Carne Adobado recipe?


 

Don Irish

TVWBB Pro
Had some in San Diego last week...outstanding...anyone have a recipe? Saw several on-line but I figured the gurus here would know the best
icon_smile.gif

Thanks
Don
 
Hi Kevin,
I picked up a whole pork loin from Costco – was planning on using half for Canadian Bacon (using your cure). I’ve been perusing Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen cookbook and although he does not have this per se, I’m thinking of a 2lb or so roast on the WSM sitting in a pan with a red sauce. I’ve got some dried guajillo’s, another bag labeled “chile California” and some dried, smoked jalapeno’s. What I’ve got in mind is roasting some garlic and toasting the dried peppers, rehydrating, blending with beef or chicken stock (got some homemade chicken stock/box of beef), onions, Mexican oregano, maybe a pinch of cumin. Thinking of marinating the pork, then putting in a pan in the WSM at 350 till 160 internal temp, slicing for tacos. Sound like I’m on the right track? Alternatively would be to cut up into chunks, brown and braise at 325 or so in the oven covered. Never tried this before, any ideas/suggestions would be helpful.
Don
 
Yes, right track. What I'd suggest is butterflying the piece of loin and stabbing it all over with the tip of a thin-bladed knife and marinating thus. I'd use chicken stock. Give me a few minutes and I'll write you something based on the ingredients you gave and you can use it as is, or as a starting point. You'll need a little cider vinegar as well.
 
Thanks Kevin,
I have the cider vinegar on hand a a fairly well stocked pantry/spice rack. Looking forward to trying this, the tacos I had in SD were fantastic.
Don
 
I hope this will work or at least give you a good starting point. Hard to know what you had in SD--there are many approaches.

Fattier pork is usually used for stewed dishes like this so it is important to watch and not overcook the loin.

12 Californias

8 guajillos

2 chipotles

6 cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 med-large onion (preferably white)

1 t Mexican oregano

1/4 t thyme

~ 1/8 t ground cumin

a few turns of the back peppermill

1.5 c chicken stock

2 T olive oil

salt

sugar

cider vinegar



For serving:

corn tortillas

cilantro (washed, dried and chopped just before serving)

white onion (from above; diced just before serving)

lime sections



Bring a kettle of ~3 c water to a boil. Heat a large dry skillet or griddle (preferably cast iron) over med heat. Meanwhile, stem, split and seed the chilies.

When the pan is hot, toast the chilies by placing several at a time in the pan, stirring/tossing frequently and, once or twice, briefly pressing with a spatula then immediately flipping, till fragrant and lightly toasted. Remove to heatproof bowl and repeat with the remaining chilies, removing them to the bowl when toasted. Cover the chilies with boiling water, weighting the chilies if necessary with a smaller diameter bowl to submerge them, then covering the whole thing with plastic wrap. Allow the chilies to rehydrate, about 30-40 min.

While the chilies are soaking, toast/roast the unpeeled garlic cloves in the same pan, turning often, till the skins are browned, even charred in spots, and the garlic is fragrant, 8-12 min. Remove to cool on the counter. Take two, 1/4-inch slices out of the middle of the onion (simply cut the onion in half on its equator, then take a 1/4-inch slice from each half); wrap and fridge the remaining onion. Char the onion slices in the same pan by placing in the pan and leaving alone for a few minutes before flipping to char the other sides. (You're looking for browned and blacked here and there.)

Remove the onions to a blender. Peel the garlic cloves and add them as well. Save about 1/2 c of the pepper soaking water, drain the peppers, then add them to the blender along with 1/4 c of the reserved soaking water, about 1/3 c of the chicken stock, the oregano, thyme, pepper and cumin. Puree till very smooth. (If necessary, add a little more of the soaking water, a T at a time, to facilitate blending.) Force the puree through a not-too-fine sieve into a bowl.

Heat the oil in a sauce pot over med-high heat. When the oil is very hot, add all the puree all at once (it will spatter!) and stir. Cook, stirring frequently, till its thicker (reduced by about 1/4-1/3), about 5 min. Add the rest of the stock, stirring, then simmer about 10-15 min. Add salt to taste and sugar to taste ( probably ~1 t). Stir in the vinegar to taste (probably ~1 T). Cool the sauce.

Marinate your prepped pork 8-12 hours in the sauce, turning occasionally.

Place the pork in a pan with the sauce. You can cook in your cooker or the oven 275-325. You can start uncovered then cover later, tightly, or tightly cover at the beginning. Turn the meat once during cooking. I'd recommend not going much past 155 since it's loin.

Rest the pork alone, tented, about 10 min. Skim any fat from the pan or just stir it in. Adjust thickness by reducing a little or by adding stock or water. Adjust salt. Chop the reserved onion; wash, dry, chop the cilantro. Flame-toast the corn tortillas to soften (or use a dry or oiled pan); stack and wrap in a towel to keep warm. Slice the pork and serve with the sauce, tortillas, onion, cilantro and lime.
 
Many thanks Kevin,
This was just the approach I was thinking about. Butterflying the loin was a great idea to increase the surface area. I'll update tomorrow night.
Cheers,
Don
 
I'll check with my 100 year old (she's really not 100 just looks like it) future mother in-law and see if she can shed any light on this recipe. She's an amazing Mexican cook (used to have her own catering business) and definitely is old school Mexican cooking. She was born and raised there, came here in about 1960.
 
Carne came out great – many thanks again to Kevin. Sauce was deep red, rich, flavorful with a mild spice to it. Served with great northern beans from Rick’s cookbook simmered with one smoked, dried jalapeno which imparted a surprisingly spicy taste (then partially mashed and pan fried with lots of onions). Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy here so I cooked inside. I think it would have been better on the WSM (isn’t everything??) uncovered for 30 minutes to absorb some smoke flavor. The chopped white onion with cilantro and a squeeze of lime added a refreshing brightness. Next time I’ll try it with a fattier piece of pork, perhaps pork blade steaks then grill. I think this would also be outstanding with a chuck roast then pulled for tacos.
 
The above is a procedure for pork, stewed. As noted, it is usually made with fattier cuts. You can use the same procedure and recipe but, instead, use pork shoulder steaks or steaks from the shoulder end of the loin. Marinate as noted then get your grill ready. Remove the steaks from the marinade and allow to drain well, reserving the marinade if desired.

Grill the steaks somewhat slowly, moving periodically from direct to indirect, till the meat is tender and the exterior has some nice caramelization. Rest, tented, a few minutes*, then serve, or slice or chop and serve.

(The steaks can also be fried in a little hot oil rather than grilled.)

Note: If using more thickly cut pork, pound thinner before marinating.

The above recipe can also be used for beef (and even chicken); I sometimes alter the spicing (a little marjoram for beef; some sage for chicken or pork too). For grilling, I prefer skirt steaks; for stewing, chuck.


* You can simmer the reserved marinade for several minutes while the meat is resting and use to pass separately as a sauce.
 

 

Back
Top