Wednesday, August 19, 2015

This week's MENU recipe - Pulled pork, Mexican style

This is the dish in fashion at the moment, overseas and here; if you turn on the TV food channels, it is everywhere. Lynne wanted to try making it and it was rather successful. This is her adaptation of the recipe for you to try. You do need Jalapeno peppers, preferably in the smoky adobo sauce. We stock Mexicorn Chipotles in adobo, which cost R65 a jar. But you could also buy a jar of pickled jalapenos from the supermarket and add some smoke with a teaspoon of Spanish smoked paprika. If you like food extra spicy, add two chipotles or jalapenos. You serve this with soft tortillas or with rice. We added a guacamole to cool it down. You could also add a yoghurt and cucumber dip.
1 large, finely chopped onion - 1 piece of shoulder of pork or neck weighing ±1.5Kg - 410g tin of chopped tomatoes - 400g tomato passata - 3 bay leaves, fresh if possible - 1 T fresh finely chopped fresh oregano or 1t dried - 2 crushed cloves of garlic - 1 T maple syrup - 1 chipotle or jalapeno chilli in adobo sauce - salt and freshly ground black pepper
If you are using a slow cooker, put everything in it, turn on to high, cover and leave to cook for 6 or 7 hours. Stir and turn the piece of pork occasionally - about every hour. Check the seasoning and adjust. If your tomatoes are sour, you may need more salt and a bit more maple syrup. Eventually, the bones will come away completely. Cut off the rind and fat and remove. You are then supposed to shred the pork. Lynne broke it into rather large chunks instead and let our guests do the shredding on their plate. Or not. This goes a long, long way and is rich, meaty and tender with a nice kick of warmth from the chilli.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, you need to cook in a covered casserole in the oven on slow until it is tender and the sauce has broken down and amalgamated. Check and turn the meat every hour to see that it is not drying out and sticking to the pot. Add a little water if it is.
Always better if made the day before

We served it with the new Du Toitskloof Nebbiolo, which was a very good match
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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