Carne Adovada

This recipe is from Jules, who seems to be going a bit Mexican lately, which is providing me with loads of ideas. From my first read this dish sounded delicious and so I knew it would show up sooner or later. Somewhere along the lines it got pushed back in favour of the Cuban Braised Beef and the Mexican Braised Beef Tacos.  So tonight was this dish's chance to shine. Unfortunately, it did not.  Now I'm not going to blame the dish itself as I made some significant changes which no doubt changed it, but it didn't show enough promise for me to try it again.  Wanting, as usual lately, to have this cooked in a slow-cooker so that it was ready for us after running I had to change things up a little to suit us.  To start with I had almost forgotten that I needed to visit a second supermarket in order to get all the ingredients, so it was late and I was tired as I hunted down the chilies. I didn't find any that were labelled as below, and I didn't have the time to look for good substitutes, so I chose some 'Mexican chilies' that were available at my market. The checkout girl rang them through as dried tomatoes so who knows what they were! 

I cooked them and threw them in the blender as below, but without a sieve I decided just to throw all of the marinade ingredients into the blender altogether and then marinade the pork in all its glory, chunks and all.  I went for the pork butt as I found one just the right size, but once again, since it was going in the slow cooker I left it whole. I also was a little off in my planning so this only marinated for 15 hours before cooking, where Jules suggests 1-2 days. Maybe that would enhance the flavour, but like I said before, there wasn't enough hint of what it could be to make me want to try again. 

I cooked it on high for around 4 hours, and then another 2 or so on low, before breaking it apart pulled-pork style.  We served ours on top of rice, with black beans and a quick, fresh salad on the side.

8 to 10 dried red New Mexico or California chilies

2 cups water

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1-1/2 pounds lean boneless pork butt or 2 pounds pork chops, cut 1/2 inch thick

Wash chilies; remove stems and seeds. Place in 3-quart pan with water. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until chilies are very soft. Pour chilies and liquid into blender or food processor container fitted with metal blade; process until puréed. Push purée through wire strainer; discard pulp. Add onion, garlic, oregano, salt and cumin to chili mixture.

If using pork butt, trim excess fat. Cut meat into 1/2-inch slices, then cut into strips about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. If using pork chops, trim fat.

Place meat in heavy self-sealing plastic bag. Pour chili mixture over meat; seal bag. Refrigerate 1 to 2 days. Preheat oven to 325°F. Transfer meat and chili mixture to 2-1/2-quart casserole; cover. Bake 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat is very tender. Skim and discard fat before serving.