Cafe Rio Pork, instant pot method

3 lb pork roast
1/4 cup worcestershire
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tb dried minced onions
salt/pepper

Cut up roast into 4-5 chunks. Salt and pepper meat.  Add sugar and Worcestershire sauce and all other ingredients and toss, let marinade for a couple hours in instant pot, while off.

When ready to cook, add half cup water to pot and 4 oz tomato paste. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour, then let natural pressure release for 20 minutes.Then shred with forks.

Serve with trader joes cilantro dressing over salad, with beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, crunchy corn chips topping, flour tortillas, etc. Rice and beans recipe to potentially use is here http://www.melandboyskitchen.com/2009/02/16/shredded-sweet-pork-salad-2/

This was sweet enough but not too sweet. Store in cooking liquid and use fork to pull out pork as needed.

Jerk Pork Loin or Roast

http://www.diabeticconnect.com/diabetic-recipes/general/2354-caribbean-jerk-pork-roast

Do NOT use nectresse next time in seasoning blend. Also, if doing pork loin chops, use 25% or less of this recipe. I'm not so keen on the sweet spices in it, mayb eleave those and the sweetener out completely. I made this and it was overwhelming and weird, we scrapped off the seasoning as best we could. I smelled good while baking though, and a variant is a great idea for thick cut pork loin or a roast.

Pork Loin

http://www.chowhound.com/post/45-lb-center-cut-boneless-pork-loin-roast-cook-661295?page=3
Pork Loin

The comment from "brooktroutchaser" was what I did. I had a 4.5 lb "half pork loin" (NOT tenderloin...those are like 2 inch diameter and the loin is like 5 inches diameter.)
"Pork loin roast: season with copious amounts of garlic pepper. Roast fat side up at 350 for 55 minutes. Let rest, lightly tented ten minutes. Slice thin."

I had it roasting on a rack and below it was butternut squash and potato cut into largish cubes (and tossed with oil and salt/pepper). It took an extra 30 minutes approximately to get to 145 degrees, probably because the squash/potatoes took some of the cooking heat. So if making it this way again I would budget 90 minutes time to finish cooking. Without the veges, I would try 55 minutes next time at 350 like the comment recommends. I also used garlic pepper that I had already and it turned out terrific. I didn't do any advanced prep, just seasoned it before putting it on the rack.

Roast Pork with apples

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/roast-pork-loin-with-apples-recipe.html

This was amazing. I baked it longer until 160 and used an oven thermometer that was left in the roast. It will need at least another 15 minutes of cooking time for that temp. Make sure to insert thermometer so the tip reaches the bottom half of the roast. THe veggies surrounding it make it slower to cook than the top half.

Double the veg and apples. I didn't have apple juice so used chicken stock, and it was excellent. Apple juice would have made it sweeter than it was. I'll have to experiment and see if David still likes it as much. Served 4 adults with enough leftover for a 5th. I had a 2.5 lb roast.

Roasted Pork Loin

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-pork-loin/

This was really great. I had a 4 lb roast that was really thick, and it needed more like 1 and 3/4 hours to get to 150.  I also doubled the spices and it was really great. I wish I'd had people over to eat with us.

The wine sauce was a must as well, especially since we ate it with homemade sauerkraut (fermented) and the sauce gave the kraut a nice extra flavor.

Sweet Shredded Pork

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/09/cafe-rio-sweet-pork.html

I did not follow the recipe exactly because I had no coke (only 7 year old diet pepsi from my car trunk that tasted beyond strange and I threw it out), so this is rated based on a moderated recipe.

2 lbs pork
1/2 c brown sugar
1 cup red enchilada sauce (or so)
1 can diced green chilies

David does not like sweet pork very much. I liked the enchilada sauce and green chilies mixed with pork, but it would do better without the sugar unless you follow the recipe exactly to get cafe rio-ness.

But it makes an awful lot of pork for two people when one of them does not care for sweet pork.

Sweet and Sour Pork

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-sweet-and-sour-pork-10000001911381/

The calories don't include rice.

Cal: 350 / serving. 4 servings. I liked this pretty well. David likes sweet and sour meatballs better.

Red Currant Sauce for Pork Chops

I made pork chops using this recipe: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pork_chops/ and it wasn't that great. I don't think jelly worked well, and it ended up getting really thick like hot candy. I used strawberry jelly since I couldn't find red currant, but I don't think it would have made it any better to use red currant.

It would have been much better with just the vinegar and mustard.

Boneless country-style pork ribs - barbecue

I have been trying to use up some frozen meat lately. Or think of trying. Anyway, last night I tried.

I used 2 boneless country-style pork ribs, they were pretty long. I trimmed some fat off and put them in an 8x8 baking pan. It fit well without touching other pieces much. I put some Jack Daniels barbecue sauce on it (maybe 1/4 cup in all, at most), and rolled the raw meat in it. Then I covered it with tin foil and baked it at 350 for about an hour 20 minutes. I checked the temperature to make sure it was over 165, and it was about 180.

We ate it with baked potatoes and broccoli. It was pretty good. The barbecue sauce mixed in with meat juices so it wasn't as strongly sweet. I would make this again.

Southwest Pork and Hominy Stew

This is from the Pressure Perfect cookbook. It takes 1 hour to make, assuming a 15 minute time allowed for pressure drop.

1-2 cans white or golden hominy (I prefer two cans)

1 T olive oil

1.5 cups chopped onions

1 t whole cumin seeds

2 T tomato paste, catsup, or chili sauce (I used chili sauce)

1 cup chicken broth

1 T chili powder, plus more to taste (more was not necessary due to the chili sauce)

1/2 t salt, plus more to taste

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 lb boneless pork shoulder cut in 1-inch chunks

1 med zucchini, cut in 1/2 inch dice

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 t dried oregano

1/2 t dried sage

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Tortilla chips and lime wedges, for serving

Drain can of hominy and rinse kernels. heat oil in 4-quart or larger pressure cooker. Add the onions and cumin seeds and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to soften, about 1 minute. Blend in chili sauce. Stir in broth, chili powder, salt, bell pepper, and pork. Scatter hominy on top.

Lock lid in place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 8 minutes. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. Remove lid, stir in the zucchini, garlic, oregano, sage, cilantro, and any extra salt or chili powder if needed. Simmer uncovered until zucchini becomes tender and the stew thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

Serve with chips and lime wedges.

Goulash with Potatoes

This recipe is from the Pressure Perfect cookbook.

3 slices bacon, finely chopped

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T tomato paste

1/4 cup sweet paprika

2 t caraway seeds

1.5 cups beer or broth

2 bay leaves

1 tsp salt (omit if using salty broth)

3 lb beef chuck, veal shoulder, or pork shoulder cut into 1-inch chunks

2 lb medium red-skinned potatoes, peeled or scrubbed and halved

1/2 to 1 tsp dried thyme or marjoram

salt and freshly ground pepper

sour cream, for garnish

Heat a 4 qt or larger pressure cooker. Add the bacon and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to render some of its fat. Stir in the onions and continue cooking until they begin to soften, about 1 minute.

Stir in the vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, and caraway seeds. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in the beer, taking care to scrape up any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the cooker. Add the bay leaves, salt and meat. Set the potatoes on top.

Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 16 minutes (beef) or 8 minutes (veal or pork). Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally (takes like 20 min). Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Skim off fat from top if possible. Remove bay leaves. Stir in the thyme or marjoram and season well with salt and pepper. Let the stew rest for 5 minutes (The potatoes will absorb some of the liquid and thicken the stew.)

Put into bowls and top with dollop of sour cream.

---

This could use some carrots or green beans, and more seasoning. The recipe says you could put green beans in at the end during the resting phase, or put carrots in at the beginning and chop them up later (leaving them in larger sections will help them retain more flavor, apparently).

Anyway, it was good and we enjoyed it.

Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-and-Poblano-Tamale-Pie-357537

This was so good. I was really taken with this recipe in every way, and that's pretty rare so I gave it an unheard of 5. I was in a rush and didn't want to let it simmer for as long as the recipe said, so I turned it into a partial crockpot recipe. I put the raw pork in a 3 quart crockpot with the garlic, green salsa, and chicken broth. I put in on low while I was gone (6 hrs). It was super tender when I got back, and then I finished the recipe. After sauteing the onions and adding spices, I threw everything together and only simmered for 10-15 minutes while I mixed the cornbread batter and then put it in the oven. This would have been fine in a casserole dish, but I just left it in the skillet I used since it happens to have a metal handle and is ok for oven use.

For the pork, I used a strip of "country style pork rib" that I chopped up. It wasn't boneless, but I removed the bones after I turned off the crockpot.

I consider poblanos to be a very mild pepper. So don't worry about the heat. If you are a wimp (like my mom), use fewer poblanos and more bell pepper.

Notes from 3/27/10:

-Don't skip the corn puree step, even it your equipment doesn't seem to work well. It makes a big difference in the texture of the final product.

-And don't skimp on meat.

-And don't use all wheat flour in the cornbread topping. If adding wheat, do 50/50 mixture with white.

-And don't leave the poblanos in the oven too long. They get tough and are impossible to peel. Bake them at 500 for 15 minutes or so, and call it good, even if not charred. Alternatively, char them on the stove to over open flame.

-It is possible to leave the skins on the peppers, but then you have skins floating around in the dish. It is less appetizing. I prefer the skins removed even though roasting takes extra time.