This is actually a recipe post, and it's not about Poke Sallit. But I did make some salad with pork, and it was pretty damn good, if you like spicy and tangy things. It's... not really southern, either, but the song still ran through my head while I was making it, because pork was involved, which, yes, I know is not poke. This doesn't make any sense! Well? Guess what? It doesn't have to make sense, because I just don't care if it does. It's just... what happened, OK?? Did I mention I'm basically a Porketarian? Anyway, just... whatever. I'm going to share that recipe now.
Ingredients:
3 decent sized thick-cut pork chops.
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
4 big fat sexy limes
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons cumin powder
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 heart of romaine
4-5 serrano chiles
1 avocado
1 yellow onion, halved, then thinly sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pork chops in a baking dish with pats of butter underneath. Salt with big, crunchy flakes of sea salt, and grind fresh pepper over the tops. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Flip, and salt/pepper the other side. Bake again, for about the same amount of time.
Just before taking out the chops, squeeze your sexy assed limes, and then add your garlic and cumin to the juice.
Once you have removed your chops from the oven, allow them to rest for about 5-10 minutes, and then slice them into thin strips. Add this to your juice, and chill for 2-3 hours. Doing this while the meat is still hot, will make for tangier strips, but you can also add the lime juice to cold chops, and they will still be good. You can probably also marinate the meat overnight in this juice, and grill the chops. If you do this, though, be sure to discard your lime juice once you cook the chops, and make a bit more of this fine mixture to go over them when they are finished cooking.
At the time you are ready for your salad, dice your avocado, and slice your onion, cilantro, and chiles. Add the last three ingredients to your chilled pork strips, and toss. If you are serving small children, leave the chiles to the side. Let that sit for a few minutes, while you chop your romaine heart. Serve over the romaine, with avocado on top.
Serves 4-5.
