| Pulled Pork | Pork Lo Mein with Peanut Sauce |
Marzell Lein's Spaghetti Sauce
Labor intensive, but worth it!
6-7 lbs. pork neck bones Salt & pepper to taste At least 1 bunch of garlic, peeled and crushed (or a 4.5-oz. jar chopped garlic) 3 cups chopped onion 3 cups chopped celery 3 cups chopped carrots 3-4 12-oz. cans tomato paste 2-3 Tbls. sugar Optional: Chopped parsley
Put pork in a very large stock pot (or 2) and add water to cover. Add salt, pepper, garlic, onions, celery and carrots, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 3-4 hours, or till the pork pulls away easily from bones. Reserving stock and the vegetables, remove the neck-bones with a slotted spoon, and set aside. To the stock, add tomato paste and sugar, and continue to simmer.
When it's cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, and return the meat to the stock, discarding the bones. Simmer sauce, covered, about 2 hours longer, always over very low heat, and stirring occasionally. (NOTE: the sauce scorches to the bottom of the pot easily, so a very low temperature is essential. If it does burn to the bottom, for heaven's sake don't scrape the burnt bits into the sauce!)
Optionally, stir in chopped parsley shortly before serving over spaghetti noodles. Pass the Parmesan!
Serves a crowd!
I'll confess that I once tried to simplify things and use pork roast meat instead of neck-bones, but it was nowhere nearly as good. BTW: From what I remember, my mother got this recipe from a neighbor who had immigrated from Italy, in the mid-1940s when my parents and 3 oldest sisters were living in Chicago.
Marzell Lein's Spam Salad
Great for party sandwiches!
Combine and chill: - 12-oz. Spam (or Spam Lite), grated - Dill pickles (12-16 oz. jar), grated, plus a tsp. or 2 of the brine - 1 onion, grated - 1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise - 1 tsp; yellow mustard
Tip: Use a food processor for the grating if you have one, especially if you double the recipe.
Also, you can use canned ham instead of Spam, but it's really not as good.
(A secret: When it's just for me, I sometimes substitute dill pickle relish and pre-chopped frozen onion)
Curried Asparagus Pork Chops
6-8 pieces *pork tenderloin (about 2 lbs.)
Pepper
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 can condensed cream of asparagus soup
1 can chopped asparagus, drained,
reserving liquid
1 tsp. curry powder
1-2 dashes ground ginger
(optinal: cayenne pepper)
(milk)
*(Chicken breasts may be substituted for the pork)
Pound tenderloin to flatten; pepper to taste and brown with butter in skillet & set aside.
Using the same pan, sauté onions, mushrooms & garlic until onions are tender. Stir in the soup, the asparagus liquid, and the spices; add a little milk if it's too stiff. Return pork; cover and simmer 45 minutes or until pork is tender. Just before serving, stir in the asparagus and heat through.
Serve with rice (seasoned with tumeric, ground coriander and fresh chopped parsley, and raisins and/or blanched almonds).
Serves 6
Slow-cooker Pulled Pork
4.5 lbs. pork roast, cut into baseball-size pieces
2 c. cider vinegar
1 c. water (or enough to cover pork)
2 Tbsp. each: black pepper, chili powder, paprika,
liquid smoke, Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. each: dry mustard, garlic powder
1 tsp. each: cayenne pepper, hot pepper sauce
1-2 tsp. salt or to taste
Combine in slow cooker or crock pot & cook on low for 12 hours or on high for 6 hours. Remove pork and shred it; mix in a generous amount of the cooking sauce to moisten and season the pork, or serve with:
South Carolina BBQ Sauce
Mix and simmer for 30 min. in a saucepan: 1/2 c. brown sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. cider vinegar 1 c. yellow mustard 2 Tbsp. water 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbsp. chili powder 1 tsp. onion powder 1-2 tsp. black pepper Red pepper sauce to taste Add and simmer 10 min. more: 1 tsp. soy sauce 2 Tbsp. butter/margerine 2 tsp. liquid smoke
This recipe can be halved. It is also very good heated with shredded leftover turkey!
Pork Lo Mein with Peanut Sauce
Prepare 8 oz of pasta (lo mein noodles, fettuccine, rotini...), omitting salt.
In 1-2 Tbls. peanut oil seasoned with at least:
1 tsp. fresh garlic, and
1/2 tsp. each: 5-spice powder & powdered ginger,
saute your preferred combination of ...
3/4 lb. pork (or chicken, or omit if you want to go vegan), and
chosen vegetables (e.g., mushrooms, sliced onions, broccoli)
for 2-3 min. (or until the meat is browned).
Add 1/4 cup of water & some of peanut hoisin sauce (recipe below),
and continue cooking 2-3 min. (until the meat is done).
Combine with the cooked & drained pasta and the rest of the hoisin sauce, and toss in some - roasted peanuts and - chopped fresh parsley (stems removed).
Peanut Hoisin Sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter (smooth) 1 tablespoon honey 2 teaspoons vinegar 2 teaspoons sesame oil a little Chili oil (to taste or omit) 1/8 tsp. (or more to taste) each: garlic powder 5-spice powder powdered ginger
Combine all ingredients, blending thoroughly.
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