Puerco Guisada - sorta...

This recipe came about because I wanted to make something with a lot of flavor and slow cooked so it would be tender. I had just made beef tips last week so I decided to go with pork. I have wanted to make carnitas for awhile but the amount of oil used puts me off. This comes out with a similar texture and I think more flavor. Is good shredded on a soft flour tortilla or over rice... or just on a fork.

Ingredients:
4 tbs flour
2 tbs green chile powder (hard to come by..)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbs cumin
2 tbs minced garlic
4lb Boston Butt Roast (cut into 2 inch chunks)
1 large onion chopped
1 1/2 cup roasted hatch chopped
1 small can crushed tomato
2 cups broth (chicken.. pork.... vegetable)
4 tbs oil (not extra virgin olive, canola or peanut works well)


pork and spices


My preferred chicken broth.



Best canned tomato product I can find.


Chop roasted hatch. This is from my freezer. I roast and freeze my own green chillies from New Mexico every fall.


Onions and garlic



Mix the dry spices and flour and rub all over meat chunks.


In a cast iron dutch oven, heat up the oil and brown all the pork chunks.


Pork all browned and set aside briefly.


Saute the onions in the leftover oil and add the garlic.


Add the tomato.


Add the broth slowly and bring up to a low boil.




Add the pork back to the pan and move to a 300 degree oven for 90 minutes.


Pork halfway through cooking process.



Add the hatch and stir in gently. You could add the Hatch at the beginning and then cook for full 3 hours but I like to keep some of the structure to the Hatch in the finished product. Put back into the oven for another 90 minutes.



Finished Puerco Guisada.


One piece of the finished pork. Fork tender and ready to eat. Wish I had photographed the tacos we made out of this.

We made tacos from this meat shredded with a little bit of the gravy/sauce some crumbled queso blanco (a fresh mexican cheese that crumbles like feta but tastes more like mozzarella) and some raw onions that I had mixed with lime juice and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Beef Tips

Beef tips were my favorite meat at Dot's in Pflugerville, Texas. Dot's closed today because Dot the woman who owned it wanted to retire after 30 years of making some of the best southern comfort food I have ever had.

Ingredients:
Chuck Roast
Beef broth
onions
butter
garlic
corn starch
salt
pepper
celery salt
gravy darkener (Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet)



I got chuck roast that was already cut into "country rib" strips and the garlic i used was fresh minced in a plastic tube from the veggy section at the grocery store.


Chop the 3 onions (I saved half of one onion for a side dish).



Cut the meat into chunks that are sort of cube like. The length of cooking we will do will take care of any size differences.


Brown the meat on each side as best you can.


Stir the meat every few minutes. This might take several batches. Move the browned meat to a plate and save the drippings.


Add the onions and saute for a few minutes on medium heat.


Add the salt, pepper and celery salt.


Add about 2 tablespoons of fresh minced garlic.


Stir in the browned meat and drippings. Preheat the oven to 350.


Add the broth and bring up to a boil. Once the broth is at a heavy boil, stir well and cover. Move to the oven for 1 hour.


Remove the cover and leave tips in the oven for another hour.


Remove from the oven and with a slotted spoon take the meat out to a holding dish and cover while you make the gravy.


If, like me you reduced the liquid to much, add a couple more cups of broth or however much you need to make the desired amount of gravy.


Bring the broth up to a boil and add the browning sauce and some cornstarch slurry. Bring back up to a boil and remove from heat.


Add the cooked meat back to the pot and stir in gently. Set aside for 10 minutes or so to let the gravy and meat flavors develop more.


Beef tips ready to serve. Dot's always served this over rice and I cooked some rice to serve with it tonight as well though I also served Boiled Butter Potatoes and Bacon Green Beans.

Boiled Butter Potatoes

This is quite possibly the most simple potato dish I make. Another nod to Dot's in Pflugerville Texas that closed today.

Ingredients:
Russet potatoes
Butter
Salt


I used 6 potatoes though I think there are only 4 here. I amso used 2 sticks of butter.


Peel and cut the potatoes into large chunks.


Cover the potatoes with about and inch of water over the top in a large pot. I changed potato cooking pots here so I could use the smaller one for another side dish.



Cook the potatoes until they break apart when you touch them with a spoon.


Drain the potatoes as best you can but don't dump them into a strainer. A little water will be a good thing shortly. Add the softened butter and cover to let the potato's heat melt the butter.


Stir the butter into the potatoes with 3 or 4 turns of the pot, do not whip them, you are looking for a chunky texture.

Bacon Green Beans

This is the best way to make green beans unhealthy and very tasty. I have had these at several restaurants but my favorite place that had them was Dot's in Pflugerville Texas/

Ingredients:
Green Beans
Salt
Chopped onions
Bacon


I forgot to put the onion in here because i was prepping them for another recipe.



Cut the green beans and bacon into small pieces and chop the onion.


Brown the bacon and onions with just a tiny bit of butter and don't worry about some of the bacon sticking to the bottom. Add enough water to cover the beans. Cook until the beans are tender and just lose their bright green color.



Finished beans ready to serve.