Pork Cuts and Cooking Methods
ROAST: Rolled and cushion-style shoulder; crown roast; blade loin; loin (center cut); sirloin (bone in); boneless sirloin; Boston butt; fresh or smoked picnic; fresh or smoked ham; smoked shoulder butt; tenderloin; spareribs; pork loaf and ham loaf.
BROIL: Smoked ham slices; bacon and Canadian-style bacon. Chops, steaks, patties and Frenched tenderloin are best cooked by braising or panfrying, since these methods assure meat that is well done, tender and juicy throughout by the time it is browned on the outside.
PANBROIL: Smoked ham slices; bacon and Canadian style bacon. Chops, steaks, patties and Frenched tenderloin are not panbroiled for the same reason that they are not broiled.
PANFRY: Shoulder steaks; rib and loin chops; patties; Frenched tenderloin; smoked ham slices; bacon; Canadian-style bacon and liver.
BRAISE: Shoulder steaks; rib and loin chops; tenderloin; spareribs; hocks; patties; cubes; liver; hearts and kidneys.
COOK IN LIQUID: Spareribs; hocks; smoked ham; picnic; shoulder butt and shank; heart and kidneys.
Other Facts About Pork
For tenderness and appetite appeal, all pork should be cooked well done. Cuts marketed as cured meats are hams, bacon, Canadian-style bacon, shoulder butts and hocks. Frozen fresh pork may be stored at 0° F. or lower, 3 to 6 months; freezing is not recommended for smoked pork.
Recipes for PORK
Pork Loin Roast
- 3 to 5-pound pork loin roast
- Salt and pepper
Have backbone removed from loin. Season. Place fat side up on rack in open roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer so bulb reaches center of thickest part. Be careful that thermometer does not rest in fat or on bone. Do not add water. Do not cover. Roast in moderate oven (350° F.) until meat thermometer registers 185° F. Allow about 35 to 40 minutes per pound for roasting.
Menu Idea
Pork Loin Roast
Oven Browned Potatoes
Broccoli
Molded Cranberry Salad
Corn Sticks
Butter or Margarine
Pumpkin-Pecan Pie
Beverage
Golden Filled Pork Rolls
- 8 pork arm steaks, cut ½ inch thick
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 No. 303 can cream-style corn
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
- ¼ cup chopped green pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion
- 4 cups soft bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon dry basil
- ½ teaspoon sage
Remove bones from pork steaks. Season with salt and pepper. Combine remaining ingredients, mix lightly and spread on steaks. Roll each steak like a jelly roll and tie or fasten with a skewer. Place rolls in a baking dish and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 1 hour. 8 servings.
Menu Idea
Golden Filled Pork Rolls
Acorn Squash
Green Beans
Waldorf Salad
Cloverleaf Rolls
Butter or Margarine
Spice Layer Cake
Beverage
Pork Chop-Potato Scallop
- 6 pork rib, loin or shoulder chops, cut ¾ to 1 inch thick
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups coarsely grated peeled potatoes
- 2 tablespoons grated onion
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1½ cups milk
Brown chops in frying-pan. Season with salt and pepper. Combine remaining ingredients in order given and arrange in a shallow baking dish. Place chops on potato mixture. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 1 hour or until done. 6 servings.
Menu Idea
Pork Chop-Potato Scallop
Corn on the Cob
Spinach-Radish Salad
Hard Rolls
Butter or Margarine
Blueberry Pie
Beverage
Baked Smoked Ham—Buffet Glaze
- 12-14 pound smoked ham
- Buffet Glaze
Place ham, fat side up, on rack in open roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer so the bulb reaches the center of the thickest part. Be careful that the bulb does not rest in fat or on bone. Do not add water. Do not cover. Roast in a slow oven (300° F.) until the meat thermometer registers 160° F. Allow 18 to 20 minutes per pound for roasting. Remove rind, chill and glaze.
Buffet Glaze
- 1½ tablespoons gelatine
- 1¾ cups water
- 2 bouillon cubes, if desired
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup cream
- Green pepper strips
- 1 small bottle stuffed olives
Have ham chilled. Place fat side up for glazing. Soak gelatine in ¼ cup cold water. Heat remaining water and dissolve bouillon cubes in it. Strain. Add gelatine and stir until dissolved. Add salt and sugar. Cool. Reserve ¾ of mixture and add cream to remaining mixture. Just before cream mixture begins to congeal pour thin layer over surface of ham. Chill until firm. Continue this process keeping cream glaze at cold pouring consistency until it is all used. Keep a pan of hot water and one of ice water convenient in order to control the consistency of the gelatine mixtures. Arrange design of sliced olives and pepper strips on glazed surface and cover with reserved transparent glaze in the same fashion as the white glaze was applied. Chill. Serve as a cold meat.
Menu Idea
Baked Ham-Buffet Glaze
Corn Pudding
Green Beans
Jellied Fruit Salad
Assorted Hot Rolls
Butter or Margarine
Banana Cake
Beverage
Pork Tenderloin Supreme
- 12 slices bacon
- 6 pork tenderloin patties
- Salt
- Pepper
- 6 slices tomato, cut ½ inch thick
- 6 slices onion, cut ¼ inch thick
Prepare each serving as follows: Cross 2 slices bacon, place tenderloin pattie on the center, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a slice of tomato on the pattie, season, and top with a slice of onion. Season. Bring bacon ends up over onion slice and fasten with a wooden pick. Place in a baking pan, cover and bake 30 minutes in a moderate oven (350° F.) Remove cover and continue baking 30 minutes longer. 6 servings.
Menu Idea
Pork Tenderloin Supreme
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Cabbage Salad
Hard Rolls
Butter or Margarine
Apple Pie
Beverage
Candied Ham Loaf
- 2 pounds ground ham
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
Soak bread crumbs in milk. Add eggs. Combine ground ham, ground beef, mustard, salt and bread mixture. Mix well. Mix together brown sugar and cloves and spread in bottom of 5 × 9-inch loaf pan. Pack mixture in pan, bake in moderate oven (350° F.) for 1½ hours. Turn upside down to serve. 10 to 12 servings.
Menu Idea
Candied Ham Loaf
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Peas
Cinnamon Apple Salad
Cloverleaf Rolls
Butter or Margarine
Lemon Fluff Pie
Beverage
Versatile Ground Meat Works Menu Magic
Ground meat is the basis for a great variety of popular dishes. It’s a top favorite, from savory sausage patties for a hearty breakfast to a glamorous meat loaf for a festive dinner party. Whatever the menu, the economy, simplicity of preparation and versatility in serving explain the universal appeal of ground meat to homemakers.
Ground beef, veal, pork or lamb, or a combination of these, provides a meat dish for every taste. With the meat as the foundation of the recipe, other ingredients are often added to introduce flavor variety.
SEASONINGS TO CHOOSE. Basic proportions for the more common seasonings are 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper and 2 to 4 tablespoons chopped onion for each pound of meat. Sage, thyme, marjoram, cayenne pepper, celery salt, Chili powder, curry powder, paprika, mustard, cloves and nutmeg are some of the commonly used herbs and spices. When experimenting with new combinations, it is advisable to use these seasonings cautiously until the proportions which have the greatest flavor appeal are discovered. A good rule to follow is ⅛ teaspoon per pound of ground meat for the stronger seasonings, ¼ teaspoon per pound of ground meat for the more mild seasonings.
OTHER INGREDIENTS TO ADD. Toasted or plain enriched white, whole wheat or rye bread; cracker crumbs; and rolled oats, rice or other cereals may be combined with the ground meat. Grated or mashed potatoes or carrots, peas, and grated apple are also occasional ingredients. The proportion of these foods added to the ground meat may vary but should be kept relatively small for the best meat flavor. Enough liquid—milk, water, vegetable juices, soup stock, canned or cooked tomatoes, tomato catchup—will be needed to moisten the mixture, and egg is necessary to hold the ingredients together.
WAYS TO SERVE. Meat loaves and meat balls are perhaps the most usual ways in which ground meat mixtures are served. To add variety, the meat mixture may be baked in large or individual ring molds, muffin pans, or in various shapes for individual loaves. Potatoes, green peppers, onions, egg plant and squash are a few of the vegetables that lend themselves to a meat stuffing. Ground meat and vegetable combinations are often prepared as fritters. Ground meat mixtures (principally meat with herbs or spices for seasoning) appear on the menu as meat patties; meat sauces for macaroni, spaghetti, noodles and rice; meat drumsticks; fillings for meat pies or tarts; toppings for meat shortcakes, and as favorite casserole dishes.
Barbecued Pork Chops
- 6 pork rib or loin chops, cut 1 inch thick
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup juice from apple, peach, bread and butter or sweet pickles
- 1 cup catchup
Brown chops in frying-pan. Season with salt and pepper. Mix flour and mustard to make a smooth paste. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Pour mixture over chops, cover closely and cook slowly for 1 hour. 6 servings.
Menu Idea
Barbecued Pork Chops
Buttered Rice
Broccoli
Cucumber Salad
Corn Meal Muffins
Butter or Margarine
Jelly Roll
Beverage
Smoked Ham Slice—Apricot Glaze
- Smoked ham slice, cut 1 inch thick
- 1 No. 303 can apricot halves
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Drain apricots and save juice. Set regulator to broil. Place ham slice on broiler rack and insert broiler rack and pan so the top surface of the meat is 2 to 3 inches from the heat. Sprinkle with spices and broil until nicely browned, about 10 minutes, basting occasionally with apricot juice. Turn, sprinkle ham with remaining spices, continue broiling, basting with apricot juice until done, about 10 minutes. Five minutes before ham slice is done, arrange apricot halves, cut surface down, on ham and continue broiling until ham is done and apricots are lightly browned. Spoon basting liquid over ham and apricots before serving. 4 to 6 servings.
Menu Idea
Ham Slice-Apricot Glaze
Mashed Potatoes
Asparagus
Lettuce-Tomato Salad
Hot Biscuits
Butter or Margarine
Ice Cream
Brownies
Beverage
RECIPES FOR PORK LEFTOVERS
Ham-Noodle-Mushroom Casserole
- 2 cups cubed cooked ham
- 1 8-ounce package broad noodles
- Water
- 1 3-ounce can mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
- ¼ cup enriched flour
- 2 cups milk (or milk and mushroom liquid)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped pimiento
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, if desired
Cook noodles in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Cook mushrooms in butter or margarine until lightly browned. Remove mushrooms, add flour and mix well. Add milk gradually and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add salt, pepper, pimiento, parsley and ham. Arrange the cooked noodles in a greased 1½-quart casserole. Add ham mixture, arrange mushrooms on top. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 45 minutes. 6 to 8 servings.
Swiss Salad
- 2 cups cubed cooked pork
- 1 cup cooked peas
- ½ cup French dressing
- ½ cup diced celery
- ½ cup walnut meats, broken
- 6 lettuce leaves
- Paprika
- Mayonnaise
- 2 hard-cooked eggs
- 6 stuffed olives
Marinate meat and peas in French dressing and chill. Add celery and nuts and arrange on lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with paprika and dot with mayonnaise. Cut each egg into 6 slices. Remove egg yolk from egg slices. Arrange the white rings around the salad. Cut each olive into 4 slices. Overlap 2 olive slices inside each ring of egg white. Press the egg yolks through a sieve and sprinkle over the salad. 4 to 6 servings.
