Thank you, colony of swine!

We were in the mountains this weekend with a bevy of friends and relatives. We ate at least a full pig between the bacon, sausage, ham and this pork shoulder:

Crock Pot Smoky Braised Pork Shoulder

4 t. smoked or kosher salt
2 t. smoked paprika
1 t. ground cumin seeds
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. black pepper
1 5-6lb. bone-in pork shoulder
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 T. canola oil
2 onions, chopped
7 cloves garlic, smashed
2 c. orange juice
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
4-6 c. low sodium chicken broth
3 oz. 62-65% cacao dark chocolate
Italian parsley, snipped

1. Heat Crock Pot on high with water.
2. Combine smoked salt, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, pepper.
3. Rub pork with spice mixture, then rub with 2 T. cocoa powder.
4. Heat oil over medium heat... add onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Brown pork on all sides.
5. Add orange juice, 3/4 c. cocoa powder and 4 c. stock. Simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Place pork in Crock Pot (cut, if necessary). Spoon sauce over pork until 75% covered.
7. Cook on high for 5 hours or low for 10 hours.
8. Remove to serving platter, and reserve juices in Crock Pot... shave chocolate on pork and sprinkle with parsley.
9. Serve, with reserved juices.

Mmmm... good.

Smoky, bloody swine

I've discovered that any sort of fruit juice + chipotle canned in adobo makes an amazing sauce for pork. Previously, my favorite that I invented was with some leftover pomegranate juice, but heretofore, the sauce has been a completely off-the-cuff improvisation. I made it intentionally recently because I was inspired by some really beautiful blood oranges at the store, and I hadn't done a pork tenderloin in a while.

Pork Tenderloin with Blood Orange Chipotle Sauce

Serves 4

For the pork:
2 pork tenderloins
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Sprinkle tenderloins generously with salt and pepper, place together, thin end-to-thick end, in a roasting pan and bake until the internal temperature reaches 141 degrees, about 30 minutes. Remove and cover in foil and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inch medallions to serve.

For the sauce:
7 blood oranges, 3 segmented and juiced, 4 juiced. Reserve juice and segments separately
2 shallots, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 c broth
1 chipotle in adobo, minced with about 1 T sauce. Remove seeds for reduced heat.
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute shallots until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chipotle and saute for about 30 seconds. Add broth and orange juice and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add orange segments and simmer for about 2 minutes. Pour the juices from the rested pork into the sauce, stir and serve over the pork medallions.

I served this over polenta which I made from instant and added a little freshly grated parmesan cheese.

The boy gave this dish a standing ovation, so I think it was pretty good. The leftovers were great too.