Category Archives: Pork

Brazilian Feijoada

BRAZILIAN BLACK BEAN STEW WITH PORK HOCK, SHOULDER, AND SAUSAGE. FAROFA WITH BACON. GARLIC-FRIED COLLARD THREADS. BRAZILIAN VINAIGRETTE SALSA. CILANTRO-LIME RICE. ORANGE SLICE PALATE CLEANSER.

Binging on Brazilian Youtuber Dani Noce‘s recipe videos is one of my favorite Pea-Boo activities for lazy days. Ever since I managed to convince Boo that her signature background song of festive gibberish means “let’s have a bountiful Feijoada feast” in Portuguese, I cannot make this dish without singing “roomba! ba-ba-ba-e-ba roomba-e!”

Fooling the Boo and childhood memories of Brazil aside, this dish itself offers plenty of reason for joy. Easy to make and preferably cooked in large batches so that you can add a variety of meats, Feijoada is perfect for inviting friends over for a hearty meal, served with plenty of tasty sides of toasted farofa, Brazilian vinaigrette salsa, and thinly sliced collard greens. – Pea

Servings: 8-10 (main portions)
Difficulty: 

Ingredients:

  • Stew base
    2 onions, finely minced
    3 c black beans
    0.5 c white wine
    4 cloves garlic, grated
    0.5 tb salt
  • water
  • Meats
    0.75 lb pork hock
    1 lb pork butt (or shoulder), cubed 1 inch
    8 oz linguiça or Kielbasa sausage, sliced
    (optional) pork belly, bacon, beef short rib, beef chuck

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, sauté minced onions in vegetable (or canola) oil over medium-high heat until golden-brown, 4-5 minutes.
  2. Add remaining stew base ingredients. Add water to cover ingredients, and bring to a gentle simmer.
  3. In a pan, sear all meats except sausages. Add seared meats to pot. Cover, and gently simmer until tender, ~3 hours.
    Small pea tip: Add water as needed throughout cooking to keep everything barely covered.
  4. Add sliced sausage to pot to cook, 25 minutes.
  5. Serve with rice and choice of sides.

Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Blueberry-Lemon Reduction

pork tenderloin medallions with blueberry lemon reductionROSEMARY-RUBBED PORK TENDERLOIN MEDALLIONS FINISHED WITH A REDUCTION OF BLUEBERRIES, LEMON JUICE, AND RED WINE. OVER GARLIC SAUTEED GREENS.

When we hear “filet mignon”, most of us think of the fork-tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef steak without a match. But interestingly, in France, “filet mignon” generally refers to the steak cut off the pork tenderloin. And though I love a good beef steak, using pork gave this a different steak-eating experience. A little more neutral in taste than beef, a pork steak pairs well with sweet and tart ingredients such as apples, grapes, berries, and honey. It might sound odd, but I think this recipe has an almost-dessert-like quality to it – in the best possible way! I even added a dash of cinnamon to the sauce to help bring out the sweetness even more. With a lean serving of protein, almost a whole serving of fruit, and a red wine-based sauce, this recipe was our fun experiment and turned out to be a healthy and exciting way to use pork tenderloin. – Boo

pork tenderloin medallions blueberry reduction

Servings: 3 (main portions)
Difficulty: 2 star

Pork medallions:

  • 1 pork tenderloin
  • Seasoning
    salt and black pepper, coarse
    2 ts dried rosemary
  1. Cut tenderloin into 6 medallions. Flatten medallions to a thickness of 1-1.5 inches.
  2. Rub seasoning over pork.
  3. In a large pan, sear pork medallions in olive oil on both sides until browned. Remove from pan, and prepare sauce.

Blueberry sauce:

  • Liquids
    0.25 c red wine
    0.25 c chicken stock
    1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1 c blueberries
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • Seasoning
    0.25 ts salt
    0.25 ts cinnamon
  1. In the same pan, add all sauce ingredients. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  2. Mash several blueberries, and add tenderloin medallions back into sauce to finish cooking, ~5-7 minutes for medium.
  3. Remove pork, and reduce sauce to desired consistency.
  4. Serve pork medallions with sauce, and optionally garnish with blueberries and lemon zest.

Pork Tenderloin à la Diable

pork tenderloin a la diableSIMPLY-SEASONED AND ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN OVER A BED OF SHREDDED PURPLE CABBAGE. WITH A BUTTERY, SPICY DIJON SAUCE. GARLIC-SAUTÉED VEGETABLES.

There are probably a hundred (if not many, many more) ways to prepare a pork tenderloin, one of the most versatile cuts of pork or red meat anywhere. As its name implies, it’s so tender that you can cut it with a fork – try it for yourself! Of the ways Pea and I have tried, this has to be one of the easiest and most flavorful. Literally just seared with salt and pepper, and roasted just long enough to prepare a side of veggies,  this can be a quick and easy weekday dinner. It goes so well with the sauce, which is smooth and creamy, yet tangy and smokey from the Dijon mustard and paprika and adds a comforting warmth, even eaten a little cold like we did after taking our pictures. But as I said before, pork tenderloin tends to go well with a lot of different things, so hopefully this recipe helps make it one of your staple proteins, too! – Boo

Servings: 3-4 (main portions)
Difficulty: 1 star

Oven: 375 F, 23 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 pork tenderloin
  • salt and black pepper
  • Sauce
    0.5 c chicken stock
    0.33 c white wine
    1 tb heavy cream
    1 tb Dijon mustard
    1 ts smoked paprika
    0.25 ts cayenne pepper
    2 tb butter, cold

Directions:

  1. Salt and pepper the tenderloin on all sides.
  2. In an oven-safe pan, sear tenderloin in olive oil on one side, ~4 minutes.
  3. Flip seared-side up, and transfer to oven to roast, ~23 minutes for medium-well (internal temperature 150 F).
  4. Remove from oven, and set tenderloin aside to rest.
  5. In the same pan, bring chicken stock and wine to a simmer over medium-high heat.
  6. Add Dijon, paprika, and heavy cream. Stir and reduce by half or until slightly thickened.
  7. Remove from heat, and stir in butter until melted.
  8. Slice tenderloin, and serve with sauce.

pork tenderloin a la diable 2