Dinner tonight - or last night.

I could understand not leaving.

Good! I'm curious what you think of it when you make it. I love Marco's, its the best!

Yesterday I cooked a big batch of Cuban Black Bean Soup in my slow cooker. (I don't know if an authentic Cuban recipe or not, that's what it was called in my recipe book.)
Instead of a ham hock (which I find too fatty) I used smoked bacon bones, along with the pre-soaked black turtle beans, tomatoes, onion, red capsicum, garlic, spices & chili flakes, etc, etc ....
We had some tonight for dinner & it was delicious! Yum.
I must see what other recipes I can find which feature these beans. Really like them.

Well, I'm trying the green chile pork today.
I'm already off on the wrong foot:
I hadn't gotten my computer back yet when I went to the store yesterday, so I bought the tomatillos from memory - only got a pound, forgot it was 1 1/2 lbs.
- bought jalapenos as the chiles (that'll be ok, I trust)
- dithered about buying pork loin versus the pork sirloin that was on sale - and the sirloin won. I think that is less fatty, which may not be so favorable to slow cooking. We'll see, eh?
- The tomatillos and onions and garlic and chiles are slow roasting now. Mmmmmm.

Now to marinate the pork.

We used to go often to a cuban restaurant in Culver City. My favorite thing was grilled halibut over a bed of onions, with rice and a dish of black beans on the side. It was one of those perfect food combinations - all different flavors but working together. Rincon Criollo, if you're ever in that area: http://www.bestcubanfood.com/#!mainPage

Anyway, their black beans were somehow just the most delicious ever.

I have a recipe like that. The deal calls for using apple-cider vinegar, fresh oregano with the black beans over rice topped off with fresh plain yoghurt....beside fresh halibut or tuna. mouth is watering thinking of it.

recipe!! por favor



(love your signature)

Just checked out Rincon Criollo's link, osso.
The food looks absolutely delicious.
I'm ever in that area (dream on, msolga ) I'll be there in a flash!

Thanks for the fish, rice & black beans suggestion.
That sounds wonderful.
I'm going to do a bit of Googling to see if I can find any similar recipes.

Any chance of you posting that recipe here, Ragman?
I'd be very interested!

Among the good things about it - it may have changed, haven't been there since 'o9 - is that the restaurant was a typical hole in the wall place. There's a more famous big cuban restaurant in the vicinity, or was. We all were comfortable there. Family members tended to order the chicken..

This is the first time I've noticed they have a fancy website. Good for them, I think. Not sure.

Ok, the pork turned out fabulously.

But Marco and I worked it differently, enough so that I'll post my take. I have to do this now or I'll forget - not that you should follow me, but that I remember so I can do this again.

2 1/2 to 3lbs. pork loin ( 1/2in. cube ) I used pork sirloin, which turned out to be ok. Hard to cube. I'd guess between 1/2" and 1", rather like getting stones at a stoneyard.
1 tbsp. Salt
1 1/2 teas. Pepper
1 teas. garlic powder (flakes)
2 teas. chili powder (me, chimayo chile)
1/4 teas. Cumin
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 1/2 cups water

The green sauce

1 ½ lbs. Fresh tomatillos
1 large onion
2 green or anaheim chili’s or poblanos (2 long jalapenos)
4 cloves fresh peeled garlic
½ teas. Salt
¼ teas. Pepper
¼ teas. Sugar

Start by cutting your pork into 1/2 inch cubes (sort of) and add to a large ziplock bag. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and olive oil to your bag. (Do not add the water) Close the bag leaving a little bit of air in it and “smoosh” it around to thoroughly mix the seasoning into the pork. Reopen the bag and remove as much air as you can and close. Set this aside to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
That part was easy.

While your pork is marinating ( I put it in the refrigerator about an hour), peel the outer shell of the tomatillos off and wash them to remove the sticky residue, cut them in half. Slice the onion into 8 equal size pieces. Slice your chili’s in half, remove the stems and de-seed them. Transfer your tomatillos, onion and chili’s along with the 4 cloves of garlic into a baking dish and bake in a preheated 250 degree oven for 2 hours. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly.
That part was easy too.

Add to a blender along with the salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and sugar.
What oregano? I added a fat teaspoon of mexican dried oregano.What garlic powder - there are already four garlic cloves. The garlic powder goes with the pork.

Start your blender on pulse to get it started and then to blend making sure that everything gets blended. You might have to do this in a few batches. Set this aside until your pork is ready for it. (Easy)

After your pork has marinated, add it to a large deep skillet preheated to high. You will want a pan big enough to hold the pork and the sauce. A good way to know if your pan is hot enough is to add a few drops of olive oil to it and when it starts to smoke, it’s ready. Sear your pork on all sides, stirring often, this will take about 20 minutes or so.
I've always questioned searing. I don't do all four sides, especially with small bits.

Once the pork has seared, stir in your sauce along with about 2 1/2 cups of water and bring to the boil. (This brings up the sauce, don't worry about separating it from the meat, it is little enough.) Reduce heat to the lowest possible setting and cover. Your looking for a very low simmer, it should barely even bubble. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours stirring occasionally.

I did what Marco did, baked it, at 250, but only for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Seriously delicious. We used different cuts of pork and I live at high altitude.
Whatever - very good.




I see the color thing doesn't work for me and my new computer system. I suppose I have to enable it.

Sounds wonderful Osso! I just may give yours a try next time. And like you pointed out, its really not that difficult to make and it is delicious.

I enjoy making Sunday din din for us but we have been invited to a friends house for dinner tonight so no cooking for us!

I forgot to say, I did things in reverse order. I did the veggies first, and while they were doing their two hour time, cut up the meat, marinated it, etc. The timing worked out pretty well.
Oh, and when I wrote don't worry about the sauce - I was meaning the marinade, not worrying about separating that before searing. It tends to stay at the bottom of the plastic bag and that's just a few dribbles.

That works out too! I rarely follow a recipe, I improvise, it all comes out in the end. I will be making it again this week and this time follow your recipe!

diced onions sauteed with lean ground pork

mixed in almost all of the leftovers from last night's Thai take-out (pad thai, bbq pork fried rice, cashew chicken, steamed rice) - let everything sorta steam together

a little bit of oyster sauce

then peanuts, peanut sauce and lots of lime

I love leftovers!

I need to get me some peanuts.

I like thai food rather a lot, especially at Eastwind, but haven't been around it lately.

I can't decide between jogging or riding my exercise bike. I think the correct answer is: Neither! I'm gonna have some cake.

Can't you do all three?

How do you jog on an exercise bike?