Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Last Sunday's Dinner

Red Chile Pork Tacos with Poblano Rice


This was a good cold weather meal, and for the spice averse, though this is made with chiles, it's not really all that spicy, just a good, earthy flavor.

For the pork I used a four pound bone in shoulder.  First though, stemmed and seeded four or five guajillo chiles and a few ancho chiles and reconstituted them in hot water for thirty minutes or so.  Once that is done, put the chiles and a little less than a cup of the liquid in a food processor, with a pinch or so of each of marjoram, thyme, oregano, ground cloves, and allspice, a couple of bay leaves a splash of cider vinegar, half of an onion chopped, and three or four garlic cloves and blend into a paste.  Heat up some olive oil in a dutch oven and when it'll sizzle, add the paste and cook for about five minutes until it thickens and begins to darken.  Take off the heat and throw the shoulder in, turning it to cover it with the paste, add a little water, cover it and throw it into a 325 degree oven for three hours or so.  Let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes outside of the oven before you pull it.  Then serve it on tortillas with a little bowl of drippings on the side to dip it in.


I sliced some radishes and romaine to eat as either a salad or as garnish on the tacos, which I'd recommend doing at least with the radishes, it was a good combination.  I did a simple dressing of a teaspoon of dijon, salt, pepper, a tablespoon of lime juice, four tablespoons of olive oil, and some chopped cilantro for the salad.


Poblano Rice:  this is awesome if you like cilantro.  Chop up a couple of poblanos, and simmer in two cups of chicken broth until they're soft.  Put all of that in a food processor with a whole bunch of cilantro and blend it into a puree.  Then chop an onion and saute in olive oil in a pot, and after it gets a little soft, add a cup of rice and a coupld of chopped garlic cloves, and cook over medium until the rice gets a little chalky, but don't let anything brown.  Add the poblano cilantro liquid after that, cover and simmer until it's done.  


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