The Super Pigs are Coming

An invasion threat looms over the United States. The threat is not the one that right wing politicians and their media mouthpieces have been fomenting at the border with Mexico. Instead, it is one that scientists and others have been warning about at the border with Canada. It is not an invasion of people and their families trying to seek a better, safer life. It is an invasion of pigs seeking out more to eat. 

And it is not just any pigs, but super pigs. Pigs that had been cross-bred with wild boars. Canadian farmers introduced the cross-bred pigs in the 1980s. They sought to make a sturdier pig that could do better in Canadian winters. When the market price plunged for boar and pig meat in the early 2000s, the farmers began to release the pigs into the wild. The farmers thought the pigs would not survive the Canadian winters, which is a crazy thought given the whole purpose was to breed a pig who could survive the snow and cold temperatures. And, in fact, the pigs did survive and thrive. 

Now, there are super pigs roaming the Canadian prairie. Lots of furry animals that can reach weights of more than 500 pounds. (That is more than twice the size of feral pigs currently found in the United States.) Large animals that are highly intelligent and that have an appetite that includes just about everything. The menu includes not only domesticated crops, which they root up and destroy, but other animals ranging from small mice to even whitetail deer, as well as everything in between. And, if all of that was not enough to set off alarms, these large, furry omnivores also reproduce at a high rate. It is estimated that, even if 65% of the pigs were killed on a yearly basis, they could still see their population increase. Wherever these super pigs go, they are sure to alter the local ecosystem in negative ways.

Up to now, the pigs have been roaming (and ravaging) the Canadian countryside in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. However, scientists and government officials now believe that the range of the super pigs will extend to the northern United States. They expect the super pigs to cross into Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.  Those areas have the ideal habitat for the pigs, which is a mix of wetlands, decidious forests and cropland.

So, I figured that we could greet the pigs with some of my favorite pork recipes that I have made over the years. My favorite recipe is the following one from the Yucatan peninsula. 

MY FAVORITE PORK RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW): 

COCHINITA PIBIL

Recipe adapted from Glebe Kitchen

Serves several

Ingredients (for the marinade):

• 8 cloves unpeeled garlic
• juice of 2 medium oranges
• juice of 2 large limes
• 3 ounces achiote paste
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup white vinegar

Ingredients (for the pork):

• 4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder
• chunks of oak wood (for the smoker)
• Banana leaves (or parchment paper)
• Foil pan

Ingredients (for the pickled onions):

• 2 red onions, sliced about 1/8 inch thick
• 2 cloves garlic, cut in half
• 1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 clove
• 5 allspice berries, whole
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (for the presentation):

• Corn tortillas
• Pico de gallo

Directions:

1. Prepare the pork.  Roast the garlic in their skins. Use a small cast iron frying pan over medium heat and toast them until they blacken slightly and soften. This takes about 3-5 minutes. Peel the garlic. Combine the peeled, softened garlic with the lime and orange juice, achiote paste, and salt in a blender and blend thoroughly. Check to ensure that the achiote paste is broken up. Add the marinade to the pork and ensure that all sides of the meat are covered by the marinade. Marinate for two to four hours.

2. Prepare the smoker. Prepare the smoker to reach a temperature of about 275 degrees to 300 degrees. Soak the chunks of oak wood for about 1 hour in water.

3. Prepare the pickled onions. Combine all of the ingredients except the onions in a pot and bring that pot to a boil. Add the onions and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and let cool, stirring occasionally. Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. Let the onions rest for at least 4 hours before using.

4. Prepare the pork for the smoker. Typically, the pork is wrapped in banana leaves; however, I did not have access to those leaves. However, I used four pieces of parchment. Scrunch one piece of parchment to form a receptacle for the pork along with the marinade. (The goal is for the pork to be steamed with the marinade while it is smoked.) Take a second piece and cover the pork wrapping it around the pork. Place the pork in an aluminum pan. Place the pan in the smoker and smoke for about 3 to 4 hours or until the pork reaches 190 or 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Continue to prepare the pork. After removing the pork from the smoker, let it rest for 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the parchment packets but keep the marinade and juices. Use a fat separator to separate the fat. shred the pork with two forks and then mix the juice back into the meat. 

6. Finish the dish. Serve with corn tortillas, pico de gallo and the pickled onions.

OTHER GREAT RECIPES TO TRY

If you are looking for other ways to cull an invading population of super pigs, I would suggest the following recipes: 

Chargrilled Hmong Black Pig Skewers with Sesame Salt: This recipe, which comes from the Hmong communities in the hills of Vietnam and Laos, brings together a great balance of flavors that includes lemongrass, fish sauce, oyster sauce, honey and sesame.   

Wesley Jones' Barbecue: This recipe is a trip back in time to explore the origins of barbecue, which lies with the experience and expertise of enslaved Africans on plantations across the southern United States. This particular recipe represents the earliest recorded explanation of how barbecue was prepared. 

Free State Smoked Pork Shoulder: This recipe comes from my Project Maryland BBQ series, in which I explored what a barbecue style would look like if Maryland had its own style like the Carolinas or Texas. This smoked pork would pair well with the Maryland-style barbecue sauce (that includes Old Bay).

Carne Avovada: This recipe is a treasure of New Mexican cuisine. It incorporates ingredients that I use all the time, such as chiles, and ones that I had not used at all until then, like brewed coffee. The resulting dish is one full of rich, deep flavors that one can enjoy time and again.

Kangchu Maroo: If the goal is to cull pig populations, we should do so in a conscious manner, utilizing as much of the pigs as possible. I made this recipe as part of my Around the World in 80 Dishes challenge. It incorporates pig trotters into a curry served in Bhutan that was surprisingly delicious. 

There are many other pork recipes to try on this blog. Just check out What is in My Fridge and Pantry to the right of this blog and click on "Pork" for all of those recipes. Until next time ...

PEACE.

Grilled Clams with Cambodian Ginger Dressing

In my humble opinion, Cambodian cuisine has mastered the pairing of ginger to seafood. I don't know how they did or even when they did it. Yet, whenever I come across a Cambodian seafood recipe that incorporates a ginger sauce or dressing, that recipe is amazing. 

I learned that first hand more than four years ago, when my beautiful Angel and I hosted a New Year's Eve party. I prepared a bunch of dishes that symbolized good luck in the new year. The most popular dish that I prepared was a Cambodian Ginger Catfish recipe. That catfish was in more demand from the guests than anything else in the spread. 

So, when I got my hands on some top neck clams that I planned on grilling, it seemed only appropriate that I return to the cuisine of Srok Khmer (how the Cambodians refer to their country) and its cuisine for inspiration. Sure enough, I found a few recipes that were worth a try. The only question is which one to use. 

I ultimately chose a recipe from Theo Cooks, but I decided to make a few modifications. The original recipe called for four tablespoons of grated ginger and four tablespoons of olive oil. I halved the grated ginger because I got a little impatient and I thought that, given its relatively strong flavor profile, a lot of ginger might cause an imbalance in the dressing. I also substituted vegetable oil for olive oil because, as far as I know, olive oil does not feature prominently in Cambodian cuisine. The last modification is that I did not shake the ingredients in a jar. Instead, I used a whisk to create an emulsion. I thought that would better mix the ingredients as well as improve the texture of the dressing. 

In the end, this recipe was very good. The ginger still shined in the dressing, but the sweetness from the honey and the slight tartness of the lime juice were also present in the flavor of the dressing. Not only does the dressing work well on clams, but it would also be a good condiment for grilled fish. That will be another post for another day.

GRILLED CLAMS WITH CAMBODIAN GINGER DRESSING

Recipe adapted from Theo Cooks

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of top neck clams (about 8 to 12)
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 lime juiced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Pinch dried chile flakes
• Handful of finely chopped cilantro

Directions:

1. Prepare the dressing. Combine all of the ingredients, except the cilantro, together in a bowl. Whisk until the ingredients are well combined. Add the cilantro and stir to combine. 

2. Grill the clams. Heat a grill on high heat. Place the clams on the grate. Close the grill and cook the clams until they open, at most 5 minutes.  Remove the clams from the grill.

3. Finish the dish. Remove the top shells from the clams. Spoon some of the dressing over the clams and serve immediately.

PEACE.

Salsa de Congrejo

I love to eat crawfish; and, in my cooking, I have made a few etoufees and gumbos that feature the freshwater crustaceans.  A while back, I bought a bag of frozen crawfish, hoping to make a nice meal with it. (I don't have a good reliable source for fresh crawfish.) When I got around to deciding to make that meal, I found myself wanting something more than a bowl of gumbo. I wanted to try something different.

It got me thinking to another dish that I love to eat ... chapulines. There is something about grasshoppers marinated in a variety of spices, chiles and herbs that is very appetizing. The best chapulines recipes come, of course, from the Mexican State of Oaxaca. So, I decided that I would pursue the pages of Oaxacan recipes looking for a recipe that could serve as a starting point a crawfish dish. 

To be sure, there were a few recipes that caught my attention. The one that I decided to make was a Salsa de Chapulines. Perhaps it has been my recent craze in making Sambols - like Lunu Miris or Dried Shrimp Sambol - that got me thinking this salsa could have a variety of uses in other dishes. All I needed to do was to substitute the grasshoppers with crawfish. I would then have Salsa de Congrejo. 

This salsa is very easy to make as long as you have access to some good tomatillos, which you can find at most Latin American markets and even in some big name grocery stores. I did not have any morita chiles on hand, so I bought a can of chipotles and just made sure that I rinsed the adobo off of them. One could use dried or reconstituted chipotles if you have them, but the store-bought ones were more convenient to use. 

Now, I just need a good source for chapulines (spoiler -- I found one, check back for that post).

SALSA DE CONGREJO

Recipe adapted from Oaxaca, by Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral

Serves a few

Ingredients:

• Generous one pound of tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup chopped white onion 
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 4 morita chiles (substitute chipotle chiles), stems removed
• 1/4 cup cooked and rinsed crawfish tails
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions:

1. Boil the tomatillos. In a 2-quart saucepan over medium high heat, combine the tomatillos and 1/2 cup water and heat to boiling. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and boil for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. until the tomatillos have changed color from a dark to a light green color. Set aside. 

2. Prepare the salsa. Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. Add the onion and garlic, reduce the heat and mix well. Sauté until the garlic and onion are golden brown, then remove from the pan and reserve. Add the chiles to the pan and toast them for about 1 minute or until the color changes to a bright red. Remove from the pan and reserve. Add the crawfish tails and fry for about 3-4 minutes, until they are heated through. 

3. Finish the dish. In a blender, pure the tomatillos, chiles and garlic and onion mixture, 3/4 cup water and the salt. Stir in the lime juice. Pour into a bowl and add the crawfish tails. 

PEACE.

Pizzelles

The pizzelle may be one of the oldest known cookie recipes. There are recipes that are said to date back to the 8th century B.C.E., which would go as far back as the founding of Rome (which took place around 753 B.C.E.). Yet, these cookies did not emerge on the streets of the city founded by Romulus and Remus. Instead, the cookies originated on the other side of the peninsula, in an area that would become known as Abruzzo. 

The story of the pizzelle is said to have begun in the village of Culcullo. The village and its residents were overrun with poisonous snakes. A man named Dominic rendered all of the snakes harmless. To thank that man, a celebration was held, which became known as the Festival of Snakes. Pizzelle cookies were made and eaten as part of the celebration. The man would later become Saint Dominic. The Festival of Snakes, as well as the Feast Day of San Dominico, continue to this very day to celebrate that story. Now, as people eat their pizzelles, they can watch snakes slither up and down a statute of Saint Dominic. (It is said if the snakes wrap themselves around the statue's head, it will be a good year for the crops.)

Over time, pizzelles were also made and eaten for other celebrations, notably Christmas and Easter. Indeed, my Italian ancestors - who came from Abruzzo - had a yearly tradition to make stacks and stacks of the waffle-like cookies at Christmas time. It was as much a part of the tradition as the holiday meals themselves. 

The process of making pizzelles is as old as the wafer-like cookies. Centuries ago, people used iron presses. The presses were usually adorned with some design, such as a snowflake; however, families could have irons decorated with the family crest, or other meaningful designs. The iron presses had a long handle, which one could use to hold the irons over hot coals. The batter was placed in the center, the press was closed. and pressure was applied for a very short time until the cookie was done. Fast forward several centuries and one can still find people using iron presses to make these cookies, just with electricity rather than coal. 

This recipe is relatively easy to make, but it takes a little time getting used to the pizzelle iron. Generally speaking, I find that using a small ice cream scoop works best, placing the batter in the middle of each part of the iron. I also find that holding the iron closed (rather than relying on the clip), gets better results. If the batter sticks to the iron, try a little spritz of olive oil to grease the irons. That also helped immensely in terms of making the cookies, although it did make it a little messier. A little mess is worth it in the end.

PIZZELLES

Recipe from Food Network

Serves many

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/32 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon anise extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

1. Whisk together the ingredients. Whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, anise and eggs in a large bowl. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and continue to whisk until the batter is smooth. Allow to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour so the batter can hydrate.

2. Cook the pizzelles. Heat the pizzelle iron. Once the iron is hot, use a small ice cream scoop to place one scoop in the center of each side of the iron. Close the iron firmly and hold close for 30 seconds. Remove the cookies immediately and place to the side to cool. 

PEACE.