Red Pork Part 1

[Saucier]

Well, I am in the midst of fixin red pork, and thought the cooking minded amongst the group might want to make it sometime so here is the process.

Start out with some good New Mexico dried red chile, about half a pound for a single batch. The photos are a double batch so ymmv.

Rinse your chiles a bit, and then take some scissors and cut the tops off, and knock out all the seeds you can. Once this is done cut them into 1" pieces, then put them in a large bowl and fill about 2/3 full of boiling water. Put a ceramic plate over the bowl and let them sit a couple of hours, giving them a stir now and again, until the water cools off and they are soft and pliable.

Throw them in a food processor, in batches if necessary and process them until smooth. The next step is easier if you use plenty of liquid, and it really doesn't matter to the recipe as you can just cook a bit longer to get rid of excess moisture. Should be the consistency of gravy or so.

Here comes the work. Get a sieve or big strainer and a spatula and place it over a bowl. Scoop out 2 cups or so of the chile mix into the sieve and start smashing it through with the spatula. This is where it pays a little to have a thin consistency as it works through easier. Just keep working it through, going round and round until there is mostly just skins and seed left. Tap the sieve hard against the bowl to get all the chile puree off the bottom, then throw the seeds/skins aside. Repeat this until you have strained the whole batch. (If you have a kid, maybe you can train them to do this part)!

[Saucier]

Red Pork Part 2

Here is the finished chile puree in one bowl, and the seeds/skins in the other.

By now you will have a stack of different bowls and your processor and utensils, and they will all have a semi-permanent beautiful red chile color. Wear this like a badge of honor. Our scullery maid hates the mess this makes, and although I am barely passable as a chef, I completely fail at cleanup. If you need her services, her name is Kelly Jo!

You should be proud, you just made a really great chile puree!

The rest of the ingredients are as follows.

You need 7-10 lbs of either pork shoulder (picnic) or butts, whatever is on sale is good. One piece, two pieces, doesn't matter at all, it will all look the same at the end. Its really a matter of what will fit in your big iron dutch oven, or in these shots I am using a large soapstone pot (completely non-reactive).

Little olive oil

1 Tbl dried crushed oregano

1 Tbl ground cumin

Salt & pepper to taste (adjust at the end is best)

2 onions diced

1 head of garlic diced fine

A supply of chicken stock, home made is always best, but canned can work.

Get your pot or a black iron skillet smoking hot with a little olive oil in it, and sear your butts (the pork I mean) on all sides and get them in the pot,

Add the chile puree, onion, garlic, spices and enough chicken stock to about cover the roasts.

Get this all to a boil on the stovetop, while preheating your oven to 375. When she is up to temp, cover and put in the oven. This should take about 5 hours. Best to open up at 2.5 hours and flip the roasts over and make sure all is according to Hoyle.

Your house will be smelling like heaven throughout this process. Neighbors might salivate on the porch, stray dogs will howl. Batten down the hatches and repel all borders!

When five or so hours have passed, take them from the oven, and let them cool a bit. Discard bones, fat etc. Shred the meat with your hands (with rubber gloves unless you want red hands for a week) or the tines of two forks. I usually put this in a large bowl and refrigerate overnight.

At that point the remaining fat will have risen to the top and will be solid, making it easy pickins to get a fork or spoon under, pry it up, and throw it out! (who wants to eat grease, yuck).

At this point you can reheat it, and cook it down until most of the liquid is gone and it gets a little sticky. When you go to serve, you can "loosen" it up with chicken stock or water if you cook it too far.

This stuff is great filling for burros, tacos etc. If you want to be really bad and get the real Mexico flavor, put this in a fresh corn tortilla, and fry it up with the meat in it, add some cheese when you pull it out, wash down with a Modelo Negro. It will have you singing a tune.

Mostly I don't do that, I just add it to the taco after the shells are done, but every now and then you have to live a little!

[Sanny]

I gotta ask...

With all that chile, is it so hot it blows the top of your head off? Hot, as in spicy...

[ThreeDJ16]

Man that looks good! Is this anything like a carnita?

BTW, probably just as much of a pain to do, but this is how I process my dried chiles. Cut the ends and pour out the seeds. But then I cut them in half down their length so you get two nice strips (twice again if they are very large). Once they finish rehydrating, one quick scrape with a knife pulls that chili goodness right off the skins. It doesn't take long to burn through a stack of chiles, but I do avoid any too small in size.

Now, if someone out there could give us both a lazy man's way of separating chiles from their skin, I would be happy.

-=Jasen=-

[Saucier]

Hot

Sanny, its not really hot at all, just has a good deep red chile flavor. I usually add some Dave's Insanity sauce to taste. The original recipe actually called for some fresh green serranos I think, but for me its easier to just infuse some Dave's in some chicken broth and let it rip.

When you are tasting, you have to remember that it won't largely be eaten all by itself, it will be living inside some type of a tortilla, with some cheese etc, so the heat will be cut down.

Also all dried chile is not the same, this calls for New Mexico Red, which isn't all that spicy. I bought about a three foot tall sack when rolling through NM one time, still have some left, but will resupply on the way through again.

[Saucier]

Carnitas

Dj, no this is not carnitas at all. Official title is Puerco Deshabrada I think, pardon the spelling If I am off a bit.

Simple Carnitas would be boiling butts in water/stock/aromatics until it is falling apart. You could use the basic recipe sans the chile puree actually.

When done, you shred the pork into chunks, put them on a large foil lined sheet, sprinkle them heavy with garlic salt & onion powder and put them under the broiler until they get a bark on them.

If you have a really hot IR broiler it will do them fast, before the center has a chance to dry out.

Result is nice bark on the outside, still fork tender on the inside.

There is clearly more than one way to make them, but thats how I roll with it.

I have heard of a recipe that involves adding a liter of Coke, and glazing them until sticky, but havent yet pried the whole process out of the guy... cattle prod and bright naked electric bulb & rubber hoses await!

[Amphoran]

I learned to cook carnitas while spending a year in Mexico much longer ago than I care to dwell on...

You cut the pork into chunks about 1x1x2, mostly along the grain, then put in a large skillet with sliced onions, a little garlic, any other aromatics you care to use. Fill with water to just cover the meat, then turn on to medium heat and let 'er rip.

The meat simmers to tenderness as the water boils away, the fat renders out and you end up frying a bark on in the renderd fat. Pop in a strainer to allow the excess to drip off, and they're wonderful.

Only really needs an eye on it during the last fifteen-twenty minutes whey creating the bark.

[ThreeDJ16]

Cool, thanks for the tips! I love carnitas, but have not stumbled upon a very good recipe yet. I have one with coke in the recipe from a Rio Bravo restaurant cookbook, but it is too sweet tasting.

-=Jasen=-