Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Garlic, Citrus, and Cilantro by Alison Roman

You know when you’ve recently had something so good that afterwards you can’t help but compare anything else you have that’s like it? Well I recently made a Melissa Clark Instant Pot carnitas recipe (yes, I know, Instant Pot, a shortcut, I get it, also, get over it) with chipotle peppers and fresh-squeezed orange juice and limes. I let the pork cook in the pot, but fried it in the leftover fat to give it a crispiness at the end. Wow, it was spectacular. 

Alison’s pork shoulder recipe doesn’t purport to be carnitas. She doesn’t even want you to shred the pork, just slice it! But the flavor profile is so close to that of carnitas, and frankly, the meat was way too soft after 3+ hours in the oven to hold together in slice form, leaving me no choice but to shred it. So how could I not compare it to Melissa Clark’s carnitas? It was simply out of my hands. I couldn’t compare texture, because, different recipes. But in terms of flavor, Melissa’s was more particular in flavor, and Alison’s surprisingly more mild. I found myself craving Melissa’s leftovers, but let Jordan take care of Alison’s. Jordan loved Alison’s pork, but then again, he loves any shredded pork. At the end of the day, I’d choose Melissa’s carnitas. Just putting this out there. 

Given the subtle flavor profile and moist, juicy form of the pork, this recipe would work really well if you’re serving picky eaters, or children, or bringing food to a potluck where you’re not sure how everyone feels about spice. The main flavors here are the citrus (lots of orange and lime), some coriander, and plenty of garlic.

Here’s a quick rundown. Brown some seasoned pork shoulder in a large pot (preferably a dutch oven) on all sides to render fat at the bottom of the pot. Pour most of the fat out but keep enough to cook two halves of a large orange and two heads of garlic cut in half, plus spices like thyme, coriander seeds, and chile flakes. Pour in a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice and some water and stir. Put the pork back in the pot and cover it before placing the pot in the oven for three or more hours at a low temp. 

At this point, I left my apartment to go to a workout class. By the time I returned an hour and some change later, the smells of garlic and orange practically hit me in the face as I walked through the door - in a great way! After another two hours of smelling the pork, I pulled the pork out of the pot to rest and added lime juice to the juices in the pot. I quickly noticed that the pork had softened past the point of slicing (which I had suspected and wasn’t mad about), and decided to shred it. After pouring the leftover juices mostly over the shredded meat, along with the softened garlic cloves, the meat was ready for serving. We ate it with warmed corn tortillas and Alison’s Iceberg Salad. And don’t get me wrong - it was good pork! Just more mild in flavor than I prefer. 

152 recipes cooked, 73 to go.

Impostor al Pastor by Alison Roman

I’m from Southern California, and I’ve experienced the true delight of the same L.A. street tacos that Alison is trying to replicate in this recipe. Alison’s right: no one can perfectly recreate the crispy yet tender al pastor tacos of L.A. Those street vendors know pork better than anyone. But dang, Alison’s impostor al pastor tacos get pretty darn close. Taco bout a good taco! 

Heads up – this recipe isn’t a-whip-it-up-in-an-hour type. The meat really benefits from a few hours of marinating, and the marinade itself is somewhat labor intensive. But if you have the time, it’ll be well spent on this recipe. 

I prepared the marinade in the morning before the work day started. Notice my coffee next to the pineapple :). The marinade also serves as a fabulous sauce to drizzle over the tacos, chips, romaine lettuce, etc. The sauce is a blend of white onion, pineapple, spices, guajillo peppers and pepper water. The pepper prep includes toasting the peppers in a skillet until they look charred and puffed up by the heat. Then they need to have their seeds removed and cut into thick rings. The rings of peppers sit in hot water for 10 or so minutes to soften. Then the peppers are transferred to a blender with the other aforementioned ingredients, along with a cup of the pepper water. The whole process took about 20 minutes, with another 10 minutes of cleaning up. I cut the pork into 1-inch thick slabs and placed them in a large bowl to marinate with two-thirds of the sauce. 

After work ended, it came time to cook the pork! This took a little while. Alison recommends cooking the pork through once, cutting it into smaller pieces, and then doing a second round of cooking to get a slightly crispy exterior. I was not able to achieve the level of crisp like in L.A., but the flavor was pretty darn close! FYI – the pork did a number on my cast iron skillet. It was very hard to clean. I might try a non-stick skillet next time. 

Now, for the fixings. I followed Alison’s recommendations almost to the letter, including chopped tomatillos, cilantro, limes, cotija, and pineapple salsa. The marinade only calls for half of the pineapple, and Alison includes a recipe to combine the other half with onion, cilantro and lime juice for a salty-sweet taco topping. I received rave reviews from Madeline, Sam, and Jordan. All of them openly admitted that this one falls in their top meals from the project – and they’ve had a lot of them! 

123 recipes cooked, 102 to go.

Harissa-Rubbed Pork Shoulder with White Beans and Chard by Alison Roman

You know that feeling when you’re eating a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos and your mouth is on fire but you still can’t wait to eat another one? It’s a scorched craving sensation; the burn you can’t wait to feel. 

This was exactly my experience with this pork shoulder recipe. I hate to love it. It set my mouth on fire and left me wanting more. For Jordan, he just loved it – no fire (I have a low spice tolerance). 

This recipe requires almost no work – dare I say it’s the easiest “main course” recipe of Alison’s thus far? First, the pork is rubbed with a marinade made of harissa paste (a whole half-cup!), tomato paste, brown sugar, distilled vinegar, and salt and pepper. This is the most hands-on part, and it’s over before you know it. The pork and 1.5 cups of water take a shallow dive into a dutch oven to cook, lid on, for 3-3.5 hours at 325. The low-and-slow braising method strikes again! 

Once the meat is close to falling apart and the smell is impossibly good, two cans of rinsed and drained white beans join the fun, lid off, for about 45 minutes at 425. I chose Great Northern instead of Cannelini. Mostly because that’s what I had on hand, but also because Great Northern tend to be stronger and lose their structure more quickly. During their time in the pot, the beans soak up a majority of the liquid. 

Before plating, a bunch of torn swiss chard and sliced preserved lemon get stirred into the beans to wilt. What results is a tender, fall-apart pork bursting with spicy, rich flavor, and softened white beans and chard with briny lemon that do just enough to counterbalance the heat. I still needed a glass of oat milk to calm down my tastebuds, but to Jordan, it was absolutely perfect. And both of us wanted more. 

I left for a quick trip the morning after I made this, but I’m told that the leftovers were just as excellent. 

78 recipes cooked, 147 to go.

Fennel-Rubbed Pork Chops for Two by Alison Roman

I just received a text from Jordan, my husband, that reads: 

“The pork tastes just as good today! I’d say this recipe should go into the rotation :)” 

In other words, well, in my words, this dish is freaking fantastic and we will eat it often. 

Look at that caramelized brown sugar crust!

Undoubtedly, these pork chops rank in my top 10 Alison recipes, for several reasons. 

1. Flavor: The key here is subtlety. Though I’m usually one to favor in-your-face food (more salt, more lemon, more tang!), these chops seemed to hold back ever so slightly. Perhaps it was the perfectly balanced ratio of brown sugar to salt with the occasionally present fennel seed bursting with anise-like notes. Or maybe it’s the way that the fennel bulb softened and tempered as it heated through with the pork juices. 

2. Ease: Talk about a simple preparation! The chops are rubbed with a toasted fennel seed and brown sugar mixture, anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours before cooking. I prepped my chops right after breakfast so they spent plenty of time with the rub. I can only imagine how those hours of marination helped to tenderize the meat. The cooking method is a pan sear (cast iron preferred) until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, which only took about 15 minutes. Part way through, a thinly sliced fennel bulb is added to the pan. It becomes golden and limp as it soaks up the pork fat and liquified brown sugar. Top the plate with herbs and lemon zest. Voilá! 

3. Satisfaction: Bone-in pork chops are substantial, especially when you follow Alison’s instructions and buy ones that are 1½ inches thick. With the fennel on the side, Jordan and I were full after splitting one chop! 

4. Leftovers: Apparently, they’re “just as good” as the stuff that’s hot-off-the-pan. 

67 recipes cooked, 158 to go.

Kimchi-Braised Pork with Sesame and Egg Yolk by Alison Roman

I’ll cut right to the chase. I couldn’t find the courage to eat a raw egg yolk. If egg yolk is the reason you’re reading about this dish, then I understand we must go our separate ways. If you’re here for the pork ribs, then read on my friend! 

This recipe contains two ingredients that I had never cooked with before: kimchi and gochujang. Kimchi is made of fermented and spiced vegetables, popular in Korean cuisine. Gochujang is a spicy paste, similar in texture to tomato paste, but much hotter, also a Korean ingredient. It took a little time to find both of them, but I eventually did at Whole Foods. (An Asian-food market would have worked too, but the nearest one is a little too far of a drive.) 

Like most other braised meat recipes, the pork ribs are first spiced and seared to get some good color on the meat and render fat at the bottom of the pot. That fat is then used to cook chopped garlic, fresh ginger, scallions and the gochujang paste. Then the meat is added back to the pot, along with kimchi and water, the braising liquid. Everything is simmered for roughly 3 hours on the stove until the meat is nearly falling off the rib bones. 

For all of the intensity of kimchi and gochujang, I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of flavor in this dish. It felt like the spices were too mild to really make an impression. Which surprised me! I tasted a bit of both ingredients before adding them to the pot, just to see what they were like, and my first reaction was to worry that they were too spicy. I was genuinely concerned that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate the heat. But instead the opposite was true. My best guess is that there wasn’t enough gochujang, and possibly, some of the water could be subbed for broth. I’m still not certain that would do the trick, though. 

The real winner, in my opinion, was Alison’s topping suggestion for an apple-radish mixture. Rice vinegar, apples, radishes, and red pepper flakes -- four ingredients I would not have thought to put together -- created a tangy, crunchy companion for the tender pork. I found myself just eating the topping alone, it was that good. I made Melissa Clark’s coconut rice and toasted sesame seeds to complete the meal.  

Similar to the Pork and Red Chile Stew, Jordan was a huge fan. He ate all of the leftovers for four straight lunches without a single complaint. I would prefer to put this one in the “Good To Try, But Won’t Make Again” pile, but the jury's still out on whether or not Jordan will be okay with that decision. 

29 recipes cooked, 196 to go.