Miscellaneous Pork Recipes

Here are some miscellaneous pork recipes that most likely will not be in your average cookbook. The fact is you probably won't even see these pork cuts in your local grocery unless you're from the Southern U.S.

I'm talking about cuts like chitterlings, headcheese, hog maws and such.

Maybe these terms are unfamiliar to you but our ancestors feasted on them on a regular basis. When or forefathers butchered a hog absolutely nothing went to waste.

The tastes of our great grandparents have spilled over to the 21st century. Now why is that? Just because these pork parts are so darned good when properly prepared.

Are you queasy?

Well I don't blame you. If you weren't raised from birth enjoying miscellaneous pork recipes then your family history probably didn't have them. But every society that depends on pork enjoys the entire pig.

Think about liver. Liver is an internal organ and most people think nothing of eating a nice liver pate at a party or get-together. But when it comes to chitterlings they gag at the thought.

What's the difference? It's all between your ears. It's what you think. If you were raised in a family that enjoyed chitterlings then you most likely do. If you weren't then you have the gag factor at the very idea.

Another thought! Do you like bologna or hot dogs? Then you have already enjoyed miscellaneous pork parts.

Let's get to some recipes for some of those parts while they are still in recognizable shapes and not ground to a mish mash and stuffed into a casing.

Miscellaneous Pork Recipes

Chitterlings are hog intestines! OK. If you can get by that fact another fact is that they are good eats. They are especially popular in the southern US around Christmas time. In our Southern way of saying things they are usually called "Chitlins".

Fried liver has turned a lot of people against liver. If you're one of those people this fried bacon and liver recipe should change your mind. It's tender, tasty and oh so easy!

Traditional headcheese is actually made from the hog's head. Hence the name! Since fresh heads are hard to find this recipe uses ham hocks. Actually any gelatinous cut will work.

Hog Maws are actually the hog's stomach. I guess it's called maws because nobody would eat it if it were called hog stomach. It is good food however and popular in the south and Pennsylvania Dutch country.

True chopped liver recipes aficionados will yell sacrilege but this recipe is really quite good. Hungarian Chopped liver with pork liver! Maybe not the same as with chicken liver but quite good.

A liver and onions recipe that will turn liver haters into liver lovers! Liver is actually good for you and the onions make a perfect companion with it. Just don't overcook the liver.

A liver pate recipe spiked with sherry and just the right amount of onions! Liver pate is normally made with chicken liver but pork liver is the star of this pate recipe.

Smothered liver is one of the dishes I grew up on. This liver recipe uses tomato sauce, however my Mom always smothered her liver in gravy made from the oil left in the pan after frying the liver.

Chitlins are a favorite pork dish in Southern families. Just in case you don't know what they are they are the hog intestines. Yikes! Don't panic people have been eating them for generations.

I hope you enjoy these Miscellaneous Pork Recipes.