Cooking With Petrichor - Farm-to-Table Ground Pork Recipes
Look at you… clicking into a blog for a recipe to highlight your farm-fresh pastured pork. Are you ready to scroll past my entire life story to get to the good stuff?
***Spoiler Alert*** That’s not how I roll! 🙅
Don’t get me wrong… I write SEO blogs to help businesses grow. I know those life stories are necessary to show up high in your search results, so when I click into one I just smirk a bit and tap the “Jump to Recipe” button.
Ain’t none of us got time for all that *ish! With this new series, I’m gonna’ cut to the chase instead.
I hope you’ll appreciate the flexibility of ‘recipes’ that cook like a momma… “to taste” is a totally valid measurement. If that’s not enough for you, let them serve as jumping off points
So, without further ado, here are 5 simple ‘recipes’ that can make your ground pastured pork shine!
Spicy Pork Lettuce Wraps
Flavor profile: Asian-inspired, quick, punchy
Ingredients:
Ground pork (#1)
Fresh garlic, finely grated (2 Tbsp)
Fresh ginger, finely grated (2 Tbsp)
Soy sauce (to taste)
Chili paste (to taste)
Butter lettuce leaves
Green onions
Salt as needed
Cook: Sauté pork with garlic and ginger. Stir in soy sauce and chili paste. Serve in butter lettuce cups and top with chopped green onions
Serve with: Quick cucumber salad or steamed jasmine rice on the side
2. Ground Pork & Sweet Potato Skillet
Flavor profile: Savory-sweet, one-pan meal
Ingredients:
Ground pork (#1)
Onion (½ cup)
Smoked paprika (1 tsp)
Sweet potatoes, diced (1 large)
Kale (2 cups)
Salt & pepper as needed
Cook: Brown pork with onion. Add potatoes and cook till tender, then add greens and sauté until tender
Serve with: Fried egg on top or drizzle of hot sauce
3. Pork & Ricotta Meatballs
Flavor profile: Italian-style, soft and juicy
Ingredients:
Ground pork (#2)
Ricotta (8 oz)
Parmesan (8 oz)
Egg (2 lrg)
Breadcrumbs (⅓ cup)
Fresh garlic, finely grated (2 Tbsp)
Fresh herbs (rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, etc…)
Cook: Mix all ingredients together, then divide into equal portions and form into balls. Bake or pan-fry until browned through.
Serve with: Red sauce over spaghetti or in a sub roll with shredded mozzarella
4. Pork Fried Rice (Better Than Takeout)
Flavor profile: Umami bomb
Ingredients:
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Peas
Carrots
Eggs
Day-old rice
Cooked ground pork
Cook: High heat stir-fry the veggies in oil and soy sauce, then add rice, ground pork, and scramble in an egg.
Serve with: Scallions and chili crisp
5. Ground Pork Breakfast Bahn Mi Toast
Flavor profile: Bright, tangy, bold, with Vietnamese flair
Ingredients:
Ground pork (1/2#)
Fresh garlic, finely grated (1 tsp)
Fish sauce (to taste)
Sriracha (to taste)
Shredded carrot (1 medium)
Daikon (or radish) (1 medium)
Rice vinegar (¼ cup)
Sugar (1 tsp)
Cilantro
Lime wedge
Toasted sourdough
Cook: Brown pork with garlic and fish sauce. Quick-pickle veggies in rice vinegar and sugar. Spread sriracha on sourdough toast, top with pork, pickled veggies, cilantro, and squeeze of lime
Serve with: Strong coffee for a powerful breakfast
Seasonal Cooking - Good for you, me, and the world
Keeping in lock-step with Nature is beneficial in a lot of ways. Your budget will thank you since you won’t have to pay costly transport fees producers pass down to consumers. Your local farmers will thank you since you’ll be supporting them by purchasing food grown both seasonally and regionally. Your environment will thank you since your plate will be filled with food that’s low in miles.
These pork recipes are intended to provide plenty of opportunity to use local ingredients when cooking for yourself and your family! If you’re one of the lucky few to nab one of our pastured pork portions, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try them out! If not, be sure and visit your local Farmers Market to source local ingredients. At my favorites, you can find amazing bread companies like Sourdough Kitchen Co. to provide that key ingredient in Bahn Mi Toast or Jacob’s Hwy 9 Produce to fill in the gaps of my own production.
Let me know how you like these recipes in the comments, or share your own ground pork ideas!💡