Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Kara's green chile pork


Well, I learned a good lesson from this one. I will no longer think I'm so smart about recipes that I neglect to ask for details, including measurements, when I write someone's recipe down! Here's the recipe I scribbled in my recipe book. I've been assuming it's a crock pot dish, but now I'm not sure:

3/4 pound pork

cumin

green chiles

stewed Mexican tomatoes

oregano

chopped onion

2-3 cloves garlic

1 cup chicken stock

Hmmm... Whatever what I thinking? What are stewed Mexican tomatoes? What kind of pork should I use? Is that fresh oregano or dried? A lot or a little? You get the picture.

At any rate, it turned out pretty yummy, but I was kicking myself for having to do guess work. Yes, I could have picked up the phone and called Kara, but I wasn't about to go back out to the store for any ingredients, and time was of the essence as I stood in my kitchen with my apron on, all ready to go.

My only complaint is that the pork was a little dry. I seem to have face that sad reality a lot. Any readers have any tips on how to keep the pork juicy? We solved the problem post-cooking by passing lots of the leftover broth from the crock pot on the side.

Here's the recipe I wound up using for the dish, and my family liked it a lot. They even had seconds. (The real star of the meal, however, was the butternut squash-potato mash, which I'll post tomorrow!)


Green chile pork -- maybe Kara's, maybe not (serves 6)

2 pork tenderloins, about 3 pounds

2 teaspoons cumin

9 Anaheim peppers, seeded and chopped

1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped

1 chopped yellow onion

6 cloves garlic, minced

about 20 ounces canned, diced tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper, to taste

1.) Put all ingredients into the crock pot, and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

2.) Remove tenderloins, slice thickly on a cutting board, and place on a serving platter.

3.) Using a slotted spoon, remove as many green peppers and tomatoes as possible from the crock pot. Spoon them over the pork.

4.) Pass the remaining broth from the crock pot on the side, with a gravy spoon.

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