K
KYHeirloomer
Guest
Last night I made a recipe from International Cuisne, the book I'd mentioned on the cookbook forum. It's a Cypriot dish that combine pork and coriander. It came out very nice.
Afelia
(Fried Pork with Coriander)
1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin cut in 1/2-inch dice*
1 1/2 cups good quality dry red wine**
1 tsp salt
2 tbls coriander seeds, coursely crushed
1 cinnamon stick
Black pepper to taste
6 tbls olive oil
Combine pork with red wint, salt, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, cinnamon stick and black pepper to taste (this dish requires lots of pepper). Marinate under refrigeration for at least 2 hours, turning pork occasionally.
Drain pork, reserving marinade, and pat dry. Do not discard the marinade.
Heat oil in pan over medium-hiogh heat. Add ork; turn up heat to high and saute, stirring frequently, until browned and just cooked through. Remove to serving plate.
Discard most of remaining fat, add remaining coriander seeds, and lightly toast until fragrant. Return marinade to pan, reduce untill about 1/4 cup remains. Discard cinnamon stick and correct seasoning.
Return ork, toss to coat, and reheat pork.
*I just used the whole package of tenderloins, about 2 pounds.
** I used cabernet sauvignon cuz that's what I had available
Now, this sounded very familiar, so I checked my recipie cards. Sure enough, I have a different recipe, from Tess Mallos' The Complete Middle East Cookbook, with the same name, which is:
Afelia
(Braised Pork with Coriander)
1 1/2 lb pork fillet, leg or loin pork
1/4 cup butter
1 lb new potatoes, peeled
8 oz small mushrooms
1 cup red wint
Salt
Freshely ground black pepper
2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
Cut pork into approximately 1 1/4 inch pieces leaving some fat on meat as this is desirable.
Heat half the butter in a heavy based pan and brown potatoes. Remove and keep aside.
Add remaining butter and brown pork on each side, push to side of pan.
Trim and clean mushrooms and fry quickly in pan next to meat. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to low.
Pour in wine, add salt and pepper to taste and place potatoes on top.
Sprinkle with coriander seeds, cover pan with lid and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes or until pork and potatoes are tender.
As a matter of fact, when I made this dish originally I did it in a tagine (are you listening, Cathy?) and it was delicious. But my curiousity was up. So I got The Complete Middle East Cookbook down from the shelf. Low and behold, the braised version is one of two she provides. The first is for fried pork that is virtually indistinguishable from the recipe given above.
But it gets better. Turns out, according to Mallos' notes, that "afelia" is the name given to any pork or vegetable dish that used crushed coriander. And, sure enough, she also provides three vegetarian versions, one with potatoes, one with mushrooms, and one with artichoke hearts.
So next I turned to Regional Greek Cooking. Sure enough, there's Afelia in the index. The overhead to the recipe says: "Afelia ranks as a national dish of Cyprus. Diced pieces of pork are soaked in red wine for hours until they soak up the color. Next, the pork is cooked in what will eventually reduce to a delicious sauce of coriander, pepper, and cinnamon. The tradition of dying pork with red wine is a very old one.
The recipe that follows, provided by the Cyprus Tourism Organization is essentially a combination of the fried and braised versions. You fry the meat, then leave it in the marinade as it reduces down to a gravy.
Finally, in an older book (1964) called Cooking The Greek Way there's a recipe for Afelia subtitled "pork steeped in wine and coriander," that's made rather differently:
1 1/2 lb tenderloin or leg of pork
1 tbls ground coriander
Dry red or white wine
Salt and pepper
Cut the meat into small pieces, put in a basin and sprinkle with salt, pepper and coriander. Mix well and pour in enough wine to cover. Leave for 24 hours or longer. Transfer to an earthenware casserole with a tightly fitting lid and cook in a slow oven for 2-2 1/2 hours.
Afelia
(Fried Pork with Coriander)
1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin cut in 1/2-inch dice*
1 1/2 cups good quality dry red wine**
1 tsp salt
2 tbls coriander seeds, coursely crushed
1 cinnamon stick
Black pepper to taste
6 tbls olive oil
Combine pork with red wint, salt, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, cinnamon stick and black pepper to taste (this dish requires lots of pepper). Marinate under refrigeration for at least 2 hours, turning pork occasionally.
Drain pork, reserving marinade, and pat dry. Do not discard the marinade.
Heat oil in pan over medium-hiogh heat. Add ork; turn up heat to high and saute, stirring frequently, until browned and just cooked through. Remove to serving plate.
Discard most of remaining fat, add remaining coriander seeds, and lightly toast until fragrant. Return marinade to pan, reduce untill about 1/4 cup remains. Discard cinnamon stick and correct seasoning.
Return ork, toss to coat, and reheat pork.
*I just used the whole package of tenderloins, about 2 pounds.
** I used cabernet sauvignon cuz that's what I had available
Now, this sounded very familiar, so I checked my recipie cards. Sure enough, I have a different recipe, from Tess Mallos' The Complete Middle East Cookbook, with the same name, which is:
Afelia
(Braised Pork with Coriander)
1 1/2 lb pork fillet, leg or loin pork
1/4 cup butter
1 lb new potatoes, peeled
8 oz small mushrooms
1 cup red wint
Salt
Freshely ground black pepper
2 tsp crushed coriander seeds
Cut pork into approximately 1 1/4 inch pieces leaving some fat on meat as this is desirable.
Heat half the butter in a heavy based pan and brown potatoes. Remove and keep aside.
Add remaining butter and brown pork on each side, push to side of pan.
Trim and clean mushrooms and fry quickly in pan next to meat. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to low.
Pour in wine, add salt and pepper to taste and place potatoes on top.
Sprinkle with coriander seeds, cover pan with lid and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes or until pork and potatoes are tender.
As a matter of fact, when I made this dish originally I did it in a tagine (are you listening, Cathy?) and it was delicious. But my curiousity was up. So I got The Complete Middle East Cookbook down from the shelf. Low and behold, the braised version is one of two she provides. The first is for fried pork that is virtually indistinguishable from the recipe given above.
But it gets better. Turns out, according to Mallos' notes, that "afelia" is the name given to any pork or vegetable dish that used crushed coriander. And, sure enough, she also provides three vegetarian versions, one with potatoes, one with mushrooms, and one with artichoke hearts.
So next I turned to Regional Greek Cooking. Sure enough, there's Afelia in the index. The overhead to the recipe says: "Afelia ranks as a national dish of Cyprus. Diced pieces of pork are soaked in red wine for hours until they soak up the color. Next, the pork is cooked in what will eventually reduce to a delicious sauce of coriander, pepper, and cinnamon. The tradition of dying pork with red wine is a very old one.
The recipe that follows, provided by the Cyprus Tourism Organization is essentially a combination of the fried and braised versions. You fry the meat, then leave it in the marinade as it reduces down to a gravy.
Finally, in an older book (1964) called Cooking The Greek Way there's a recipe for Afelia subtitled "pork steeped in wine and coriander," that's made rather differently:
1 1/2 lb tenderloin or leg of pork
1 tbls ground coriander
Dry red or white wine
Salt and pepper
Cut the meat into small pieces, put in a basin and sprinkle with salt, pepper and coriander. Mix well and pour in enough wine to cover. Leave for 24 hours or longer. Transfer to an earthenware casserole with a tightly fitting lid and cook in a slow oven for 2-2 1/2 hours.