Grill Time: Giant Pork Chops with Adobo Paste

You know the sounds; you know the smells.  The sun warms the grass; the days are longer; the air is light and sweet and what's that other smell?  That's right:  the smell of spice and flame-kissed meat.  We would have actually fired up the grill much earlier this year, had it not been for the rather cold and wet May we experienced. Luckily, things started warming up recently and we could finally unfurl the cover on our Weber Q and start the gas.  Yes, we have a gas grill.  It is illegal in our city/county to use a charcoal grill in a multi-family building.  Technically, we should actually be using a much smaller gas tank than what we have, BUT since no one can see it...  Anyway, enough about the technicalities.  Marshall and I have been learning to grill and mostly rely on well-written recipes with explicit grilling instructions.  For a wedding gift, we got a probe thermometer, which has helped us rely on the meat and not the recipe to tell us when its done.  But, we have been learning fast and been more adventurous with our grill.

One stand-by recipe we have turned to over the last couple of years comes from, where else, Gourmet magazine.  The July 2007 issue was the all-grill issue.  This same issue taught us how to grill a Caesar salad, too! Our inaugural grilling dish for this year was Grilled Giant Pork Chops with Adobo Paste.  I grew up in a house that didn't do much pork.  My dad was never a fan, so my mom tended to steer clear of it for everyday meals.  I've learned, though, that pork can be quite tasty and it's a great lean protein, too, like chicken.  The first time I made this dish, I fell in love with the adobo paste.  It's a simple mixture of spices, oil and lime juice, but the smell that arises from the paste is heavenly.  It's smoky, spicy and tangy, without being clawing.  I really makes your mouth water, just from the smell.  One thing I have done differently is I go with the thinner bone-in pork chops and not the giant pork chops.  We did the giant pork chops the first time and they're huge.  They're much bigger than either of us could eat on our own.  I don't change the amount of paste I make, which might be more paste than what I SHOULD use, but we love it anyway.

To go with these delectable chops, I went with a salad.  It was a green salad, but I wanted to do something complimentary to the pork.  My sister makes a cilantro-lime dressing which is really good.  I had planned to mimic this and make my own, but I ran out of time to make an actual dressing.  Instead, I made a salad with green leave lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, and white corn.  Then I loosely chopped some fresh cilantro and threw it into the bowl.  I dressed the salad with cracked black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, a few dashes of chili powder, fresh lime juice and olive oil.  It was surprisingly good and refreshing and definitely complimentary with the chops.

Finally, I wanted a starch.  I'm a total starch fiend.  I love my bread, pasta, corn and potatoes.  I think it comes from being in an Italian family.  Even with pasta, we always had bread at the table.  With just the two of us, Marshall and I haven't kept this with our meals.  We also agreed that we are more apt to fill up on bread before eating the actual meal.  Anyway, I went with potato for a starch, but I was at a loss to how to prepare it.  Then I got an idea:  grill them!  So, I took a couple of potatoes, rinsed them, then sliced them into 1/2-3/4" rounds.  I left the skins on because the skin of the potato is the best part, in my opinion.  I drizzled the slices with a little olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt and pepper.  I put them on the grill after finishing the chops and cooked them, flipping over a few times, until grill marks appeared and they were tender to the touch.  The result was fantastic.  I loved the crisped exteriors and the creamy insides.  Plus, the really browned, almost burnt, bits were so incredibly yummy.  I really liked this cooking method for potatoes and I'll definitely find another excuse to make them again!  Maybe next time, I'll sprinkle of a little cayenne to spice them up...

So, join the party and fire up that grill (and be safe)!


Grilled Giant Pork Chops with Adobo Paste
Serves 4 


2-1/2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Sweet Paprika
1-1/2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano, crumbled
1 Tablespoons Garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons of Red Pepper Flakes
1-1/2 teaspoons Lime Zest
1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoons Black Pepper
4 Bone-in Loin Pork chops

1a.  (For charcoal grills) Prepare the grill for direct-heat-cooking over medium-hot coals.
1b.  (For gas grills)  Preheat all burners on high, covered, for 10 minutes.
2.  Stir together all ingredients, except the pork chops, in a bowl to form a spice paste, then rub paste all over pork chops.
3a.  (For charcoal grills) Oil grill rack, then grill chops over coals, turning over occasionally and moving if flare-ups occur, until browned, 2-3 minutes total.  Move chops to area with no coals underneath, then cover with inverted roasting pan (disposable is OK) and grill, turning chops over once, until thermometer inserted horizontally into the center of a chop (do not touch bone) registers 145F, about 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chop.
3b.  (For gas grills) Reduce heat to moderately high and brown chops, covered, turning over occasionally, 2-3 minutes total.  Turn off one burner (middle one if there are 3 burners) and put chops above the shut-off burner, then grill, covered, without turning, until thermometer registers 145F, about 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chop.
4.  Transfer to a platter and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

The Perfect Family Meal: Shredded Pork Tostadas

One of the many things Marshall and I promised after we got married was to have different people over for dinner at our house to use all our new things.  Marshall and I have been going down the list of people and one of those select few was my sister.  My sister and her husband have two amazing kids (twins), so I had to come up with something that everyone would enjoy.  Luckily, my niece and nephew aren't too picky, so finding something wasn't too difficult.  We're all big fans of Mexican food, plus it's great for casual get-togethers, which is what I was aiming for having my sister and her family over.

I turned to my new favorite cooking magazine:  Cooks Illustrated.  Unfortunately, when I received the horrible news that Conde Nast closed shop on Gourmet, I had to find something else to feed my repertoire.  I'm not the biggest fan of Conde Nast's other cooking magazine, Bon Appetit, even though I was slated to fulfill the rest of my Gourmet subscription with BA.  That's another post altogether, though.  In any case, I picked up CI off the news rack at the grocery store.  I loved its minimalist design (all 1-color printing, except for the last page), down-to-earth writing style, tried and tested recipes (CI is the companion to the PBS show, America's Test Kitchen), and lastly (but not least) for the fact that there are NO advertisements.  Even Gourmet was inundated with big annoying advertisements and BI is no different.  I understand that's where the magazine gets the majority of their revenue, but they really get in the way.  I've since bought 3 issues of CI in a row and I'm beginning to wonder if I just shouldn't buy a subscription already.

Anyway, the March/April issue contained a recipe for Shredded Pork Tostadas.  I had never cooked up pork shoulder before, but the recipe made it look like such an easy process and I could practically taste the spicy deliciousness by merely reading the ingredients.  Also, the magazine included some great tips, like using a potato masher to shred the cooked pork and then using the SAME potato masher as a weight for frying the tortillas.  By the way, the best tortillas for this are the "Homemade" corn tortillas at Trader Joe's.  They don't contain any preservatives and they smell delicious.  My sister commented that my kitchen smelled like a Mexican restaurant, when I was frying these up!


I made this the first time right when I got the magazine, but when faced with decided what to cook my sister and her family, I decided to gladly make it again.  It was a big hit with everyone, even though my niece and nephew complained it was too spicy.  I only used the smaller amount of chipotle powder, but I suppose for little mouths it might have been a little too much.  My sister brought over some leftover black bean soup, which had the consistency of really good black bean dip, and that ended up being a perfect topper for the tostadas.  I can't seem to have a tostada without beans:  the first time I made these for Marshall and I, I insisted on having beans.  Anyway, my sister and her husband gobbled theirs down and my sister kept complimenting, so I'll chalk that up as a W and move on from there.  :)  It was fun having everyone over and I realized we need to do it more often.  When my sister and her husband moved into their house a few years ago, Marshall and I were going over there every few weeks to play Settlers of Catan.  I miss those nights.  Anyway, it was a treat cooking for others and even bigger treat that everyone really enjoyed the food.

Among the black beans, we had the typical toppings:  avocado (I was lucky and found some California-grown Organic ones at the store, which were less than the ones from Mexico), Napa cabbage, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges.  Oh, and you know we had the perfect libations to wash down the delicious pork:  Modelo Negro, naturally!




Spicy Mexican Shredded Pork Tostadas (Tinga)
Tinga
2 pounds boneless pork butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Onions (medium-sized): 1 quartered and 1 chopped fine
5 Garlic Cloves: 3 peeled and smashed and 2 minced or pressed through garlic press
4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
Table salt (Kosher salt, which is what I use, works just fine)
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 (14.5-ounce) can Tomato Sauce
1 Tbs Chipotle Powder (You can easily substitute whole canned Chipotle in Adobo Sauce, if you have those on-hand.)
2 Bay Leaves

Tostadas
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Table salt

Garnishes
Queso Fresco or Feta Cheese
Fresh Cilantro
Sour Cream
Diced Avocado
Lime Wedges

1. FOR THE TINGA: Bring pork, quartered onion, smashed garlic cloves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups water to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook until pork is tender, 75 to 90 minutes. Drain pork, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Discard onion, garlic, and thyme. Return pork to saucepan and, using a potato masher, mash until shredded into rough 1/2-inch pieces; set aside. The pork can easily be made up to 2 days in advance, kept in an air-tight container in the fridge.

2. Heat olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shredded pork, chopped onion, and oregano; cook, stirring often, until pork is well browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in tomato sauce, chipotle powder, reserved pork cooking liquid, and bay leaves; simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves and season with salt to taste.

4. TO FRY TOSTADAS (OPTIONAL): Heat vegetable oil in 8-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees. Using fork, poke center of each tortilla 3 or 4 times (to prevent puffing and allow for even cooking). Fry 1 at a time, holding metal potato masher in upright position on top of tortilla to keep it submerged, until crisp and lightly browned, 45 to 60 seconds (no flipping is necessary). Drain on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

5. SERVE! Build your tostada in whatever fashion you see fit.

bon appetit!