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Carne Adovada — A Taste of Heaven

September 24, 2008 by · Leave a Comment 

My area of expertise in barbeque is building and maintaining a steady fire that will hold temp for extended periods of time. However, I would like to venture into the realm of recipes for this post. While recipes are not my forté, this is one recipe I developed that I must share.

About three years ago I helped a friend with a project and was taken out to dinner in repayment of the favor. She took me to a place here in Phoenix called Dick’s Hideaway, which is about the coolest restaurant in Phoenix (George W. Bush ate there a couple years ago when he was in town). They specialize in New Mexican cuisine and they do an amazing job with it.

I ordered Carne Adovada, which I had never even heard of before, and I was blown away – I had never in my life eaten anything this good — or this hot. Pork marinated for days in a chile marinade then smoked over a pecan wood fire, cut into cubes and simmered in a chile sauce then slathered with a layer of cheese that has melted down into the sauce — oh, man, that was good eatin’! But what really knocked my socks off was the perfect marriage of pecan wood smoke to the recipe. I truly believe that God created pecan trees just so they could be used to make Carne Adovada.

The next day I began my quest for a recipe. I found many versions of Carne Adovada but none even came close to what I had a Dick’s. So I pulled a little from here – a little from there – and corresponded with a lovely lady in New Mexico and came up with a recipe that not only was like Dick’s, but was actually better.

I have made this many times for many people and every single person has said that it was absolutely the best meal they’ve ever had. My niece said if she had a choice, Carne Adovada is the only thing she’d eat for the rest of her life. I was even invited on a Phoenix cooking show to prepare my recipe on television.Chili Ristra
This recipe calls for dried chilis – the kind you find in a ristra. The finets of these chilis are Hatch Valley chilis grown in Hatch Valley, New Mexico. While other chilis will work just fine – for the best final product use Hatch Valley chilis if you can find them. Typically these chilis are available in mild, medium and hot (medium can be hard to find outside the Southwest). Be sure you use the hot chilis.
The recipe:

 

CARNE ADOVADA

RED CHILE PUREE

1-2 cups water 8-10 dried red New Mexico chile pods

(Hot) – (get Hatch Valley if you can)

Tear tops off of chile pods and use knife or finger (use plastic food preparation gloves to protect your fingers as they will start to sting a bit — do not touch your eyes with your fingers until you’ve washed them) to clean out seeds and veins inside of each one. Place pods in medium sized pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling on high heat. Boil several minutes until pods are soft stirring occasionally to make sure they boil evenly. Place drained pods (save liquid) in blender container, then pour 1/2 of liquid into blender (keep the rest in the pot and add more water for the next batch) and blend until smooth, add 1-2 cloves garlic if desired. Add more water if needed, but keep in mind this is a puree, thicker than sauce or juice. When pureed, pour into a large stock pot. Sometimes you might need to pour thru a mesh sieve to remove any skins that did not blend up in the blender. NOTE: You will want to make several batches of puree.

CHILE COLORADO (Basic Red Chile Sauce)

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

2 C. red chile puree (see below)

2 C. chicken broth

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

Dash oregano (use Mexican oregano if you can get it)

Heat butter in medium-size saucepan on medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1minute. Add red chile puree and cook for about another minute. Gradually add broth and stir, making sure there are no lumps, a whisk works best. Add seasoning to sauce and simmer at low heat for 10-15 minutes.

THE MARINATED PORK:

4 cloves garlic

1 T. salt

1 T. oregano

2 recipes or more of the Red Chile Puree (above)

3-5 lbs. (approx.) pork tenderloin roast

Add garlic, salt and oregano to chile puree. Cut pork loin into four large pieces (slice in half once horizontally and once vertically) and put them in a large, glass baking dish (even better, a stainless steel stock pot) and pour chile puree over to cover — turn meat to cover completely. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours (36-72 hours or more is even better — I like to marinate mine for a week). It is a good idea to stir it around once a day or so to make sure that every part of the pork soaks in the marinade.

FINAL ASSEMBLY AND COOKING:

Place marinated pork pieces in smoker or barbeque and cook using the indirect method to keep the marinade from burning(for best results, use some pecan wood chunks or chips for smoke flavor — pecan smoke is incredible with this dish but be careful not to over smoke) and cook until internal temp reaches around 150 (use a meat thermometer).

Remove pork from smoker and cut into cubes ½” to 1″ square and put into baking pan/dish about 3″-4″ deep. Pour chili colorado over pork cubes (the pork should be “swimming in it”) and put baking pan/dish into smoker – crank up the temp to around 325 (you can do this part in the oven inside if you want) and let it simmer (for best results, seal tightly with foil so the sauce doesn’t boil off and get too thick) for at least an hour – 2 or even 3 hours would be even better (if you simmer longer than an hour you must seal with foil or the sauce will boil off).

About 5 minutes before removing from smoker, remove the foil and layer on top (fairly thickly) a good amount of pre-shredded Kraft Mexican blend cheese. When the cheese melts (about 5 minutes) remove from smoker, let it cool for 5 minutes or so and serve with rice and beans and warmed flour tortillas.

NOTE: This recipe can be cooked in a regular oven (use a baking pan) instead of a smoker – you lose the pecan wood flavor but it is still incredibly delicious.

Big Dan

 

 

 

 

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GRILLED SWEET ORANGE PORK TENDERLOIN

June 20, 2008 by · Leave a Comment 

HomeBBQ.com

This recipe uses HomeBBQ.com Sweet Orange Habenero Seasoning

Ingredients:
2 – Pork Tenderloins
1 – Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 – Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 – tsp Chopped Garlic
1 – Jar of HomeBBQ.com Sweet Orange Habenero Seasoning

Combine Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, chopped Garlic, and 2 tsp Sweet Orange Habenero Seasoning in a non-reactive bowl.

Place Pork Tenderloins in sealed container, and pour in Vinegar and Oil mixture. Let marinate a minimum of 4 hours, preferrably overnight.

Remove tenderloins from marinade, and season liberally with HomeBBQ.com Sweet Orange Habenero Seasoning. Let stand for 15 minutes. Discard remaining marinade.

Grill Pork Tenderloins over medium-hot fire turning occasionally, for 15 to 25 minutes, until internal temp reaches 155 to 160 degrees.

Remove from heat and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes

Slice, serve, and enjoy!

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