Volume 8, Issue 117 - June 21, 2005

Hello Recipe Club,

Did you know...

Legend has it that four boys would tie a side of hog to each of their snowshoes and skate around a giant pancake griddle to keep it greased while seven other men flipped flapjacks for Paul Bunyan’s breakfast.

In Chinese mythology, the pig is a symbol of honesty, tolerance, initiative and diligence.

In Austria, suckling pig is the traditional dinner for New Year’s Day and is said to symbolize good luck. Often the New Year’s table also is decorated with miniature pigs made of marzipan, maple sugar or chocolate.

Here are three more versatile pork recipes for you.

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Burritos with Pork and Pozole

Makes 2 large servings

Ingredients:

1/2 pound pork loin, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup water
one 15 ounce can pozole (hominy) or pinto beans, drained
one 10 ounce can mild enchilada sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro sprigs, chopped
1 cup coarsely grated Monterey jack or mozzarella cheese
4 flour tortillas

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a bowl toss pork with flour and salt to coat. In a skillet heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown pork, stirring occasionally. Transfer pork to another bowl.

Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and cook onion and bell pepper, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 2 minutes. Add water and cook, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add pozole or pinto beans and 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and simmer 3 minutes. Return pork to skillet and heat through. Stir in cilantro and remove skillet from heat.

Reserve 1/2 cup cheese. Put a tortilla on a work surface and mound one fourth pork mixture horizontally just below center of tortilla.

Sprinkle pork filling with a heaping tablespoon of remaining cheese. Fold bottom edge of tortilla over filling and fold each side in over filling. Roll burrito away from you to completely enclose filling and make 3 more burritos in same manner with remaining tortillas, filling and cheese.

Arrange burritos in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake burritos until cheese melts and tortillas are crisp, about 10 minutes. While burritos are baking, in a small saucepan heat remaining enchilada sauce over moderate heat until hot.

Spoon enchilada sauce over burritos.

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Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork Kebabs

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

Marinade:

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds boneless trimmed pork shoulder or pork loin, cut in 1-inch pieces

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons distilled vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oriental sesame oil

one 4-pound pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into thirty 3/4-inch-thick wedges
ten 10-inch wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Preparation:

Marinade:

In a large bowl whisk together the red-wine vinegar, the garlic paste, and the red pepper flakes. Add the vegetable oil in a stream and whisk until it is emulsified. Add the pork, stirring to coat it with the marinade and let it marinate, covered and chilled, for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

In a bowl whisk together the ketchup, the distilled vinegar, the sugar, the soy sauce, the salt and the sesame oil until the sugar is dissolved and reserve the sauce.

Kebabs:

Drain the pork, reserving the marinade, and thread it and the pineapple, alternating them, onto the skewers, using 4 pieces of pork and 3 pieces of pineapple on each skewer. Brush the kebabs with some of the reserved marinade and grill them on a rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals, basting them for the first 10 minutes with the reserved marinade and turning them, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pork is just cooked through but still juicy. Brush the kebabs with the reserved sweet-and sour sauce and grill, turning them, for 2 minutes more. (Discard any remaining marinade; do not serve it as an accompaniment.)

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Pork with Potato Mango Curry

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thickly sliced
2 small red or green bell peppers, sliced
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons dry jerk seasoning, or to taste
about 1 inch ginger root
one 16 ounce can tomatoes
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 large ripe mangoes, pitted, peeled, and sliced

Preparation:

Place the flour in a plastic bag and add the pork cubes. Toss to coat the meat with flour.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven. Add the pork and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add the onion and bell peppers and sauté for 3 more minutes. Stir in the curry, jerk seasoning and ginger. Cook and stir constantly for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and potatoes. Stir well to mix, then cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Add the mango slices and continue to cook until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve with rice.