Pork and Tomatillo Stew (pp. 469-470)

I did this because I had some pork shoulder in the freezer and I love tomatillos in salsa verde. This was the first recipe that I wasn't terribly impressed with. I went over to my friends' apartment to watch the tech game and make them dinner. This stew is a little better after a day or two in the fridge (which stew isn't?). 

Meez:

Fairly involved - You'll need a couple pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes, veg oil, 8 garlic cloves, 1 bottle dark beer (I opted for Shiner Bock), 1 1/2 cups OJ (wait, what?), 1 pound of peeled, husked, rinsed and quartered tomatillos, 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, liquid reserved, chopped, 2 large chopped onions, 1 bunch cilantro without roots, leaves and stems chopped (that's something I love about cilantro, you can just chop up the stems along with the leaves unlike parsley), 2 jalapenos, chopped seeds and all, 1 can of drained black beans, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 1 8 oz container sour cream.

Procedure:

Pat dry and season your pork cubes with salt and pepper. Heat 1/4 C veg oil in a pot 'til it's hot but not smoking. Throw in your 8 garlic cloves and stir them until they're golden brown. At this point you'll brown your pork cubes in batches. In another pot, throw together your beer, OJ, tomatillos, tomatoes, and the tomato juice. Let this sauce simmer for about 20 minutes. When you're done with your pork in the other pot, pour off everything (I'm assuming the garlic cloves too) and reserve a TB of oil. Throw in your onions and cook 'til soft. To this add your sauce, pork, cilantro, jalapenos, and S&P to taste. Bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and let it sit for about 2 hours or until the pork is tender. Reseason with S&P, add your beans, and simmer uncovered for about 10 min.

The whole mess

While your stew is simmering, cook up some rice to serve with it. Take your sour cream and stir in the lime juice for a garnish.

Ready to eat

So, how was it?Ok, the raw sauce was pretty...I don't know...not quite awful, but between the OJ, the tomato juice, and the beer...when it's added back to the pot with all the other ingredients, the sharp edges get rounded off and the cilantro also helps to keep it in check.

What did you learn?

It is important to fully thaw your meat before you're ready to start. Patting it dry multiple times also helps.

Recommend it?

Not really. It did get better in the fridge though.