors to it - jalapenos, lime, cilantro, and scallions.  It actually had a really nice balance to it and all of the flavors really worked together.  But back to the pork.  We made a pulled pork in the slow cooker a month or two back (I have been sitting on the post for that one forever, but I promise to post it soon), which I think might beat out this roast pork by a nose.  Cooking the pork in the slow cooker after rubbing it with a pretty intense spice rub meant that the meat itself was really tender and moist, as well as flavorful.  Some of this pork got a little dry so it really needed the pan sauce.  And not all of the meat picked up the flavor from the orange, jalapenos, garlic and thyme.  Perhaps in the future I will leave the pork in the marinade for a few hours in the refrigerator before cooking it.  Or I will use the same marinade, but cook it in the slow cooker and see what happens.  Either way, it was a very satisfying meal - one that I would make again, but I would want to tweak the pork just a tad to make it a little more flavorful and a little more moist.

Recipes after the jump!



Jalapeno-Roast Pork
Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans
By Susan Spicer

INGREDIENTS:
1 boneless pork shoulder (about 6 lbs)
Juice and zest of 2 oranges (about 2/3 cup juice)
2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded, and diced
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp evoo or vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Rinse pork and pat dry.  Using a paring knife, make several 1/2-inch deep incisions on both sides of the meat.  Mix together the juice, jalapenos, thyme, garlic, s&p, and oil.  Rub the pork with the mixture, being sure to massage some of the mixture down into the incisions.  Place the meat in a roasting pan, fat side up.  Cover the pan with foil and roast until meat is fork-tender, about 3-4 hours.

Remove meat from pan.  Allow to cool until it can be handled.  Shred or slice the pork as desired.  After the meat has been removed, add a little water or broth to the roasting pan and stir to dissolve any brown bits crusted to the bottom of the pan.  Strain the pan juices and pour them back over the shredded/sliced pork.

Serve.


Braised Red Cabbage
Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans
By Susan Spicer

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp butter
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small head red cabbage, quartered, cored, and sliced as thin as possible
salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
2-3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cabbage and stir to mix.  Sprinkle with salt and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the cabbage is starting to wilt.  Stir in the brown sugar and vinegar and cover.  Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent the vegetables from getting too brown.

Remove the cover and raise the heat a little to evaporate the liquid in the pot.  Cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring often.  The cabbage will be very tender and a dark reddish purple when ready.  If the color is still light and opaque, you need to keep cooking and stirring, until the cabbage is moist and tender but not wet or mushy.  Taste for seasonings (it should be a balance of sweet and sour) and add vinegar or salt as necessary.

Serve.


Jalapeno-Cilantro Rice
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup basmati (or other long grain) rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
zest of half of a lime
1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
2 scallions, whites and greens, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, roasted/charred, seeded and finely chopped
juice of half of a lime

Combine rice, water, salt, cumin, lime zest, and oil in a small pot.  Bring to a boil.  Stir, allowing water to boil down to slightly below the level of the rice.  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook until rice is fully cooked, about 18-20 minutes (you might need to look at the instructions on your individual type of rice and alter accordingly, because cooking times and proportions can differ).

Remove rice from heat and fluff with a fork.  Add scallions, cilantro, jalapeno and lime juice.  Stir to combine.  Return the cover to the pot and allow to sit 5 minutes.

Serve.

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