Roast Pork

[Billnpatti]

I don't know if I shared this recipe before but it is a really good one and worth sharing. You can use wild pork, store bought pork or even such things as armadillo, possum, etc.

Make punctures (pockets) into the meat with a paring knife and fill these pockets with crushed red peppers. Plug each hole with a piece of garlic. Slather the meat with your favorite BBQ sauce. Wrap the meat in a piece of cloth, place it in a glass baking dish and pour in a can of beer. Let the meat marinade for about 24 hours in the refrigerator, ice box, ice chest or however you keep your meat cold. Then remove it from the cloth wrapper and place it in a smoker and cook over a low (about 225 deg.) for five or six hours. When you slice the meat to serve, be sure to rake out any red pepper flakes because they are a bit warm but the meat will not be too spicy.

This makes a delicious meat dish. Delicious enough to make a hound break a log chain. :haha:

 

[Alden]

Really? Roast pork is my favorite. That sounds a bit off the beaten path, but, can't be bad...

 

[Billnpatti]

Give it a try. I think you will find it quite pleasing to your pallet. :thumbsup:

 

[shmrck1]

or even such things as armadillo, possum, etc.

Billnpatti,

:nono: :barf: :barf: Sounds good with pork
though.

snake-eyes

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

That sounds like a winner, the smoker will be burning some apple wood real soon.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I have roasted a small butt in my DO in camp.
added sweet taters, onion and tart apples about 2 hrs into bakeing it.
low to medium heat is best.

 

[tenngun]

or even such things as armadillo, possum, etc.

Billnpatti,

:nono: :barf: :barf: Sounds good with pork
though.

snake-eyes

Armadillo and possum are in fact the same word...armadillo being an old texan word and possum being an old arkansawyer word meaning 'feed it to the dog'
To Alden I would encourge you to try it....maybe with a bowl of grits on the side :haha:

 

[satx78247]

Roasted possum & sweet taters
OR
Armadillo tamales
are GOOD, IF cooked by someone who knows how.
(In Mexico armadillo is frequently called "pig on the half-shell".)

just my opinion, satx

 

[Alden]

Thanks Tenn;
I'm sure certain people have loved possum and armadillo with grits for generations. Tell ya what, next time I see it on the menu I'll ask for a children's-sized portion.

 

[Billnpatti]

During the Great Depression when meat was scarce, people ate armadillos. Most of the meat is a lot like pork. Thus the name "Hoover Hogs" came about. "Hoover" because so many people blamed president Hoover for the depression.

I have eaten armadillos and they are quite good. I have no idea why anyone would turn their noses up at the idea of eating them. Just one caveat, do not break the gall bladder. For whatever reason, if you get any of the gall bladder contents on the meat, it will ruin the taste. It is not as important on most other game because if you quickly wash the gall bladder contents off the meat of most game animals, the meat is okay but armadillo is the exception. Always head shoot them and be careful when dressing them out. It is not all that difficult but just be aware of it if you ever decide to give armadillo a try. Trust me when I tell you that armadillo is good eats.

 

[Billnpatti]

Oh Alden. Poor, poor Alden. You remind me of some folks that I knew in Indiana. They would never try anything that they had not been eating all of their lives. No new food. One time we were out and I suggested that they try a Mexican restaurant. They immediately said that they didn't want any Mexican food. I asked why. They said that they didn't like it. I asked what they had tried and they said "Nothing". I asked why, if they had never tried it, did they think they didn't like it. They said "We don't like it because we ain't never et it." The logic escaped me.

 

[Alden]

Ha, gotcha there! ...been to Taco Bell AND Chilis.

 

[Billnpatti]

Ah, Alden, you are more of a gourmand than I had given you credit for. Next you will be telling me that you have enjoyed fine dining at McDonalds. Oh, how I envy you. :haha:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

if you're lucky enuff to catch/trap an opossum that has been feeding on mast, an orchard or squash, corn or sweet tater field be assured that's good eating.
years back on a hunting trip w/2 others on the south end of the GSM park my terrier caught a possum near persimmon and fox grape patches.
the DO I roasted it in was licked shiney by the dog - after eating what leftover meat and cornbread there was from the meal.

 

[satx78247]

Remember, we are in the presence of at least one of those EFFETE & PRISSY "KNEW YAWKERS", who won't eat anything more adventurous than a "Big Mac".

I found in the USA that IF they would "lower themselves" to TRY southern food that most of them liked it.
(When I had overall responsibility for a large consolidated mess in BRD long, long, ago, we got REQUESTS for grits, refried beans, tamales, menudo, SOS & biscuits with cream gravy, after a while, from the northern troops.)

yours, satx

 

[Billnpatti]

Wow!! That says a LOT for your cooks if they could cook menudo to the satisfaction of northern folks (DAMNYANKEES). I love menudo but only when the tripe has been properly cleaned. If the tripe is only half heartedly cleaned, as it is in many restaurants, it gives the menudo an off taste that is very off putting to me. I also like to have the menudo pieces cut into bite size pieces. Yes, I am a bit picky about my menudo but I think that if you are going to make it, make it right. When I make menudo, I wash the tripe under running water and brush it with a soft brush. Then I soak it in salt water. That removes the sour, what I call the "puke" taste.

BTW While I think the food at Mi Tierra is excellent, I found their menudo disappointing. I don't think they cleaned the tripe well enough. At least not well enough for my taste. Maybe some folks consider that sour taste to be part of the menudo flavor but I am not one of them. Give me a bowl of "good" menudo and I am all over it.

 

[satx78247]

At that time (and I assume now, too) the Army went out of its way to conform to what Skill Level 1 & 2 soldiers LIKED and to have ethic/regional "theme days" or "theme months".
(For example, we had Black History Month, Latino Awareness Month and Native American Month)

Despite what some "complainers", "gripers" & nitwits" said, it really wasn't either difficult or expensive to actually ACCOMPLISH.
(For example, when we did NA Month at our mess, we allowed/encouraged soldiers to "write home for" recipes from their Native family; then we prepared/served things like Navaho Mutton Stew, like "Grandma made".)

Personally, I love menudo IF it is fixed properly & despise it if it's bad. And YEP, I want my tripe "well-washed" & simmered a LONG time.
(To "outlanders", there are TWO kinds of menudo: EXCELLENT & BAD. - There's NO "just fair" menudo.)

Personal to Bill: I do NOT like Mi Tierra. Instead I head to PETE'S TAKO HOUSE on Brooklyn St. OR head down to any number of places in Southside for Tex-Mex.
(Once you cross South Alamo St on to South Flores St, you are IN Latin America.)

ADDENDA: It really is NOT a great deal of trouble for a LARGE consolidated mess to have (24/365) things like pizza, cheeseburgers with fries, fried chicken, eggs to order, hot biscuits, refried beans, cinnamon rolls, garlic toast, pasta & meatballs and any number of other dishes that SL 1/2 WANT. - Instead it simply takes a dime's worth of imagination, "desire to please" & "thinking outside the box".
(A mess hall that serves MP personnel HAS to conform to soldier's NEEDS, as we MPs tend to work "weird shifts", 24/7. - MPs whose "regular shift" is from 2200-0600 & generally sleep until 2000 want a hot BREAKFAST at 2100, rather than supper.)

yours, satx

 

[satx78247]

To ALL,

For the BEST "fancy" Tex-Mex AND "real Mexican food", which is NOT the same thing at all, head to LA FONDA SAN MIGUEL, in Austin, TX to IMPRESS your beloved with the food AND atmosphere.
(After 1800 La Fonda is a "dress-up place".= Coat/tie for men or a dressy outfit/heels for ladies. - Also "nice casual" is expected on Sunday AM for brunch.)

yours, satx

 

[Blizzard of '93]

bit off topic here but being a navy vet the chow we got in amphib (gator navy) boats was nearly all out of a can or pre-cooked, packaged and frozen.
it was a real treat for us to go to chow hall at a base or a tender (larger ship usually had a flag captain aboard) they got the good stuff.

 

[Alden]

Green Cactus Grill and maybe a Chipotle once too! I don't have to pretend I like grits or awful Mexican food wrapped up in one version of corn or another 'cause I'm (not) in Texas.