Author Topic: Pork is on sale  (Read 7763 times)

Trudie

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Pork is on sale
« on: January 19, 2016, 03:21:32 PM »
No political references here...

Just ready my weekly grocery flyer and ground pork is on sale if you buy 10 pounds of the stuff.  $1.29/pound.  In general, I like pork.  I've just never done much with plain old ground pork.  Suggestions?

Also -- Italian sausage and sage sausage are on sale for $1.69/pound.  This is also the bargain of the century, and I use italian sausage quite a bit in soups and pasta sauces.  This part is a no-brainer, but I would appreciate ground pork suggestions.


AZDude

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2016, 03:27:50 PM »
Pork tacos? Ground pork is not exactly carnitas, but I bought ground turkey instead of ground beef once years ago because it was cheaper, I liked it, and never switched back. Use it for tacos, enchiladas, meatballs, nachos, etc. Although the turkey burgers I made definitely were a mistake.

sol

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2016, 03:36:57 PM »
We like to use italian sausage in place of ground beef in lasagnas, though it does complicate the process of finding a matching wine.  Regular lasagna pairs easily with most merlots or cabs, and the sausage variety is definitely a different sort of experience.  I like it with the spicier malbecs.

I also use hot italian sausage in a lentil soup that goes great with crusty sourdough in the dreary middle of winter.  Google will provide you with a variety of recipes.  I don't like the ones with parsnips.

As for regular old ground pork?  Pretty any recipe that normally uses ground beef can do a straight up substitution with minimal damage.

Retire-Canada

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2016, 03:39:29 PM »
I've just never done much with plain old ground pork.  Suggestions?

- tacos
- lasagna
- any other kind of pasta with a meat sauce
- meat pies
- pork burgers
- pork meatloaf
- pork meat balls
- soup w/ pork
- dumplings
- samosas
- pork curry

Merrie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2016, 04:01:03 PM »
Spice it up and use it for the same things you'd use Italian sausage in.

Jack

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2016, 04:20:06 PM »
So ground pork for $1.29/lb sounds good... but are you sure you can't get whole shoulder or uncooked ham even cheaper and grind it (or not grind it, as you choose) yourself?

boarder42

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2016, 04:40:33 PM »
Pork has been on sale since the bottom fell out in Aug 2014. If its just on sale for you now where do you live. 

I've been buying bacon for 1.99/lb
All other pork regularly hits 99c a pound
Loins
Butts
Butts cut in different ways.
Sausage.

On a side note eggs are finally falling back to normal price.

Trudie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2016, 04:58:12 PM »
So ground pork for $1.29/lb sounds good... but are you sure you can't get whole shoulder or uncooked ham even cheaper and grind it (or not grind it, as you choose) yourself?

Not gonna go to the trouble for two people, and I don't have the equipment to do it.

Trudie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2016, 05:02:18 PM »
Pork has been on sale since the bottom fell out in Aug 2014. If its just on sale for you now where do you live. 

I've been buying bacon for 1.99/lb
All other pork regularly hits 99c a pound
Loins
Butts
Butts cut in different ways.
Sausage.

On a side note eggs are finally falling back to normal price.

I've noticed general downward movement in prices.  I live in Iowa.  There's probably a pork cartel here:-)  After all, they say we have more hogs than people.  I keep an eye on the meat counter and generally buy what's on sale.  We've had lots of pork deals in the last months -- and I bought a bunch of loin a few months ago and had it cut into chops and roasts for .99/pound.  The bulk Italian sausage has been around $1.99 pretty consistently, but $1.69 is a new low.

iwasjustwondering

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2016, 08:25:41 PM »
No political references here...

Just ready my weekly grocery flyer and ground pork is on sale if you buy 10 pounds of the stuff.  $1.29/pound.  In general, I like pork.  I've just never done much with plain old ground pork.  Suggestions?

Also -- Italian sausage and sage sausage are on sale for $1.69/pound.  This is also the bargain of the century, and I use italian sausage quite a bit in soups and pasta sauces.  This part is a no-brainer, but I would appreciate ground pork suggestions.

Swedish meatballs.  They're awesome, and you can freeze them and use them as appetizers throughout the year.  My kids also love them as a main course, over egg noodles.  It's all about the nutmeg. 

MoonShadow

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #10 on: January 19, 2016, 08:26:57 PM »
Do you have a deep freezer?

galliver

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2016, 08:33:10 PM »
You can mix 50/50 (or probably 66/34) to stretch ground beef (and/or lamb). Then use in lasagna, meatballs, etc. Probably burgers would be ok, too. :)

Le Poisson

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2016, 08:36:04 PM »
Youknow that Sausage is ground pork plus salt and spices right? As in if you are cutting up sausage to make other food, you may as well add spice to teh pork, form meatballs, and use it.

Here is one take - but it looks like more work than we did in the grocery store when I was a kid. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/216319/homemade-sweet-italian-sausage-mild-or-hot/

Trudie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2016, 09:36:42 AM »
Do you have a deep freezer?

Yes.  Not sure how long my ground pork bounty would keep.  I probably flirt with danger sometimes... but I see no harm in a little freezer burn.

ender

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2016, 09:59:55 AM »
No political references here...

Just ready my weekly grocery flyer and ground pork is on sale if you buy 10 pounds of the stuff.  $1.29/pound.  In general, I like pork.  I've just never done much with plain old ground pork.  Suggestions?

Also -- Italian sausage and sage sausage are on sale for $1.69/pound.  This is also the bargain of the century, and I use italian sausage quite a bit in soups and pasta sauces.  This part is a no-brainer, but I would appreciate ground pork suggestions.

I have used it in pasta before with a bit of seasoning too, it works just as well as ground beef (I actually like it better).

Also make eggrolls with it (my wife's family introduced me to this! it's great).

QueenAlice

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2016, 10:52:15 AM »
Are you into pressure cooking? This one is a huge winner in my house:

Pulled Pork Carnitas

boarder42

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2016, 11:06:32 AM »
you can use a slow cooker to make essentially the same thing or better yet Smoker!

Trudie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #17 on: January 20, 2016, 11:15:26 AM »
Are you into pressure cooking? This one is a huge winner in my house:

Pulled Pork Carnitas

I've done this with the slow-cooker before, using pork loin.  Ground pork would probably work just as well.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #18 on: January 20, 2016, 11:28:07 AM »
We do "breakfast for dinner" here and typically I'll make fresh breakfast sausage patties with the ground pork.

Pork 50/50 with beef makes excellent meatloaf.

I don't make Italian sausage often but most of the time we'd use it loose, so it's easy to mix it up yourself.

Those two uses alone are more than enough for us to go through the ~20-25 pounds of ground pork we get with our annual whole pig purchase.

Catbert

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #19 on: January 20, 2016, 12:34:18 PM »
To me the most distinctive taste in Italian sausage is fennel and spicy hot.  Add whole fennel seeds and red pepper flakes to your ground pork and you (sorta) have Italian sausage.

TrMama

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2016, 01:21:11 PM »
Ground pork is regularly a half the cost of ground beef here. So we've mostly switched over. I use it as a 1:1 substitution in any recipe that calls for either ground beef or ground turkey. It appears at our table regularly as tacos, mini meatloaves, spaghetti sauce and burgers. DH sometimes makes loose sausage out of it just by adding spices.

Fishindude

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2016, 01:26:39 PM »
You can pretty much use ground pork anywhere you would use ground beef.
A little different taste, but I like it.

Look up a recipe, mix in the proper seasonings and you can easily make your own Italian sausage or breakfast sausage.

Rubic

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #22 on: January 20, 2016, 03:02:20 PM »
Stir fry in a wok with chopped leeks and a bit of fresh sliced garlic.

Trudie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #23 on: January 23, 2016, 04:57:28 PM »
I'm working through the pork -- mostly making and freezing stuff.  Here's what I've done so far:

- Italian meatballs (added fennel, chili flakes, followed recipe from Food Network)
- Meatloaf (1:1 ratio of pork and ground beef, used recipe from Joy of Cooking)
- Pork taco meat (I made about 2 pounds of it and put it in the freezer in smaller packages.)

Most of this stuff is getting frozen and will be taken out for easy, quick meals.

Tomorrow I am going to make potstickers.... they seem like a lot of work so I hope I like them.


ketchup

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #24 on: January 23, 2016, 08:32:25 PM »
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/236920/sweet-and-sour-ground-pork-stir-fry/

Ingredients
30 m 4 servings

1 pound ground pork
 1 onion sliced
 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
 1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 green bell pepper, chopped

Directions
Prep
15 m
Cook
15 m
Ready In
30 m
Heat a large skillet over high heat. Cook and stir ground pork in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes; drain and discard grease.
Return skillet to high heat. Stir onion and carrots into the ground beef; stir-fry until the vegetables are hot, about 2 minutes.
Stir rice vinegar, ketchup, sugar, and soy sauce together in a bowl; pour over pork mixture. Add broccoli and bell pepper to the mixture; stir. Place a cover on the skillet, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli is tender, 7 to 10 minutes.


This recipe is a great one.  I like to add a bit of sesame oil for taste, and multiply the sauce by about 1.5 but let it reduce longer.


Also:

http://paleoleap.com/pork-apple-meatloaf/

Ingredients
1½ lb. ground pork;
1½ cup. apples, peeled and grated;
1 small onion, minced;
1 tbsp. chili powder;
1 tsp. ground cinnamon;
1 tsp. dry mustard;
7 slices bacon (or more);
Applesauce;
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a bowl, combine the meat, apples, onion, chili powder, cinnamon, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Shape the meat mixture into a loaf on the baking sheet.
Arrange the bacon across the top, and tighten underneath the meatloaf.
Place the loaf in the oven and bake for about 1 hour.
Set the oven to broil and broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
Serve the meatloaf with the applesauce.

Fantastic.

Trudie

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Re: Pork is on sale
« Reply #25 on: January 24, 2016, 07:19:20 AM »
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/236920/sweet-and-sour-ground-pork-stir-fry/

Ingredients
30 m 4 servings

1 pound ground pork
 1 onion sliced
 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
 1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 green bell pepper, chopped

Directions
Prep
15 m
Cook
15 m
Ready In
30 m
Heat a large skillet over high heat. Cook and stir ground pork in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes; drain and discard grease.
Return skillet to high heat. Stir onion and carrots into the ground beef; stir-fry until the vegetables are hot, about 2 minutes.
Stir rice vinegar, ketchup, sugar, and soy sauce together in a bowl; pour over pork mixture. Add broccoli and bell pepper to the mixture; stir. Place a cover on the skillet, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the broccoli is tender, 7 to 10 minutes.


This recipe is a great one.  I like to add a bit of sesame oil for taste, and multiply the sauce by about 1.5 but let it reduce longer.


Also:

http://paleoleap.com/pork-apple-meatloaf/

Ingredients
1½ lb. ground pork;
1½ cup. apples, peeled and grated;
1 small onion, minced;
1 tbsp. chili powder;
1 tsp. ground cinnamon;
1 tsp. dry mustard;
7 slices bacon (or more);
Applesauce;
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Preparation
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
In a bowl, combine the meat, apples, onion, chili powder, cinnamon, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Shape the meat mixture into a loaf on the baking sheet.
Arrange the bacon across the top, and tighten underneath the meatloaf.
Place the loaf in the oven and bake for about 1 hour.
Set the oven to broil and broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
Serve the meatloaf with the applesauce.

Fantastic.

Thanks for the recipes.  I'm going to try the apple meatloaf for sure -- primarily because it's easy to freeze!

 

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