Yesterday on Iron Chef America, the challenger marinated pork in red chile/banana (it was Battle Banana) and then grilled the pork to make tacos al pastor (with grilled pineapple). That sounds phenomenal to me. Does anyone have any suggestions for duplicating that idea? Chipotles in Adobo or some other chiles? Any other ingredients?
red chile/banana pork
- Thread starter Eli
- Start date
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I don't know about 'duplicating' (I don't watch food shows) but I'd go with something like this with the following changes:
Halve the recipe except the chicken stock.
When the garlic is toasted, leave the pan on the stove and add 1-2 t neutral oil plus 1 t unsalted butter. When the butter's foam subsides add 1.5 ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise and sauté till nicely browned on the cut sides; remove to the blender and purée as noted. After straining and finishingwith the rest of the ingredients, do not reduce too much. Shoot for a consistency of no thicker than a creamy vinaigrette. (Thin with stock or water if needed, adjusting salt, vinegar if necessary.)
(Sub one canned chipotle in adobo for the dried called for, if necessary. Simply add it to the blender with the other chilies after they soak.)
Use pork blade steaks (marinating overnight) and the procedure noted here. Grill pineapple along with the steaks and use the reserved marinade (reserved from draining the marinated steaks) as a baste for the meat and/or the pineapple. Whe3n the meat is tender and has some good caramelization, and when the pineapple is caramelized, remove, chop coarsely, and served with grilled tortillas, with salsa fresca and lime on the side.
Halve the recipe except the chicken stock.
When the garlic is toasted, leave the pan on the stove and add 1-2 t neutral oil plus 1 t unsalted butter. When the butter's foam subsides add 1.5 ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise and sauté till nicely browned on the cut sides; remove to the blender and purée as noted. After straining and finishingwith the rest of the ingredients, do not reduce too much. Shoot for a consistency of no thicker than a creamy vinaigrette. (Thin with stock or water if needed, adjusting salt, vinegar if necessary.)
(Sub one canned chipotle in adobo for the dried called for, if necessary. Simply add it to the blender with the other chilies after they soak.)
Use pork blade steaks (marinating overnight) and the procedure noted here. Grill pineapple along with the steaks and use the reserved marinade (reserved from draining the marinated steaks) as a baste for the meat and/or the pineapple. Whe3n the meat is tender and has some good caramelization, and when the pineapple is caramelized, remove, chop coarsely, and served with grilled tortillas, with salsa fresca and lime on the side.
Kevin
Thanks for your response. I basically followed your recommendations, with a few tweaks:
I toasted 4 guajillo and 4 ancho peppers and then soaked in boiling water. I then toasted 5 garlic cloves with the skin on and half a chopped onion in the same skillet. When the garlic skins were browning a set those aside to cool, melted a tablespoon of butter in the same skillet and browned two bananas. Once I removed those I dumped in a small container of fresh pineapple salsa from Whole Foods (to get some of the al Pastor flavor) and cooked it until the liquid was reduced to a syrup-like consistency. Into the food processor: the softened chilis, roasted garlic and onions, half a can of chipotle in adobo, the browned bananas, pineapple salsa, oregano, thyme, cumin, salt, pepper, about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of OJ and a good squeeze of honey. Man did that have a strong taste! I currently have a few pork blade steaks, pounded out, marinating overnight. Tomorrow I'm going to grill them direct --> indirect and I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Thanks again and I'll post some pictures of the final result.
Thanks for your response. I basically followed your recommendations, with a few tweaks:
I toasted 4 guajillo and 4 ancho peppers and then soaked in boiling water. I then toasted 5 garlic cloves with the skin on and half a chopped onion in the same skillet. When the garlic skins were browning a set those aside to cool, melted a tablespoon of butter in the same skillet and browned two bananas. Once I removed those I dumped in a small container of fresh pineapple salsa from Whole Foods (to get some of the al Pastor flavor) and cooked it until the liquid was reduced to a syrup-like consistency. Into the food processor: the softened chilis, roasted garlic and onions, half a can of chipotle in adobo, the browned bananas, pineapple salsa, oregano, thyme, cumin, salt, pepper, about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of OJ and a good squeeze of honey. Man did that have a strong taste! I currently have a few pork blade steaks, pounded out, marinating overnight. Tomorrow I'm going to grill them direct --> indirect and I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Thanks again and I'll post some pictures of the final result.
I have to say those came out pretty darn good. There was a ton of flavor (spicy, smoky, sweet) and I could definitely taste the bananas. The only thing I'd change in the future would be to use less chipotles. I used half the can because I felt bad about just using one or two and throwing the rest away. I didn't mind all that much since I'm a big chipotle fan but they were a little too dominant. I'd definitely recommend this recipe for al pastor fans!
al pastor tacos w/ red chile banana marinade
al pastor tacos w/ red chile banana marinade
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Eli:
I used half the can because I felt bad about just using one or two and throwing the rest away. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sealed up in a small jar/container, they will keep for a very, very long time in the fridge.
Looks like the pork came out fantastic.
Great pics.
I used half the can because I felt bad about just using one or two and throwing the rest away. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sealed up in a small jar/container, they will keep for a very, very long time in the fridge.
Looks like the pork came out fantastic.
j biesinger
TVWBB Platinum Member
nice work.
I didn't think banana would have transferred much to the pork, but what do I know.
I toss extra chip in adobo in the freezer. even frozen they're pretty easy to separate, and thaw in minutes.
I didn't think banana would have transferred much to the pork, but what do I know.
I toss extra chip in adobo in the freezer. even frozen they're pretty easy to separate, and thaw in minutes.