Well, guess what I found wandering around this morning...

[Crpdeth]

What would you say this is?

[Crpdeth]

Well, that right there is some mighty fine eating!

Poison sacks son! Well, thats what we tell the new guys who want to help butcher a wild hog anyway.

"Hurry and get those poison sacks out! Put 'em in a separate cooler out of the way so we can dispose of them later!"

While butterflying those back straps into some nice thick chops I set a few aside and added a healthy dose of Cajun seasoning, red jalapeño and green cow horn peppers, then closed them up like little sandwiches and added more Cajun seasoning...Then into freezer bags labeled as such so that the wife wont mistakenly cook some up for my little 'un...Of course she would figure things out real quick, but I don't want to take any chances... Then off they went to the refrigerator where I'll let the flavors marry for about two days, then freeze them.

This was a large wild sow (by my standards) she weighed out at 185 undressed with innards remaining... Still a lot of work to do yet, I took a front shoulder and a hindquarter down (and the chops), which yielded several nice roasts, but still need to do the other two and grind up lots of ground pork which I use in the place of beef in just about any recipe I have that calls for ground beef.

I'm just letting everything sit on ice and drain/age in a huge cooler.


Thanks for reading about my morning.


Crpdeth

[Pistolenschutze]

Nice looking oinker chops there Donny! Where did you "find" this critter? Road kill, right?

There's nothing like fresh pork! Y'all need to use some of those chops to make up some pork chops Mexacali. Manna from heaven if it's made right. I have the recipe if you want it. Great dish to feed a whole family, and lots of leftovers usually.

[Crpdeth]

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

Nice looking oinker chops there Donny! Where did you "find" this critter? Road kill, right?

Exactly Rich...I was just out doing some go cart riding in the wee hours of the morning and she ran right out on front of me...When we collided she flipped over the cart and became very angry... Well she charged me of course and I was making headway until we started going up a hill and the cart couldn't keep up, so she was running along side of me barking and nipping at my arm, so I pulled out the Colt .45 and twisted it in her ear and dropped her in the road. True story!

Okay, Okay... I really took her with the 25-06 out @ about 150 yards in the tree line of a little meadow where she dropped like a rock.

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

Y'all need to use some of those chops to make up some pork chops Mexacali.

Yes, I want the recipe!

Crpdeth

[inplanotx]

Yo, Donny. Looky what I just bought! Get to pick it up tomorrow in Dallas. It weighs 225 lbs!

http://brinkmann.net/Shop/Detail.asp...-1001-A&id=286

Happy Smokin'

IPT

[Pistolenschutze]

Here ya go, Donny, and anyone else who might be interested.

Mexicali Pork Chops


4 Pork chops cut to about 3/4 of an inch thickness.
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (I always use more)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 16-ounce can tomatoes, cut up (or use canned chopped tomatoes, or better yet, fresh)
1 8-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained (or you can use frozen or fresh)
1 8-ounce can red kidney beans, drained (or use left-over pintos)
1/2 cup long grain rice
1/2 cup water
1 4-ounce can mild chili peppers
A few dashes of bottled hot pepper sauce.

Brown (not cook!) the chops in a skillet in some shortening.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set chops aside for the time being.
In the drippings left from browning the chops, cook the green pepper and onion until tender but not brown.
Stir in undrained tomatoes, corn, beans, uncooked rice, water, chili peppers, hot pepper sauce, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Bring to a boil, then turn mixture into a 12 x 7 1/2 x 2-inch baking dish.
Arrange chops on top of mixture.
Cover (I normally use foil) and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until meat is tender.
Makes four servings.

OK, that is the "official" recipe. Now here are some options you might want to consider, ones I have tried with considerable success:

Add more pork chops! Hell, I can eat four all by myself!
Increase all ingredients by at least half if you add more pork chops.
Substitute hotter chili peppers (I always do!).
I always add some chopped green chilis (the mild kind) for flavor as well.
Increase rice to one cup, but if you do this, use about 2 1/2 cups water.
Increase corn to 16 ounces. This works best using frozen or fresh corn.
I prefer pinto beans to kidney beans. It's a good way to use up left over pintos. Or, alternately, you can mix the two.
I also always add a couple or three pinches of Cayenne pepper to the mix.

Obviously, this is a recipe you can play around with, Donny, to suit your own taste. I've added olives to it, hominy, and jalapeños from time to time. Depends on what you like. The pork chops come out nice and tender. The vegetable part (I call it the "guck" ) is excellent served alone as a side dish as well. If the little one will be enjoining in it, obviously you want to go a little easy on the hot peppers. Sandy and I both like hot foods, so I am free to indulge myself when I make it.

Enjoy!

[Crpdeth]

Thank you very much Rich, as you see I have become preoccupied now so I had to put the habanero sauce recipe on the back burner for now, but I gotta try both of these recipes soon!

Hey Crash! You need me to come over there and show you how to use that thing?

I love an upright cooking chamber like yours has and have wanted to add one to my smoker every since I got it... If I do something large like a turkey I have to take the grates out and place the bird (beer can style) on the tuneing plates to cook...Works okay I guess and I could just lay the bird on it's side, but I still want the upright as well. Geeze...I'd venture to say that baby weighs half as much as my single axle smoker...Hope you'll have some help moving 'er around.

Crpdeth

[Pistolenschutze]

Smoked oinker chops are mighty good eatin' Donny. Y'all might reserve a few for that purpose.

[Crpdeth]

It looks like I've been nominated for preparing the turkey for a few different functions in the next few months, Rich. So I'll keep that in mind...A nice little "Chefs snack" during the laborious task never hurt anyone.

Crpdeth

[Crpdeth]

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

Mexicali Pork Chops

Man this is gonna be good....

[Crpdeth]

All I can say is wow...

That was good! I stayed with the original recipe (the one on top) except that I did go ahead and double the rice and added extra water...The corn I bought was in the can, but almost no liquid in it (vacuum sealed) so I added a little more water, in the end I had a bit too much liquid which was no problem, I just doubled the cook time that is required after the foil came off and reduced it that way.

Man...I had a hard time not going back for seconds!

Thanks Rich, this will be a favorite of mine from now on.

Crpdeth

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by Crpdeth

Thanks Rich, this will be a favorite of mine from now on.

Crpdeth

We like it a lot, Donny. Have it about once a month in fact. The wife can fix it, but she almost always makes me do it. Says it comes out spicier when I make it, which is true!

[Crpdeth]

I do most of the cooking around here and I must say that it has been a challenge for me to keep my spices locked away with the little one slowly wanting more of what I'm having and less of those baby foods...But hope in in the air, we went to a mexican restaurant here a while back and she kept wanting my salsa, so I finally put a tiny dab on her chip expecting the worst with a juice bottle at the ready, no dice man, she loved it and she was soon tearing it up. LOL

I have a friend in Belize who tells me the young kids over there eat stuff that makes her eyes water, so I guess it's all in what you get used to, young or old.

Hey, it's 4 hours later and it is a NEW DAY, so I guess I'm allowed to go back for more now! Woo hoo! Court TV and Mexicali Pork Chops



Crpdeth

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by Crpdeth

I do most of the cooking around here and I must say that it has been a challenge for me to keep my spices locked away with the little one slowly wanting more of what I'm having and less of those baby foods...But hope in in the air, we went to a mexican restaurant here a while back and she kept wanting my salsa, so I finally put a tiny dab on her chip expecting the worst with a juice bottle at the ready, no dice man, she loved it and she was soon tearing it up. LOL

Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Donny. I thought you would, since you are a man of discerning tastes in food and drink, and there ain't many of us left. Just curious, how did the wife and the little one react to it?

[Crpdeth]

lol, you are a bit overly generous with your compliments Rich. The wife ate some and really liked it, Matti hasn't had any yet as I was so late getting it prepared last evening.

I have to say it tasted even better for lunch after sitting in the fridge all night...Very good stuff my friend.

Not much of it left!

Crpdeth

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by Crpdeth

I have to say it tasted even better for lunch after sitting in the fridge all night...Very good stuff my friend.

Yup, it does Donny. That's the main reason I usually make up a lot more of the "guck" than is actually needed for the oinker chops. We like it as a side dish with other things. In fact, Sandy often takes it as a snack when she works her graveyard shifts at the hospital. I often have it for lunch myself when I get home from teaching my classes.

[Crpdeth]

Rich...

You wont believe this...Now I know it's been a long three years since I posted this, but you have GOT to go look at this thread I made in Dec of '04
here...

ROTF, while I was eating this I kept thinking I had tasted something similar, so I went back through the threads here on a hunch. I'm really starting to feel old now! I have that listed as a "favorite"...How could I just totally forget about it?

LOL, the only difference I find is that yours uses onion, but I think it makes all the difference in the world.

[Pistolenschutze]

I'm not surprised, Donny. I've been using the recipe for many years, but if memory serves me, I think I originally found it in a cookbook my wife had when we got together almost 31 years ago. It's simple to fix, makes a great meal, and that's all that really matters.

[Crpdeth]

You're right about that...One other thing I noticed is that in your recipe we sauté the pepper and onion in the pork renderings... I happen to know that sometimes all it takes is one or two diversities between recipes to make one a "winner" over the other.

I like your version much better.


Crpdeth