I was looking for an older recipe I wrote about before for today’s blog. Reason being is I didn’t really make anything note worthy this past week. For our #worldwidewednesday family dinner we went to the Azores and while we liked everything except for the sausage, it was SO smoky and the texture was not to my liking. So this recipe Portuguese recipe popped up and glad it did, I have my list ready to go shopping once I am done writing and I think I will be adding a few items to make this.

I personally like mussels better than clams so I may need to improvise and buy some mussels. We’ll see what the store has to offer and looks better to me. Honestly that is how I tend to come up with dinner for the fam. Don’t get me wrong I have to have a list but that is just a place to start. Sometimes something catches your eye and you have to run with it.

Kind of bummed that we can’t have this for Sunday dinner, it has to marinate overnight to get the best flavor. Oh well I don’t mind doing prep work today, it makes for a pretty easy week night meal.

(I am leaving this part in here so hopefully I have better luck finding the spice they wanted, though my version was damn tasty)

Now it’s time for a confession. There is an ingredient I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t look it up before I went to the store. SO I made up my own version of what I thought it might be. I thought I might just stumble upon it at the store; I did not. I did look it up when I got home and now it makes sense so I will tell the ones who do not know what it is it might be in the spice section of your grocery store; if not substitute it with a smoked paprika that you can find and like. Not the pickle, olive mustard aisle. Pimenton de la Vera dulce.  I figured it was something to do with Pimento peppers obviously I don’t speak the language. It is actually a Spanish smoked sweet paprika yeah I know not even close!

Portuguese Braised Pork and Clams

Donna Clark - Cooking at Clark Towers

A warm and savory soup

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Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 2 lb boneless pork shoulder cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes. (I used pork butt)
• 2 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt divided
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper divided
• 6 garlic cloves divided
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon Pimenton de la Vera dulce smoked sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil divided
• 1 medium sized yellow onion diced
• 1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand - recommend San Marzano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock or broth divided
• 2 lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes halved
• 2 lb Manila clams or cockies scrubbed - I used clams I could find at my store
• scalions diced for garnish - or they had fresh cilantro on theirs
• serve with crusty bread for sopping up all the goodness

Instructions

 

• Season pork all over with 1 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. In a large ziploc bag add the pork. Smash 3 cloves of garlic, add to the bag along with the wine, bay leaves and Pimenton. Seal and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350'F
• Remove pork from marinade saving the marinade, pat the pork dry with a paper towel. Remove and discard the garlic and bay leaves. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pork and cook until lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer to pork to a plate continue with the rest of the pork.
• Chop remaining garlic cloves. Add the onions and the remaining oil cook for a minute then add the chopped garlic continue cooking for another minute or two. You want them to be slightly browned but not burned stirring often. Add the tomatoes, red pepper and the reserved marinade.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer stirring often for about 3 minutes. Return cooked pork to the pot. Stir in 1 cup of stock until pork is mostly submerged. Cover and bake in oven until pork is fork-tender. 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• Stir in potatoes and remaining 1 cup of stock, Cover and bake until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer Dutch oven to the stovetop over high add the cleaned clams. Cover and cook until clams open. 3 to 5 minutes. (remove and discard any unopened clams) Season with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Garnish with diced scallions

Notes

Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine