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Chef Victor Hugo's mission is simple: bring traditional Mexican cuisine using fresh Alberta ingredients to the people of Edmonton. If you've been lucky enough to see chef Victor in a food demonstration, you know this charismatic chef is eager to share the flavours from his native country. He has proudly shared his passion for Alberta pork in his recipes as a repeat presenter on the Taste Alberta food stage at Porkapalooza, and while sharing his taco making secrets at Get Cooking. Chef Victor Hugo has added a bit more Canadian flavour to his recipe for Maple & Orange Carnitas, which he says serves six:

What you’ll need…

Carnitas 2 kg Pork shoulder 1 orange, sliced 1/2 cup orange juice 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/3 L  cold water 8 garlic cloves 1 white onion 2 Tbsp salt 1/2 Tbsp black pepper Salsa Verde 6 Tomatillos 2 Garlic Cloves 1 Jalapeño 1 Tbsp salt Garnish 1/2 white onion, chopped 1 cup cilantro leafs 4 limes, cut into quarters 250 g Cheddar cheese, grated 18 corn tortillas

Directions:

For the Carnitas

1. Cut the pork shoulder in four parts place into an oven-safe pot or roasting pan.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients for a minute add use to marinate the meat. Cover with aluminum foil or a lid, and place in in the oven at 300 °f for 3 hours.
3. Remove the pan use shred the pork – it should be fork tender and pull apart easily. Add a little of the juices left in the roasting pan or pot to the pork mixture, reserving any leftover juices.

For the Salsa Verde

1. Add two cups of water to a medium pot and put on the stove over high heat until boiling.
2. Add the tomatillos and jalapeño pepper and cook for 5 minutes. remove from the water and add them to a blender with the other ingredients grind for one minute.

      Grind the cilantro leaves in 1/2 cup of the meat juice (part 1  carnitas) with the coriander leaves, until you get a thick mixture Heat in a skillet over high heat and heat each tortilla for 30 seconds per side. In a skillet fryn pan (non stick) medium high heat add the chesse (12gr  aprox) and the tortilla on top, cook for 45 seconds,and remove with the help of a spatula. Make the tacos and put the chopped onion and the cilantro mix on top, and side salsa verde, enjoy.

  When Cafe Linnea's chef Kelsey Johnson wanted to learn more about butchery, she spent a summer at ACME Meat Market in Edmonton enhancing her skills. Today, the custom mustard sausages she serves at the restaurant are so popular they're available not just on the menu - but also for take away. While stuffing sausages can seem intimidating to some, at her Christmas in November session at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Kelsey showed how grinding and seasoning custom sausages at home can be simple and rewarding. For those who don't have all the equipment or the time to make their custom minced meat blends at home, Cafe Linnea sells Kelsey's handmade custom mustard sausages for takeaway.

What you’ll need…

[caption id="attachment_76628" align="alignright" width="195"] Cafe Linnea's chef Kelsey Johnson[/caption] Makes approx. 16 sausages or sausage patties 2 kg pork meat (about 25% fat content) 32 g salt 10 g ground mustard seeds 10 g whole mustard seeds 14 g garlic, chopped 2 g cayenne 12 g brown sugar 3 g caraway seeds

Directions:

Dice the pork meat and fat into pieces that will fit into your grinder attachment. Keeping both the meat and the equipment as cold as possible (Kelsey likes to partially freeze the diced meat in one layer on a tray as well as fully freeze the equipment attachments to keep meat and equipment as cold as possible), grind all the pork and double grind about 1⁄3 of the mixture again. Add all your spices and a splash of water to help incorporate everything and mix very well until the mixture feels tacky on your hands. Now you are ready to either fry up your mixture loose, form into patties, or stuff your sausage casing with it. You can always play around with the spice mix too and really customize your sausage mix to your liking using this recipe as a rough template. If you have a Cuisinart Sausage Making attachment, Cuisinart recommends:

1. If you have purchased dry casings, they must be soaked in cold water or a mixture of 2 cups water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar until they become soft and pliable.
2. Soak for approximately 1 hour, changing water 3 times to rinse salt off.
3. Place custom sausage meat in the die-cast hopper and turn the unit on. Push the meat into the die-cast hopper opening with pusher until the mixture appears at the end of the sausage attachment. Turn the unit off and tie a knot at the end of the 2-inch casing overhang.
4. Turn unit on and feed the meat into the diecast hopper opening until all the meat have been used or the casing is approximately 2 inches from being completely full.
5. Turn unit off, remove the end of the casing from the sausage attachment, and tie a knot in the open end of the casing. If air bubbles have formed, use a knife or needle to burst.
6. Sausages can be made to the desired length by twisting the casing at intervals. NOTE: To avoid over-stretching and splitting the casing, do not make the sausages too thick. The meat mixture will expand slightly during cooking. Keep casing moist; water frequently by dipping the sausage casing into a bowl of water or vinegar

Alberta Pork is a proud sponsor of Christmas in November at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. For this year's holiday dinner, Fairmont JPL executive chef Christopher Chafe and his culinary team featured Alberta Pork and Alberta Milk & Dairy Farmers of Canada by serving up an Oka crusted pork tenderloin.

What you’ll need…

1 small pork tenderloin 1 tbsp salted butter 4 slices of Oka cheese (approximately 20 grams each) a few sprigs of fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme and/or sage canola oil, to taste salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Slice tenderloin into four medallions; pat dry with a paper towel and season with oil, salt and pepper. Set aside for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Sear pork medallions on one side until dark golden crust is formed. Flip and sear on the other side. Add butter and fresh herbs and baste the pork with the melted butter in the pan as the medallion is cooking.
3. Once pork is seared on both sides transfer to a baking sheet and top with sliced cheese. Place pork medallion s in the oven and cook until an internal temperature of 155F is reached and the cheese is melted, approximately 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for a few minutes until ready to serve.