Crispy Iberian Pork Bites

When all else fails, serve dinner on colorful toothpicks.

So easy, very little hands on time, relatively neat to eat one-handed while doing homework, and totally customizable with whatever you happen to have on hand in the spice cabinet, meet your new best friend on a busy school night.

No lemons? Use limes. Not feeling the cumin and paprika? How about lime juice, soy sauce, freshly grated ginger, and a splash of fish sauce for an Asian vibe instead? Use the Spanish-style version below as a jumping off point but then feel free to play around. The flavor profile possibilities are limitless. Try lime, chili powder, cumin, and fresh cilantro for a taco-like feel. Or how about lemon juice, red wine vinegar, thyme, and oregano for a Greek take? Ooh, serve those with some sliced tomatoes and cubes of good Feta cheese. Whatever you do, don't forget the cute toothpicks.

Crispy Iberian Pork Bites
adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of some, but not all fat
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup minced onion
1 tbsp olive or canola oil

Cut the meat into 1x1-inch cubes. Put the meat in a large, nonreactive bowl and toss with all of the remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scatter the meat on a rimmed roasting pan in a single layer. Roast for about an hour, stopping to stir the meat occasionally. You want it crisp and brown on all sides, but not burned. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon. Serve on toothpicks with lemon wedges and/or Cumin Yogurt Dip.

Ancho Pork Hominy Stew

The holiday whirlwind is upon us and we're expecting a full house this year. Three generations of grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, and cousins will descend upon us in less than 48 hours and I cannot wait. As far as I'm concerned it wouldn't be Christmas without a little chaos.

Mufasa must have been extra good this year because he is now the proud owner of a brand spanking new Big Green Egg. So while he's working out plans for several holiday roasts on his new toy, I'm turning my focus to what we're all going to eat in the days leading up to and in between the major celebrations.

Thanks to the chest freezer, I've been squirreling away banana bread, squash muffins, and countless freezer bags of soup for weeks now. Next on the list is one of my personal favorites, this spicy ancho chili spiced pork and hominy stew.

Ancho Pork Hominy Stew
Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2009

2 tbsp ancho chile powder
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped, or 2 tsp. dried oregano
1 & 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin*
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 & 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces (about 1/2-ich cubes)
1 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 (28 ounce) can hominy, drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

For garnish
fresh lime slices
fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Set aside 1 & 1/2 tsp of the spice mixture. Add pork to the remaining spice mixture and toss to coat.
2. Heat 2 tsp of the oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally (the pork does not need to cook through at this point). Remove the pork from the pot and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 1 tsp oil to the dutch oven. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Return the pork to the pan. Add the remaining 1 & 1/2 tsp of spice mixture, broth, hominy, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover partially and simmer for about 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh lime slices, cilantro, or queso fresco.

Makes 6 (1 & 1/3 cup) servings

*The original recipe calls for half as much cumin but can one go wrong with pork and a little extra cumin? I think not.

My advice is double the recipe. You'll need a huge pot but the payoff is so worth it. Eat round one for dinner tonight and pack away round 2 for some night in the coming weeks when you've eaten a few too many sugar cookies to turn on the oven. This freezes and reheats beautifully and is such a nice departure in flavor from the typical Christmas roasts and hams we'll be eating next week.

Asian-Style Pork Mini-Meatballs

As much as I enjoy the company of my miniature kitchen laborers, there are days I prefer to work alone. This was one of those days. Company coming for dinner, no real plan in place, and honestly, I just wanted to sip my dinner-making glass of wine in silence. I sent the kids outside to play so I could get 'er done. Fifteen minutes later Bean, who just wasn't feeling the swing set, washed her hands, found her apron, pulled up a stool and stuck her hands in the bowl of raw ground pork on the counter.

It's possible, not having made adequate progress on my dinner-making Viognier yet, that I wasn't my usual delightful self. So, I scolded Bean for her tiny meatballs and shotty rolling technique.

See, she wanted baby meatballs. I tried to explain that they would dry out in the oven, but she was undeterred. So, I rolled my pan my way and she rolled the "kid meatballs" her way. Turns out she was right. Baby meatballs win with 4 and 5-year-olds every time.

Bean's baby meatballs

Asian-Style Pork Mini-Meatballs*
(because baby-meatballs sounds wrong)

1 lb. ground pork (or go crazy and grind your own if you like. We don't have a meat grinder)
1 cup Panko
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
3 tbsp. soy sauce (lower sodium is fine)
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1 egg, lightly beaten** or 2 tbsp. Silken tofu

1. Combine pork, Panko, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Bean and I prefer to use our hands. Roll into miniature balls, no larger than 1-inch in diameter if you want them to be true baby-meatballs.

2.  Broil or bake at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, or fry in oil until cooked through.

3. Dip in assorted sauces of your choosing. Bean, Roo, and Looly like honey-soy sauce (50/50 ratio honey to soy). Their parents prefer sesame-soy-ginger, Sriracha, or hot mustard.

*This recipe is great for kids who don't like anything too spicy. They are lightly seasoned and rather garlicky. They can be modified easily to suit a more adult palate with the addition of a few tablespoons of chopped scallions and some 2 Tbsp. chili-garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee).

**We omit the egg due to Roo's allergy and use tofu instead.Take your pick of one or the other.

Pork Chops ala Roo

Last night Roo got to try out the Pork Chop Seasoning he picked out on our trip to Penzey's earlier this week. He handled the meat while Bean took over preparations for a Lemon-Feta Orzo Salad. All I needed to do was steam a little broccoli and dinner was done.

My little pork chop seasoning pork chops

Bean has mastered the Microplane

Sous chefs

Here's a glimpse at Roo's not-so-secret recipe.

Pork Chops ala Roo

8 boneless pork loin chops, 1 inch thick
3-4 Tbsp. Penzey's Pork Chop Seasoning, but be careful.  If you don't love salt as much as Roo does, decrease this to about 2 Tbsp. It is salty!)

Dump Pork Chop Seasoning in a clump on top of pork chops. Rub, scrub, wallow, and bathe the chops in seasoning on all sides until your mom say that's enough. Grill in a grill pan until done.

Bean's Lemon-Feta Orzo Salad

1 package whole wheat orzo
1 lemon (zest and juice)
1/2 Cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, drain, rinse in cold water, drain again and transfer to large bowl
2. Zest lemon, set aside the zest, and squeeze juice into a small bowl
3. Add olive oil to lemon juice and whisk together
4. Pour lemon-olive oil over orzo, add feta cheese, lemon zest, parsley, and mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Dinner is served!