Pork Cheek with Root Vegetables

I saw pork cheek at the store the other day, and tried looking it up on my phone... I didn't find much, but I picked them up to try anyway. They are surprisingly lean, streaked with more cartilage than fat, and therefore are suited for low, slow cooking. They taste like very meaty pork - yet another flavor from the pig! I cooked them up with root vegetables, and they were delicious.

Sweet and Sour Pork Burgers with Grilled Pineapple

That's a long title for what's really a simple sandwich. If you want a break from regular beef burgers, and don't feel like going low fat with veggie or turkey burgers, this is a great choice. The grilled pineapple can also be made on its own and served as a side dish.

Roasted Pork Belly

Pork belly is the part of the pig that bacon is made from. Because of the high amount of fat, it is a perfect cut for slow roasting. The crispy skin is an added bonus.

Thai(ish) Pork Kebabs

This dish is one I like to make when I find quality ground pork. Because it's winter, I pan-fried it, but I usually make these on the grill (and on sticks). Pork has a wonderful taste on its own, and in this dish it is complemented by southeast Asian flavors.

Italian Wedding Soup

 While its still cold out, here's one more soup - Italian wedding. The basics of Italian wedding soups are chicken broth, meat(balls), and green vegetables. Its a hearty and healthy soup that can almost be a meal by itself.

Stuffed Bok Choy

 

I got this idea from the Ideas In Food blog, where they usually do much crazier things involving dehydrators or smokers or sous vide cookers, so I was happy to see something I could follow along with. The idea is stuff baby bok choy with sausage, and then bake it. Their approach was a little more complicated, and had an additional step of adding tomato sauce after roasting.

Twice Cooked Pork

Twice cooked pork is a Chinese dish where pork belly is boiled and then sliced and fried. I like the idea of it, but in restaurants it's always too chewy. Traditionally, the pork is mixed with cabbage and/or leeks, but I used green bell peppers because that's what I felt like.

MockRib Sandwich

I've always enjoyed McRibs, riblets, On-Cor boneless rib patties, and other similar pork products, but haven't been able to eat them in awhile due to gluten.  This was my first (and to-date, only) attempt to make a McRib-like sandwich that was free of gluten (and suspicious chewy bits, and organ meats).

Ducken Roll

This was supposed to be a turducken roll (chicken in duck in turkey), but the turkey I had smelled funny, so I cut it down to a ducken roll (duck in chicken).  I had never tried anything like this, and realized halfway through I had never cooked duck before.  Things didn't turn out perfect, but it wasn't bad, and some parts, like the prosciutto crust were great.

Risotto Noodles

When rice is cooked risotto-style, the liquid is added slowly until the rice  has absorbed just the right amount of liquid, giving you perfectly al dente grains in a starch-thickened sauce. The same technique can be used with noodles to get just the right amount of doneness. This approach also lets you use a flavorful liquid, like broth, to cook the noodles without wasting the excess when you drain the noodles.

Pork/Asparagus/Red Pepper Stir Fry

This is a quick stir-fry that can be done quickly, and used with almost any combination of meat and vegetables.  Here I used pork, red peppers, and asparagus.  These three complement each other well - they are all strong flavors that don't interfere with each other, and visually, they are all different colors and are easily cut into a long thin shape.

Char Siu

Char siu is the red barbecue pork you find in Chinese restaurants.  In Boston, Hong Kong eatery has good char siu (along with skin-on roast pork and roast duck), but I wanted to make some myself... so I thought of how it tasted and poked around the Internet and bought some pork.  Pork butt seems to be the recommended cut, and I found some at Market Basket.