Spicy Pork with Peach Sauce and Braised Cabbage

The farm has been quite generous with peaches over the last few weeks, with recent shares containing 8 peaches every time. This has presented a bit of a challenge in that the peaches are not yet ripe when I get them, and inevitably they will all ripen at the same time resulting in a bit of a scramble for us to get them all used before they start going bad. Not that I'm really complaining about having to eat lots of nice ripe peaches, but it got me thinking that it would be good to have a few ways to use unripe peaches as well.

Since the unripe peach are quite firm, they don't fall apart as easily during cooking and I wanted to take full advantage of this by using them in two of the three components in this dish. The main protein, pork is often paired with fruit, apples probably being the most common. I've never tried pork with peach, but there are plenty of pork/peach recipes on the web, so it appears I've been missing out.

After sifting through a few recipes, I decided to go for a sweet/spicy combination by using a spicy rub on the pork and then serving it with a sweet peach sauce. Since the unripe peaches are rather tart, I'll add some sugar to the sauce to give it a bit of sweetness, but not too much. The second way I used the peaches was to combine them with red cabbage (left from a couple shares ago) and onion and then braise the whole lot with vinegar until it reaches its happy place. Pork, peach sauce, braised cabbage...this is going to be good!

Mexican Pork and Purslane

Figuring out how to make use of the purslane was a bit of a challenge because in addition to it being a vegetable I've never used (or seen up until now) it turned out that the cuisines that make the most use of it were not ones that I typically cook. Really, the purslane is now the item from the CSA that did the best at taking me furthest from my usual cooking routine. New vegetable and a cuisine that I rarely work with.

Purslane is a plant commonly found in Mexican cooking, so it made sense to focus on that cuisine for a recipe. After a bit of research, I learned that its often paired with pork in a stew or soup preparation. The recipe here is based on a few different ideas that I found and the result is somewhat in between and soup and a stew with the pureed vegetables adding body and a nice depth of flavor to the broth. Cooking the purslane this way makes it quite soft and will dull its flavors, so if you want to experience the full flavor of this vegetable, then I suggest a raw preparation. Here's a link to one that looked pretty good to me.

Share Contents Used
Purslane
Bell pepper
White onion (last one remaining from week 11)
Jalapeno pepper (also last one from week 11)

Ingredients
1.5 lb pork spare ribs
1 lb tomatillo, husked and quartered
1 large fresh jalapeño chile, seeded
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 lb. purslane leaves, washed and coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper, 1/2 inch dice
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
Place the pork, 1 clove of garlic, half of the chopped onion, and 5 cups water into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the pork is tender, about 1.5 hours. Strain the broth, reserving the pork and 4 cups of broth. Discard the garlic and onions. Separately, bring a pot of salted water to a boil then add the jalapeno and tomatillos and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer tomatillos and jalapenos to a blender with the remaining onions and garlic and a 1⁄4 cup of the cooking water. Purée until smooth and set aside. In a wide bottomed pot, heat a bit of oil over medium high heat and brown the pork on all sides. Reduce the heat to medium, add the tomatillo purée and cook until thickened slightly, about 8 minutes. Add the reserved 4 cups of broth, purslane, salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil and reduce to low and simmer until the pork is falling off the bone, 20-30 minutes longer. With 5 minutes left, add the bell pepper. Taste again for seasoning then serve with rice.

Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin

So here I am in the middle of summer, cooking meat in the oven while my grill sits idle on the patio. I’ll admit, it does feel a bit wrong, but for weeknights when I need to get dinner on the table in a minimum of time, being able to skip that bit of extra effort to prep the grill is worth it. Also, popping the meat in the oven with a remote thermometer to watch over it gives me the freedom to do other things instead of hovering over the grill while drinking a beer….wait, wasn't I trying to convince myself that I shouldn't be grilling? Anyway, pork tenderloin is one of my favorite cuts of meat because it is quite versatile when it comes to trying different seasonings or preparations, and also makes for great leftovers. Perhaps second only to leftover Thanksgiving turkey, a few thin slices of cold tenderloin makes a great foundation for a sandwich. Tenderloin is a perfect cut of pork for a fast weeknight meal because it is naturally tender (duh) and flavorful, so a time consuming dip in brine prior to cooking is not necessary like it often can be for pork chops. Tenderloins also tend to be small (around 1 lb each) so they can be cooked quickly in the oven using high heat (quick cooking also prevents it from drying out). Lastly, by using a breadcrumb coating you can get an appealing brown color to the crust in the oven, therefore skipping the need to sear the meat in advance (one less pot to clean!). Try to use panko breadcrumbs if you can as they brown much faster and will give your coating a little crunch. 

The past 12 weeks have seen quite a nice herb garden develop in my backyard as each weekly share adds another plant to the mix. At this point I have basil, parsley, thyme, mint, dill, rosemary, oregano, lavender, stevia, chives and tarragon planted, and in some cases growing quite large! I've been snipping small sprigs here and there, but for the most part I've avoided cutting too aggressively to ensure that the plants have time to get established. It seems that plan worked pretty well, and now its time to start harvesting!

Share Contents Used
Thyme (week 8)
Rosemary (week 7)
Sage (week 11)

Ingredients
1 lb pork tenderloin
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbs chopped fresh chives
1/2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preparation
Heat your oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, herbs, garlic and oil along with a 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper. Set aside. Trim the tenderloin of any excess fat then season the tenderloin on all sides with salt and pepper before placing in a shallow baking dish or roasting pan. Using your hands, evenly cover the tenderloin with mustard and then top with the breadcrumb mixture, pressing lightly to ensure the mixture sticks to the mustard. Roast uncovered in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are browned and the internal temperature of the pork is at least 145 degrees. Use a meat thermometer to be sure and try not to let it go much higher as the temperature will continue to rise during the rest period. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Served up with some mashed sweet potatoes and a veggie stuffed zucchini (the recipe for which I will post separately as it more than deserves its own spotlight) to round out the plate.