Afelia (Pork In Red Wine With Dried Coriander Seeds)

December Cuisine Spotlight : Holidays Around The World, is the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I've made Tessa Kiros's, Afelia, a traditional Cypriot dish, which I think is perfect for any festive holidays or simply anytime of the year. 

Pork is marinated, soaked in red wine for a few hours, then braised with garlic, generous amount of cracked coriander seeds, bay leaf, and seasoned with salt and pepper. 

Tessa says Afelia is usually served with fried potatoes, bulgur wheat or a simple white pilaf. 

I wanted to eat the Afelia with rice, so I've made a simple rice pilaf, Rice With Butter And Lemon, another of Tessa Kiros's recipe, from the same book. Potatoes are our favourite, so I made some fried potatoes seasoned with salt and black pepper. Of course, we need our greens, so french beans sauteed with lots of crispy chopped garlic complete the set.

This Afelia dish is delicious. The pork is soft and tender, very flavourful from the red wine and coriander seeds.  This dish is wonderful with the fried potatoes, the rice pilaf, and the greens. A complete satisfying meal!

Afelia (Pork in Red Wine With Dried Coriander Seeds)
(Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros)
1.3kg boned shoulder of pork with some fat, sliced into 3/4 inch thick
2 cups (500ml) good red wine
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed a bit
5 heaped teaspoons of coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 or 2 bay leaves

If there is rind on the pork, remove this and any excess fat. Cut the pork into chunks of about 2 inches. Put in a bowl with the wine and leave to marinate overnight, or for a few hours in the fridge. Lift out the pork pieces with a slotted spoon (keeping the marinade) and pat dry with kitchen paper. (I drained the pork pieces in a colander in a single layer for 5 minutes).

Heat the oil in a casserole and fry the pork until it is dark golden on all sides. Season with salt and pepper, then add the garlic and coriander.  Continue cooking until you can smell the garlic and then add the marinade with the bay leaves and about 1 cup of water. When it begins to boil, lower the heat to a minimum, cover and simmer for about 1-1/2 hours, or until the pork is very tender and there is a fair amount of sauce in the pan. If necessary, add a little more water during cooking. Serve warm.

Rice With Butter and Lemon
(Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros)
30-40gm butter
1 long strip of lemon rind
400gm basmati rice

Put the butter, lemon rind, a pinch of salt and 1 litre (4 cups) water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for a couple of minutes. Rinse the rice a few times with cold water, drain and add to the pan. Stir through once and then leave the rice. When it comes back to the boil, lower the heat to a high simmer and cook for 10 minutes, uncovered, until the rice seems dry and there are lots of holes in the surface. Don't stir the rice at all. Remove from the heat, fluff up from the bottom upwards with a fork and transfer gently to your serving bol.
(I cook the rice in the rice cooker ; boil the lemon rind and water in a pot on the stove. Place the washed basmati rice in the rice cooker, add the butter, and pour the hot lemon water into the rice cooker pot. Cook as per the rice cooker instructions).


This post is shared with :
I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC)
Cookbook Countdown #48