Braised Pork with Cheddar Grits

So what does a foodie do for food on her birthday or birthday party? One might think she would let someone else cook for a change....but not the case in my situation. It gives me the excuse to cook for someone other than my husband. Now I do love cooking for him....even though he can barely taste...but it is much more fun to  cook for people who do not eat my food every day. New people means better expressions and comments. And they may be good or bad. But at least they are new. So this birthday party meal was no different. I cooked for different people. This time I cooked for my dad and step-mom. I had a really hard time deciding on a menu. All I knew for sure was that I was making a lemon pie. So whatever I cooked needed to go with lemon. For days I was stumped until I had an epiphany while watching Top Chef All Stars. One of the guys on the show made a braised pork shoulder on a bed of cheddar cheese/green chili grits with a jicama slaw on top with a Corona Lime sauce drizzled around the plate. (insert angelic sound) I knew instantly this was the dish I was making. I mean it was pork!! I knew that they would love this as much as I would because it is really hard to mess up pork shoulder and grits. And it is universally loved by all people so it would not be a "weird" dish of mine...aka artichoke lasagna.

Well this dish is not for the weak of heart. You need time and patience and more time on your hands. Most of the time is spent cooking in the oven to be honest with you. But there are lots of steps and lots of ingredients. So be forwarned! Also note that I made half a pork shoulder and therefore cut the recipe in half but I will give you the full recipe in case you want a full shoulder.

Pork Recipe:
10lb pork shoulder
2 onions, sliced
2 poblano peppers, sliced
2 jalapenos, sliced
2-4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 bay leaves
3 16-oz cans of green chili sauce**
4 qts veal stock
1 bunch cilantro, washed and rough chopped
3T olive oil
1/4c cumin
1/4c chili powder
3T black pepper
2T cayenne
1/4c salt (way too much in my opinion)

** i found a 28oz can of green chili enchilada sauce that I used and added a can of chopped green chilies to it.**

The original recipe calls for using a pressure cooker and mine is not all the way put together so I did it the old fashioned way....dutch oven in the oven for several hours. I will give you the pressure cooker recipe and add in my amendments for doing it without as we go along.

In a large pot saute onions, peppers, carrots, garlic, and bay leaves until soft and tender. Deglaze the pan with the chili sauce. Then add in the veal stock and the cilantro and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes or until it reduces slightly.

Mix cumin, chili powder, black pepper, cayenne, and salt in a small bowl. Rub pork shoulder with olive oil and then rub the spice mixture all over the pork shoulder. Heat a grill and grill the pork shoulder over charcoal grill for 2-3 minutes per side. At this point i did not want to fool with the grill so I placed in a large and very hot skillet and seared on all sides. In my opinion the finished product did not need the grill flavor to be really good.

Place the shoulder in the pressure cooker. Take the braising liquid and blend in the blender or using an imersion blender until smooth. Pour liquid into the pressure cooker with the meat. Make sure the meat is covered at least 3/4 of the way. If it is not, add some water.

Cook for 45 minutes in the pressure cooker. Check for tenderness and if done remove. I used the dutch oven and cooked on 325 degrees for about 4 hours. If I had a full 10lb shoulder I would have let it cook at least 7-8 hours. Strain off the liquid. Press the meat for 1-2 hours. I was slightly unsure here what exactly they meant. So I left it in a strainer to get all the excess liquid off the meat. Place in braising liquid and keep warm until ready to serve.

Slaw:
1/2-1 red bell pepper, sliced julienne
1/2-1 yellow pepper, sliced julienne
1/2 jicama, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
3 jalapenos, sliced julienne
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/3c lime juice
1/2c canola oil
1T honey
salt to taste

Place sliced vegetables in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, oil, and honey until combined. Pour over slaw and toss together. Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.


Grits:
4c stone ground grits
4qt chicken stock
1c milk
1/3c chipotle powder I forgot to use and was glad I did
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
3 roma tomates, diced
1c cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Combine stock and milk in a large pot and bring to a boil. Whisk in grits and season with chipotle. Make sure you consistently whisk the grits to avoid unsightly clumps.

Meanwhile saute peppers in a small skillet until tender. Once they are done add the the cooked grits. Add in the tomatoes, cheese, and scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Here is where I part ways with the recipe. I bought the necessary ingredients for the sauce and tried twice before I gave up and did things my way. I will not post that recipe on my blog. However if you would like to see the sauce and try it for yourself then you can click here. My recipe is super duper easy.

Sauce:
veal stock
prepared braising liquid

Take your prepared and used braising liquid from your pork. Mine was reduced and slightly salty. So add some stock to your liquid and bring to a boil. Let it reduce slightly without getting it too salty. Spoon over your meal.

To assemble, place your grits on the bottom. Take your pork and place it on top of your grits. Spoon on some sauce and then top with your jicama slaw.

Now that wasn't too bad was it? I mean it was a lengthy ingredient list and you do need several hours to let the pork cook...but look at it! Doesn't it scream "LOVE ME!" "EAT ME!" All day long we were smelling the pork and could not wait. I was actually nervous that it would not be any good and we would have to order a pizza for dinner. But with something like this it is hard to screw it up. We all ate lots of it. We did pace ourselves since there was dessert in our future. I even sent the leftovers home with my Dad. He said they reheated very nicely. I did not place the cold, crisp slaw on the pork and grits in the tupperware. I mean do you want to reheat your meal and heat up that lovely crunchy slaw? I really hope that you take the time to try this out because you will be kissing my feet later!!