What We're Eating - A Food & Recipe Blog » pork

Lechon at La Catumba: Heaven on a Plate

Amanda — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:29:16 +0000

Are you drooling over this big hunk of pork deliciousness? You should be.

Since arriving in Puerto Rico last July, I’ve heard many tales of all of the fabulous lechon found around the island. Though I’d been sniffing around Rincon for it all summer and fall, I left for the holidays which is when everybody and there momma throws a pig on the spit and a feast is had by all. Until this past weekend I had yet to sink my teeth into any magically delicious crispy pork skin and succulent flesh… but all of that changed! Thanks effing god. Oh whole roasted pig, I bow to your awesomeness. You complete me. Hell – there’s a reason I have a tattoo of you. Seriously – if you have never been to a pig roast or had the chance to experience it first hand, you don’t know what you’re missing… And I’m weeping for you a little on the inside.

This weekend I had a chance to go to a local Promesa in the hills of Lajas. What is a Promesa you ask? If a family or individual has problems, around the holidays they will ask the Three Kings to intercede. The individual will make a promise that for a certain number of years that on a specific day every year you will come together to give honor to the Three Kings, which usually happens in the form of singing. There are Promesa’s that have been going on for generation after generation. The individual erects an alter with things related to their particular promise. In the case of the Promesa I attended, Leo is a farmer so his promise has to do with agriculture and his alter was filled with the produce from his farm. Once the music begins, one person sings the versus of the songs and the community sings the chorus so it becomes a dialogue back and forth of the promises to the kings. The singing lasts for a set amount of time then there is an equal amount of time for sharing and drinking. This pattern of singing then sharing/drinking continues all night and often times into the next day or even the day after. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been invited to experience this incredible glimpse inside the Puerto Rican culture! What a culture of amazingly warm, generous, beautiful people. Sadly though, I didn’t take my camera out and capture any photos of the event.

Anthony – the man that made this fabulous weekend happen! Muchas Gracias, Anthony!

My friend who invited us to the Promesa used to live in the coastal town of La Paguera and commute through Lajas for his job doing archeological digs. Since these were his old stomping grounds he had mentioned to me that he knew of a place in the area that roasts a whole pig every Sunday… and that it is amazing. And oh my gawd is it amazing. It’s a little bar called La Catumba in Barrio Llanos Tuna in Cabo Rojo…. pretty much the middle of nowhere that I would have had a zero percent chance of finding on my own, so a HUGE thank you to Anthony for the entire weekend. La Catumba is a colmado – a little convenient store/bar that caters to the basic necessities of the direct people in the barrio… you know, with things like beer and vienna sausages. During the week they don’t serve much prepared food but on Sunday… look out! They throw the pig on the fire at 4am and it’s ready to hit your plate by noon. Not gonna lie, their lechon was pretty much one continuous mouthgasm after another. The men at La Catumba know how to do pig and I know how to eat it. It’s a match made in heaven really.

You know I had to peep my head into the the kitchen where the men were cooking the Lechon!

Did you grow up in a culture that does pig roasts? My dad used to work in the Agriculture department at Virginia Tech and ever year there would be an enormous pig roast. I remember gnawing on pig ears and feet and running around playing all kinds of games with the other kids. It’s there that I learned the saying, “You can eat every part of the pig except the oink”. It’s true and I love it all!

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Low and Slow Oven-Roasted Pulled Pork

Amanda — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:23:27 +0000

An oldie but always a goodie!

We’re eating classic bbq pulled pork sandwiches dressed with coleslaw, hot sauce and barbecue sauce and served on a freshly made kaiser roll.

Happy New Year! As 2009 rolled to a close we decided that rather than staying up late and ringing in the new year we would wake up early and head over to our friends Nicole and Justin’s house for a day long celebration of watching two back-to-back bowl games followed by some serious rocking out (to Rock Band of course).

One of the perks of being real-life friends with food bloggers is that you get to eat what they’re cooking! We decided that since Nicole was making some kaiser rolls for her blog, I would make some complimentary pulled pork to go on them. Normally I would have gone crazy and done some untraditional seasoning for the pork roast, but when the time rolled around for me to make the pork I was in a classic, nostalgic kind of mood. Thus here is my recipe for classic southern pulled pork. If you have a smoker, then by all means, please use it! Unfortunately I don’t have a smoker so the recipe below is using the low and slow oven-roasting method. If you end up giving this recipe a try, we’d love to hear how it worked out for you in the comments section below!

Recipes in this post:

Low and Slow Oven-Baked Pulled Pork

Blueberry Chipotle Stout Bbq Baby Back Ribs

Amanda — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:25:11 +0000

Betcha can't eat just one!

We’re eating tender baby back ribs cooked low and slow and basted with a blueberry chipotle stout barbecue sauce.

Just because I chose the rainiest day of the year in San Diego to make ribs doesn’t mean that I was stuck outside getting drenched in the inclement weather. Oh no! While grilled ribs are always preferable, you can achieve very moist and tender ribs by cooking them at a really low temperture for many hours in the oven. You won’t have the same smokey flavor that the grill provides, but when a hommie wants some damn ribs, she doesn’t always care if they’re smokey or not! (Plus, the addition of the smoked paprika and a little chipotle in the bbq sauce adds a slightly smokey flavor.) While it wasn’t this exact recipe, the family that I used to personal chef for requested my baked ribs more than pretty much any other meal. So, if you find yourself snowed in this winter why not crank up the oven, eat a little bbq and dream of summer?

Recipes in this post:

Rosemary Crusted Pork w/ Bacon & Rosemary Roasted Veggies

Amanda — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:22:02 +0000

Mmmm... pork. Pork is good.

We’re eating seared pork tenderloin crusted in rosemary salt and served with roasted brussels sprouts, cauliflower and butternut squash seasoned with bacon, rosemary and garlic. The dish was finished with a drizzle of tangy whole mustard cream.

So yeah, yeah, yeah we’re still on a fall foods kick in our house and this meal was really good, not to mention very simple, and you should all try it! But let’s move on to what I really want to talk about. Who here remembers the McSalad Shakers from the 90’s? I know at least a handful of you have to be with me on this. Anyway, for those who don’t remember it was a salad that Mickey Dees served in a cup with a lid; the idea being that you put the dressing into the cup, put the lid back on then do a little hippy hippy shake and voila! evenly disbursed salad dressing. It is this McSalad Shaker technology that appears in the recipe below. The part where I tell you to put all the seasonings and veggies into a pot then shake the crap out of it. Anyway, I hope when you go to make this recipe you will use the McSalad Shaker technique and perhaps dance around your kitchen whilest seasoning your veggies!

Recipes in this post:

Brined Pork Roast w/ Curried Cranberry Apple Sauce

Amanda — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:21:32 +0000

A trio of holiday-y deliciousness!

We’re eating juicy curry brined pork loin roast served with a wild rice, chorizo & dried cranberry dressing and curried cranberry apple sauce.

Why’s turkey gotta be the star of the show at holiday meals? Why not change things up a bit and do something other than a fowl? Both T & I readily agreed that we would rather be feasting on this juicy brined pork loin roast and it’s accompanying curried cranberry applesauce than dealing with a 15 pound monster turkey. Now, I’m not dissing turkey, as you can see we love turkey. We just like to keep things fresh and change it up every chance we get. Life’s too short to eat the same holiday meal twice a year, every year for the rest of your life.

Recipes in this post:

Bacon Wrapped Fig & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Amanda — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:03:52 +0000

Mmm bacon... Not just an internet fad!

We’re eating succulent grilled bacon wrapped pork tenderloin stuffed with fresh mission figs and crumbled blue cheese. The pork was served on a bed of spicy micro mustard greens and slices of mission figs with a drizzle of pomegranate vinaigrette.

Sure, bacon has blown up into yet another annoying and absurd internet fad, but that’s just because bacon has and always will be one of the tastiest foods known to humankind. If you don’t like bacon I really don’t understand how your deranged brain works. I would take a a slice of bacon over a chocolate truffle any day of the week. I would take this bacon wrapped blue cheese & fig stuffed pork tenderloin over pretty much any sweet item at any point in time. Disclaimer: I’m a savory kind of girl which makes me kind of biased.

This meal was the perfect balance of sweet, savory, smokey and salty…by god I wish I had a serving of it in front of me at this second. Just writing this post is making me salivate. It’s well known that figs, blue cheese and bacon are a great combo and apparently they are even better when grilled with a juicy pork tenderloin and drizzled with tangy pomegranate vinaigrette! I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did!

Recipes in this post:

Achiote Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Amanda — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:17:05 +0000

mmm.. Perfectly grilled pork. Need I say more?

We’re eating grilled pork tenderloin marinated in a spice rub consisting of achiote paste, cumin, chile powder and lime. The pork was served a spicy black bean banana sauce and a grilled corn, zucchini, yellow squash & black bean salad.

Technically, the country of Mexico is closer to our doorstep than the Mexican restaurant in Encinitas that inspired the marinade for this dish…about 1 mile closer according to Google Maps. I remember the first time Tyler took me to El Callejon and forced me to get the lomo de puerco adobado quesadillas con rajas. I think I pretty much oooo’ed and awe’d and yummed my way through the two, almost taco-like, corn tortilla quesadillas. The bright lively flavor of the strikingly red pork intrigued me. I had never used achiote before. Shit, I didn’t even know what was making them so red at the time!

With a little bit of research and allowing my taste buds be my guide, I was able to come up with a damn close replication of El Callejon’s lomo de puerco adobado. That was years ago and now any time I want to grill pork tenderloin with a Latin/Mexican flare I almost always turn to my good friend achiote. Achiote is commonly found in the Mexican/Latin section of most supermarkets as well as in Mexican markets and online.

Recipes in this post:

Nothin’ Beats Manda’s Meats

Amanda — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:51:07 +0000

Want a piece of our juicy meat? I know you do!

We are so ready for summer and our diet shows it! For the past couple of weeks we haven’t been able to get enough grilled food and summertime veggies. Tonight’s meal was no exception. We’re eating succulent grilled brined pork chops with a peppery brown sugar-cumin rub.

In my opinion, when working with a really thick pork chop, one of the best ways to impart flavor and keep the chops juicy is to let them sit in a brine for at least 1 day. The flavors in the brine work their way deep into the middle of meat and ensure that the pork chop will be both flavorful and incredibly moist to boot!

Do you see that gorgeous salad peeking it’s head out from behind the meat? It was the perfect compliment to the pork… but you’ll have to wait for our next post to find out more details (and the recipe)!

Recipes in this post:

Grilled Brined Pork Chops