Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Yucatán Pork Stew with Ancho Chiles and Lime Juice

February's issue of Food & Wine had this recipe for Yucatán Pork Stew with Ancho Chiles and Lime Juice, and I happened to have a few pounds of random pork in my freezer. Coincidence?

The recipe calls for pork shoulder. I had some boneless ribs, and something called "boneless pork steak". I chopped it all up into 2" pieces and left it in the fridge overnight to thaw. I was in for a little surprise in the morning when I saw that the boneless pork steak wasn't one large hunk of pig like I thought, but rather four 1/4" thick slices all frozen together. But it was thawed and cut, so I went with it.

Other than the swap of piggy parts, I used the ingredients called for, except for using 2 ancho chiles and 1 mulatto chile, because that's what was in the cupboard. Additionally, I skimmed off a ton of fat - my ribs were much fattier than shoulder would've been. And I reduced the liquid (meat and veggies removed), because the broth was thinner than I wanted.

















After cooking for 3 hours on low heat, the pork was falling apart, but amazingly enough, the carrots weren't. Which is good, because I hate mushy carrots. All the dried chile slices had plumped up nicely, the tomatoes had dissolved into the broth, and the lime juice added a nice zing to cut the fatty richness of the pork.

This was perfect for the crappy rainy day we had. A keeper.

6 comments:

Bob said...

That sounds mad good, I love pork stew. I also hate squishy carrots, I usually add them right at the end so they cook a bit but are still crunchy.

Vicki said...

Hey Bob - It was superb. I like my carrots a little crunchy too, next time I'll throw them in at the halfway point.

Betts said...

I love fall apart pork. It sounds great.

BTW, I made the beef and stilton pasties... not so good. The whole wheat flour in the pastry, gave it a crumbly texture instead of flaky. Everyone (dh, dd and I) thought the filling was too dry and it needed a sauce.

Vicki said...

Hi Betts - Hmm...maybe make a bechamelly sauce out of the stilton?

Anonymous said...

Great looking stew.

I am with you on the carrots. I will try adding them at the end the next time I make soup or stew.

Vicki said...

Hi Sara - Thanks!