Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I made chile verde carnitas....

From N.



I've been wanting to do more with pork shoulder, but the big, tough cut is a lot of meat and takes time. I never felt ambitious enough to do it until a couple of weeks ago. I found this recipe in Edible Seattle a few months ago, and finally committed to it.

The recipe was humongous, calling for 5 pounds of pork shoulder. The only size pork shoulder at Skagit River Ranch at the Ballard Farmers Market was 2.5 pounds, which struck me as more meat than I could possibly eat for a week. I halved the recipe.

O.M.G. The smell alone from the pork and cumin had my neighbors wondering what I was making, and my friend A. gleeful that she scored this particular meal at my place. My cooking ego was on a cumin and tomatillo-induced high. The sauce reduces to coat the meat beautifully, and makes perfect tacos with tender, flavorful meat. Spicy radishes and tart yogurt cut the meaty richness, and rice and black beans were an easy side.

It's amazing as tacos, and also as stew. I ate it all week for lunch with rice, but that is probably a method best reserved for winter, since it's on the heavy side. It's fantastic for a meal with a lot of friends. And look! I included the recipe!

Recipe from Edible Seattle, for 4. Double for 6.

Sauce
2 jalapenos, seeds for extra heat
4 cloves peeled garlic
14 oz ounce can tomatillos, drained, or 4 c. fresh, blanched tomatillos
2 c. canned green chilis
1 bunch fresh cilantro

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor, doing it in batches. You want to see the seeds in the tomatillos, so pulse, don't puree.

Pork
2.5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tbl ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. olive oil

Season pork chunks with cumin, salt and pepper. In a large saute pan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. When very hot, sear pork chunks in single layer in batches until browned on all sides. Lower heat to medium, add all sauce and meat, simmer covered for an hour. Add chicken broth if necessary. Cook until fork tender.

Serve with radishes, cotija cheese, tortillas, cilantro, whole yogurt or creme freche, sliced limes

1 comment:

  1. Delish, N! So proud of you. Nothing beats pork ;)

    ReplyDelete