Berkshire Pork Pernil

I saw this on Guy Fieris big bite and it is so good - Our new favourite pork shoulder recipe.

I set out with the best intentions of following his recipe to the letter but as always I got distracted and forgot to put it in the oven so had to use the Instant Pot to speed up the cooking time, then I finished it off on the bbq…. and I even managed not to burn it! (unlike my sausage rolls - they just did not work on the bbq)

It was delicious. I also used 1/2 cup orange juice instead of fresh squeezing it and I didn’t have chipotle so just used the adobo sauce. To be honest it is just as good without the adobo sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 Cobblestone Farm Berkshire pork shoulder - bone-in, (5 - 6lb)

• 6 cloves garlic

• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

• 1 small bunch fresh cilantro 

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin 

• 4 limes, juice (and zest if you feel like zesting them)

• 2 oranges, juiced or I used 1/2 cup orange juice

• 1 chipotle in adobo, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce (optional)

• 3 tablespoons salt

• 1 tablespoon pepper (black or white)

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 

Directions

• Place the Berkshire pork shoulder, fat-side up, on a cutting board. Score the fat in a criss-cross pattern, making diagonal cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart and cutting into the meat (but not right to the bone) so the marinade can penetrate.

• Put the pork shoulder in a large re-sealable plastic bag set over a baking dish or you can use a bowl.

• Put the garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, lime juice, orange juice, chipotle and adobo sauce, salt and pepper, olive oil in a blender.

• Blend until pureed. Pour the marinade all over the pork and make sure it gets into the deep cuts. Seal the bag and refrigerate overnight - up to 24 hours (I turned mine and squished the marinade around a couple of times)

  Oven method

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

• Add 1/2 inch water to a roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack. Remove the pork from the marinade and place in the center of the rack.

• Cover with foil and roast for about 3 1/2hours - Remove the foil and roast for 30 mins more until fat is deep brown in colour.

• Transfer the pork to cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing into thick pieces. Spoon any remaining pan juices over the meat to serve.

  Instant pot method & Bbq Method

• Put pork and marinade in Instant pot - I rinsed the bag out too to get all the flavour

• Cook on high pressure for 1 hour

• Let pressure release naturally

• Preheat bbq to 350

• Put the pork in a roasting pan - or any tray you can put on bbq

• cook uncovered on bbq for 1 hour until fat is crispy

African Pork and Peanut Stew

Do you ever get in a recipe rut? I love to cook but hate deciding what to cook. I will take out a pork shoulder and start searching through about a million pulled pork recipes. Not that there is anything wrong with pulled pork, I just want to cook something different.

To mix it up a bit I decided to cook by Country instead of cut of meat. Now Carl has challenged me to do 80 recipes in 80 days! He doesn’t ask much! He didn’t say 80 consecutive days lol so I might be able to stretch it out a bit!

The first one is African-inspired Pork & Peanut Stew - I cut up one of our bone in pork shoulder roasts and threw the bone in for extra flavour.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Berkshire pork lard - or peanut oil

• 2 lb Cobblestone Farm Berkshire pork shoulder cut into 1” cubes

• 1 chopped onion

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (not salt) or 2 cloves fresh chopped garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon chili flakes

• 1 bay leaf

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 cups Berkshire pork bone broth - or you can use chicken

• 3 tablespoons tomato puree

• 1/2 cup peanut butter

• 2 chopped tomatoes

• 1/2 cup peanuts

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat lard in a large skillet on high heat.

2. Add pork cubes and brown on all sides.

3. When pork is browned add the chopped onion and spices and cook on med heat for 1 min.

4. Stir peanut butter into stock and add to the pan with tomato paste & chopped tomatoes.

5. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 45 mins or until pork is tender.

6. Stir in the peanuts.

7. Serve with rice and garnish with fresh coriander.

Berkshire Pork Bourguignon - a delicious Berkshire Pork Shoulder Recipe

Recently a friend of mine inspired me to make Julia Childs beef bourguignon. I had always thought it would be too difficult to make - I found it easy but very time-consuming but omg it is sooo delicious. I am now so obsessed with it I am even curing my own small slab of bacon just for this recipe.

Our beef supply is low so I tried it with some of our Berkshire pork Shoulder. (Searches on the interweb told me that pork doesn’t work in this recipe - maybe commercially raised pork won’t but our Berkshire pork shoulder was amazing.

I have also made this in the Instant pot and finished it in the oven - It was delicious even straight out of the IP - though it doesn’t have the nice crust and doesn’t thicken.

To make the pork in the instant pot -

• Saute the meat following the directions for browning then put on meat setting for 1 hour - let pressure release naturally.

• Take out some of the extra gravy to cook the onions in and then put the meat in the oven while you prepare the onions and mushrooms.

I am sure this will also work in the slow cooker too - I melted mine so I need a volunteer to test it for me lol.

Ingredients

For the Berkshire Pork

• 6 ounces unsmoked Berkshire bacon (British style) cut into small pieces

• 2-3 pounds Berkshire Pork Shoulder or leg cut into 1-inch cubes

• 1 tablespoon lard or olive oil

• 1 carrot peeled and sliced

• 1 small onion peeled and sliced

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 2 1/2 cups red wine full-bodied

• 2-3 cups stock or broth (I usually use homemade pork or chicken stock)

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 2 cloves garlic crushed

• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

• 2 bay leaves

For the onions

• 6 ounces pearl onions peeled

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 4 sprigs parsley (or 1 tbsp dried parsley)

• 1/4 tsp dried thyme

• 1/2 bay leaf

• 1/2 cup broth or stock

For the mushrooms

• 1 pound white mushrooms quartered

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 450°.

• In a large dutch oven, heat the lard or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for several minutes until lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon (leave the bacon fat in the pan to brown the pork.)

• Brown the Berkshire pork shoulder in the bacon fat/lard - don’t overcrowd the pan - brown in batches and put browned pork with bacon. Continue until all the pork has been browned.

• Add the onions and carrots to the dutch oven and brown them, stirring occasionally.

• Return the pork, bacon and any drippings to the dutch oven.

• Add the salt and pepper and stir to combine. Sprinkle with the flour and stir until the meat and vegetables are well coated. Put the dutch oven uncovered into the hot oven and cook for 4 minutes. Stir the contents of the pot and continue to cook for an additional 4 minutes. (this will give the meat a nice crust).

• Reduce the oven temperature to 325°.

• Add the wine to the pot and add enough pork stock to barely cover the meat. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Cover the pot tightly with a lid and place back in the oven. Braise for 3-4 hours or until the pork is tender.

• While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

For the onions

• In a large frying pan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat until the foam has subsided from the pan.

• Add the peeled onions and cook until they are lightly browned. Add the herbs, bay leaf and stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to a medium-low, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes -- until most of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer the onions to a bowl and set aside.

For the mushrooms

• In a large frying pan heat half the olive oil and butter until the foam from the butter begins to subside.

• Add half the mushrooms to the pan and cook until browned. They will first absorb the oil, and then begin to brown... do not crowd the mushrooms in the pan.

• Transfer cooked mushrooms to the same bowl as the onions. Continue with the remaining mushrooms, by heating the oil and butter until the foam subsides, adding the mushrooms and then browning them evenly.

• When the meat is tender, take out the bay leaves and add the mushrooms and onions

• Heat the contents through on the stovetop and serve with crusty bread and a good red wine.

I also served this with buttery mashed potatoes and Yorkshire puddings - it would also make a great pie filling!

Let me know if you tried it!