Pork Shoulder Boiled Dinner (Cozido)

February 24, 2016

Ah the Boiled Dinner…. I think God invented the boiled dinner just for Sundays. If you want to talk about an easy and delicious meal we need not say more than one simple word – “Cozido” (or Boiled Dinner). If you’ve never made a boiled dinner out of intimidation, let me set your mind at ease because there literally could not be a less complicated, less stress free and less time-consuming prep time.

Growing up a good Cozido was always an option for Sunday dinner and it was such a treat. My mother would always get her biggest pot on the stove and fill it with this amazing piece of smoked meat, onions, cabbage, potatoes and of course meat. She would set it going when we got home from church and a couple of hours later we would have a feast.

The one and only downside to this is the price of the meat, at an average of $3-$5 per pound this 10+ pound piece of meat can get quite pricey just due to the sheer size of it. What you need to do is look for a sale as I did! I found a great deal on this one for $1.69 per pound and fed 10 adults with it! Now that’s a great value!

One of the best parts of this meal is that you can add in anything you like really. I see this one pot meal as Portugal’s answer to Ireland’s Corned Beef. It’s got a great flavor that when boiled with other ingredients is enough to flavor the whole meal. You can keep it simple as we do with onions, cabbage, potatoes and chouriço or you can add in carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips any hearty vegetable you like really. Just be prepared for everything to take on that yummy smoky flavor.

I got a great deal on this smoked shoulder. Whatever you do make sure what you are buying for this recipe is a SMOKED shoulder, not a picnic ham, not a fresh shoulder, but a SMOKED one. The flavor is completely and totally different from fresh pork.

Cut open the packaging, drain and rinse under cold water.

You will likely find this mesh on the skin of your meat, this is meant to keep the meat all together and should be used in cooking. In their words, let it be (for now).

The great thing about this recipe is you can add or take away as many ingredients as you like. My family likes boiled onions, so we add in three good-sized onions. If you don’t care much for them, still add one in for flavor. If you would like more, go for it.

For this recipe, we want to be sure the onions stay in tact, so all that is required is peeling, don’t cut them up or they will melt right into the dish which is not the goal here.

To add in that Portuguese flavor, all you really need is one link of hot chouriço. I don’t peel for this recipe, I just add some slits along the bend of the chouriço.

Fill a very large pot with water. I am using my Pampered Chef Executive Stock Pot.

This may look funny, but some people in my family prefer potatoes with skins and some don’t. So, I do them both ways for this recipe.

Place your rinsed shoulder in the pot.

Now add in your onions and cabbage.

Add in the chouriço.

Cover the pot and boil. The shoulder is already pretty well cooked, so you are just really melting the fat a bit, heating it through and cooking the potatoes and other veggies… That being said, it is important to give the boil enough time to allow the flavors to infuse together. So, you will want this to come to a boil and then turn it down to a low boil for a minimum of 90 minutes.

Once done, remove the mesh from the pork.

And serve on a platter.

Pork Shoulder Boiled Dinner (Cozido)

Serves 10

Ingredients:

1 10 lb. Pork Shoulder

6-8 potatoes, peeled (or not)

3 large onions, peeled

1/2 cabbage

1/2 lb. hot Portuguese Chouriço

Directions:

Place potatoes in the pot and cover with water. Place pork shoulder in the pot and cover with water. Add in onions, cabbage and chouriço. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down and continue a low boil for 90 minutes to 2 hours. Remove mesh from the meat and discard. Enjoy!

*** Gluten-free

Greek Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach & Feta

December 11, 2015December 11, 2015

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Christmas dinner can be an expensive proposition. It usually involves a pretty expensive protein, a turkey or a goose, a prime rib or a spiral honey ham carefully prepared with love and attention. It is savory and delicious and something that is a yearly treat! What if I told you you could have the same delicious flavor and careful preparation in this gorgeous pork roast for a fraction of the cost as some of those more expensive meats?

This Greek Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach & Feta will not disappoint and at just around $12 for the entire thing, you could save some of that Christmas money to put under your tree this year! You can pick up a large 30″ pork tenderloin for anywhere between $13-$26 at my local wholesale shopping club (BJ’s) and in this recipe, I only use half of it to feed 8-10 people! Talk about inexpensive! (So inexpensive, you might even make it on other special occasions throughout the year! shhhh)

And did I forget to mention that this is one of my husband’s favorite meals? Bonus! This is a crowd pleaser for sure! Let me show you how I do it…

The pork loin I buy is about 30 inches long… I cut that in half to feed 8-10 people.

Sprinkle some kosher salt and fresh herbs… I am using rosemary and thyme. I also use a dry Pampered Chef Greek Rub.

Place the meat on a large skillet fat side down. I am using the Pampered Chef Executive Non-stick Skillet, which is my absolute most used pan! (It’s 12″ round and holds up to 5 qts!)

Be sure to sear on each side. You should be forming a nice crust all the way around.

Once you have seared all sides set aside in your roasting pan.

Cut into the meat about 3/4 of the way in. Be careful not to cut all the way through. This will be where you stuff the filling.

This is what you should be left with.

Spread salt and pepper in the cut meat.

This is now ready for the filling.

Add in a little more olive oil and sautée your onions in the rendered fat from the meat.

Mince up some garlic.

I use a large package of baby spinach. I have used fully grown spinach and it works out nicely as well.

Once your onions are tender, add in the garlic and then pile on the spinach. It will look like way too much spinach, but it will all shrink right down.

See… it melts right down. To this add in 1 tablespoon of the Pampered Chef Greek Rub and about 1 tsp. kosher salt.

Shut off heat and add in some crumbled feta.

Stuff the filling in the roast.

Sprinkle some more feta crumbles to the top.

The roast is ready for the oven. Roast for about 45 minutes until the meat reads 160°F with a meat thermometer.

Allow meat to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. This will ensure you get nice juicy cuts of meat.

Greek Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach and Feta

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

3-4 lb. boneless pork loin

6 cups baby spinach

3/4 cups crumbled feta, divided

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs. Pampered Chef Greek Rub

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

3 tsp kosher salt, divided

fresh cracked black pepper

olive oil

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.

Take meat out of the fridge about 1/2 hour before cooking. Prepare meat by rubbing on 1 Tbs. Greek Rub, 2 tsp. kosher salt and the rosemary and thyme.

Add olive oil to a large skillet set over high heat. Sear meat on all sides until a crust has formed around the entire roast. Set aside in the roasting pan. Prepare for stuffing by cutting down the length of the meat 3/4 of the way.

To prepare stuffing: Add more 3-4 Tbs. olive oil to the skillet (over medium heat) with the rendered drippings. Sautée the onion until tender, then add in garlic and spinach. When tender add in 1 Tbs. Greek Rub and 1 tsp kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Turn off heat and add in about 1/2 cup feta.

Stuff the meat with spinach filling. Sprinkle with remaining feta. Immediately place in oven and roast for about 45 minutes until the meat reads 160°F on a meat thermometer. Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot. Enjoy!

*Gluten-free

Mom’s Amazing Chouriço & Peppers (Chouriço com Pimenta)

August 12, 2015August 16, 201514 Comments

My Mom makes the most amazing Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches. We just celebrated my son’s 3rd birthday and of course I asked my Mom to make this delightful treat. I also asked that she be sure I was there to document her exact steps with my trusty camera, so you get the recipe right from the source.

Five easy ingredients, one pot, and three simple steps make for a new favorite week night meal, pot luck contribution, tail gating staple or party request time and time again. I don’t think I can ever recall a Portuguese party that did not have some version of this sandwich piled up on a platter. But, I have to say every time I bring these little sandwiches with this specific recipe to a party, I hear nothing but compliments and requests for the recipe. This past weekend was no exception. People ate them right up and kept coming back for more! So here it is…

Here is the start.

This is ground chouriço… Most recipes involving chouriço that I have shared thus far have involved chouriço in its original form… but this is a version sold without the skin and ground up.

It’s the same price as regular chouriço and for this recipe we are starting with 3 lbs. because this is for a party.

A lot of people like to use green bell peppers for this recipe, but I am not a fan of the green, I prefer the sweeter red, orange and yellow. This is total personal preference. If you want to go the traditional route, go ahead and use green.

Three small cans of tomato sauce. We like to use plain Hunt’s… not ‘no salt added’ not ‘italian seasoning’ …just plain.

My mom likes to dice her onions pretty finely, she is not a fan of chunky onions in anything.

The peppers however, are diced up pretty big, each piece is roughly chopped to the size of between a nickel and a quarter. Saute both onions and peppers in a bit of olive oil for just a few minutes.

Add in all the tomato sauce and stir.

Now you want to add in about 8 oz. of beer per pound of chouriço.

Add in chouriço.

Stir. Notice how thick the consistency is when you start out.

Cover, lower heat to medium/low and allow to simmer.

As the cooking process goes on some of the fat is released from the chouriço and it becomes much more liquidy. Continue to cook until that liquid gets reduced by about half. In the end, you still want it moist.

Each brand of chouriço has a different level of fat, this recipe is based on Michael’s Provisions Chouriço which has a low fat content and so it produces less liquid when cooking… If you are using a chouriço with a higher fat content, you may need to cook longer to cook off some of the liquid.

Recipe for Mom’s Amazing Chouriço & Peppers:

(makes 30 party size sandwiches)

3 lbs. ground chouriço

3 bell peppers, large dice

3 onions, small dice

3 small cans tomato sauce

24 oz. beer

olive oil

30 mini portuguese sandwich rolls (or lg. rolls cut in half)

Directions:

Saute onions and peppers in olive oil. Add in chouriço, tomato sauce and beer. Cover and simmer over medium/low heat for about 1 hour. When liquid is reduced by about half, turn off heat and stuff sandwiches. (The meat should be very moist, but not soupy.)

Enjoy!

***NOTE: this recipe is a one to one ratio throughout, so if you want to cut it down or increase the amount, just do so in kind… for example to make for a family dinner use 1 lb. chouriço, 1 small can tomato sauce, one pepper, one onion and 8 oz. of beer 🙂

Portuguese Baked Pork and Beans (Feijão Assado)

August 5, 20158 Comments

If ever there was a Portuguese comfort food, Feijão Assado is it for me! This recipe has been passed down in my family for generations and it is something that I come back to time and time again. I have memories throughout my whole life of my Vavó and my Mom making Feijão Assado and Soupa de Feijão (Bean Soup) for family dinners, parties and holiday celebrations. Because the time to initially soak and cook the beans can take some time they would always cook the two together reserving half the beans for the soup and the other half for the baked beans. The Soupa de Feijão recipe is coming this fall, but for now we will focus on this warm, creamy savory comfort food.

I’ve called it Portuguese Baked Pork and Beans instead of just Portuguese Baked Beans because I have made this into the main course for our supper tonight by adding not only salt pork and a little bit of chouriço, but a whole pound of chouriço. My grandmother would never have put an entire pound of chouriço in anything, she always said that chouriço was just added to recipes for the taste. So, as I write out the recipe tutorial I will note the adjustment should you chose to go the traditional route.

This dish and a nice fresh portuguese roll is a filling, balanced and super nutritious meal. However, as I mentioned, you can also bring it as a great party food or pot luck contribution and really get people talking! Often times, if I am throwing a dinner party where I am serving roast pork or pork chops I will make this to go along side. I’ve also known Feijão Assado to make a great breakfast food. Whichever way you decide to make it, try it out soon because it really is a very different way to eat your beans.

I use while nave beans for this recipe because my Vavó always said the smaller the white bean the better. This is your basic one pound package.

Fill a 6 cup bowl about 3/4 of the way with water… this may seem a bit big, but these beans absorb almost all this water over night.

As you can see the beans are way down at the bottom of the bowl. You may be tempted to add salt at this point, avoid that temptation! White beans actually absorb water without salt, not sure why, but they do. You’ll have plenty of time to flavor later.

Cover it up and let stand over night at least 6-8 hours or up to 12 hours.

And there it is… look how they have plumped up!

Now you will want to start this next step with fresh water. So drain off the beans, this also gets rid of any residual dirt… if you want to rinse your beans and pick through, now would be a good time for that as well.

Then, cut a medium onion in half and add it into the water.

Peel three garlic cloves and add those in too… The onions and garlic really flavor the beans while they are cooking, but you are still not adding in salt.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once you have a boil going, lower the heat and continue to boil until beans are tender (about an hour and a half).

When beans are tender, shut off the flame. NOW you can finally add in a pinch of salt… not too much, just a pinch.

This is a good view of how tender the beans are. You want them naturally breaking up a bit.

Drain most of the water from the beans. Don’t worry about the onions and garlic, those will melt right into the dish.

You will want to reserve about one cup of the cooking liquid. This will help with keeping the beans moist while baking and it also helps to create the creamy texture.

Add in one small can of tomato sauce.

Salt… Be careful here, my Vavó always said salt adds flavor and it takes it away. So, start with 1/2 tsp and taste after you mix everything together. Both chouriço and the wet red pepper both have salt in them, so you don’t want to over do it. And remember you already added in a pinch.

One good chunk of salt pork or a couple of slices of thick cut bacon (not too smoky) or even pancetta would be nice here. I am adding mine in whole, my grandmother would chop it up, it’s up to you which you would like to do. I think it’s pretty in the center when it comes out of the oven.

One heaping tablespoon of wet red crushed pepper is next… if you only have dry, they just add in half as much.

Now just a pinch of Portuguese All Spice… If you don’t have access to this spice just add in a pinch of sweet paprika and you’ll be ok here.

Mix all together.

I like to peel the skin off my chouriço for easier eating, personal preference.

Slice it up. As I mentioned above, my grandmother would only have added half as much, this is totally up to you. Also, I should note that I am using hot chouriço, you can also use mild and be just fine. The flavor profile is the same save the heat factor.

Add your chourço into your bean mixture.

I bought a set of these beautiful baking dishes the last time I was in Portugal and pain stakingly brought them back to the states with me. It’s made of a traditional Azorean pottery. If you don’t have this dish, you can either use a 9×12″ stoneware dish or any regular baking dish will work.

Pour directly into your baking dish.

As you can see, it still looks pretty soupy, that's perfect.

As you can see, it still looks pretty soupy (like a thick soup), that’s perfect.

Be sure chouriço is evenly distributed. Bake at 375°F for 90 minutes.

Recipe for Portuguese Baked Pork and Beans (Feijão Assado):

(serves 4-6)

1 lb. dry Navy beans, soaked 8-12 hrs.

1 lb. chouriço, peeled and sliced

1 small can tomato sauce

1 onion, peeled and chopped in half.

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 heaping Tbs. wet crushed red pepper (or half the amount of dry)

1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp. Portuguese All Spice or paprika

1″ cut of salt pork (or three slices of thick cut bacon, non-smoky flavor)

Directions:

Soak beans over night in plain water.

Drain beans. Cook beans in a soup pot with fresh water, onion and garlic. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce heat. Cook for 90 minutes or until beans are very tender. After cooking is complete, shut off flame add in a pinch of salt and allow to sit covered for about 20 mins.

Drain beans reserving one cup cooking water. Add in tomato sauce, salt, pepper, pork and chouriço. Mix together. Pour into a 9×12″ baking dish and bake at 375°F for 90 minutes.

Enjoy!

*note – this is a gluten-free recipe.

Crock-Pot Country Style Ribs – Asian Edition

August 2, 2015August 3, 2015

Today was a beach day in our house… Went grocery shopping this morning and picked up cold cuts, cheese, fruit and drinks for the beach. But, I also picked something up so that dinner would be waiting for us when we got home from the beach. Because, I don’t know about your family, but in my family with two toddlers running around in the sand and splashing about in the surf, Mommy and Daddy are plumb pooped when we get home! So, the last thing I want to do is think about putting a healthy dinner on the table. That usually means a stop at some greasy place for an unhealthy and costly dinner. And although it might be tasty, it usually leaves us all feeling blah. But, not today. Today I found country-style ribs on sale at the market.

Country-style ribs are usually pretty inexpensive, but how could I pass them up at $1.69 per pound? Not to mention, they are one of my favorite things to cook in a cock-pot. Timing for this recipe is kind of perfect not only for the rest of the beach days summer has to offer, but it is perfect for low stress football party eats and for busy moms and dads on the go come the school year!

This asian edition of country-style ribs will be my first recipe to share with you on this inexpensive cut of meat, stay tuned for more…

At under $6 for over 3lbs. of meat, how could I pass it by?

Country-Style ribs have small bones in comparison to the great amount of meat on them.

Start off by sprinkling the meat with a little kosher salt.

Then add on a sprinkle of garlic powder.

I decided that in interest in saving myself both time and dishes, I would just mix up my braising liquid right in the crock pot bowl.

I start with about one cup of ginger ale… Ginger is a pretty common ingredient in most Asian foods, this is a quicky version.

Next add in about 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce… Normally I like regular soy sauce for dipping and adding on top of foods, but to add regular to a liquid that will concentrate down into the meat would be a bit too salty.

Next add in some Rice Vinegar. This adds a bit of tart to off set the sweet we are about to add in.

Add in 1/2 a jar of Ah-So (1/2 cup)

Then just a couple tablespoons of oyster sauce.

Lastly add in about 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes.

Add in a bit of brown sugar to sweeten things up.

Get all the ribs nice and cozy into their cooking liquid. Turn on to high for about 5-6 hours.

Here is what your meat should look like when through cooking… It should be fall off the bone delicious at this point.

The meat falls right off the bone at this stage!

Now to finish it off, just whip up a quick sauce. Add in the other half of the Ah-So sauce to a clean bowl.

To thin it out, add in 2 Tbls. of Rice Vinegar.

Slice up a scallion or two.

Add in about 1/2 cup of orange soda or orange juice if you have it.

Mix it all up.

Remove from the crock pot avoiding bones.

And add it over your readied meat.

Be sure to pick out bones.

Shred meat into big or little pieces and place into your serving bowl.

Recipe for Crock-Pot Country-Style Ribs – Asian Edition:

(serves 4)

3 lbs. Country-Style pork ribs

For the cooking liquid:

1 cup ginger ale

1/2 cup Ah-So sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 Tbs. Rice Vinegar

1 Tbs. Oyster Sauce

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

For the sauce:

1/2 cup Ah-So sauce

1/4 cup Orange soda or orange juice

1 Tbs. Rice Vinegar

2 scallions, sliced

Top with chopped cilantro

Directions:

Sprinkle meat with salt and garlic powder.

Then in the bowl of a large crock-pot add in the ginger ale, Ah-So sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce, low sodium soy and red pepper flakes. Stir. Add the meat in to the bowl of your crock-pot, cover and set to high for 5-6 hours.

Then mix up the sauce. Mix together the Ah-So, orange soda (or juice), Rice Vinegar and scallions.

Remove meat from the cooking liquid and place in a serving dish. Add sauce over top and endure that all bones have been removed while shredding the meat.

Top with chopped cilantro. Serve over jasmine rice as pictured or in a sandwich or over an asian salad… Any way you serve it, enjoy!

Our day at the beach 🙂

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My loves <3

Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham

April 4, 2015March 13, 2016

Baked ham… an Easter tradition in my house growing up. I’m part of a big Portuguese family, so of course that wasn’t the only thing on the table, there would usually be some sort of roast or stew as well… but, my favorite was always the ham. My mother always put sliced pineapples on her ham. So, what I’ve done is incorporate that into my pineapple honey glazed ham. It’s simple and delicious.

A lot of people like spiral hams, and they are yummy, but they can also be quite pricy. I’ll be using a 10 lb. ham here and with Easter sales at my grocery store, I paid under $10 for this one, score! Spiral hams usually come with a nice little packet, usually brown sugar based that can be used to glaze the ham with, but regular run of the mill hams don’t. So, I’ve included a simple pineapple honey glaze with this recipe that is almost as simple as opening up that packet.

You’ll want to start with figuring out what size pan you’ll use. It’s a good idea for it to have room enough for the drippings, but not be so overwhelmingly big that the glaze doesn’t hang out near the meat. For this 10lb ham, I am using a 9×12″ baking dish.

You will want to prepare your ham to accept the glaze. This can be done by placing the ham cut side down in your baking dish and scoring in a lattice style, criss crossing over the entire skin.

Here are all the ingredient’s you will need for the glaze: honey, 1 20 oz . can of sliced pineapples, with the juice reserved, 1 T. butter, salt and whole pepper corns.

Take your ingredients and add them in all together to a small sauce pan over medium heat and stir. 1 T butter, 1 t. pepper corns, 2 T. honey, 1/2 t. salt and reserved juice (don’t add the actual pineapples to this mix) The goal here is not to cook it down, but just to get them all mixed in the warmth helps the butter and honey to incorporate. 2-3 minutes should do it.

Next, just pour the glaze over the ham.

Place the pineapples on the ham.

If you have a tough time getting the pineapples to stay put, you can secure them with toothpicks… I didn’t have any trouble due to the shape of my ham.

I like to add a bit more honey to the top for fun… this is about a tablespoon’s worth.

You should cover the ham for cooking, but first what I like to do is spray some cooking spray on the foil so it doesn’t stick to the pineapples.

Next, loosely cover with foil, sprayed side down.

Bake at 325°F for 15 minutes per lb.

It’s a good idea to baste the ham a few times… after your calculated cooking time is through, i like to uncover the ham and put into a 375°F oven for another 20 minutes or so to get some color on your pineapples and crisp up the skin of the ham a bit.

And that’s it… Check to see that the internal temperature is up to 140°F (because ham is fully cooked before you put it in the oven), put it on a platter as seen here with my Rockstar Potatoes. (Be sure to remove toothpicks at this point if you used them)

Baked ham, Rockstar Potatoes and peas! A perfect Easter dinner!

Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham

plan on 1/2 lb. per person for a bone in ham

Ingredients:

1 cured ham, bone in

1 20 oz. can sliced pineapple, juice reserved

2-3 T. honey

1 T. butter

1 t. black pepper corns

1/2 t. kosher salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325°F.

For the glaze: In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine juice, honey, butter, pepper corns and salt. Warm through mixing.

Score the ham in a cross hatch fashion.

Pour warmed glaze over ham. Place pineapples on ham. Add extra honey if desired over top. Cover with foil. Bake 15 minutes per lb. Baste 2-3 time throughout cooking time. Remove foil after cooking time and baste again. Bake for an additional 20 minutes uncovered at 375°F. Check to see that ham is hot throughout and the skin has started to crisp up, internal temp should be 140°F.

***Gluten-free

the portuguese american mom

stay awhile… have a cup of tea, let's get creative!

Category: Pork

Pork Shoulder Boiled Dinner (Cozido)

Pork Shoulder Boiled Dinner (Cozido)

Greek Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach & Feta

Greek Pork Roast Stuffed with Spinach and Feta

Mom’s Amazing Chouriço & Peppers (Chouriço com Pimenta)

Portuguese Baked Pork and Beans (Feijão Assado)

Crock-Pot Country Style Ribs – Asian Edition

Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham

Pineapple Honey Glazed Ham