Citrus Braised Pork Recipes

CITRUS-BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Mix orange juice, onion, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, salt, oregano, cumin, lime zest, pepper, and bay leaves in a heavy Dutch oven. Add pork shoulder; turn to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator, 4 hours to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Remove Dutch oven from the refrigerator and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bake pork in the preheated oven until heated through, about 1 1/2 hours. Flip pork carefully. Replace foil and bake for 1 hour more. Remove aluminum foil. Continue baking uncovered, turning once halfway through, until pork falls apart and marinade is reduced, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Remove pork from oven and let rest for 20 minutes. Shred pork in the Dutch oven using 2 forks; mix shredded pork with the reduced marinade. Discard bay leaves.

CARIBBEAN BRAISED PORK WITH CITRUS

Steps:

• Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the pork, stirring to coat the meat.
• Refrigerate covered overnight, stirring occasionally.
• Remove the pork from the marinade, reserve the marinade.
• Heat the oil in a large pot over high heat and brown the pork in batches.
• Transfer the pork to a plate and add the reserved marinade to the pot, stirring to dissolve the brown bits in the bottom of the pot.
• Cook until the marinade is reduced by half and add the pork and remaining ingredients.
• Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer covered until the meat is tender, about 1 hour.
• Serve garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

CALAFIA CITRUS CARNITAS

Steps:

• For the rub: Place the chile powder, ginger powder, salt, cumin powder, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves in a food processor and process until the cinnamon sticks are completely pulverized into powder.
• For the carnitas: After you've made the carnitas rub, apply it to the 5 portioned pieces of pork shoulder. Refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the convection oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat a heavy-bottomed large braising pot and add the oil. Just before the oil reaches the smoking point, carefully add in the pork shoulder pieces, one piece at a time. Careful not to crowd the meat -- you want it to cook evenly brown all around and get a good caramelization on the meat, turning it as little as possible. If your braising pot is too small for all 5 pieces at once, do it in small batches, eventually transferring everything into another pot which will go into the oven.
• Once the pork is browned evenly, remove and set aside on a baking sheet.
• While the pan is still hot, add the onions into the same pan and sweat down. Then add in your garlic and bay leaves and cook for about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the beer, using a wooden spoon to scrape and release all the tasty browned bits of porky goodness. Reduce the beer by half, and then add in the orange juice. Bring to a boil, return the pork to the braising pot followed by the orange halves, cover the pot and place into the oven. Cook until the pork is tender and pulls apart easily, about 3 1/2 hours.
• Reserve the pork braising liquid which you can use to heat the pulled pork back up before you add the BBQ sauce to it.
• For the house-made ketchup: Mix the water and vinegar together in a large bowl.
• Mix the tomato paste with the honey, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cayenne and garlic powder in a large heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepot. Mix in the liquids. Whisk everything together over medium heat on your stove top. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and allow to simmer 1 1/2 hours. Taste for salt balance, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. This is the first part of the Calafia BBQ sauce.
• For the Calafia hot sauce: Combine the tomato paste, water, tamarind paste, orange juice, pinot noir, vinegar, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, carrots, celery, onions habaneros, jalapenos, chipotles, ginger, brown sugar, coriander and cumin in a large heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepot over medium heat. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
• Transfer the mixture to a high-powered blender and puree until ultra-smooth. Pass the hot sauce through a fine mesh strainer and taste for salt balance.
• To make the Calafia BBQ sauce you combine 2/3 of the Calafia house-made ketchup to 1/3 of the Calafia hot sauce. If you like your sauce spicier, you can always add more hot sauce to the ketchup.
• Once you've blended your sauces together well, introduce the sauce to the braised and pulled pork. Mix small amounts of pork to sauce until you've achieved the saucy desired delicious porky consistency.
• Now your pork is sauced and ready serve over steamed organic brown rice, sauteed organic baby spinach and roasted yams.

SLOW-ROASTED PORK WITH CITRUS AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Pulse the garlic, oregano, thyme, coriander and cumin seeds, bay leaves, 2 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a food processor to make a thick paste. Trim off all but a thin layer of fat from the pork, then make deep slits all over the roast (about every 2 inches) with a paring knife. Rub the spice paste over the pork and into the slits.
• Mix the citrus juices, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil in a large glass bowl. Submerge the pork in the marinade and top with the onions and reserved orange and lemon peels. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature 1 hour before roasting.
• Preheat the oven to 450. Remove the citrus peels from the bowl and refrigerate. Place the pork on a rack in a large roasting pan (reserve the marinade and onions); roast, uncovered, about 1 hour. Add the marinade to the pan and pile the onions on top of the meat. Cover with foil, lower the oven temperature to 350 and roast 2 more hours. Uncover, place the citrus peels around the pork and continue to roast, basting occasionally, until the meat browns and a thermometer inserted into the bottom half registers 190, 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, skim any excess fat from the pan juices. Slice the pork and serve with the onion and pan juices. Garnish with citrus peels.

CITRUS GLAZED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• Adjust oven setting to broil.
• Using a sharp knife, score the fat side of the pork belly, diagonally, and season with salt and pepper on all sides, rubbing the salt and pepper into the scored parts of the flesh.
• Place the onion, carrots, and celery in the bottom of a large roasting pan and put the pork belly, scored side up, on top of the vegetables.
• Broil until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Turn the pork flesh side up and continue broiling for 5 more minutes.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
• Turn the pork back to the scored side up and add the chicken stock, 2 cups of the juice, light brown sugar, thyme, cloves, and allspice to the roasting pan.
• Cover with foil and bake for 2 hours. After 2 hours, then loosen the foil to make a little steam vent and bake for another 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.
• While the pork is braising, prepare the glaze.
• Start by using a fine wire-meshed sieve to strain any pulp out of the remaining 2 cups juice.
• Combine the juice and 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook until the glaze is thick and syrupy, about 30 to 40 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven and let the pork cool slightly in the braising liquid.
• Adjust oven setting to broil.
• Remove the pieces of pork belly from the braising liquid and pat dry. Using a pastry brush, baste the pork belly on all sides with the glaze.
• Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil for 4 to 5 minutes, or until crispy around the edges and golden brown.
• Drizzle pork belly generously with any remaining glaze and serve immediately.

CITRUS-BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Mix orange juice, onion, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, salt, oregano, cumin, lime zest, pepper, and bay leaves in a heavy Dutch oven. Add pork shoulder; turn to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator, 4 hours to overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Remove Dutch oven from the refrigerator and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bake pork in the preheated oven until heated through, about 1 1/2 hours. Flip pork carefully. Replace foil and bake for 1 hour more. Remove aluminum foil. Continue baking uncovered, turning once halfway through, until pork falls apart and marinade is reduced, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Remove pork from oven and let rest for 20 minutes. Shred pork in the Dutch oven using 2 forks; mix shredded pork with the reduced marinade. Discard bay leaves.

CITRUS PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. In a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chops for 3-4 minutes on each side or until browned. , Transfer to an 8-in. square baking dish coated with cooking spray. In the same skillet, cook garlic for 1 minute. Stir in the orange juice concentrate, broth and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. , Pour 1/4 cup sauce over pork. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°, basting twice with sauce. , Bring the remaining sauce to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 cup. Serve pork chops with sauce and rice.