Ancho Braised Pork Recipes

SHORT RIBS BRAISED IN COFFEE ANCHO CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Soak ancho chiles in boiling-hot water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain in a colander set over a bowl. Taste soaking liquid: It will be a little bitter, but if unpleasantly so, discard it; otherwise, reserve for braising. Transfer ancho chiles to a blender and purée with onion, garlic, chipotles with sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Pat ribs dry and sprinkle with pepper and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown ribs in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer as browned to a roasting pan just large enough to hold ribs in 1 layer.
• Carefully add chile purée to fat remaining in skillet (use caution, since it will splatter and steam) and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add reserved chile soaking liquid (or 1 1/2 cups water) and coffee and bring to a boil, then pour over ribs (liquid should come about halfway up sides of meat).
• Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and braise ribs in middle of oven until very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Skim fat from pan juices and serve with ribs.

BRAISED PORK IN RED CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Have ready a medium bowl filled with very hot water. In a cast-iron skillet or grill over medium-high heat, toast the chiles until nice and smoky, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Place the chiles in the bowl of hot water to rehydrate for 5 minutes. Drain the chiles.☞TESTER TIP: Reserve the chile soaking water and use it in place of the water called for in steps 2 and 6.
• In a blender, combine the rehydrated chiles with the garlic, cumin, and 1 cup water. Blitz until smooth, then pour the chile paste into a bowl.☞TESTER TIP: There's no need to clean the blender before using it later for the tomatoes.
• On the cast-iron skillet or grill used for toasting the chiles, roast the tomatoes, rotating occasionally, until nice and charred in some places, 7 to 10 minutes. Toss the grilled tomatoes into the blender and blitz until smooth.
• In a Dutch oven or high-sided sauté pan with a lid over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the pork, season with the salt, and cook, stirring often, until the meat is browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork to a plate, leaving behind the fat in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chile paste. Add the pork and stir to coat.
• Pour in the pureed tomatoes and 1 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, turn the heat to low, and braise the pork until tender, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
• Serve the pork in chile sauce with warm tortillas and black beans.

PORK BRAISED IN GUAJILLO CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the pork in a heavy Dutch oven large enough to fit pork comfortably.
• Pour in enough cold water to cover the meat by about 2 inches.
• Add 2 tablespoons salt, bay leaf and bring to a boil.
• Boil for one hour, skimming foam off surface as necessary.
• Cut the stems off the guajillo chiles. Tap out the seeds.
• Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
• Add half the chiles and toast them in the skillet, turning with tongs, until they crisp up a bit and change color, about 4 minutes.
• Lift out chiles and repeat with remaining chiles.
• Pour enough boiling water over the toasted chiles to cover them. Soak until completely softened, about 20 minutes. Drain well.
• Wipe out the skillet with paper towels, put the onion and tomatoes cut sides down in the skillet. Cook, turning the veggies as often as necessary, until tomatoes are blackened on all sides and the onions are blackened on both flat sides.
• After the pork cooks one hour, ladle off 2 cups of the cooking liquid and pour into blender. Add onions and puree until smooth. Add chiles and tomatoes and blend until smooth.
• Ladle off another 2 cups of the cooking liquid and set aside. Drain pork, discard remaining liquid, wipe out the pot.
• Set the pot over medium-low heat and add the oil or lard. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, 3-4 minutes.
• Pour the chili sauce into the pot slowly, stir well.
• Return the pork to a simmer, cover the pot and cook until tender, about 1 hour. While it cooks, there should be enough sauce to moisten the pork. If not, add reserved pork cooking liquid as needed.
• Serve hot over white rice or with flour tortillas.

COSTILLAS DE PUERCO EN CHILE COLORADO(PORK RIBS IN CHILE ANCHO)

Steps:

• Cover the chile ancho with water. Bring to a boil , reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes. While chiles cook toaste the cumin seeds in a hot skillet just until they become aromatic. Crush the seeds using a mortar and pestle. Drain the liquid and transfer to the blender. To the chiles, add 2 cups broth, cumin seeds, garlic, onion, oregano, pepper, Maggi sauce, and salt to taste. Blend on high until smooth. Set aside.
• Season the pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides. In a deep skillet, add 4 tablespoons of oil. Preheat to medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the pork to hot pan and brown on all sides, turning as needed.
• Add the sauce from blender and 2 remaining cups of chicken broth to the ribs in pan. Stir to combine, reduce heat. Cover and cook on the stove top at a low simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. You could also finish cooking it in a 350 degree oven for the same amount of time. If finishing in the oven, cover them with foil the first two hours, uncover the last hour. If the chile sauce gets too thick, add a little more water or broth as it cooks. Yields 4 to 6 servings.

SHORT RIBS BRAISED IN ANCHO CHILE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Soak ancho chiles in boiling-hot water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain in a colander set over a bowl. Taste soaking liquid: It will be a little bitter, but if unpleasantly so, discard it; otherwise, reserve for braising. Transfer ancho chiles to a blender and purée with onion, garlic, chipotles with sauce, maple syrup, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Pat ribs dry and sprinkle with pepper and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown ribs in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer as browned to a roasting pan just large enough to hold ribs in 1 layer.
• Carefully add chile purée to fat remaining in skillet (it will spatter and steam) and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add reserved chile soaking liquid (or 1 1/2 cups water) and coffee and bring to a boil, then pour over ribs (liquid should reach about halfway up sides of meat).
• Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and braise ribs until very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Skim fat from pan juices. Serve ribs with pan juices.

ANCHO - BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the pork, 3 cups water, onion, oregano, thyme, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf; bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.
• Simmer, covered, for 45 minutes or until the pork is tender.
• Discard the bay leaf and drain the pork, reserving 1 cup of the liquid (with onions, etc.) Return the reserved liquid to the pan with the pork and add the ancho chile powder, vinegar, cumin, cloves, sugar and salt.
• Simmer for 30 minutes more or until flavors are blended; serve with rice and top with fresh chopped cilantro.

ANCHO CHILE BRAISED COUNTRY STYLE PORK RIBS

Steps:

• In a medium sized pan dry pan, toast the coriander seeds over medium heat shaking the pan often to prevent burning for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Pour the toasted coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder and grind until you get a powder like consistency. In a pinch bowl mix together the toasted ground coriander with the rest of the spice mix ingredients.
• Carefully snip the ends of the chilies off with kitchen shears over a trash can and shake out and many of the seeds as you can. The more seeds the spicier it will be, and if you get most of the seeds out then it will not be spicy at all. With the same pan you toasted the coriander seeds, toast the chiles tossing the pan to prevent burning for about 2 minutes or until the chiles have slightly softened and become fragrant. Place the chiles in a heat proof bowl and heat the water until boiling. Pour the water over the chiles, cover the bowl with foil, and allow to sit and soak for 25 minutes.
• While the chiles are soaking place your red bell pepper over a gas stove so it's right above a burner and turn the heat to medium heat so that the flame is touching the bare pepper. This will blacken and char the skin, so you'll want to rotate it and char the whole thing, Once it's charred place the whole thing in a medium bowl and cover it with foil to rest for the remainder of the soaking time for the chiles.
• Once the chiles have soaked pour the soaking liquid along with the soaked chiles into a blender. Remove the red bell pepper and peel the blackened skin off and cut the core, stem and seeds out of it leaving just the flesh and place the roasted pepper flesh into the blender along with the spice mix and apple cider vinegar. Turn the blender on and puree starting at low and then gradually rising to a higher speed until completely smooth.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and rinse and pat dry the ribs. Heat 2½ tablespoons of the ghee in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Season the ribs with salt and pepper and brown them in batches to avoid over crowding the dutch oven; 2-3 minutes each side. As you finish browning each piece place them on a large dish tented with foil. Once your finished browning reduce the heat to low and pour out the ghee from the bottom of the dutch oven and dab lightly with a paper towel then place the pot back on the burner and add remaining tablespoon of ghee. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until the onions begin to soften then add the tomato paste and stir. Let the tomato paste caramelize in the dutch oven for about 1 minute then pour in the diced tomatoes, ancho chile and roasted pepper puree, while scraping the bottom of the dutch oven. Season lightly with salt and pepper and stir then nestle the ribs in the braising liquid and pour in any accumulated juices from the bottom of the tray they were placed in.
• Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low, add the bay leaf and cover the dutch oven with it's lid and place it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (I recommend checking the ribs at the 20 minute mark to see if they're simmering too hard or not, if they are then cover it back up and reduce the heat to 280)
• Once the ribs are done remove the lid from the dutch oven and flip the each of the ribs over with tongs being careful not to tear the meat. Spoon some of the sauce on the tops of the ribs and increase the heat of the oven to 375 and allow to cook for 15-20 more minutes or until the sauce caramelizes on top of the ribs. (optionally you could broil on high for 3-4 minutes instead which should achieve the same effect, but this is only if you don't have the extra time)
• Serve each rib with a second slathering of sauce if you wish.