November 17th, 2008 at 12:56 am
by (dinner, recipes)
4 pounds pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into bite sized pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked, cored and chopped
4 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (yes it sounds like a lot, but once they are seeded, they aren’t that hot. As such, depending on how spicy you want the soup, seed only some of them)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon, dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
8 cups chicken stock
2 cans hominy
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
(To garnish)
1/4 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
10 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges
METHOD
Season the pork generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Brown the pork chunks on each side, making sure to get good, golden color. Be careful not to over-crowd the pot. As such, this will have to be done in batches. Reserve the browned pork on a plate, while you continue browning.
Pour out the excess fat, then add the onions and a large pinch of salt. Saute for about 5 minutes, scraping up the brown bits that are left in the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatillos, jalapenos, garlic and oregano and continue to cook for another 3 or 4 minutes.
Add the reserved pork, any accumulated pork juices, the chicken stock. Cover the pot, crank the heat to high and bring to a boil. Remove the lid, turn the heat down to low and simmer gently until the pork is tender and starting to fall apart, which should take about 1 1/2 hours. Add the hominy for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Stir in the cilantro and taste for seasoning. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with the shredded cabbage, diced red onion, sliced radishes, and lime wedges.
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November 17th, 2008 at 12:53 am
by (dinner, recipes)
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 of a small yellow onion, chopped fine
1/2 of a carrot, chopped fine
1/2 of a celery stalk, chopped fine
3/4 pound of lean ground beef (ideally ground from the meat of the neck)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup of whole milk
1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
2 cups of chopped Italian tomatoes (canned is preferred to fresh)
Ideally you have an earthenware pot (pfft! right) but a heavy-bottomed stock pot or cast-iron dutch oven would also work. Place the pan over medium heat and add the butter and oil. Once the butter has melted, add the onion and stir constantly for about 1 minute. The onion should just be slightly translucent. Add the chopped celery and carrot and let it cook for 2 minutes. Add in the ground beef and stir it constantly for several minutes while the beef cooks. Once the meat is just slightly more brown than red, you’re ready to turn the heat up to medium-high and add the wine. Leave it uncovered and simmering vigorously. It should take about 10 minutes for the wine to evaporate. Add the milk and the nutmeg and lower the heat to medium. Stir it constantly until it stops boiling vigorously. Stir it frequently for about 6-8 minutes, or until the milk evaporates. Add the tomatoes and reduce the heat as low as you can get it. You want it to bubble occasionally, but barely simmer. The lower you can get the heat, the longer you can simmer the meat, which will make it more tender. And texture is just as important with this dish as flavor. You’ll want to be able to cook it for about 3-1/2 to 5 hours, or until all of the liquid has evaporated and you’re left with a meaty, gravy-like sauce. Ideally you’ll serve this over homemade fresh tagliatelle; realistically you’ll find that a wider noodle is better suited to this sauce than the more typical spaghetti. Taste and add salt if necessary. I also suggest serving this with a tablespoon or so of freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
According to Marcella, there are three very important things to remember when making this sauce:
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The meat must be sautéed just until it starts to lose the raw color. Cooking it too long will make the meat rubbery.
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You must cook off all of the milk before adding the tomatoes which will make the meat sweeter and add a creamier texture.
*
It must be cooked at a very low simmer for a very long time. The minimum is 3-1/2 hours but the ideal is 5 hours. This sauce is essentially a stovetop braise, and braising is the perfect way to make cheap, tough cuts of meat tender.
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March 24th, 2008 at 5:16 am
by (recipes)
Recipe from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen.
This sauce is simply amazing. I’d never tasted Pasilla chiles before making this and was pleasantly surprised. It is sweet, smoky, and earthy in the best ways possible. After adding honey you might even think there was molasses or hidden in there. Use whatever meat and variety of squash you like. These chiles are not very spicy so after you’re finished you may want to add a few red pepper flakes if you like to sweat while you eat.
We used cubes of beef & butternut squash, you can use whatever meat and squash or potatoes you’d like.
- 6 cloves unpeeled garlic
- 6 dried pasilla chiles
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/2 cups beef, chicken, or vegetable broth
- 2 1/2 – 3 cups sweet potato, pumpkin, acorn squash, or butternut squash. Pealed & cut into 1 inch cubes.
- 1/3 cup honey
- salt
- a few rings of onion
- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds well-trimmed boneless lamb, pork, or beef cut into 1 inch cubes
First make the pasilla seasoning paste:
- Remove seeds & stems from the pasilla chiles, cut them open so they can lay somewhat flat, they’ll want to curl up.
- Cook the chiles for a few short minutes on each side, flip when they crackle or send up a wisp of smoke. It helps to smash them down with a spatula.
- Roast the unpeeled garlic for about 15 minutes, until soft.
- Put the chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water, allow to rehydrate for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Drain chiles, but keep 1/4 cup of the water.
- Use food processor or blender to blend chiles, leftover water, garlic, oregano, pepper, and cumin into a smooth paste.
- Put some oil on a hot, heavy skillet. Brown your meat in small, uncrowded batches.
- Add all cooked meat and chile paste to the pan. Cook it while stirring frequently for about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the broth, cover partially and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
- Add sweet potato (or whatever you’re using), stir, continue simmering until everything is tender, about 35 minutes.
- Add about 1/4 cup honey, stir, add onion, salt to taste
We served with refried black beans and warm tortillas.
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