Mexican Pork Salad

with Roasted Sweet Potato Planks

Serves 2 - 4

This recipe may seem long and complicated, but if you take it a step at a time on a lazy Sunday afternoon, you'll have a savory salad for Sunday supper that marries cinnamon-flavored pork with roasted sweet potato planks dipped in a spicy, garlicky mayonnaise and salad greens dressed with a toasted cumin vinaigrette. Serve with a medium-bodied red wine, such as a cabernet franc.

Pork:

1 double cut pork chop or other small cut of pork (except tenderloin)
10 whole cloves
1 small white onion coarsely chopped
2 sticks cinnamon
10 peppercorns
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half

•  Put the pork and all the seasonings into a medium size saucepan.
• Add enough cold water to cover the pork.
• Slowly bring to a simmer.
• Cook, covered, at a slow simmer for about 3 hours, until the pork is very tender and almost falling apart.
• Keep the pork in the cooking liquid and let it cool until you can shred it with your fingers into long slivers along the grain of the meat.
• Sprinkle a few TBS of the cooking liquid over the shredded pork to keep it moist and set aside.

Roasted Sweet Potato Planks with Garlic Mayonnaise:

• Peel one sweet potato.
• If it is very long, cut it in half.
• Slice each half into 6 thin planks.
• Brush each plank with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt.
• Broil in the oven on a baking sheet (about 3 minutes per side). Turn once.
• The potatoes are done when the flesh is tender and you see dark spots on the surface.

While the potatoes are cooking prepare the garlic mayonnaise:

• Put 3 - 4 TBS mayonnaise into a shallow bowl.  Add juice of 1/2 a lemon and 1 large clove garlic put through the garlic press.  Stir in 1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste) or sauce from Embassa brand Chipotles in Adobo sauce.  The mayonnaise should be garlicky and spicy to offset the sweetness in the sweet potato.

Salad:

• Wash one small head of frisee lettuce.
• Toast  1/2 tsp. of cumin seeds in a shallow fry pan and grind to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle.
• In a small jar, make the vinaigrette.  First mix the vinegar, mustard and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the olive oil and shake well until the oil is emulsified.

            1 TBS sherry vinegar
            1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
            pinch of sugar
            3 TBS olive oil

Assembly:

• Coat the frisee with the dressing and divide it between two individual shallow bowls (like a bouillabaisse bowl).
• Arrange the shredded pork on top of the frisee.
• Place the potato planks around the edge (like baguette slices).
• Serve the garlic mayonnaise in a separate bowl for dipping the potato planks.