Carnitas are the Mexican version of pulled pork. Braised first in a spicy sauce, pork shoulder is slow cooked until so tender the meat just shreds easily with a fork, then it's roasted at high heat to make crispy browned bits full of flavor. It's taco meat, burrito meat, or just stewy meat served with rice and beans. This version of carnitas, adapted from a Sunset recipe for braised pork, is cooked first in a braise of tomatilla salsa verde, or green salsa. It's delicious served with fresh corn tortillas and topped with a shredded cabbage slaw, Cotija cheese, avocado, and Mexican sour cream.

• Cook time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/2 pounds pork butt (pork shoulder)
• 2 cups salsa verde, bottled, canned, or homemade
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teas dried)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh

When it comes to the grill or barbecue, I defer to my colleague Hank, especially when it concerns meat. Here he shows us how to cook pork country ribs, slow and low. ~Elise

Country ribs. Big slabs of porky goodness cut from the shoulder of the hog. Sold boneless or bone-in, these are nothing like a rack of ribs. They are pork logs, laced with fat, and require slow, low-temperature cooking to become delicious. That's the downside: You can't do a fast country rib. The upside is that they are all meat, so you only need one to fill you up. In fact, I slice them in half because a full rib, which can weigh a pound, can be too much for some people.

The best way to cook country ribs is over a wood fire, but you can cook them on a charcoal or gas grill, or even in the oven. Just repeat after me: Slow and low.. slow and low…

You'll want to sauce these ribs with something. It can be as simple as cider vinegar, or you could use your favorite barbecue sauce. We chose to use a sweet

Leave it to my Germanic father to find yet another twist on pork and sauerkraut. Yes, we already have a perfectly good recipe for spare ribs and sauerkraut which we've been making for years. No, that's not enough to deter the siren call of something potentially even better. Dad found a recipe for spare ribs in The Niman Ranch Cookbook to which he incorporated a completely different way of cooking the sauerkraut, one that includes slow cooking cabbage and sauerkraut together with beer.

Okay, spare ribs, cabbage, sauerkraut, and now beer? No wonder he loves this recipe. It does take twice as long to make as our other recipe. But it really is amazingly good, and so worth it if you can make the time.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 to 3 1/2 pounds pork spare ribs, bone-in
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp caraway seeds
• 1 Tbsp cracked black pepper
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

• 1 32-ounce jar of

My father is of German Austrian descent, so naturally we eat a lot of pork chops and sauerkraut. Recipes containing the same have almost a genetic pull over him. Add some kielbasa and the urge to try the recipe becomes irresistable. Dad found this recipe (made minor adjustments) in an old (1988) issue of Gourmet. Warm and hearty, it's perfect for Winter.

INGREDIENTS

Stuffing:

• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh sage or 2 teaspoons crumbled dried
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp dry bread crumbs

Pork chops, Kielbasa, and Sauerkraut:

• 4 1-inch thick rib pork chops (about 1/2 pound each)
• 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil or canola oil
• 1/2 pound kielbasa, cut diagonally into 3/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds sauerkraut, drained, rinsed well, and drained again
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup dry white wine

Recipe updated August 2011.

A great, simple dish of pork chops, seared and then finished in the oven with a maple syrup-vinegar-Worcestershire sauce gravy, which gives the pork a bit of a sweet and sour flavor. We've adapted this recipe from one we found years ago in the Boston Globe.

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes

Cook time may vary widely, depending on how thick your pork chops are.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pork chops
• 2 Tbsp butter or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion, plus 1 medium onion sliced (sliced onion optional)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt to taste
• About 1 tbsp flour to thicken the gravy

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat the butter or oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Pat dry the chops

We've had some wonderfully cold, rainy, winter storms here lately in Northern California. This soup is the perfect hardy accompaniment to a cold winter day. Note, this soup is the kind that is much better the next day, as the flavors from the beans, ham, and vegetables have had time to blend.

• Cook time: 3 hours

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb of white beans - Cannellini or Great Northern - about 2 1/2 cups
• 2 quarts of water
• 2-3 lbs of ham hocks or shanks
• 2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence, or Italian seasoning
• 1 cup of diced onions (about 1 small onion)
• 1 cup chopped celery (about 2-3 ribs)
• 2/3 cup chopped carrots (about 1 medium carrot)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, diced
• Tabasco sauce
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh parsley

METHOD

1 Fill a pot large enough to hold the beans with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the beans and soak the beans for about 2 hours. Drain the water.

Years ago when I spent a summer studying Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico, my Mexican teacher told me that it was much easier to pronounce the language properly if you smiled as you spoke it. She was right! Good thing Mexican food is so delicioso, because just thinking about dishes like this posole makes me smile. It's somewhat of a feast, posole. I guess you could make smaller batches, but since you have to cook it for several hours, it just makes sense to make a large amount, and then have lots of friends over with whom to enjoy it. Posole (or pozole) is a traditional soup in Mexico, often served Christmas eve, and in many parts of the country on Thursdays and Saturdays all year round. This posole rojo, or "red" posole, is made with pork shoulder or shanks, red chiles, and lots of hominy corn. I made this for my parents, and they loved it. Mom told me she hadn't had posole since she was a kid in Tucson. Lots of smiley faces around the table tonight.

Typically just the simple

Where to begin with these? Hank and I got an inkling to do a more "retro" recipe, and somehow we ended up with ham balls. Pineapple glazed ham balls. Let's just say the jokes were flying today, Hank being the boy's boy that he is and never ceasing to look for opportunities to make me blush. What are ham balls? Meatballs, made with ham, ground pork, and in our version, bacon. Slathered with a sweet and sour glaze of pineapple juice, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, and vinegar. (We were thinking about calling them "Hawaiian meatballs", because they're sort of like a meatball version of that classic Hawaiian pizza with pineapple and ham. But what if people in Hawaii don't make meatballs like this? So, back to where we started.)

Before you go running for them thar hills, let me tell you that these ham meatballs are good. Really good. I wish we had thought of them in time for Super Bowl, they would have made a perfect appetizer for a big group of cheering football fans. There's a