Weekend Round-Up: Pork, Pork and more Pork (Pork Crackling Duo/Hungarian themed Dinner)
My parents used to make regular deliveries of pork chops to me on Saturday mornings, after they'd been to the city market. (ETA: I remember finding a total of 16 pork chops over several different packages when I did a freezer search at one point.) And, one of the easiest ways to cook pork chops, and keep them moist, is to shake the chops in a plastic bag, filled with about half a cup of dried bread crumbs, that have been seasoned with your favourite combination of herbs, spices and salt and pepper and then bake them in a hot oven.
This weekend I didn't put a lot of effort into cooking anything elaborate or new. Just some of my old regulars ... with a few changes to keep things interesting.
I dug out a bag of ground pork cracklings from my freezer and made a batch of pupusas revueltas (ground pork cracklings, refried beans and grated sharp cheddar cheese).
Pupusas Revuelta Trio
I had a couple for supper on Friday while the rest went into the freezer.
Pupusa plate
I used some more of the pork cracklings and cheddar cheese and and whipped up a dozen cornbread muffins to go with the last of the kale, potato and ham soup in my fridge.
Pork Crackling Cornbread Muffins and soup
Pork Crackling Cornbread Muffin
Pork Crackling Cornbread Muffins - makes a dozen muffins
Adapted from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Cookbook
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup coarse cornmeal
2 tbsp white sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated old cheddar cheese
1/2 cup pork cracklings, ground in food processor
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 1/3 cup milk (or buttermilk)
1 large egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush a muffin pan with vegetable oil or spray with cooking spray.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl whisking together to distribute the contents evenly. Stir the cheese, pork cracklings, and sliced green onion into the dry ingredients. Break up the cracklings by hand if necessary.
In a separate bowl, combine the milk, and egg and stir into the dry ingredients. Blend just until mixed and large lumps are gone. Do not overmix.
Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins comes out clean.
Serve immediately.
NOTE: To make a buttermilk substitute, warm the milk in a microwave and add 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice per cup of milk. Let stand for half an hour. If using a coarse cornmeal, add the cornmeal to the milk/buttermilk and allow it to soak for 30 minutes, or while the milk is souring, in order to soften it, before adding to the dry ingredients.
In the past I've added whole kernel corn (1/2-1 cup) or a seeded and diced jalapeno pepper to the muffin batter but I left it out this time as I wanted the pork crackling flavour to stand out.
The pork theme was continued on Sunday with a supper of home made shake and bake pork chops. I decided to go with a Hungarian theme by adding Hungarian paprika and dill weed to the dried bread crumbs; and toasted caraway seeds and caramelized onions to boiled potatoes. I added a bit of sweetness to my vegetable side dish with honey glazed carrot coins which were baked in the oven at the same time as the pork chops.
Dinner platter - pork chops, carrots and caraway potatoes with caramelized onions
Honey Glazed Carrots - serves 4
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" coins
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425 deg F.
In a small oven-safe casserole or baking dish, scatter the sliced carrots. Drizzle honey over carrots. Break up butter into small bits and dot over the carrots. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the carrots and place dish, uncovered, into the oven.
Bake, turning over the carrots every 5-10 minutes so they're evenly coated with the melted butter and honey mixture, until tender (20-30 minutes).
I was going to make an Ukrainian honey cake for dessert but found that I didn't have enough sour cream (I could have made up the shortage with yogurt but decided that I couldn't be bothered) so I just had another slice of that mint spiced chocolate layer cake.
This weekend I didn't put a lot of effort into cooking anything elaborate or new. Just some of my old regulars ... with a few changes to keep things interesting.
I dug out a bag of ground pork cracklings from my freezer and made a batch of pupusas revueltas (ground pork cracklings, refried beans and grated sharp cheddar cheese).
Pupusas Revuelta Trio
I had a couple for supper on Friday while the rest went into the freezer.
Pupusa plate
I used some more of the pork cracklings and cheddar cheese and and whipped up a dozen cornbread muffins to go with the last of the kale, potato and ham soup in my fridge.
Pork Crackling Cornbread Muffins and soup
Pork Crackling Cornbread Muffin
Pork Crackling Cornbread Muffins - makes a dozen muffins
Adapted from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Cookbook
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup coarse cornmeal
2 tbsp white sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated old cheddar cheese
1/2 cup pork cracklings, ground in food processor
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 1/3 cup milk (or buttermilk)
1 large egg, beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush a muffin pan with vegetable oil or spray with cooking spray.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl whisking together to distribute the contents evenly. Stir the cheese, pork cracklings, and sliced green onion into the dry ingredients. Break up the cracklings by hand if necessary.
In a separate bowl, combine the milk, and egg and stir into the dry ingredients. Blend just until mixed and large lumps are gone. Do not overmix.
Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins comes out clean.
Serve immediately.
NOTE: To make a buttermilk substitute, warm the milk in a microwave and add 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice per cup of milk. Let stand for half an hour. If using a coarse cornmeal, add the cornmeal to the milk/buttermilk and allow it to soak for 30 minutes, or while the milk is souring, in order to soften it, before adding to the dry ingredients.
In the past I've added whole kernel corn (1/2-1 cup) or a seeded and diced jalapeno pepper to the muffin batter but I left it out this time as I wanted the pork crackling flavour to stand out.
The pork theme was continued on Sunday with a supper of home made shake and bake pork chops. I decided to go with a Hungarian theme by adding Hungarian paprika and dill weed to the dried bread crumbs; and toasted caraway seeds and caramelized onions to boiled potatoes. I added a bit of sweetness to my vegetable side dish with honey glazed carrot coins which were baked in the oven at the same time as the pork chops.
Dinner platter - pork chops, carrots and caraway potatoes with caramelized onions
Honey Glazed Carrots - serves 4
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" coins
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425 deg F.
In a small oven-safe casserole or baking dish, scatter the sliced carrots. Drizzle honey over carrots. Break up butter into small bits and dot over the carrots. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the carrots and place dish, uncovered, into the oven.
Bake, turning over the carrots every 5-10 minutes so they're evenly coated with the melted butter and honey mixture, until tender (20-30 minutes).
I was going to make an Ukrainian honey cake for dessert but found that I didn't have enough sour cream (I could have made up the shortage with yogurt but decided that I couldn't be bothered) so I just had another slice of that mint spiced chocolate layer cake.