The Iberian secret is one of the most graceful cuts of pork, as it goes with practically all the sauces and garnishes with which you want to accompany it. Without many complications, a grilled secreto and lettuce and tomato salad will be your best ally on days when you have little time to cook. It also goes well with french fries, baked potatoes (as long as they are breaded) or mashed potatoes.

As for sauces, the secreto admits a great variety of flavors and is always very good with blue cheese, Roquefort cheese, with mustard and honey or simply dry. This is a very juicy cut of pork that does not need a great deal of elaboration to be delicious. For example, cuts such as the pluma or presa need even an hour in the oven to squeeze out the maximum amount of cooking juices. The secreto only needs a couple of minutes grilled, on each side, and it will be ready to serve. In addition to grilling, it can also be griddled or barbecued.

Before the Iberian secreto ibérico landed on the menus of almost all Spanish restaurants, this piece was used to make sausages, which made the products juicier and more flavorful.

Recipe for Iberian pork secreto with mellow rice and mushroom sauce

The secreto ibérico is usually served in restaurants with fried or baked potatoes, even with salad, or a blue cheese sauce. But if you want to offer it to your guests and have them think it is an exquisite recipe, try it with mushroom sauce and mellow rice. It is a perfect combination: the soft and tender texture of the secreto, mixed with the mushrooms and the juicy texture of the rice will delight the most demanding palates.

The secreto, in itself, does not require great preparation, since it is enough to add a little salt and pepper and to take it to the grill.

Ingredients

Pack of Campo Grande Secreto Steak 

Ingredients for the rice

• One cup of rice (if it can be for risotto, better)
• Two cups of water
• Half an onion
• A clove of garlic
• Chicken or vegetable broth (preferably in ladles, if not, liquid)
• Ground black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Ingredients for the mushroom sauce
• 250 grams of mushrooms
• A clove of garlic
• A spring onion
• A glass of white wine (cooking wine or the one of your preference)
• Cooking cream or evaporated milk
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Parsley

Pre-preparation

The first thing to do is to remove the meat from the fridge for a couple of hours before cooking and leave it at room temperature. This will preserve the juices of the Iberian secreto.

Preparation

• Cut the onion into small cubes and slice the garlic clove. Add these ingredients into a casserole dish with a drizzle of oil.
• Fry for a few minutes.
• Pour the cup of rice into the pan and add a little more oil, if necessary. Stir so that the rice soaks well in the oil.
• Add the two cups of water.
• Pour in the chicken stock and the ground black pepper.
• While the rice is cooking, sauté the onion and sliced garlic in a frying pan and add a little salt. Be careful with the salt, as the rice will already have its own salt from the chicken stock and you don't want to overdo it. The heat should be medium low.
• Cover the pan.
• Clean the mushrooms and slice them.
• Add the mushrooms to the onion and garlic mixture and turn up the heat to prevent the mushrooms from releasing too much water.
• Pour in the white wine and allow the alcohol to evaporate.
• Once the alcohol has evaporated, add the cream or evaporated milk, stirring constantly.
• Season with salt and pepper and simmer over a low heat for fifteen minutes.
• The consistency of the sauce should be creamy.
• The rice should be almost ready by the time you finish the mushroom sauce. Avoid letting the water evaporate completely. Depending on your preferred doneness, you may or may not need to add more water. When there is little water left, remove from the heat and cover the pan, this way the rice will finish cooking.
• Heat a little oil in a separate frying pan (if you have a griddle, even better). When the pan or the griddle is hot, add the Iberian secreto fillets. Do not forget to add a little coarse salt on both sides.
• Leave each side on the heat for two minutes each and remove.
• Serve the rice and drizzle the mushroom sauce over the Iberian secreto. Garnish with some finely chopped parsley. You can also use dried parsley.