Triple Pork Chili Colorado

A fast and flavorful red-sauced pork chili with beans.

Fall weather finally kicked in with windy gusts of rain and cool temperatures, but after 80 days of record-breaking dry, warm sunshine I'm not complaining. After all, this is the Pacific Northwest, and cooler weather just signals the beginning of slow cooking season, a time for soups, chilis and stews. Mmmmm, mmmmm good... except when you are in a rush and haven't planned ahead. Like yesterday. 

With a hungry husband and my own grumbling stomach for encouragement, I put together a new chili recipe for our late lunch. As he finished his second bowl of chili, RL asked, "Did you write down the recipe? I'll want this one again." 

Write down the recipe? while I'm slicing and dicing and stirring and tasting? No way! but it was easy to scan the mess on the countertops and stove to remind me of the ingredients and jog my memory as to the the steps involved. Chili recipes are only guides, a basic formula to adjust and embellish a bit differently each time I cook. Surprisingly small changes can make a noticeable difference in flavor; even resting overnight in the fridge can mellow out a batch of assertive seasonings. Julia Child shared a few similar thoughts in her book From Julia Child's Kitchen: 

...few cooks, once they have mastered a recipe, want to do it exactly the same way twice--that's a pedestrian and boring way to cook....the main theme of the recipe is in your memory bank, and you can begin to have fun with variations of your own.Now you are really cooking.

This quick chili is a bit non-traditional. My usual pork chili features tomatillos, not tomatoes... verde not colorado. In our local TexMex restaurants, chili colorado is all about beef, not pork. Chili beans are typically a side dish, an accompaniment and not cooked with the meat in the chili pot. No matter, we're not strict chili traditionalists, it's all about flavor. The ingredient list appears lengthy, but this is not a complicated chile. It's just 3 kinds of pork, some onion, seasonings, tomatoes and beans simmered in a broth. It is simple and quick to prepare, but oh! so tasty... and that's not just due to major hunger pangs before lunch.

Triple Pork Chili Colorado

Serves 2-4

1/2 pound Mexican chorizo

2 strips bacon, chopped

1 very thick pork chop, chopped into small chunks

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 poblano chile, diced

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cilantro

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

a pinch of sugar 

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 can lo-salt diced, peeled tomatoes

2 cans lo-salt chicken stock

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can red beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon masa harina or cornmeal

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 bunch cilantro, rough chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar, cotija or jack cheese

sour cream (optional)

1. In a cast iron skillet or heavy-bottomed pot, saute the chorizo over medium-high heat until the fat is rendered but not until crispy. Remove and set aside. Leave the fat in the pan for its spicy flavor (or drain it off if you are a total chili wimp).
2. In the same skillet, cook the bacon and pork chunks until lightly browned on all sides. Remove and set aside with the chorizo. Leave the fat in the pan, you’ll need it for the onions and spices.
3. Add the onion, garlic, poblano, oregano, cumin, cilantro, cinnamon, sugar and black pepper to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and translucent.
4. Return the meat to the skillet and add the tomatoes, chicken stock and beans. Bring to a boil; lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 45-60 minutes. Stir it occasionally and add water if needed (it might be necessary if the simmer is too vigorous).
5. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and seasonings as needed. (I added several dashes of chipotle Tabasco to pop the heat level a bit.)
6. If the liquid needs thickening, dissolve 1 tablespoon masa harina in a bit of water and slowly stir the mix into the chili.
7. Add the lime and chopped fresh cilantro and cook an additional few minutes. Serve topped with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Pass a basket of warm corn tortillas or crispy tortilla chips to accompany.

 Notes: 

• Add more broth and a cup of frozen Mexicorn and this would be a hearty soup.
• Leftovers make good taco filling, nacho topping, huevos rancheros base or the best part of a chili dog combo. 

Fruit and Nut Crisps - October SRC

This is my first month participating in The Secret Recipe Club. I was  assigned Katie’s blog, Betchacanteatjustone, to browse through and choose any recipe that appealed to me to make or bake and blog about. Other Group B SRC  participants will post their recipe on the same designated reveal date. Now how fun is that?!

The choice was difficult with so many tempting recipes competing for attention. Savory or sweet? Over-the-top decadent or practical? Quick and easy preparation or complicated? It took the enticing photo of a loaded cheese board displayed in a recent Dean and Deluca e-mail ad to make the decision for me: Katie’s Fruit and Nut Crisps were it for October. 

The cooking technique was similar to biscotti; bake a loaf, thinly slice and rebake to crisp up individual slices. Use the ingredient list as a set of possibilities and substitute other dried fruits, nuts and seeds according to personal preference and pantry supplies.

These crisps were delicious unadorned, but were truly sublime when topped with a creamy ginger apricot Stilton cheese and drizzled with honey… or a paper-thin slice of pear, a bit of chutney and crumble of brie… or manchego and fig jam… or... you get the idea.

This recipe makes two standard size loaves, about 80-90 crisps, but you don’t have to bake them off all at once. I popped one cooled loaf into the freezer to hold until we entertained the following week, and the results were just as tasty. It was actually easier to slice a frozen loaf than a non-frozen one! The husband enjoyed the crisps at breakfast, I loved them mid-morning with a cuppa, guests have enjoyed them as pre-dinner appetizers as well as cheese plate accompaniments, and someone nibbles a few late-night when no one is looking. Guess who. 

Thanks for the recipe, Katie. We love your sweet and savory crackers and I get to feel smug about not spending $7 to $10 dollars for one small package of prepared crisps at the store.

  Fruit and Nut Crisps

Makes approx 8 dozen: my notes in color 

         2 cups AP flour (or other flour mixes of your choice) 

         3 tsp baking soda

         1/2 tsp salt

         2 cups buttermilk (2 cups 2% milk & 2 TBS vinegar)

         1/2 cup raw cane sugar (1/4 cup brown sugar & 1/4 cup honey)

         1/2 cup dried figs, chopped

         1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

         1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (I forgot to add any nuts!)

         1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

         1/4 cup sunflower seeds

         1 tbsp sesame seeds (white, toasted)

         1/4 cup ground flax seed

         1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

Prepare two 8″X4″ loaf pans by spraying with non stick spray or lining with parchment paper. (I did both for ease of removal, see photo above)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Add the buttermilk (mix in the honey here if you’re using it). Stir together by hand. Add the fruits, nuts, seeds and rosemary: stir until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes until the loaves are golden brown and spring back when you gently touch the center.  Remove the pans from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto wire racks to cool completely.

Once cool, wrap up the loaves and freeze them until they’re hard.  This will make them MUCH easier to slice. (YES, you really do slice them while frozen.)

Heat the oven to 300 degrees and spray or line cookie sheets.

Slice the loaves as thin as you can (you should be able to get about 7-8 dozen crisps!) and place each piece on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes and then flip crisps over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the crackers have dried out and turned a medium-dark brown and crispy (but not burnt). (Bake the slices on a baking rack and you can skip the flipping; they will crisp up on both sides.)

Katie notes: I found it helpful to leave the pans in the oven with the door cracked open slightly to cool off once they were finished baking with the oven turned off  just to ensure they had dried out 100%

Store in an airtight container.

Now, check out more October posts from other Secret Recipe Club members. (Use the link below)