tree_and_leaf | Recipe post: Slow roast chipotle pork; chipotle pork chile.

I have still not entirely unpacked, but I have had a successful time in the kitchen, of late, so I bring you recipes, because I am very impressed with my own pork-cooking skills (having been accustomed to encounter Standard British Catering Roast Pork, which is as tough as old boots, I am always pleasantly surprised when I'm reminded that actually, it can be beautifully tender). Slow roasting is an easy way to achieve this, of course! Anyway, this is the best pork I have ever cooked, and even beats the chilli, garlic and lemon infused pork with which I once impressed a senior member of the Church of England.

Slow roast chipotle pork shoulder (adapted from The New Cook’s Tour of Sonoma by Michelle Anna Jordan.)

Take a 1.7 kg (3 ½ lb) piece of pork shoulder (rolled is OK; if you’ve got a pot that’s big enough, cut the strings and unroll it – you’ll get more spice into it, that way. But check the pot is big enough, first. I didn’t have one, so it stayed rolled). Make a spice rub using 2 tbsp salt*, 1 tbsp chipotle chile powder**, 1 tbsp chocolate chile mix.*** Work it into the meat, making sure all the surfaces of the meat are covered (obviously there’s no point working it into the skin).

Put in a covered pot – I used a small stock pot – and roast in a pre-heated oven at 135 C/ 274 F for 3 ½ to 4 hours or until done, basting occasionally with its own juices. It produces a lot of juice – I eventually poured off a bowlful, which produced very good, gelatinous pure meat stock with a minimal amount of fat. The pork is done when it can be pulled apart with a fork and minimal effort (and when the juices run clear, obviously).

Put the stock aside – it will be very salty and spicy, but it can be used in a chile.

Pull as much pork as people want to eat apart with two forks (if you’re using rolled pork shoulder, it’s easier if you cut the strings on it first. Chop fresh coriander leaves over and serve with tortillas, slices of lime, fried peppers and onions, corn on the cob, or else whatever seems apt. If you want to eat it as tacos, then you’ll probably want some hot sauce to go with it, and whatever from the usual taco accompaniments takes your fancy (guacamole, salsa, cheese, sour cream, etc).

Or alternatively you could just slice it up and have it with potatoes and corn on the cob, or whatever vegetable you care to eat with it.

Serves four; or if there’s one or two of you, there will be left-overs sufficient to make a very good, though somewhat inauthentic chile.

* The original recipe calls for kosher salt, which as far as I know you can’t get in the UK. It’s a salt specifically designed for curing things and the grain size is rather smaller than sea salt flakes, but bigger than table salt. But I used ordinary table salt, and it worked out beautifully.

** You can get both chipotle chiles and chipotle chile powder in the UK, apparently, if you hunt, though you’ll probably have to get it online – for instance, Amazon sell the whole chiles. It seems to be easier to get whole chiles, and you could buy these and grind them into powder. It’s a pig of a job, but it’s probably nicer. Alternatively, you could use a mixture of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper.

*** This is a commercial blend which can be approximated by mixing 2/3 cocoa to 1/3 chipotle chile and adding a dash of sugar.

Scotia-Mexican chipotle pork chile

(I made this one up myself, after consulting various internet recipes for ideas. Maybe one day I’ll try making chile with coffee…)

Finely chop half an onion and four cloves of garlic. Sweat the onion, then add the garlic.

Add one red chilli, finely chopped.

Chop the pork into bitesized pieces, add to pan, stir. Add one yellow pepper, chopped, and a tin of beans (black-eyed for choice; cannellini and borlotti are good substitutes. Kidney beans aren’t to my mind, the skin has a bitter aftertaste).

Add your stock and 400g of chopped tinned/ tetra-bricked tomatoes, and then two good shakes of oregano (or to taste), 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp paprika. Check for heat and salt and add more cayenne pepper or chipotle if necessary (if the stock is from the chipotle-rubbed roast pork, then it will already be fairly hot. I added about 1 tsp of chipotle powder and felt that the resulting chile was fairly mild, although I should note that my red chilli was a fairly wimpy British-grown thing from Sainsbury. Use your own judgement.)

Add a slug of a smoky whisky (something like Laphroig, although a cheaper blend would do, as long as it has a high percentage of Islay in it!)

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until done (i.e. the beans are cooked and the meat is even more tender. It should be done in about half an hour, but it will get better if you let it go on cooking. If you like, you can thicken the sauce with cornflour, but it will thicken a little as it cooks. Personally, I like it unthickened.

Serve over rice or with tortilla chips and chop over some fresh coriander; add grated cheese (a nice sharp one is ideal) or sour cream to taste.

I wanted to serve it with tortilla chips, but – and this shows you how rubbish it is – my local Sainsburys didn’t have them. Still, rice is better for you….