Smoky Pork Chili

In the past two chili competitions our friends host, we've come in #2 and #1; we hope to keep our crown this year with a pork-based chili that focuses on smoke.  It uses smoked pork, smoked oil, smoked tomatoes,  smoked tomato water, and smokey chilis. 

TL;DR: we came in tied for 2nd place in this year's competition!

Smoked Tomatoes and Tomato Water

We got bulk tomatoes from the farmers market. 

To skin easily: freeze hard, remove, and soak each for a minute or two in water.

Nick the skin in an X at the bottom and peel it off; it should slip off pretty easy, but if not, let soak a minute more and try again.

While still semi-frozen, cut each in half at the equator.

Put on wire racks, cut-side down, over trays (like lasagna pans) to catch the drips as they thaw and smoke.

Cold smoke several hours.

You may be able to do this while you smoke the Pork and Oil below, if you've got lots of room.

Keep the tomatoes and water to make the chili.

Both are great for other uses, and the smokey water makes a fantastic Bloody Mary.

Pork

   1 Kg   2 Lb  Pork Shoulder, with a moderate amount of fat

   1 L    1 Qt  Olive Oil (as much as you want, it's versatile)

Cut Pork into strips that will fit into meat grinder; arrange on wire rack.

Fill a large low tray -- a lasagna tray -- with Olive Oil and add to smoker.

Cold smoke Pork and Oil; we used apple wood pellets in an 18-inch stainless perforated tube, works well.

Flip the meat periodically to expose all sides.

This smoking runs a bit over 4 hours.

Chill Pork hard before grinding.
Grind through coarse plate, about 3 mm wholes.

Sear in a little of the now Smoked Olive Oil.

The Pork threw off 43g of fat, leaving 607g meat.

Reserve the fat for sauteing later.

Beans

225  g    8    oz  Dried Black Beans (Frijoles negros, secos)
  1  L   32 fl oz  Smoked Tomato Water

Cook beans in Tomato Water, covered, very low, until nearly tender, add water if needed; may take 1-4 hours.

Drain, reserve smokey bean liquid.

Makes 3 C cooked beans.

Chili Sauce Base

Build a base using Irene's Vegan Chili, sans chick peas, and substituting as many smoked ingredients as we can find -- smoked chipotles, smoked oil, smoked tomatoes, ... 

17 g   7 whole  Chipotle chilis, dried

15 g   3 whole  Sweet dried chilis (Costeño, New Mexico, Choricero)

52 g   3 whole  Fruity dried chilis (Ancho, Mulatto, Negro, Pasilla)

 1 L   1 quart  Smoked Tomato Water and smokbean-cooking liquid

Remove stems and seeds from Chilis.

Microwave chilis between two plates in 10 second increments until pliable and toasty smelling, about 30 seconds total.

Add Chilis to Smoked Tomato Water, cover, and microwave until it simmers, about 5 minutes.

Transfer to blender and blend until smooth -- be careful, the hot liquid can explode, so start with slow pulses and cover loosely with a paper towel.

Makes 4 Cups.

Assembly

 230g    1 large  Onion, diced

  ? g    3 clove  Garlic, minced

 10 g  1.5 Tbs    Cumin seed, toasted, ground

3.5 g             Fresh Oregano, or 2 tsp Dried, minced

 10 g    ?        Pimenton

400 g   14 oz     Tomatoes, preferably smoked, fine chopped

  ? g    3 whole  Chipotle chilis from a can, chopped

  ? g    1 Tbs    Chipotle can sauce

 95 g             Smoked dried Chipotle peppers, rehydrated

 20 g             Poblano Chilis from the garden, seeded, chopped

  ? g    1 tsp    Marmite or Vegemite (for Umami)

  ? g    1 Tbs    Soy Sauce (for Umami)

Saute Onions in rendered pork fat, then add Garlic, Cumin, Oregano; drain, reserving fat.

Add part of the drained fat to a large pot for final assembly, and fry chopped tomatoes in the fat. 

Add cooked Onion mixture and cooked Pork.

Add Pimenton, chopped Chipotles and their sauce (this was a 4 ounce jar's worth)

Add 2 C of the 4 C blended Chili sauce, since we had less meat than expected.

Let cook a bit to combine, then adjust salt.

Cook covered, low, until meat is tender, maybe another hour.

Add the 1 C of cooked Beans; this proportion seemed high at first but turned out fine.

Cook a bit more to finish, or let cool, refrigerate, then reheat the next day when the flavors will be married.

If the chili is too loose, or maybe has a bit too much fat, create a slurry of Masa in a little water and add it to the chili a tablespoon at of time until it's thickened as much as you want.

I like to serve this over spaghetti ("chili mac"), with grated Parmesan or Cheddar -- better, smoked Mexican cheese like Cojita -- and some diced onions or scallions. 

For the competition, use 1 C Black Beans; for home, use 3 C.

Bacalao Stuffed Piquillos in Basque Sauce

Original recipe: from Teresa Barrenechea: The Basque Table -- “Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos de Bacalao con Salsa Viscaina”

Serves: 4

This is roasted Spanish red peppers stuffed with a salt cod bechamel, baked in a sauce of chilis and onions. It’s rich, complex, and feels like a combination of rustic and something you’d find at a fine restaurant.

I’ve made this a bunch of times and it’s been surprisingly popular, even with folks that I thought might be scared off by Bacalao (dried salt cod).  The original recipe takes a while but it’s not really hard. Recently, I’ve streamlined it significantly by using a food processor rather than meticulously cutting the fish and chilis, and eliminated the need for a food mill.

Bacalao has a taste that’s different from fresh cod -- earthy, perhaps even a bit funky. I used to only be able to find it in Portuguese markets but now even BJ’s wholesale and my local grocery store carry it. Look for ones without bones (sin espinas) or skin, it’s worth the extra money. We get the Piquillo peppers from our Harris Teeter grocery store: they’re in a can and, surprisingly, are the store brand. The can holds about 20 peppers which is just right for this recipe. For the sauce, the original recipe calls for Choricero chili peppers but these are very difficult to find, I’ve only had them from tienda.com. I use a flavorful fruity but mild Mexican chili like ancho, pasilla or poblano -- good rich taste and readily available.

Dividing the dough for spooning

Spooning in dough; a pastry bag is much easier

 

Stuffed peppers arranged on a layer of sauce

Cover with sauce then bake

Bacalao-stuffed Pequillos

225 g 1/2 pound Bacalao (boned and skinned dried salt cod)

50 ml 3 Tbs Olive Oil

25 g 3 Tbs Flour

350 ml 1.5 Cup Milk, heated

20 Piquillo Peppers (approx, from 1 can)

Rehydrate the Bacalao 1-2 days, changing the water several times a day. It will never be as soft as fresh but it should be flexible rather than firm; consider saving some of the last soaking water to loosen the sauce.

Whiz it in a food processor until roughly the texture of cooked ground beef, not a mush.

In a non-stick pan, saute Bacalao in Oil until lightly browned,

add Flour and cook another 15-20 minutes.

Slowly add the heated Milk while stirring and cook until resulting bechamel is smooth and thickens.

Cool so it firms up: it’s easier to fill the Piquillos if it’s almost a dough than a gravy.

It's easiest to stuff these with a Pastry Bag: fill the bag, then squirt into each pequillo "sock";

if you don't have that, it helps to divide the dough into 4 lumps, then divide each lump between 1/4th of the peppers -- that way each is filled evenly and you won't run out; fill each pepper by spooning in filling.

Basque Sauce

While the bechamel is cooling, make the sauce. I’ve cut back on the oil a fair amount from the original recipe as I found it too oily; this still has plenty of richness.

45 g 1.25 oz Dried Choricero, Poblano, Ancho Chili (rich, not spicy)

2 medium Yellow Onion, quartered

1 medium Red Onion, quartered

80 ml 1/3 C Olive Oil

1 clove Garlic

2 T Serrano Ham or Prosciutto (I usually omit)

1 Plum Tomato

to taste Salt

Slit Chilis and shake out seeds.

Rehydrate Chilis in cold water at least 8 hours; drain, reserving 1 Cup liquid.

Scrape out remaining seeds gently so you don’t lose the flesh.

Whiz Onions in food processor until a chopped fine, maybe ¼ inch chunks.

Saute Onions in Oil until softened.

Whiz the Chilis, Garlic, Ham, Tomato and cooked Onions in a food processor until smooth.

Add back to pan and cook about 20-30 minutes until everything’s soft and sauce reduced a bit, perhaps not as thick as ketchup; add reserved hydrating Liquid if it gets too tight or you want to boost the flavor.

Assembly

Spoon a little of the sauce on the bottom of a casserole or baking dish.

Arrange stuffed Pequillos in the dish; handle them gently so the sauce doesn’t ooze out too much.

Remember the arrangement so it’s easier to remove them gracefully at service.

Add the rest of the sauce, it should cover the Pequillos.

Bake at 350F about 30 minutes until hot and bubbly and a bit browned on the top.

Let cool a bit and firm up before serving.