Pork Green Chili

A little something about Colorado: Everything here is smothered in green chili and it's delicious. Hatch chilies, specifically, are a big deal here and right now just happens to be harvest season. In my relentless pursuit to be a tied and true Coloradan, I'm making a big pot of this tonight. 

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1" cubes
1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup flour
3 vine tomatoes, peeled and chopped
8 roasted, peeled and chopped Hatch chilies

1 jalapeno, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup chicken or beef broth

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add pork and cook until lightly browned. Drain off most of the liquid from the pork. Add onion and garlic and stir with meat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Add tomatoes, green chiles, jalapeno, salt, pepper, and sugar and stir to incorporate. Add broth and lower heat. Cover pot and simmer for 2 hours until meat is tender.

Serve with flour tortillas.

Spicy Pork Tacos (al Pastor)

In Mexico, super thin slices of pork butt and pork fat are marinated in chiles and tomato, stacked and roasted on a spit, and shaved, hot and crispy, into a corn tortilla. To mimic this popular taco filling, which is often garnished with sweet pineapple, without any special equipment, we had to get creative. We braised 1/2-inch-thick slabs of pork butt in a mix of guajillo chiles, tomatoes, and spices until tender, before basting them with sauce on the grill until crisped and charred. Chopped into bite-size strips and topped with grilled pineapple, our simple homemade spicy pork filling lives up to the original.

Published May 1, 2012. From Cook's Illustrated. Serves 6-8

Boneless pork butt is often labeled Boston butt. If you can’t find guajillo chiles, New Mexican chiles may be substituted, although the dish may be spicier. To warm tortillas, place them on a plate, cover with a damp kitchen towel, and microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. Keep tortillas covered and serve immediately.

10 large dried guajillo chiles, wiped clean
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 pounds plum tomatoes, cored and quartered
8 garlic cloves, peeled
4 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3 pounds boneless pork butt roast
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rings
Vegetable oil
18 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Toast guajillos in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until softened and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to large plate and, when cool enough to handle, remove stems.

2. Bring toasted guajillos, water, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, sugar, cumin, and cloves to simmer in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until guajillos are softened and tomatoes mash easily, about 20 minutes.

3. While sauce simmers, trim excess fat from exterior of pork, leaving ¼-inch-thick fat cap. Slice pork against grain into 1/2-inch-thick slabs.

4. Transfer guajillo-tomato mixture to blender and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain puree through fine-mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Return puree to pot, submerge pork slices in liquid, and bring to simmer over medium heat. Partially cover, reduce heat, and gently simmer until pork is tender but still holds together, 90 to 105 minutes, flipping and rearranging pork halfway through cooking. (Pork can be left in sauce, cooled to room temperature, and refrigerated, covered, for up to 2 days.)

5. Transfer pork to large plate, season both sides with salt, and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Whisk sauce to combine. Transfer 1/2 cup to bowl for grilling; pour off all but 1/2 cup remaining sauce from pot and reserve for another use. Squeeze 2 lime wedges into sauce in pot and add spent wedges; season with salt to taste.

6A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

6B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium.

7. Clean and oil cooking grate. Brush 1 side of pork with ¼ cup reserved sauce. Place pork on 1 side of grill, sauce side down, and cook until well browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Brush pork with remaining ¼ cup reserved sauce, flip, and continue to cook until second side is well browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes longer. Transfer to cutting board. Meanwhile, brush both sides of pineapple rings with vegetable oil and season with salt to taste. Place on other half of grill and cook until pineapple is softened and caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes per side; transfer pineapple to cutting board.

8. Coarsely chop grilled pineapple and transfer to serving bowl. Using tongs or carving fork to steady hot pork, slice each piece crosswise into 1/8-inch pieces. Bring remaining 1/2 cup sauce in pot to simmer, add sliced pork, remove pot from heat, and toss to coat pork well. Season with salt to taste.

9. Spoon small amount of pork into each warm tortilla and serve, passing chopped pineapple, remaining 6 lime wedges, onion, and cilantro separately.

Sichuan Stir-Fried Pork in Garlic Sauce

Published March 1, 2012. From Cook's Illustrated.

To re-create the succulent pork found in the best restaurant stir-fries (usually achieved by low-temperature deep frying), we soaked the pork in a baking soda solution, which tenderizes and moisturizes the meat, and then coated it in a velvetizing cornstarch slurry, which helps it retain moisture as it cooks. And the secret to the sauce's silken texture and rich flavor? Ketchup and fish sauce, both high in glutamates. Serves 4 to 6

NOTE: If Chinese black vinegar is unavailable, substitute 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar. If Asian broad-bean chili paste is unavailable, substitute 2 teaspoons of Asian chili-garlic paste or Sriracha sauce. Serve with steamed white rice.

SAUCE:
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons Chinese black vinegar (see note)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons ketchup
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch


PORK:
12 ounces boneless country-style pork ribs, trimmed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold water
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons cornstarch

STIR-FRY:
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 scallions, white parts minced, green parts sliced thin
2 tablespoons Asian broad-bean chili paste (see note)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin
2 celery ribs, cut on bias into 1/4-inch slices

FOR THE SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl; set aside.

FOR THE PORK: Cut pork into 2-inch lengths, then cut each length into 1/4-inch matchsticks. Combine pork with baking soda and water in bowl. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Rinse pork in cold water. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels. Whisk rice wine and cornstarch in bowl. Add pork and toss to coat.

FOR THE STIR-FRY: Combine garlic, scallion whites, and chili paste in bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook until celery is crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer vegetables to separate bowl.

Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to now-empty skillet and place over medium-low heat. Add garlic-scallion mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer 1 tablespoon garlic-scallion oil to small bowl and set aside. Add pork to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk sauce mixture to recombine and add to skillet. Increase heat to high and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and pork is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet and toss to combine. Transfer to serving platter, sprinkle with scallion greens and reserved garlic-scallion oil, and serve.

Homesick Texan Carnitas

Tonight for dinner Jeni decided to try the recipe for these carnitas that she saw on the Smitten Kitchen blog. We were talking about our love for mexican food and the lack of good quality recipes when dining out. I think we have found our new favorite! The method of cooking the pork was something neither of us had done before, and it yielded the most awesome results! The last part of the process is the most time intensive, but well worth it! Of course, having a large roasting pan on two burners really helped render the fat and crisp up the meat. We had some lime slices, cilantro (of course), avacado, queso fresco and salsa verde as options - along with the corn tortillas. We did not make the slaw but decided it would be a good addition next time.

Island Pork Tenderloin Salad & Coconut Bread

Frugal living. It's a trait I inherited from my mother. Sometimes my frugal nature is what drives my recipe search. Take for instance, self-rising flour. I bought a bag the other day, and used 3 cups to make beer bread. Then I discovered that I already had an open bag (another trait that I also inherited from my mother). So what does one do with all that self-rising flour? She goes to epicurious.com and does a search using "self-rising flour". This is how I ended up, in a round about way, with Island Pork Tenderloin Salad. I first arrived on the recipe for Coconut Bread, which claims "This bread is slightly sweet, like some corn breads, and works well as an accompaniment for the Island Pork Tenderloin Salad . It also makes a nice island-style tea bread when served in the afternoon with lime marmalade and hibiscus tea."

While I don't plan on drinking hibiscus tea in the afternoon anytime soon, I thought I would at least try the salad, which by the way is an Epicurious Blue Ribbon Recipe. 95% would make it again out of a whopping 612 reviews. The salad was excellent. A 4 fork rating from me! I would skip the bread next time. It was nothing to write home (or blog) about.