Pork with Clams (Porco com amêijoas à Alantejana)

This is my absolute favorite meal. It is a lot of work, but so worth it. --Mark

(And I am sneaking in here to add that Mark is THE BEST at making this amazing meal!) -- Stacy

Ingredients:

1 ½ lb lean, boneless pork
½ pint dry white wine
2 heaped teaspoons paprika
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
Salt
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 T oil
2 onions, sliced
4 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
2 lb clams in their shells
Coriander
Chopped parsley
1 lemon

Instructions:

Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Put in a dish and add the wine, paprika, bay leaf, cloves, salt, and 3 cloves of garlic. Cover and leave overnight, turning occasionally.

In a large saucepan heat 1 T oil, add the onions, tomatoes, and 2 cloves of garlic. Cook gently until the onions are soft. Salt to taste.

Wash the clams thoroughly multiple times, scraping any barnacles off the shells. Discard any that are already open. These are dead. Put the clams in the saucepan with the onion mixture and cover and cook until all are open, about 5 minutes.

Drain the pork, keeping the marinade. Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan, add the pork and brown on all sides over medium heat. Add the marinade and continue to coo uncovered until there is very little liquid.

Serve the pork, the clams in their shells, and the onion mixture with some boiled potatoes, sprinkling everything with coriander, parsley, and garnishing with lemon wedges.


Notes:

An alternative to the boiled potatoes is to mix the cubed potatoes with canola oil until all of them are coated, and bake in the oven at around 350 degrees until they are crispy on the edges. The recipe doesn’t say to do this, but you can combine the meat and onion mixtures once everything is cooked. Coriander is the key ingredient. Be generous with it. Squeeze lemon over the whole thing. Fantastic!