Moroccan Cubanos

Date Prepared: 03/27/11

Source: Top Chef: The Cookbook. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008. 106. Recipe originated from Dave Martin and Tiffani Faison.

Pulled Spice Rubbed Pork with Pickled Carrots, Red Onion, and Jalapeno

 *Recipe:

Pork

One 4- to 5-pound bone-in pork butt, trimmed

Salt

2 Tablespoons ras al-hanout

1 cup low-sodium veal stock

1 cup low-sodium chicken stock

Pickled Vegetables

3 cups red wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon fennel seeds
4 carrots, cut into julienne
1 red onion, cut into julienne
3 fresh jaleapeno chiles, thinly sliced

To Serve

4 fresh flatbread pieces ir fresh corn tortillas

For Ras Al-Hanout seasoning, mix 2 teaspoons each of ground cumin, ground ginger, and salt and 1 teaspoon each freshly ground black pepper, ground cayenne, ground coriander, and ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves.

For the pork, Preheat the oven to 275F. Season the pork generously with salt and ras al-hanout. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add the pork and cook until well browned on all sides, about 12 minutes total. Put the pork in a large roasting pan and pour in the stock and 1/2 cup water. Roast for 4 to 5 hours, until the pork is tender enough to pull apart with a fork. Remove the pork to a cutting board and pour the cooking juices into a small sauce pan. Cook the juices over high heat until reduced to about 3/4 cup; shred the pork into bite-size pieces, discarding the bones. In a large bowl, toss the pork with the reduced juices.

For the pickled vegetables, combine the vinegar, sugar, fennel, and 3 cups water and bring to a boil in a non-reactive pot. Put carrots, onion, and chilies in a large heatproof bowl. Pour the hot vinegar mixture into the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the vegetables steam for 20 minutes. Pour out all but about 1 cup of the liquid. Keep the vegetables, covered, in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature when ready to serve.

To serve, warm pitas one at a time in a skillet over medium-high heat. Serve pork on pitas with pickled vegetables.

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Difficulty: Easy - This recipe was of the bake-and-bail variety. The most difficult part of the recipe is getting a good julienne on the vegetables used for the pickling. There are no advanced techniques required in this preparation.

Accessibility: Common to Limited Specialty - The ingredients used for this recipe should be available at most grocery stores. Ras Al-Hanout can likely be found in Middle Eastern markets otherwise it can be prepared with the spice mixture described in the recipe above. I was unable to locate veal stock at the basic grocery store but could likely find it at a natural or specialty store.

Visual Appeal: If you consider all the elements of this sandwich, there is a significant visual appeal to entice the appetite. Beginning with the flatbread. Briefly toasted in a dry pan, the bread has a touch of crispiness but is still soft and foldable. Stuffed in the soft and crispy pita, the pork tender and moist; the juices give the meat a succulent sheen and drip of the end of the sandwich. Topping the juicy pork is a pile of pickled vegetables. The carrots are bright orange and the red wine vinegar enhances the vibrant pink of the red onion enhancing the presentation of this otherwise dull pork sandwich.



Red Onion, Carrot, and Jalapeno pickled in a mixture of Red Wine Vinegar, Sugar, and Fennel Seed

Overall Taste: The taste of this preparation was a pleasant deviation from my typical meat and bread combinations. First the pork is juicy and has the right amount of jus and salt. To my surprise the pork alone was not particularly spicy (as expected from the cayenne and black pepper). The aroma of the cinnamon and clove were the most prevalent. After a day or so in the refrigerator, the julienne carrot and onion and sliced jalapeno has a nice mellow but bright acidic flavor. The heat was not overwhelming and was enjoyable for my taste. I suspect the vinegar cut the flame from the pepper. Fennel seed provides a familiar flavor to me and makes me think of Italian sausage. The complete combination is rich and acidic and spicy all at once. Even recalling the flavor and aroma has made my mouth begin to water again!

Overall Experience: This recipe has been on my list to make for better than a year. Having just been in New York, I suppose I was inspired to try something new and exciting. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to enjoy this preparation the same day it was made. However, I would hazard to say that it was better a day or two after -the pickled vegetables at least. The payoff for some relatively brief preparation work and patience is well worth the wait and effort.

Additional Notes: I was unable to easily find veal stock and substituted beef stock instead.

*The recipe and instructions for this recipe have been reported to maintain the original instruction and is not an original recipe and belongs to the source indicated. This post has been prepared as a review only and with no intention to take credit for this recipe. This recipe has been reviewed without instruction or influence by the parties or companies mentioned therein.