Bifanas De Porco Recipes

BIFANAS DE PORCO

Steps:

• Do this the day before: Mash the garlic and salt to form a paste.
• Add the hot pepper paste and 1 teaspoons of paprika.
• Coat the medallions with this paste and put them in a shallow dish.
• Pour the wine over all, make sure they all are covered.
• Refrigerate over night.
• When you are ready to cook them: Take the medallions out of the dish, and discard the marinade.
• Heat 1/2 cup of olive oil over med-high heat.
• Add the onions sautéing until brown.
• Add the rest of the paprika and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Cover and keep this warm.
• In a large skillet pour in enough olive oil to 1/2 of the bottom.
• Heat to very hot but not smoking.
• Brown the medallions a few at a time without crowding.
• Fry about 1 minute on each side.

BIFANA (PORTUGUESE PORK CUTLETS)

Steps:

• Rinse the pork cutlets and then pat dry with paper towels.
• Place pork in a large heavy plastic bag (like a freezer ziploc bag) and place in a large bowl.
• In a mixing bowl, combine one cup of the wine, the vinegar, garlic, bay leaf, 1/2 tsp of the pimento paste, 1/4 tsp of the paprika, peppercorns, cloves and piri-piri sauce.
• Pour this over pork, make sure all meat is coated, and seal the bag.
• Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, turning bag over in bowl frequently.
• Bring meat to room temperature before cooking.
• To cook, remove pork from marinade and lightly pat pork dry with paper towels.
• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt lard, then cook pork in batches in hot lard; if your pork is thin it will likely only take a minute per side, at the most.
• When all the pork has been sauteed, drain off the fat and add the remaining wine (1/4 cup), remaining pimento paste (1/4 tsp), remaining paprika (1/4 tsp) to the skillet, as well as salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring this to a boil, stirring the pan to get up any brown bits.
• Return all the pork to the skillet, reduce heat to low, and cook for about another minute.

MARINATED PORK (VINHO D'ALHOS) - ANA PATULEIA ORTINS

Steps:

• Place roast in a non-corrosive bowl (ceramic or glass). Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over the roast. Add additional wine vinegar as needed to cover the meat.
• Cover tightly and marinate overnight or preferably 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
• COOK.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (if roasting) or 325 degrees F (if braising).
• TO ROAST: reserve the marinade and place the pork in a roasting pan and cook at 350 degrees F for about 2 hours at the most, until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F. Baste periodically with the marinade.
• TO BRAISE: place the roast and the marinade in a non-corrosive roasting pan. (This can be done as part of the overnight marinating, just covering with wrap.) Place pan in preheated 325-degree-F oven and baste periodically from the pan. This will take up to 2 hours 20 minutes; the roast is done once it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F. The roast should be fork tender.
• OTHER - SLOW BRAISE: You can also braise at 300-degrees F for 3 1/2 hours.
• OTHER - CROCK POT: You can cook it in a large crock pot for 6-8 hours on LOW.
• OTHER - PRESSURE COOKER: Blot roast, reserve marinade. In a 6-quart or larger pressure cooker, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat, then brown the roast on all sides. Remove roast and set aside. Pour out excess fat and deglaze pan with minimum amount of reserved marinade required per your pressure cooker manual (1 cup for most pressure cookers), scraping up brown bits of meat. Place trivet in cooker, and set roast on top. If desired, toss in 3 sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Secure lid. On high heat, bring to 1st ring (LOW pressure, 8 psi), and adjust heat to stabilize at low pressure. From moment pressure was reached, cook 35-40 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure release naturally. Test for doneness; meat needs to reach 150 degrees. If not done, close cooker and cook an additional 3-5 minutes. Remove herb sprigs, if used.
• REST.
• Tent roast and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Best served while still moist.