Breakfast Sausage

Homemade Breakfast Sausage (serves 8)

Avoid lean or extra-lean ground pork; it makes the sausage dry, crumbly and less flavorful.

2 lbs ground pork
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoons pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I didn't actually use this...)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Mix Sausage
Combine pork, garlic, syrup, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a large bowl. Gently mix with hands until well combined. Form mixture into 2.5-inch patties, about 1/2 inch thick. (You should have about 16 patties)

2. Brown Sausage
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook half of patties until well browned and cooked through, 3-5 min per side. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate and tent with foil. Wipe out skillet. Repeat with remaining butter and patties. Serve.

Make ahead: The raw sausage patties can be refrigerated, covered, for 1 day or frozen for up to 1 month. To cook frozen patties, proceed with step 2, cooking patties for 7-9 min per side.

Pan-Roasted Pork Chops with Cranberries and Chard

Yeah, I know - it sounds really fancy. It looks really fancy. Certain parts of the recipe have "fancy" written all over them, in deep red cranberry ink. But in the end, it's a pretty easy recipe, as long as you have the following things: a cast-iron pan, some good red wine, and an abiding love for all that is delicious. You should also not be a vegetarian to enjoy this meal.

Seriously, though, it's incredibly delicious and pretty impressive to prepare, and is not very difficult at all. I served these with some crusty puffed potatoes, and, well, let's just say rounds of applause were involved.

Here is what you'll need - and this is a recipe where I highly recommend the method of making little prep bowls of all ingredients, cut and measured out beforehand:

For the chard (any kind, really) -

1/3 cup minced shallots (2 medium)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lb red Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately

For pork chops

4 (1 1/4-inch-thick) rib pork chops
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For sauce

1/3 cup minced shallots (2 medium)
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (4 1/2 oz)
3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Now for the actual making of the dish:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

For the chard:

Cook shallots and garlic in butter in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add chard stems and center ribs and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add leaves and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer chard to a heavy saucepan and wipe out skillet.

Cook pork chops:

Pat chops dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chops, about 3 minutes per side.

Transfer skillet to oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally 2 inches into meat registers 155°F, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer chops with tongs to a platter, leaving fat in skillet, and cover chops loosely with foil to keep warm.

Make sauce:

Sauté shallots in fat remaining in skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add wine and deglaze by boiling over high heat, scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half. Add cranberries and stock and simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries begin to burst, about 2 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and thyme and simmer, stirring, until berries are collapsed, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter until incorporated, then season with salt and pepper.

Assemble dish:

While sauce is cooking, reheat chard over moderate heat, stirring. Divide among 4 plates and top with chops, then spoon sauce over.

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Carnitas

Carnitas is basically meat candy: chewy, crispy, tender, sweet and savory. This recipe makes a pretty large batch, but carnitas are a pretty good excuse for a party. Also, foil care packages of the stuff will make you some fast friends. The quantities mentioned here are entirely from memory, and are loose guidelines anyway; the main keys to the recipe are abundant seasoning and the initial slow-cooking of the meat.

Ingredients:

1 boneless pork shoulder (5-6 lbs)

1 onion, peeled and halved
2 jalapenos, halved lengthwise
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 cup orange juice
Juice from 2 limes
1/4 cup tequila
1 T. coriander seeds
1 T. (or less) cumin seeds
1 sprig fresh oregano or 1 T. dried
3 bay leaves
a sprinkle of brown sugar (optional)
2T or more good-quality lard or vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Cut pork shoulder into 2" cubes, seperating and reserving any large pieces of fat. Put meat and fat into a roasting pan. Salt the meat generously, and add onion, garlic, jalapenos, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, oregano, bay leaves, and sugar (if using) to the pan. Cover with the orange juice, lime juice, and tequila, and add water if necessary so that the meat is almost submerged in liquid. Cover the roasting pan with foil, and bake for 2 or more hours, or until the meat is very tender and falls apart easily. Let cool slightly and remove the meat. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid. Use two forks or your hands to shred the meat into large pieces. Add the cooking liquid back to the meat.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add enough of the pork and liquid to fit in one layer in the pan. The cooking liquid should boil and begin to reduce. When it is reduced to a syrupy consistency around the meat, you may need to add some vegetable oil or (yum) lard to the pan so that the meat fries and doesn't stick. Continue cooking until there is no liquid left and the meat begins to brown. Adjust the heat if necessary -- you should have shredded pieces of pork that are juicy inside and caramelized and crispy on the outside. Sprinkle with salt if necessary, but the reduced liquid should have enough seasoning.


Serve with soft corn tortillas, pinto beans, pickled red onions, and a green salsa if you like. Also napkins.