Cooking Recipes: Taste the Pork

Ingredients

Serves 4

Instructions

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil.
2. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the ground pork and cook until it is browned all the way through and reaches an internal temperature of 160°F (about 7 minutes).
4. Sprinkle on the steak seasoning and add in black beans. Stir to combine.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
6. In a blender or food processor combine sour cream, Greek yogurt, green chiles, cilantro leaves, jalapeno, green onions, salt, pepper, garlic, and lime juice and blend until smooth. If it feels like it’s too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of water to thin it out, and blend.
7. Begin assembling the enchiladas by sprinkling cheese on the tortilla, then 1/4 cup of the pork mixture (or 1/2 -1 cup for burrito-sized tortillas), fold the tortillas up burrito style, and line them up in a baking dish.
8. Repeat until all enchiladas are complete and pour the green chile sauce over top.
9. Place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
10. Remove and top with cotija cheese, cilantro, and sliced jalapeños. Enjoy!

Recipe Master
Domino Ireland of Raleigh
1st place in the 2019 NC State Fair Tar Heel Double Pork Challenge 

Ingredients

Instructions

1. In a Dutch oven, heat oil. Add onions, garlic, and green chilies then sauté for about 2 minutes until the onions become translucent. Add the andouille sausage and pulled pork and stir to combine.
2. Next, add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and add the dry ingredients and garbanzo beans. While simmering, pour in the salsa verde and Racaito stirring to combine. Salt & Pepper to taste.
3. Let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Allow to cool slightly and serve. Garnish optional.

Recipe Master
Garrett Strickland of Zebulon
3rd place in the 2019 NC State Fair Tar Heel Double Pork Challenge 

Ingredients

Makes 12

Sauce

To Prepare Your Own BBQ

Instructions

BBQ Prep

1. Preheat oven or smoker to 250 degrees. Season Boston Butt with salt and BBQ rub. Use just enough to lightly and evenly cover the entire butt. Place in the oven in a 9-inch by 12-inch casserole dish or in a smoker. Cook for an hour per pound or until the internal temperature is 200 degrees.  Allow to cool and chop BBQ and set aside.

Pork Bomb Prep

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 9-inch by 11-inch cookie pan with tin foil for easy cleanup.
2. Wrap a piece of bacon around each sausage. Place bacon-wrapped sausages on a cookie pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes turning the sausage over halfway through cook time. When cooked, place bacon-wrapped sausages on a paper towel to drain some of the grease and set aside in the freezer to cool.
3. To prepare sauce, in a saucepan, combine vinegar, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, light brown sugar, salt, pepper, and honey. Stir over medium heat until it comes to a boil then remove from heat and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine BBQ with 2 ½ cups of BBQ sauce. You may add more or less sauce, as long as the consistency will “stick” together to mold around the sausage. Remove sausages from the freezer, and stick a bamboo skewer through the bottom of the sausage to the top like a corn dog.  Then, mold the BBQ and sauce mixture around each sausage to create a layer.  Use enough to cover the sausage entirely. Roll the sausages between your hands to make them smoother and more like a corn dog. Place on a clean plate and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to solidify.
5. In a large mixing bowl, prepare hush puppy mix according to package instructions and set aside.
6. In a deep fryer, add the necessary amount of vegetable oil according to your fryer’s requirements. If you do not have a deep fryer, you may add 3 cups of vegetable oil to a 5-quart cooking pot.  Heat oil to 350 degrees.
7. After 30 minutes, remove the sausages from the freezer.  Dip the sausages in the hushpuppy mixture one at a time.  Fry in the oil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.  If frying in a cooking pot, make sure to flip it after about a minute.  Place finished Pork Bombs on a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess grease.

Serve Pork Bombs with remaining BBQ sauce or any other dipping sauce you like or by themselves!

Recipe Master
Sharon Gates of Leicester
2nd place in the 2019 NC Mountain State Fair Tar Heel Double Pork Challenge 

Ingredients

Makes 6-8 servings

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place pork chops on a flat work surface and using a sharp knife, cut a slit horizontally into each chop to make a pocket, so that filling can be inserted.
3. In a small bowl, combine Gouda cheese, cranberries, crumbled bacon, and cream cheese. Stuff each pork chop with an equal amount of bacon and cheese mixture. Sprinkle the outside of the pork chops with adobo, salt, and pepper.
4. In an oven-safe frying pan, on the stovetop over medium-high heat, sear chops to brown them, 2 minutes per side. Transfer pork chops to the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until done.
5. Allow your chops to rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting for best results.

Note: Measure the temperature of your pork chops with a meat thermometer, making sure you are inserting into the thickest part of the chop and not into the filling. The recommended temperature is 145-150 degrees. Do not overcook!

Recipe Master
Bob Mermelstein of Cary
1st place in the 2018 NC State Fair Tar Heel Pork Challenge 

Ingredients

Serves 4

Dry Rub

Pork

Instructions

Make the dry rub:

1. Combine all rub ingredients in a small bowl and reserve.

Make the pork:

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high.
2. Roll cut the pork tenderloin and place the fat side down on a work surface.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness.
4. Remove the plastic wrap and spread the mustard on the pork.
5. Lay the ham, Swiss cheese, and pickles along the center of the pork and roll from the long side.
6. Tie with kitchen twine and rub with olive oil.
7. Coat tenderloin with reserved dry rub.
8. Grill the tenderloin until the internal temperature reaches 145º, about 22 minutes.
9. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Recipe Master
Bob Brescia of Cary
3rd place in the 2018 NC State Fair Tar Heel Pork Challenge 

Ingredients

Marinade

Grilling sauce

Instructions

1. Mix together all the marinade ingredients, except for the Ginger Ale, and blend until smooth. Add ginger ale to the marinade mixture.
2. Cut pork into 1-inch wide, ¼-inch thin strips
3. Place pork slices into a sealable, plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Marinate pork in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or if possible overnight.
4. Remove the pork from the marinade and place the meat on the water-soaked wood skewers.
5. Mix together the grilling sauce ingredients.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut the ends off the zucchini and thinly slice the zucchini with a mandoline or a knife.
3. Lay out the slices of the zucchini on the baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt.
4. Bake these slices to soften them up and remove some of the moisture, this helps when rolling the zucchini.
5. While those bake, cook the pork filling.
6. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
7. Sauté the shallot and garlic for 3-5 minutes.
8. Add in the pork and brown for 5-7 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160°F.
9. Add the spices to the pork and stir well.
10. In a mixing bowl mix the ricotta, lemon juice, mozzarella cheese, lemon zest, and sliced basil.
11. Stir in the pork to the ricotta mixture and set aside.
12. In a 9-inch square, oval, or round dish, add 1/2 of the pork mixture to the bottom.
13. To create the roll-ups, add 2 tablespoons of pork ricotta fillings down the length of the zucchini slice.
14. Roll it up and stick it into the baking dish. Repeat until all zucchini is gone, if you have filling left over, add it to any remaining space in the baking dish.
15. In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and the remaining olive oil.
16. Sprinkle on top and bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes until the top is nicely browned.
17. Garnish with fresh basil and enjoy.

Recipe Master
Susie Zuerner of Arden
3rd place in the 2018 NC Mountain State Fair Cooking Contest 

Ingredients

Serves 6

Instructions

1. Combine minced garlic, onion, ricotta cheese, and half of the orange marmalade preserves with ground pork. Patti into burgers and salt and pepper to taste.
2. On a very hot grill, cook burgers for about four minutes a side until the meat is 160 degrees internally.
3. With about a minute left to cook, top with 1 teaspoon of orange marmalade preserves and Provolone cheese slice, and toast buns with butter.
4. Top burger with lettuce, buns, & serve.