Carne De Porco À Alentejana Food

PORTUGUESE PORK AND CLAMS - CARNE DE PORCO à ALENTEJANA

Steps:

• Cut the pork into approximately 3cm cubes and place in a bowl or deep dish.
• Add the wine, crushed garlic cloves, bay leaves, pepper paste and paprika to the dish.
• Mix thoroughly and be sure the pork gets a good coating. Cover, and leave to marinade for at least 2 hours.
• While the pork is marinating, we can prepare our clams. Place them in a large bowl and cover them with cold salted water. You'll want to leave them for at least an hour.
• With the pork marinated, separate the pork and keep the marinade. Sear the pork in a hot pan.
• Once all of the pork is seared, pour the remaining marinade on top of the pork. Let it simmer with a lid for around 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel and cut the potatoes into small cubes.
• Give them a nice coating of olive oil and salt, and spread them on a baking tray. Place them in the oven at 200°. Cook them in the oven for around 30-40 minutes until they're golden brown.
• Drain the clams into a large colander or sieve, remove any with broken shells, or any clams that don't close when you touch them.
• If you've timed this correctly, we should be reaching the point where everything is nearly ready, the clams will only need around 5 minutes so pause here if your potatoes aren't quite done.
• Place all of the clams into the pan with the pork. Use a lid and let the clams steam and simmer in the liquid. They'll take around 5 to 7 minutes to cook and open.
• While the clams are cooking, spread your potatoes evenly on a plate.
• Once the clams are cooked, discard any that did not open. We think its best to remove about half of the clams from their shells and leave them in the sauce.
• Spoon the pork, clams and plenty of the sauce on top of the potato base layer!

PORTUGUESE PORK WITH CLAMS | PORCO ALENTEJANA

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, toss the pork chunks with the red pepper paste. Add the wine and toss again. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 36 hours.
• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and crank up the heat to 400°F (200°C).
• In a colander set over a large bowl, drain the pork, reserving the marinade. Pat the pork dry with paper towels.
• In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm 3 tablespoons olive oil. Working in batches, add the pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Add more oil in between batches, if needed. Transfer the pieces to a plate using a slotted spoon. If the bottom of the pot develops a dark coating, tip in some water in between batches and scrape it up.
• Lower the heat to medium, add the onion, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
• Pour in the reserved marinade, return the pork to the pot, and cook, covered, over low heat until the meat is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If it looks as if the liquid will burble away, spoon in a bit of water.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the potato cubes with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, season lightly with salt and with plenty of pepper, and scatter in one layer on a rimmed foil-lined baking sheet. Roast, flipping them once or twice, until golden brown, about 45 minutes.
• Discard any clams that feel heavy (which means they're full of sand), have broken shells, or don't close when tapped.
• Raise the heat under the pork to high, stir in the clams, cover, and cook until they open, 7 to 10 minutes. Toss out any that refuse to pop open. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper if needed.
• To serve, remove half the clams from their shells, and return them to the pot. Toss out the shells. Line the bottom of the serving bowls with the potato cubes, top with the pork and clams and broth, and sprinkle with the cilantro. Have a large bowl at the ready for the shells.

CARNE DE PORCO A ALENTEJANA (PORK MEAT WITH CLAMS)

Steps:

• 1. In a food processor add the garlic, salt, pimenta muida or red pepper, and paprika; process until smooth, then slowly drizzle in 1/2 of the olive oil as you process.
• 2. In a plastic zip bag add the cubed pork, the garlic mixture, and 1 1/2 cups of white wine, zip bag and toss a couple of times and place in refrigerate overnight or at least for 8 hours.
• 3. Remove from refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes. In a large pot add remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil and saute onions until golden, remove meat with slotted spoon and lightly saute. Then add the marinade and remaining 1 1/2 cups of wine; let come to a boil, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes or when meat is done,if needed add the water, add the clams and contiue to cook, when opened add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink; discard any clams that have not opened.
• 4. Remove from heat and top with the parsley. This dish is served right out of the pot. On a plate add some of the cubed fried potatoes and top with some pork, dip your crusty bread in the sauce and yum, so good. Enjoy!
• 5. I no longer live a portuguese community so I order my Portuguese Olive Oil on line now at www.portuguesefoodsonline.com

CARNE DE PORCO ALENTEJANA

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, season pork with; salt, garlic, bay leaf, paprika, cumin, red pepper, 1/2 cup of the wine.
• 2. Stir well and let marinate for at least 2 hours or leave overnight.
• 3. Before you begin cooking the pork, fry potatoes in hot oil until golden brown, season with sea salt and set aside.
• 4. Place clams in a bowl with cold water and 1 tsp sea salt. Let them sit for about 1/2 -1 hour in refrigerator so they let the sandiness out of them.
• 5. Preheat large skillet or wok on high heat with 1/4 cup olive oil and add onions. Cook for about 1 minute then add the drained, marinaded pork mixture, (save the liquid). Let meat brown on all sides and cook for about 5 minutes.
• 6. Rinse and dry clams and add to the pork with 1/2 cup of wine and the leftover marinade. (Add more wine if desired to make more sauce) Cover and cook on med heat until the clams open. Taste the pork and add more salt or Tabasco sauce if desired. Add the potatoes into the pork.
• 7. Add pickled vegetables and chopped cilantro for garnish.

THE HIRSHON PORTUGEUSE CLAM AND PORK STEW - CARNE DE PORCO à ALENTEJANA

Steps:

• In a bowl, make a marinade paste with the paprika, garlic, olive oil and salt.
• Place the pork into a large plastic zip bag or a deep bowl. Add the paprika and garlic paste to the pork and massage it into the meat with your fingers. Add in the bay leaves, cloves and the wine, remove the air from the bag and seal it or cover the bowl.
• Marinate 6 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer the better! Be certain to stir the meat or massage it in the bag every so often.
• Place the clams in a bowl with cold water plus 1 tsp sea salt and an optional small handful of cornmeal. Let them sit for about 1 hour in the refrigerator so they expel any sand out of them.
• Heat the lard in a deep pan over high heat. Add in the marinated pork, reserving the marinade for later. Brown the pork on all sides in a single layer, cooking it in batches if needed.
• Strain the marinade (discarding solids) and add, stirring so that the pork is covered in the sauce.
• Scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid to allow to barely simmer for 1 ½ hours, checking occasionally.
• Cut the peeled potatoes into 1 inch by ⅓ inch thick pieces and put them into a pot of salted water and place on the stove. Bring the water to a boil and allow to boil 5-7 minutes or until the outside is cooked, but the potatoes are still firm.
• Transfer the potatoes to a bowl of cold water to cool, then drain of excess water.
• Heat olive oil in a clean pan over medium-high heat. Add in the potatoes and cook until golden brown all over and tender in the middle, about 7-10 minutes.
• In the meantime, make another sauce with the tomato paste, wine, oil, garlic, onion, parsley, chili flakes, salt and pepper, simmering it all for 6 to 8 minutes.
• Remove the clams from their water bath and place them in the sauce over low heat. The clams should open after a couple of minutes. Remove those which do not open and discard.
• Shake the pan, add olives (and optional giardiniaira) and transfer the clams to the top of the meat. Cover. Boil gently for 3 minutes.Place potato in a soup plate or shallow bowl with plenty of the pork and clams on top and lots of sauce.
• Add wedges of lemon and cilantro leaves for garnish and serve with crusty Portuguese bread.