Pork

GINA For some reason, there are always potatoes in the pantry. So pull them out and make some potato skins! Grilling them gives them a nice spin, and since we are the first family of barbecue, these skins are complemented by barbecue sauce, pulled pork, and bacon. And you guys all know how I feel about the pig . . . so I like to call these the “double pig.” They also make a nice pick-me-up when you’re entertaining, so, to make them more like appetizers, you can slice them in quarters, arrange on a platter, and sprinkle with green onions. Trust me, these will be eaten so fast they’ll be history. PAT That’s right, pig layered on pig, y’all! Having potato skins, and adding two types of pork—bacon and pulled pork—truly puts a guy (that’s me, Pat!) in hog heaven. For you non–pig lovers (surely only a few of you), you can always substitute turkey bacon, chicken, or even beef brisket for the bacon and pulled pork.

You must believe me when I tell you that making sweet, smoky, succulent bacon with your own two hands is an undertaking you will never regret. It adds something indescribable to dishes like Potato and Asparagus Salad with Home-Cured Bacon and Egg (page 137), and tastes pretty amazing alongside a fried egg. In the restaurants, we cure our own and use it in everything from pastas to panzanella to lentils. Aleppo is a medium-spicy, fruity red pepper that comes from Syria. It has a nice complexity and heat that vanishes almost the minute you notice it’s there. You can find it in Middle Eastern groceries and on the Internet. For this recipe, you’ll need four days, a smoker, and wood chips, preferably hickory.

The much-maligned mélange gets its name from the undeserved yet pervasive bad reps held by each of the three principal ingredients in this delectable side: turnips, Brussels sprouts, and chestnuts. But I guarantee you’ll find that baby turnips are sweet and juicy and bear no resemblance to the bitter root vegetable you think you know. Gently sautéing wedges of fresh Brussels sprouts renders them crisp-tender and nutty, while browning chestnuts in a cast-iron pan makes removing their skins a snap, giving you unfettered access to the earthiness inside. Pork jowls, as the name implies, are pig cheeks. When cured, jowls become guanciale; braised, they offer amazing versatility and can then be sautéed, grilled, or added to soups. Like pork belly, jowls have tons of flavor and are very rich. I find that braising helps tame them a bit and makes the cut a little less intense. You’ll probably need to special order this cut from your butcher, but it’s worth it. You’ll need to start this recipe one day ahead.

I’m an ear man—if we’re talking pig. Crispy pig’s ears are gelatinous, cartilaginous, rich, chewy goodness that make an awfully lovely garnish for a fresh panzanella bursting with summer vegetables. You’ll want to allow about half an ear per person, which should amount to about a pound, depending on the pigs, of course. As with many of the best cuts of the pig, it takes a while to get ears into a perfect state for eating. You can boil them, but to get them perfectly tender and ready for frying, I like to poach them in oil first. You need to plan ahead—they take about six hours in a slow oven—but you could do that the day before, or even in the evening when it’s cooler out, then finish them off the day you’re going to serve them.

Cannelloni, you say? Isn’t that the type of old-school Italian food you order at places with red-and-white checked tablecloths and candles stuck into Chianti bottles? Well, yes, and no. For this dish, you first braise some succulent pork cheeks until they shred when you look at them. Then you create a rich, savory broth that you use to moisten the pork, and accent it with sweet cicely, an herb with an aniselike flavor. Roll it in silken squares of pasta and coat with Parmigiano-Reggiano and cream. Sometimes old school is worth resurrecting.

Meatloaf, like chili, is something I make when I have a dozen or so little jars of something-or-other in the fridge that need to be used up. That’s how I came up with pickled jalapeño, which adds a nice kick to this otherwise traditional meatloaf. In this version, a little pork adds extra flavor to the mix. It makes for a delicious and hearty meal, but it’s great for leftovers, too, which can be used to make sandwiches that are as scrumptious as they are out of the ordinary. Peter loves open-face meatloaf sandwiches topped with a fried egg.

Here is a convenient way to duplicate succulent, hickory-smoked pork barbecue with only a fraction of the fuss. Just pop a pork butt in the oven, then finish it off quickly on the grill for smoky flavor, and voilà: a tender heap of slow-cooked, vinegar-spiked meat that you’d never know hadn’t spent the whole day over the coals.

A few hours in a Dutch oven reduce pork shanks, which come from the lower part of the pig’s leg, to a silky and robustly flavored delicacy. Serve on top of Creamy Cheese Grits (page 208).

This is serious, slow-cooked Southern barbecue—the kind on which pit-masters stake their reputation—in miniature. The pork shoulder, the cut used here, is the entire front leg and shoulder from a hog, meaning it’s a fairly large piece of meat. It’s often broken up into two cuts: the upper half of the shoulder, also called the Boston butt or pork butt, and the lower, arm-half portion, which is also (rather sweetly) called the picnic ham or shoulder. For this preparation, though, ask your butcher or farmer for the whole shoulder with the bone in and skin on. It is the best you can make at home short of going whole hog (literally), digging your own pit, and basting the thing with a rag mop. To make it, you will need access to aged hickory wood, a wood-fired grill with a hood, and, if your grill is small, a secondary grill for heating coals—or read up on digging that pit. Preparing the pig is an all-day party in itself, so set aside plenty of time for cooking and tending the fire, not to mention a cooler full of beer or (my dad’s choice) a bottle of Jack Daniel’s for the pit-master.

This dish—an adaptation of an Anne Willan recipe I used to make at the Soho Charcuterie—is what my dad most often requested when I came home to visit. Rillettes are a classic French preparation similar to pâté that are made by slow-cooking fatty meat until it falls apart, packing the meat in the rendered fat, and allowing it to congeal. The resulting rough spread pairs elegantly with Rosemary Cheese Crackers (page 8) or Cornbread Toasts (page 18), grainy mustard, and pickles. The most important thing to keep in mind is that rillettes need to cook very slowly at a low, steady temperature, so make sure the cooking liquid doesn’t boil once you put the dish in the oven.

Memphis is known for its dry-rubbed barbecued ribs, which are all about intense spices and the unadorned texture of low-and-slow-cooked meat. The two-step cooking process I use here—the meat is first slow-cooked in the oven, then finished over a hot grill—ensures succulent, crispy-edged, tender ribs every time, rendering sauce fully optional. Even so, sauce person that I am, I usually can’t help myself from cooking the meat in beer and basting it with vinegar-based barbecue sauce for a little added flavor and tang. You can try making these ribs with and without the sauce and decide for yourself. Either way, you’ll need to let the ribs marinate for at least two or three hours before cooking.

The assertive flavors of coffee, molasses, and balsamic vinegar meld and mellow in this sophisticated dish that is just the thing for winter entertaining. It is best served with simple sides, such as Mess o’ Greens (page 245) and Sweet Potato Spoon Bread (page 214), that enhance rather than distract from the sweet, rich molasses flavor of the pork.

I often serve this dish when I have guests because it makes for such easy entertaining—something you’d never know from the complex combination of flavors that emerges as the red wine and orange-spiked pepper jelly melt into a sweet and spicy glaze over the heat of the grill. Don’t forget to budget at least two hours of marinating time before firing up the grill.

For an easy weeknight indulgence that is as crispy, crunchy, and succulent as fried chicken, make these skillet-sautéed pork chops. The key here is to pound the pork chops until they are very thin—sort of like German schnitzel—or buy them thinly sliced. (They can usually be found in the prepackaged section of your grocery’s meat department; in the South, they are labeled “breakfast chops.”)

My mom always made this hearty breakfast when my husband, Peter, and I came to visit her in Memphis; it is so Southern that eating it always made me feel I was really home. (I don’t think Peter, who is from New York, had ever had either pork tenderloin or gravy for breakfast.) The roasted tomato gravy is what makes it so special; roasting the tomatoes cuts and deepens their bright acidity, adding complex layers of flavor to the savory sauce. You can mix things up by making this dish with sausage patties or leftover slices of Grilled and Roasted Filet of Beef with Crispy Roasted Shallots (page 193) instead of the pork tenderloin. Either way, you’ll want to use the biscuits to sop up the last drops of gravy.

Rich and meaty Brunswick stew is a true Southern classic. This streamlined rendition of my mom’s perfect version makes a huge amount of food—but to my thinking, that’s the point of stew. It tastes even better the next day, so it’s a great make-ahead meal if you are planning to have weekend visitors or feed a big crowd. You can also pop some in the freezer for a quick-fix weeknight supper another time.

Plain ole dirty rice is a good thing. Add the earthy, nutty taste and toothsome texture of wild rice, and you have something even better.

This dish requires a little effort ahead of time but finishes quick and easy, making it perfect for a casual weeknight dinner. It’s an adaptation of saltimbocca (Italian for “jump in your mouth”), traditionally made with thin slices of veal sautéed with prosciutto and sage. Since veal can be a little harder to find, and pricier, I use a less expensive cut of meat and splurge on an embellishment: a genuine Fontina Val d’Aosta, from the Piedmont region in Italy. This combination will literally jump in your mouth! I recommend serving it with tender asparagus.

Pork loves the salty, “meaty” flavor of soy sauce just as tomatoes love basil. This quick little sweet-and-hot marinade, fragrant from garlic and ginger, permeates and perfumes the meat, and helps it to caramelize over the heat. Flavored with crunchy vegetables, Quick-fried Rice makes a fresh one-pan accompaniment that is nutritious and provides great leftovers. Feel free to add a few stalks of celery or a cup of broccoli florets to the rice. If you’re pressed for time, plain white or brown rice is perfectly fine.

This slow-roasted pork dish came to me from my Bayona partner, Regina Keever. The succulent meat lends itself to two fantastic preparations. For a Latin-inspired meal, serve it with Green Rice (p. 309). Or make ciabatta sandwiches with Pickled Cabbage and Creole Mustard (p. 154), from the leftovers.