Braised Cumin Pork with Ginger & Pineapple Relish
With my due date quickly approaching, I’ve been busy cooking meals that I know freeze well including meatballs, pulled pork, spicy chicken and a few soups. But with the family visiting on the weekend, I needed a new, easy recipe so I turned to the blogosphere for inspiration.
During a quick skim of my RSS feeds Oui Chef’s ginger and pineapple relish jumped out at me. He served it over barbecued pork chops — immediately I imagined pouring it over slices of braised pork roast.
With a ripe pineapple staring at me from the kitchen the counter, the timing was perfect to make this fruity, spicy relish. All I needed now was scale up the recipe and make it slow cooker-friendly.
While mincing the ginger and jalapeños together in the food processor the aromas from those two ingredients alone made me realize just how tasty this pork was going to be I could hardly wait for the pork to cook!
Finally we sat down to dinner and enjoyed a delicately flavoured, tender, juicy pork complemented by the refreshing pineapple relish. Everyone gobbled it up, including my young nieces. I thought we’d be snacking on leftovers the next day in a wrap, with a sprinkle of relish — but nope! Together we enjoyed every last bite :)
As sides I prepared moroccan carrot salad and roasted broccoli, both of which we’ve enjoyed many times since finding them online.
Braised Cumin Pork with Ginger & Pineapple Relish
Prep:
20 minutes
Cook:
8 hours (low) or 4 hours (high)
Yield: 8 servings (prepared in a 6.5 quart slow cooker)
- 1 tbsp toasted and ground cumin seeds (or 2 tbsp ground cumin)
- 1⁄2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 5 lb pork shoulder or Boston butt
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 whole peeled, cored and diced pineapple
- 1 cup finely chopped red onion
- 6 seeded and minced jalapeno peppers
- 2 tsp finely grated ginger root
- 2 tbsp lime juice
Heat a small skillet over low-medium heat and add the cumin seeds. Heat until they are lightly toasted and fragrant. Stir frequently.
Trim excess fat from pork, reserving about 2 tablespoons.
Combine the cumin, salt, pepper olive oil and liquid smoke in a small bowl. Rub the mixture all over the pork.
Melt the reserved fat in a pan over medium-high heat.
Brown all sides of the pork. About 3-4 minutes per side.
Place into the bottom of your slow cooker insert.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours (or high for 4-5 hours).
Transfer the pork to a large container or platter. Separate the pork into pieces using two forks. Reserve about half of the cooking juices in the slow cooker and stir the meat back into the juices.
Stir together pineapple, onion, peppers, ginger, lime juice, and about one teaspoon of salt in another bowl.
Serve the fresh relish over the pork or stir it into the slow cooker with the pork to warm it.
