Carne Adovado

This recipe was posted on the about.com BBQ forum. This dish is absolutely delicious and I heartily recommend it. It's basically bbq pork, but with Mexican seasonings.

I make it a little differently than the original poster. She used pork loin, I use pork butt. She cooked to 165, I cook to 195. Mine is basically pulled pork, Mexican style. I also make mine with mild chiles because my kids can't eat it hot, but it's definitely better spicey. Make it as spicey as you can stand.
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Fist of all, it is most important to obtain genuine New Mexico dried red chiles -- not chile powder and not New Mexico chiles that someone grew elsewhere. They come in mild, hot and extra hot -- I used hot and they were perfect.
For the pork I used a pork loin.
First you need to turn those chiles into a chile puree -- you will need several batches of the following:
RED CHILE PUREE
1-2 cups water 8-10 dried red chile pods
Tear tops off of chile pods and use knife or finger to clean out seeds and veins inside of each one. Place pods in large pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling on high heat. Boil several minutes until pods are soft. Place drained pods (save water) in blender container, then pour 1/2 of liquid into blender and blend until smooth, add 1-2 cloves garlic if desired. Add more water as needed. Sometimes you might need to pour thru a mesh sieve to remove any skins that did not blend up in the blender.
What I did was cut my pork loin into four sections by slicing once horizontally through the pork loin (with the grain) then once vertically down the middle (across the grain).
Make the marinade (I made extra to make sure I had plenty):
4 cloves garlic
1 T. salt
1 T. oregano (I used Mexican -- after all this is a Southwestern recipe)
1 recipe of the Red Chile Puree
Put the pork into a non-reactive container (mine was plastic) and cover completely (underneath, sides, top) with a good amount of the chili puree and let it marinade in the refrigerator at least 24 hours.
Next you need to make some Chile Colorado:
Chile Colorado
2 T. shortening (I use butter)
2 T. flour
2 C. red chile puree
2 C. chicken broth (I recommend unsalted)
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
Dash oregano
Heat shortening (butter) in medium-size saucepan on medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1minute. Add red chile puree and cook for about another minute. Gradually add water (broth) and stir, making sure there are no lumps, a whisk works best. Add seasoning to sauce and simmer at low heat for 10-15 mins.
(Depending upon how much carne adovado you're making, you may want to double up on the Chile Colorado recipe.)
After marinating for a minimum of 24 hours remove the pork and put in your smoker at 220 degrees (it is optional whether or not you want to rinse the marinade off before smoker or leaving it on -- I left it on and it was incredible) and cook until the pork reaches an internal temp of 160-170 degrees. Use pecan wood for flavoring (the combination of pecan wood smoke and the flavor of the New Mexico chiles is a match made in heaven).
Remove the pork from the smoker and cut into cubes approximately 1" square and put into a somewhat shallow pan (about 3" deep) and cover pour all the Chile Colorado over it. Put the pan in the smoker with the temp raised to 300 degrees and let it simmer in there for at least an hour. About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, layer a bunch of shredded Mexican cheese (I used the Kraft pre-shredded Mexican combination (3 cheeses) cheese) over the top and heat until the cheese is fully melted.
Remove from smoker and serve immediately (tastes best when good and hot). Serve with warm flour tortillas, pinto beans and Spanish or Mexican rice.
Trust me, this is the best eatin' you've ever had.

Boy, does that sound good! Right up my alley!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> ... it is most important to obtain genuine New Mexico dried red chiles ... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I saw this same comment in a cookbook with no explaination. I wonder what the reason is? I know I will have a hard time finding these, can you suggest a common alternative?

thanks for the post, this recipe is goin on my 'gotta do' list

Edit: removed 'tried with pork butt' question, somehow I thought you said 'I use pork loin'

Tom-- this looks delicious. Up my alley as well.

Shawn-- Similar in heat and fruitiness would be Pasilla, Guajillo, Ancho, and Cascabel chilies. Cascabels are a bit hotter. If you want go with those make sure they are real: They'll be small, brown and round (like a cherry pepper). Anchos (which are ripe, dried Poblanos, and are larger and triangular) are sometimes mis-labeled as Cascabels. Anchos are a bit fruitier than New Mexico chilies. They are sometimes mis-labeled as Pasillas. Guajillos are similar in heat but have a thicker skin than New Mexicos. You may have to cook then a bit longer to soften them up. Pasillas are thin and long and a standard in mole sauces. If you can find all of these I'd suggest a mix. Per the recipe of 8-10 chilies: 4-5 Anchos (depending on size), 3 Guajillos, 2 Pasillas, and 1 Cascabel. If you use Anchos, either alone or in a mix, I'd recommend soaking them separately first in very hot water, 20 min or so (before cooking), then tasting the soaking water. If it's very bitter (sometimes with Anchos it is) chuck it and continue with the recipe. If not, use it in your pot when you boil the chilies.

There really aren't many visually identifiable differences in genuine New Mexico chilies, so unfortunately you have to rely on whatever the packager puts on the label. If you're lucky you'll find explicit labels. The commonly grown ones like Sunset, Sunrise, and Eclipse, all have the about the same heat. Espanolas and Big Jims are milder. All of them are available dried. Usually the ripe (red) dried ones are a little milder than those dried unripe (green). Anaheim (also called California) chilies look very similar, but are larger, and are often mis-labeled as New Mexico. They are milder than New Mexico chilies.

P.S. Shawn--

I should have freshly dried New Mexico chilies in the early spring. If you want to try this recipe as written I can send you a bunch. My address is on my profile.

You can always use fresh ones instead of dried ones, and skip the reconstituting step, no?

You can but you might need more and the flavor will be different, delicious I'm sure, but different. The flavor profiles of many chilies change when they're dried. For instance, Guajillos take on an earthy flavor when dried that they don't have when fresh. Poblanos (Anchos when dried) and New Mexicos, while fruity when ripe, are less nuanced and deeper when dried and reconstituted than when used fresh

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shawn W:
Boy, does that sound good! Right up my alley!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> ... it is most important to obtain genuine New Mexico dried red chiles ... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I saw this same comment in a cookbook with no explaination. I wonder what the reason is? I know I will have a hard time finding these, can you suggest a common alternative?

thanks for the post, this recipe is goin on my 'gotta do' list

Edit: removed 'tried with pork butt' question, somehow I thought you said 'I use pork loin' <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use the standard dried California chiles found in the supermarket. The genuine Hatch, New Mexico chiles might be better, but the dish is still good with the supermarket chiles.

Kevin, it sounds like you really know your chiles. Last time, I used a mixture of about 2/3 Californian and 1/3 Anchos. You can mix chiles.

As I said, I use mild chiles so the kids can eat it, but this dish really is meant to be very hot.

It's too late for my pork butts today, but I do have this in mind for a future cook. I'll even use the dried guys, just to be authentic as possible...!

Hey, Alton Brown is saying exactly the same thing you just said, Kevin...! (watching bobby flay on iron chef)

Think they'll give me my own show now?