Pork and Hominy Stew: Mexican Style

Okay, so I've no real clue what makes something "Mexican-style". But "Pork and Hominy Stew" is kind of a boring name, and this is a recipe I actually invented myself, based on some ideas I had about what would taste good. So, if you've got any suggestions for a name, I'm all ears.

Commentary: Pork is a real pain to stew, in my opinion. Almost all the pork you find in the supermarket is really lean, and doesn't stew well. It dries out really, really quickly, leaving you with very unsatisfying meat. I use 'Country-Style Ribs' most of the time in applications like this. Country ribs are usually ribs that are cut from the blade end of the pig, and have a lot of meat and some random bones in them. They're pretty fatty, which is why I use them. I've also used shoulder roasts here. The trick is: just don't use loin, unless you know something about stewing pork that I don't.

Also, be really careful with your chorizo. It's very variable in saltiness and spiciness. I strongly recommend precooking a little bit and tasting it before you decide on final spices. As it is, that's why I don't recommend a full use of chicken stock, since full sodium chicken stock and a salty chorizo would probably oversalt the dish.

Hominy, for the uninitiated, is corn that has had its hull washed off with lye. It comes in cans and can usually be found in the Latin section of the grocery store. It is really good in things like this, and it makes a good standin for beans in a lot of recipes (Chrissy doesn't like beans). You could probably use corn pretty easily in this recipe - Hominy is less sweet, but corn would be good here too.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs fatty pork (country ribs, shoulder roast), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1.5" cubes. Reserve a few large bones if possible.
  
• 1 lb chorizo sausage, loose (take it out of the casing and cut it up)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2c assorted veggies (Chrissy doesn't like peppers, so I usually use yellow squash and carrots here, but a mix of squash, carrots, red and green bell peppers would work fine)
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced and seeds removed
• Pork Rub: 1t each Cumin, Coriander, Salt, Sugar, Sage
• 1/4c flour
• 1/4c Oil
  
• Stock Spices: 1t each Cumin, Coriander, Cayenne Pepper, Sage, Thyme
  
• 1/3 c lime juice
  
• 4c water
• 2 chicken bullion cubes
• 2T tomato paste
• 2T fresh cilantro, chopped
• 28 oz can Hominy, drained
  

Preparation:

1. Toss the pork cubes with the Pork Rub, then with 2T flour. Heat 2T oil in a large stockpot (I used my big Le Cruset). Brown the pork over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes. Don't cook it through, just brown it. Remove the pork to a holding area.
2. Add enough oil to the pan to make approx 2T of fat, heat it to shimmering on medium-high. Whisk in the remaining 2T flour, and keep whisking until the roux is lightly browned.
3. Add the onions and saute until softened but not browned (4-6 minutes)
4. Add the garlic, chorizo, chipotle, and veggies, saute for 5 minutes to soften the veggies and brown the sausage.
5. Add the Stock Spices and saute for 1 minute to wake them up.
6. Add the lime juice, water, bullion, tomato paste, and bring to a simmer.
7. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the reserved pork bone (guilty secret: I also toss in a reserved piece of pork lard at this point)
8. Taste for seasonings - adjust for the salt, based on how much salt came from your chorizo.
   
9. Add the cilantro, hominy, and reserved pork, and simmer for about 12 more minutes. This part is critical. If you overcook the pork cubes, they'll still get dry. If that happens, keep on simmering it for a while longer, and shred them.
10. Remove the pork bone (and the lard!) before serving. Serve on hot rice, with some jack cheese melted on top.
    

And there we have it. My first real original recipe. Now, someone's going to tell me that I just re-invented some common recipe, I'm sure, but I still feel proud of it. I'd be even prouder if someone DID tell me that, since I'm not sure how many people actually read this.

ALSO: This stuff is GREAT leftover. The scale (3 lbs of meat!) is pretty big because I like cooking up a ton of it and having it for lunches. Don't store the rice with the stew in your tupperware, though, since the rice will soak up all the stew liquid.