Tomatillos-not tomatoes at all

Today's great find at the farmstand was tomatillos.

Tomatillos (pronounced toe-ma-tee-yos) are not green tomatoes. They are related to the Cape Gooseberry (whatever the hell that is) and are a staple of Mexican cooking. Ever eat green salsa? Yup,  tomatillos.

I like to use them for a really nice Chili Verde. (Green Chili for all of you Spanish illiterates) I do not make it like Grandma Foodie. Hers is good, really good, and not that mine is better, but (okay it's better).

Chili Verde

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
I Poblano, Anaheim, or Hatch chili, roasted, seeded, and chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 C Water
6-9 tomatillos, husks removed, roughly chopped

Saute the garlic and onion in 1 T olive oil until translucent. Add chilies and tomatillos and cooks until tomatillos soften, about 8 minutes. Transfer to food processor. Add water and puree until smooth, but a little on the chunky side, add cilantro and pulse a few times. Season to taste.

Now, you have two choices: you can add this sauce on top of a pork butt or shoulder and a couple of potatoes in the crock pot and cook it together for about 8 hours. Or:

You can cook a pork butt or shoulder on top of the stove (cover with water and simmer until tender, about 2-3 hours. Add a couple of potatoes the last thirty minutes. Drain, shred the pork, add the tomatillo sauce and heat through. Serve with flour tortillas.

Normally, I don't approve of cooking much of anything in the crock pot. But the one thing I will cook in there is tough pieces of meat that need to cook for a long time.  That's it, though. don't let me catch you making some horrid casserole or chicken, or God knows what in it. Crock-pots are for losers

Horning in

My sister has started a blog. Gee, I guess some people think anyone can do this. She is even going to publish recipes! The nerve.

Her blog, The Joy of Gluten Free Living  is about, well, eating and living gluten-free. Sounds like a complete drag to me. Not the blog, the gluten free. Imagine, not being able to tear into a loaf of crusty bread, sizzle it in olive oil and butter and then top it with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. The horror!

But, I know there are many people, my sister included, who get violently ill when they eat gluten. Joy (get it, The Joy of Gluten Free Living?) has mastered this lifestyle and she looks and feels great. She is happy and healthy and has overcome not only this health issue, but another major one as well. (It's an amazing story, I'd tell it, but that would be violating HIPAA. Wait, I'm not bound by HIPAA. Hmm...)

If you face this challenge in your life, go read her blog.

I'll give you a great recipe to start you off. I think it's GF, but Joy can tell you for sure.

Pork with Peach Salsa

3/4 lb pork tenderloin
Olive Oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
3 ripe peaches (yes, this is a great dish for summer, but you can get peaches now, if you're willing to pay...)
1 T lime juice
1 1/2 tsp honey
2 T chopped cilantro
2 jalapeno chiles, minced
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line a baking sheet with foil. Brush tenderloin with olive oil, sprinkle cumin and oregano over pork, roast 25 minutes.

For the salsa: Cut peaches into small dice. Mix in lime juice, honey, cilantro, and jalapenos, season to taste.

Remove pork from oven and let rest 10 minutes. Slice, plate and top with salsa.

I suppose to round out this meal you could serve some rice and salad. I'm no expert at the GF thing, If need that, go ask Joy. If you don't just make the pork anyway, It is awesome.

Pork and Porcini Ragout

I don't believe I can add much to Priscilla's fabulous guest post. I know you're not used to such a love fest here, but it is Valentine's day and we did drink Champagne. The Pork and Porcini ragout (circonflex over the "u", I'd put it myself, but blogger doesn't have it and I am too lazy to copy and paste from word) was one of the best I have ever made, thanks in part to the Benton's Country Bacon and Prosciutto that Prissie contributed to the collection of pork products. Pork is Prissie's one and only favorite meat, in its many forms. She can't stand beef, tolerates chicken, likes lamb a bit, but loves all kinds of pork. It's a good thing she is only nominally Jewish, she'd starve if she had to keep kosher. This recipe is really pretty easy to make and boy is it good, if I don't say so myself.

Pork and Porcini Ragout (yeah, yeah, circonflex and all that)

2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Italian sausages, cut into chunks
1 boneless pork loin chop, cut into small dice
3 slices bacon, cut into lardons
2-3 slices prosciutto, slivered
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 C dried porcinis, soaked in hot water until softened
1/2 cup mushroom, sliced
1 28 ounce can tomato puree
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 or so fresh basil, chiffonade
salt and pepper

Heat 2 T olive oil in a heavy bottomed, preferably enameled, dutch oven, or heavy skillet. Saute the bacon, pork loin, and sausage until browned and cooked through, about 7 minutes. Remove from pan with slotted spoon. Add carrots, celery, shallot, and garlic and saute until slightly caramelized, about 3-4 minutes. Add white wine and scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add tomato puree, prosciutto, reserved meats, porcinis, mushrooms, and basil and simmer for about 30 minutes or longer. Add some of the porcini soaking liquid, but watch out for the sediment on the bottom, Yuck. Add a little water if it gets too thick. Season with salt and pepper. Add cream at the end. Serve over pasta.

Pork

An old friend from high school recently posted a link on Facebook about how viruses incubate in pigs and then jump to humans. He suggested perhaps we have one last giant bbq and be done with them once and for all.

Wwwwhhhhaaaaattt? Be done forever with perhaps the world's tastiest meat? I shudder at the thought. (If not at the thought of influenza spreading hither and yon via the delectable porcine morsels.)

Pork has perhaps the most uses and versatility of any meat on the face of the earth. What would life be without bacon. Or prosciutto? Or the myriad number of sausages that can be made from pork? Just think about how integral small amounts of bacon can be to a simple dish like Brussels Sprouts pan seared with golden raisins and carmelized onions. The dish is simple to make, but without the salty smokiness of two strips of bacon it would be merely ordinary. Or the easy versatility of prosciutto. Wrap it around some melon or figs and pop open a bottle of Spanish Cava and you have a party. (You do have at least two bottles of some type of bubbly wine ready to go in your wine rack at all times, don't you? I do.)

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Golden Raisins


2 strips (or up to four if you really like bacon. But keep it to two and you won't feel as guilty)
1 Lb Brussels Sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, cut in quarters
kosher salt
pepper
1/2 C golden raisins
1 onion, sliced and carmelized in two T of olive oil
1 1/4 C chicken stock

Cut the bacon into lardons, (that is thin, matchstick sized pieces) and cook in a saute pan until crispy.  Remove bacon, but leave the drippings. Add the Brussels sprouts and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken broth and cook until reduced to a few tablespoons and the sprouts are tender,about fifteen minutes. Add the raisins and onions, cook a couple of minutes until heated through, season with salt and pepper.

And gee, we haven't even scratched the surface of the wonderful delights of pork. We still need to talk about all of the fabulous uncured cuts. And we haven't even mentioned ham. Here is another recipe, though to whet your appetite, for mustard glazed spareribs

Mustard Glazed Spareribs
1 rack pork spareribs
Rosemary
Garlic
salt
pepper
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C dijon mustard
3 T cider vinegar
1 T molasses
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Season both sides of ribs with minced rosemary, chopped garlic and salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

Combine brown sugar, dijon, vinegar, molasses, and dry mustard in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then turn down and simmer for two or three minutes.

Remove ribs from oven and baste with sauce. Finish cooking on the grill until lightly charred. Fight with your family over who gets the last rib.