Pork success!

This Saturday I had some friends over for dinner. Since My Love had visited, too, in a moment of complete and utter idiocy I decided to something something I’d never tried before: pork in beer.

That wouldn’t be half as intimidating as it was if:

A) I actually had a recipe to use (none of the recipes I found online satisfied me, and the suggested cooking times varies between one and six hours!!!)

and

B) I’d ever cooked a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) piece of pork before.

I freaked out, and then I gave it my best. And guess what? The pork was a sensation. It got rave reviews (and one of the guys that were at dinner is a chef, so I’m uber-bouncy about his approval :D) I ended up mixing parts of several recipes, and adding my own imagination. It was soft and mouth watering, and I thought I’d share it with you.

What you need is:

· 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) pork thigh, boneless

· 3-4 big onions, cut in 4

· 4 330 ml (11.2 oz) bottles of Guiness

· Brown sugar

· Cumin

· Salt

· Pepper

· 1 teaspoon powdered garlic

· 1 leaf of bay (laurel?)

· BBQ powder mix

· Ground chili pepper

· Tabasco

· Mustard

Place the meat and onions in a large bowl (one that has a lid). Pour in the beer. Mix 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, some pepper, the garlic, and the rest of the spices according to your likes, and add to the mix. Stir, then close the bowl with its lid. If the meat isn’t completely covered by the liquid, turn it a few times, every hour if possible. Leave to marinate at least overnight (you obviously cannot turn it during the night, but do it when you can :P).

Fish the onions out of the mixture, and place on paper-towel for the extra liquid to dry off. In a pot (I used the long one, that’s supposed to be for fish) cover the bottom with oil (I use olive oil) and add 1 tablespoon of butter (if you find fresh butter, it’s better). When the oil is hot, add the onions and leave them until golden brown. Take them out. Wash and dry meat, and brown it in the oil on all sides. When meat is golden-brown, add the beer mix. Let it come to boil, then reduce heat. Let simmer for four hours, turning it only once, at two hours.

When the meat is cooked, take it out of the pot and put in a pan. In a small bowl mix 2-3 tablespoons of mustard with the same quantity in brown sugar and a few drops of Tabasco. Use a brush to cover all of the pork. Place the onions around and pour some of the liquid over the whole thing. Bake at 200°C (392°F) for 20-30 mins.

In the rest of the sauce you can add 1-2 tablespoons corn-starch (and some more Tabasco) and let simmer a bit longer while stirring. It becomes rather tasty gravy (unless you overdo it with the corn-starch, like I did, and end up with rather tasty gravy gel. LOL!)

Try it, people. It sounds harder than it is, and it is SO worth it!!! (I’ll see if my dad has taken a pic of it, and maybe post tonight)

Oh, and by the way, today is my birthday. 😀

Love,
Me