I have an urge to actually eat some pigs feet, and I dont know why. I’ve never had em before.
Anybody have any good recipes?
Or witty retorts?
Have you seen where pigs live? What they walk in? Do you care?
STUDENINA
3 lbs. pigs feet (chopped in half lengthwise)
1 tbsp. salt
Water to cover
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
Black Pepper
Paprika
Wash pigs feet well. Bring to a boiling point. Add salt, onion, garlic, black pepper. Simmer until bones fall apart. Take meat out, and put on plates (as many servings as needed). Strain liquid and pour over the meat in plates. Sprinkle paprika over it and refrigerate. The liquid will form a jelly. Studenina is jellied pigs feet.
Some recipes for you:
[ul]
[li]Pig’s Knuckles With Red Cabbage And Raisins[/li][li]Deep-Fried Pigs’ Knuckles (Crispy Pata)[/li][li]Pig’s Knuckles With Sauerkraut & Dumplings[/li][/ul]
I highly recommend the crispy pata. Very easy to do, and very very tasty!
I remember my grandparents eating pickled pig’s feet (that was more years ago than what I care to think about). I always made sure to find something in the fridge a little more appetizing (at least to a youngster’s taste).
I tried pickling myself some pigs feet once. They came out alright, but man did that stink up the house.
The way I usually eat pigs feet is the method used by my grandmother: they are slowly simmered along with meatballs in a large pot of suga (sweet tomato-based pasta sauce) for hours, until they have almost dissolved, and are then served with some fresh pasta and sardine bread. I’d give you the recipe for the suga, except that a. I don’t have it, and b. it is my firm belief that it can only be prepared properly by little old Sicilian ladies.
Go to your local neighborhood seedy dive bar. The pigs feet will be right next to the pickled eggs in a big jar that looks to be from 1952. Nobody, regulars included, has ever ordered them except on a bet.
Order some of both, and I guarantee a few people will buy you shots or drinks, for having the balls to eat the stuff.
ok, perhaps i should have thought of this before asking the question.
What part of a pig’s foot is edible?
i’m assuming theres some sort of meat surrounding the bone. or tendons, which arnt half bad when prepared right.
ohh, and thanks for the recipes/ suggestions folks.
They used to use pig’s feet in pea-soup in the Netherlands. Nowadays it’s ham. [Seriously. You want the recipe?]
But I still ask my butcher: “Do you have pig’s feet?”
at which he answers: “No. I always walk like that”.
In Ireland, pigs’ feet are known as "crubeens - literally little feet. My old mum used to serve them to us occasionally back in the 60s; she probably just boiled them to buggery, which was her usualy way with things that could not be fried or roasted to buggery. I remember the meat being quite red, more like ham than pork. And extremely salty.
There’s a lot of gristle and cartilage, but there’s also a small amount of very intensely-flavored, very smooth-textured meat. It’s like essence of pork, in compact form.
Go to a good Mexican restaurant on a weekend morning and order menudo. Ask for a foot in it. It’s a two-for-one: you’ll get to try pig’s feet and tripe.
It’s the only way I eat 'em…
Menudo… now that’s some good stuff. Has that velvety layer of fat and gelatin on the top, balanced by the acidity of some limes and pungency of raw pepper and onion. I
Yarr… that should be: It is truly a superb way to prepare miscellaneous pig components.
The menudo that I used to get on regular basis in Laredo TX was made with beef tripe. FWIW, it really does cure a hangover.
Fine, miscellaneous vertebrate components. It’s still good stuff.
Menudo is, to the best of my knowledge, always made with beef tripe. If there ain’t beef tripe, you’ve got some other soup.
But a common “option” (often you have to request it when you order it and pay a bit extra–not much though, given that pig’s feet aren’t exactly expensive) is to have a pigs foot in it. It’s truly delicious–a totally different texture then the tripe. You can just wrap your lips around the joint and suck off some very soft, clear, smooth-textured meat that actually has a very delicate flavor, compared to the rest of the soup.
…out of my mouth! My uncle used to own a working-class bar in Boston, from the 1950’s through the 70’s. He had big 1 gallon jars of pickled pig’s feet and pickled eggs! To me(i was just a young kid) they looked like laboratory specimens, that you see preserved in jars of formaldehyde! The pig’s feet looked gross…and I remember seeing one old-timer greedily eating one-he had bits of the fat in hs moustache! Yuck!
Anyway, they aren’t too bad, if you cook them long enough (the fat and gristle dissolves, leaving you with some bones, a hoof, skind, and about a mouthfull of tender meat.
My grandmother and mother used to cook them in the spaghetti sauce, along with meatballs.
Nowadays we use a country rib instead, just for convenience.
IMHO, the sauce is much better when cooked with pork and beef.
Pickled Pig’s Feet is one of my mom’s favorite snacks. Then again, she also eats Limburger cheese.
She recently called me, very saddened, because her latest batch had come out all wrong. At 80 with fairly highend memory loss, I guess I am not surprised (but the condo is still standing!). If I could stand the things I would make her a batch for Christmas but her recipe is a hand-down from her mom and I am sure I couldn’t reproduce it.