Pork Chili (a variation of Basic Chili)

Degree of Difficulty: Intermediate
Prep Time: 30 min
Total Cook Time: 2 hours

This is a slightly more ‘advanced’ version of the basic chili recipe that I had posted a few weeks back. This chili adds pork shoulder and homemade chili powder to the mix. And beer. Beer makes everything better. This chili also requires a longer cooking time due to the time needed to brown all of the pork and then braise the pork to a nice, tender state. The browning is a pain in the arse but I think it’s worth the effort. Here’s what I used.

3-4 lbs boneless pork shoulder – cut into 1/2 inch to 1 inch cubes. You can also buy pork stew meat that has already been cut into pieces if available in the supermarket
1 lb ground meat (I used a pork/veal/beef combo)
appx 1 cup all purpose flour for dredging the pork shoulder
about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil – I used canola oil
1 tbsp adobo seasoning (see my rice and peas recipe for info on how to make adobo seasoning, otherwise you can simply season with salt and pepper)
2 large onions – roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves - finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers – chopped very finely
4 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tbsps ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano
about 1/2 a bottle or can of any decent and non-bitter, dark beer
appx 24 oz chicken stock
1 28 oz and 1 15 oz can plum style tomatoes – drained, squeezed, and chopped
Optional:
1 15 oz ounce can black beans – drained
1 15 oz ounce can kidney beans – drained

The first order of buisness will be assessing your chili powder situation. I made my own but you don’t have to, I’m just a glutton for punishment. If you’re making your own, do that now. Next, you’ll want to deal with the pork. I usually like to buy pork stew meat that has already been cut into pieces but the supermarket was all out so I bought a 3.75 lb boneless pork shoulder roast. I removed the twine surrounding the roast and cut it into roughly bite-sized pieces (about 1/2 inch to 1 inch). I tried to trim as much of the extra fat and silverskin from the meat as I could but this cut of meat can be strangely shaped so you won’t (nor want) to get everything, but still, take your time with this.

Find a large, deep, heavy bottomed soup pot (please make sure that it isn’t non-stick) and set it on medium-high heat. Dump the flour and adobo seasoning into a large tupperware dish and mix together. It’s best to do these next steps in small batches. Dredge (lightly coat) the pork in the seasoned flour. When the pot is hot, add a few tbsp of the oil to it and give it a minute to get hot. Shake the excess flour off the pork and add the pork to the oil. Let the pork cook for a few minutes until it is brown, then flip the peices over and let the other side brown. Once both main sides of the pork pieces are brown (after about 6-8 min total cooking), take the pork out of the pot and set it aside for later. Repeat until you brown all of the pork. You may need to add more oil to pan between each batch. Note: the goal here is just to brown the pork, not cook it through all the way. Don’t worry about all of the brown stuff on the bottom of the pot…that’s the good stuff. If you see it starting to turn from brown to burnt, turn the heat down a bit. Don’t crowd the pork any more than this or else it will take too long to properly brown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The browned pork should look like this:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once all of the pork has been browned and set aside, add the onions to the pot and stir well making sure you scrape all of the good brown stuff off the bottom of the pot. A wooden spoon is the best tool for this task. Let the onions cook over medium heat for about 10 min, until they get soft, then add the jalapeno peppers and garlic and cook for another min or so. Then add the ground meat, chili powder, cumin, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, and basil and cook over medium high heat for about 8 min, stirring frequently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add the beer and scrape any stuck bits off the bottom of the pot. Next, add the chicken stock and bring to boil. Then add the chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat to low and let the chili simmer for about 60-75 min, stirring occasionally. You may find, like I did, that it is necessary to skim some of the grease and oil off of the surface of the chili during the cooking process. If you decide to add beans to the chili, add them in after about 45-50 min of cooking. After an hour, taste it and check for seasoning* and consistency. If you want it to be a bit thicker, let it cook a bit longer. At this point, you’ll want to add salt and pepper. You can serve the chili immediately or let it cool, put it in the fridge overnight, heat it up slowly over low heat on the following day and it will be even more flavorful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Servings: quite a lot. Make this and invite lots of friends over.

* I will admit that I had some issues with my chili powder. I think that the pasilla negro chilies added way too much bitterness to the final dish…not good…I won’t be using those again. I had to work at correcting that and wound up adding another 2 tbsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp adobo seasoning, another few ounces of chicken stock and beer, additional salt and pepper, and 1 tsp oregano all to the chili (basically, anything that wasn’t chili powder). I also added a few tsp of cayenne pepper since the jalapenos I used were not particulary potent. The difference was remarkable, the final result much more satisfying, the flavors much more complex than those in my basic chili. Now if only I can find some good chilies in this city.