So delicious, you'll slap your Momma for another bowl

Today, Sunday was my 41st birthday. It was a busy stressful week; A week where I reverted to eating freezer burned strawberry ice cream and convenience store prepackaged sushi. So I knew that since I had no plans for this weekend  and that I didn't want to do take away, or delivery food. I didn't want to eat something out of a can and more importantly I didn't want to have to go shopping, cook, clean, wash a dish or leave the house at any point on Sunday. Hell, I wasn't planning on  getting dressed or opening the curtains on Sunday, let alone cooking, putting something on a paper plate or microwaving to reheat was as much effort as I was going to exert.  I gave it some thought but nothing really stuck in my mind as that one dish that I wanted.  Sometimes when you have to many options its hard to settle on something and that's where I was with this decision. So Saturday afternoon  with a very messy kitchen still waiting for me to return, I ran over to work to drop off a big meal for Super Bowl Sunday and while I was driving home I started thinking again about what I was going to make. It was just beginning to snow and it was bitter cold outside and I knew that I wanted something warm and spicy. I knew I wanted something easy that would leave me with left overs in the fridge and it had to be easy enough that I could work on it while I cleaned up the kitchen and out everything back in order from the long week.






Ok, so what do I want? Italian…? I could make a pan of lasagna. No, thats to much work.  Mexican…? Yeah, something Mexican. Red pork chile?   Yep,  that's what I wanted.   Once I got home I could have pulled a recipe off the internet or out of one of my cookbooks, but I wanted it to be and taste like my moms. I didn't want anything extra of different. I wanted my moms chile and since I wasn't going to drive to colorado springs to get some, I called my mom to find out how to make it. I have eaten pounds of it. It's a staple at my mom's, it's the filling my mom an aunts use for their tamales and its a prominent feature at our family's Christmas Day dinner. But I have never really paid that much attention to how she made hers. I've been in the room when its made, but just never written down how she does it.

It's always hard trying to get real details out of my mom. Its a "pinch of this", or a "pinch of that", "enough to make it taste good", or "I don't know, its the one in the bottle with the red label", or some other vague description. But I listened patiently to her while I drove home as she described her method. I asked just enough questions to feel confident that I could make the recipe and make it tastes just like hers does. So with one last stop at the grocery store to pick up what I needed I headed home.

It's a very basic recipe. Few ingredients and while I listened to my  mom, I knew that there was room for "improvement". But I didn't want to tamper with the recipe to much, otherwise it wouldn't be like my mom's.  But, me being me, I did make a few minor adjustments.

I started by browning about 4 pounds of boneless pork country style ribs. I seared them in  my largest Dutch oven. Working in batches to make sure the meat was browned on all sides. Then, where my moms recipe didn't call for fresh onion or garlic; she prefers garlic and onion powder, I used a small diced onion and a few fresh garlic cloves. I pulled the pork out of the pan. Drained off a bit of the accumulated fat, turned the heat down and then added the onion and the garlic. I just wanted to sweat them and not really brown then to much. Once they were opaque, which took about 5 minutes, I added about 2 heaping tablespoons of cumin and chili caribe (another departure from my moms recipe. My mom doesn't add cumin at all and prefers to season with the caribe after the pork is finished and shredded. But I wanted to infuse the flavor of the chili into the roast while it cooked) and just quickly toasted the spice in the oil. Just to bloom the flavor. Then I added two good tablespoons of tomato paste (my mom  recipe adds no tomato product But I wanted it for flavor and for color) I slowly cooked the tomato paste, stirring often for about another 5 minutes. Just long enough to intensify the flavor. Then I added the pork back to the pot, tossed in a couple of bay leaves and a few pinches of salt and grinds of pepper. I poured in chicken broth to lightly cover the pork. I brought the broth up to a simmer on the stove burner before I put the lid on the pot and put it into a preheated 300 degree oven. It cooked for about 3 hours and while it was simmering away I went about cleaning the kitchen. It was so nice to be home, in a warm clean house, filled with the aroma of red pork chili .

  About 3 hours into the cooking time, I pulled the pot out of the oven to check the pork. It was perfectly tender . It was falling apart as I poked at it with my kitchen tongs. It smelled so good!  I took the pork out,  and set it aside to cool enough so that I could handle it and shred it. About 30 minutes later I went back and shredded the pork, removed the fat and gristle and put it back into the broth. Then, on the stove top I brought the broth and pork back to a light simmer. I added more chile caribe to bring the  taste to where I wanted. I even admit to adding a bit of garlic and onion powder.    Then it was a simple matter of letting the broth simmer long enough to reduce it to a thicker consistency. A little bit more salt and it was ready.

Pretty as a picture

Sometimes its hard waiting long enough to take a picture

YUM!

all gone!

Was it as good as my mom's chili? No. But was it wonderful? OH YEAH! I survived on beans and red pork chili all weekend. Sometimes I didn't even bother to warm it up. There is nothing better for breakfast than scrambled eggs and red chile. Scooped up with tortillas.  It was a good weekend.