Oven-Cooked (BGE), Pit-Style Pork

Unknown

OVEN COOKED, PIT-STYLE PORK (CONCHINITA PIBIL)[p]Nancy Zaslavsky’s book “A cooks Tour of Mexico” has this recipe and I’ve wanted to do it in the cast iron pot in the bge for a long time. So last night was the time and the only regret I have is my reoccurring bad picture taking and I have come to believe it’s more the cheap camera than it is me. It called for a loin or pork leg and I had this boston butt and went ahead with that. It was a bone in one, but I ignored that and just scored it an inch or more deep on all sides and then again in the other direction making a pattern of rectangles about an inch by 2 inches. [p]· 4 tbs achiote paste
· 1 tsp salt
· ½ cup Seville orange juice, or mixed lime and o.j.
· 4 lb pork
· 2 or 3 large banana leaves
· 2 white onions
· 2 tomatoes
· 2 large epazote sprigs
· 1 habanero, or 6 serrano chiles (haps give a better flavor)[p]I forgot the epazote and it’s not that hard to find here now and the info I have is that there is no substitute (I just forgot it), but I added fresh grd pepper and oregano. Just mix you salt juice and achiote paste up and rub it on and into the scored pork. Place it into the pot lined with the banana leaves and add the other ingredients and cover tightly with leaves. The aroma very quickly reached from one end of the house to the other when I brought it in, and if there is any doubt that smoke gets in that cast iron pot with a lid on it let me tell ya, it does. I used hickory and pecan and used quite a lot since I was cooking in the pot. I plan to replace the pics of the roast as it’s being served today as the ones I took were not good enough to see much. I enjoy the book I mention because the recipes are always contributed by some individual there and a story is told about them and their cooking. This one was of course is about the pit method of cooking pork and even whole hogs that way (dig a hole, place smooth rocks in bottom, build fire and burn till the rocks are hot and set the meat wrapped in the leaves in a pan with a lid down in the hole and cover with burlap and dirt). [p]
[p][p][p][p]
This is what we did with it... we had already ate when it finished night before last so we put it up and reheated it last night. The amount of broth in that dish sure seemed like a lot since I didn’t put a drop of liquid in the pot. So it is a delicious combination of meat, and veggie broth (kicked up – of course).[p][p]Here’s what it looked like when we were about to serve it, and we didn’t eat the veggies because we planned to use it for last nights dinner like a plain pork roast and had kraut, mash potatoes and gravy made from that broth, and candied yams. [p][p]The recipe mentioned that the dish was such a favorite that the locals like it as a sandwich for breakfast. Well we won’t have it for breakfast but we do plan to have some oversized bolillos for our sandwiches tonight with plenty of those veggies on top. [p]

mad max beyond eggdome

Chet,
man, that looks fantastic. . ..couple of questions[p]where do you find banana leaves??[p]what was the egg setup, including temps and time? . ..

thirdeye

Chet,
That sounds great, may have to give it a try this week. It's a bonus because I've got two packages of bananna leaves (frozen) and the epazote. (I've had something similar but I think they used country ribs & chicken thighs.)

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I really didn't mean to leave that out...the recipe calls for 325 for 3 hours for a 4 lb roast and that's what I did execpt it was 3 1/2 hrs. The amazing thing is it was a 7.5 lb boston butt and the bone slipped out easy in that short a time. Don't know if I mentioned it but I used quite a bit of hickory and pecan and it must have worked, even with it in a pot w/lid it had the smoke flavor. Banana leaves are in the Mexi grocery in the frozen section, or at least that's where I've got them.

fishlessman

Chet,
dont know if i can find bannana leaves up here, but that looks amazing and only 3.5 hours.will have to look hard for those leaves. maybe i could try cooking it on some saurkraut and lift thee meat of the bottom of the pot a little.

thirdeye

mad max beyond eggdome,
Also try your Asian market for the bananna leaves. In the frozen section.

Essex County

fishlessman,
I recall seeing banana leaves (frozen) at a Vietnamese grocery store in downtown Lawrence. Can't recall the name but it's right on Rt 28, closer to Methuen than Andover.[p]Paul

egghead2004

fishlessman,
my inlaws buy banana leaves for several dishes. Any spanish market should have them, I know Lawrence has a couple spanish stores that my brother in law sells supplies to.

fishlessman

egghead2004,
i know where there is a pretty good sized spanish market,i think it might be a good idea to leave someone in the car, and maybe another person in a second car to watch the first. tough neighborhood, maybe try the demoulas on the outskirts of town

fishlessman

Essex County,
will look for it, i work right off 28, not far from where your talking

egghead2004

fishlessman,
LOL, I hear ya. A few years back, I was playing hockey up in Methuen, afterward we all hit some local bar in Lawrence and my buddies car was gone when we came out, the cops found the Ford Probe shell a few weeks later. I cringe every time my wife sends me to the one in the next town over from me. My dad used to own and apartment house in that neighborhood in the 70's, not too many good memories from that. But let me say this, the markets that are located in the densly latin populated areas is where you will find the best food. It usualy is very fresh because it moves quickly.

Unknown

egghead2004,[p]That's the way it is here...and a very popular thing is pre-prepared meats sold by the pound (carnitas, chicharron, roasted chicken, etc) and while we didn't get to dig into that pork since it got done so late, we did have some ceviche tostados. I got a pack of toastadas and about a pint / lb of that stuff 7+ bucks I think and the two of us had plenty. It was just fish (chopped fine) and shrimp (chopped coarse) with the lime, cilantro, japs. Great stuff, didn't even need a salsa or more lime, just dip it on and eat.

Unknown

egghead2004,[p]That's the way it is here...and a very popular thing is pre-prepared meats sold by the pound (carnitas, chicharron, roasted chicken, etc) and while we didn't get to dig into that pork since it got done so late, we did have some ceviche tostados. I got a pack of toastadas and about a pint / lb of that stuff 7+ bucks I think and the two of us had plenty. It was just fish (chopped fine) and shrimp (chopped coarse) with the lime, cilantro, japs. Great stuff, didn't even need a salsa or more lime, just dip it on and eat.

egghead2004

Chet,
Have you ever tried an authenic pastel? I've never tried one of those frozen ones at the market, my sister in law makes a bunch every now and then so I can't compare. If you haven't give it a try sometime, that is one of my favorite spanish treats! Nice tender pork cooked in a sauce with so many spices. Then put into a pasty pocket made from plantains, pumpkin, and some other root type veggies, then wrapped in banana leaves and boiled.
Yeah, I'm spoiled when it comes to spanish cuisine, I get the home made stuff, my mother in law is from the old school in Puerto Rico and has passed on the cooking traits to her daughters. [p]Ok back to work, I can hear my wasteline growing.

Unknown

egghead2004,[p]I ain't seen nothing around here that looked even close to that complicated. I'm still looking for tamales with a desert filling inside (whatever that is in spanish). I did find a meat filled crosant (sp) thing here at a Mexican bakery one time. I'd proly flip out if I got hold of something like you described.

egghead2004

Chet,
Next time they make some, I'll send you some pics. I'll try to get a recipe, but don't count on it. I can't even get near them when they are making these things. All I get to do is cut the pumpkin and plantains, then tie them up in wax paper so we can freeze.

Unknown

No sammich could beat this one , I don't think - and I didn't put the flower there, and I didn't eat it either if that's what your thinking.[p]