Pork Chili with Beans and Hominy
Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rinsed dried pink beans, picked over and rinsed
8 cups water, 4 cups very hot
6 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed
2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1/2 tsp ground coriander
One 28-oz can peeled Italian tomatoes
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 llbs trimmed boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2 bay leaves
One 15-onz can white or yellow hominy, drained and rinsed
Rice, sour cream, cilantro and Cheddar cheese, for serving
Instructions:
Put the beans and 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Close the lid and bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to low or just enough to maintain pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes, then carefully release the steam valve and drain. The beans should be barely tender with a hard core.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, soak the guajillo and chipotle chiles in the 4 cups of very hot water until softened, 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Transfer the chiles and the reserved liquid to a blender and add the garlic, onion, cumin, oregano and coriander. Blend until fairly smooth. Add the tomatoes and their juices and puree until smooth. Strain into a bowl through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the solids.
Wipe out the pressure cooker. Add the olive oil and heat until shimmering. Season the pork with salt and pepper and add half of it to the pot. Cook over moderately high heat until browned all over, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a plate. Brown the remaining meat. Return all of the meat to the pot and add the tomato puree, stock, bay leaves and drained beans. Close the lid and bring to high pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to low or just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove the pressure cooker from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes, then carefully release the steam valve. Add the hominy and cook uncovered over moderately high heat for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and serve with rice, sour cream, cilantro and cheese.
Serves 6.
Recipe by Grace Parisi, foodandwine.com.