Sunday Gravy with yeah right: Culinary Virtual Field Trip. New Mexico!

Welcome back everyone.

Good to imagine so many smiling faces out there.

Hope everyone is well and feeling more or less mentally stable.

It will surprise exactly nobody that I am currently ass-deep in retirement research. Many of you are also aware that I am very much considering retiring abroad. Now if we could get every-fucking-body to stop stealing my idea before I retire I would feel a hell of a lot better about it.

Of course I investigated retiring in the US initially but the cost of medical care in this idiot fucking country makes it problematic to say the least.

Yet another big decider for me is this map right here.

That’s the 2020 election results map. Please note that any of them red motherfuckers can kiss my soon-to-be retired ass. I sure as FUCK ain’t moving to a state where the majority of morons voted for that shit-heel in the last election. Fuck them.

Kind of narrows the destinations down a bit.

I would dearly love to stay in California but I’ll more than likely be priced out. Another intriguing option is Washington State where youngest right and littlest right have now moved. There’s no state tax in Washington too, so there’s that on top of it. Still if you head a little too far east in Washington it turns into a white supremacist/survivalist shooting fucking gallery so maybe/maybe not.

Then if you look right there in the Southwest we have New Mexico. I love New Mexico. Every time I’ve traveled through has been great. Incredible scenery, nice fairly dry climate, people are friendly and the food is sensational.

In fact, there’s our inspiration for the day.

Then, just as I was planning a quick visit to Sante Fe, my preferred destination… The whole goddamn state burns to the fucking ground.

Just fucking peachy.

Back to square one for retirement destination.

The food though? We can still do that.

We are going to have three incredible disciplines for you today including one that is also brand spanking new to me.

Let’s head to the Southwest!

We are making what some people call a “Navajo Taco.” It’s basically carne adovada, a slow roasted dish of pork cooked in reconstituted dried chilies and onions, some homemade beans and everything served on fry bread. Fry bread is a staple in the Southwest and originated with the First People of the Southwest.

Sound good?

It was really fucking good.

The first part of our menu will be the meat…

Carne Adovada!

Please take careful notice that this recipe calls for an overnight marinade! Adjust your schedule accordingly

4 cups water

15 dried red chilies – original recipe calls for New Mexico chilies but I used California chilies and 3-4 chile de arbol today – to crank up the heat just a bit.

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Big slab of pork shoulder – today it was a little over 2 pounds, bone-in and cubed into chunks.

1 large onion peeled and chopped

4-6 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

First thing we get to do is start fucking with those dried chilies.

As far as being a dried chile this bag was fairly fresh. You can tell the difference by texture. Think beef jerky. These chilies were still leathery which was a lovely start. We will be using this entire bag by the way.

Begin by removing the stems and as many of the seeds as you can.

Lovely aren’t they? These are essentially dried Anaheim chilies which are smoky and earthy but don’t really bring a ton of heat. I wanted some moderate heat which is why I added in the arbol chilies.

Add your water to a pot and bring to a low boil. Next we’re going to basically brew some tea! With chilies! Add the chilies and bay leaves to the heated water and cook on a slow simmer.

Feel like a sinus clearing cleanse? People? Have I got the thing for you! This shit right here was an outright full frontal assault on the entire sinus system. You feel it in your eyes first but it doesn’t really burn. More like makes you throw your head back and say “DAMMNNNN!” Next it hits the sinuses.

Hard.

I lost count but I’m gonna guess I sneezed between 25 and 30 times and had to blow my nose just about an equal amount of times. My sinuses were cleaner than a nun’s habit for the next 2 weeks so eventually it was well worth it. Let’s not call this a warning just call it a heads-up.

Maybe open a window or two. Or three.

Steep the chilies for 15-20 minutes until they are fully softened.

We continue the dish.

It’s high time we welcome back a dear old friend who has been dearly missed for the past several months.

Hello Mr. Pork! I’ve missed you so, so much!

Now that the chilies have steeped and softened it’s time to season them with the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano and add in the apple cider vinegar.

After seasoning the chilies let them cool for a bit before blending them.

Part two. Address the piggy. Sauté the onions first.

We’re going to brown the pig in the sweated down onion.

Cut the pig up into chunks. It’s OK to remove some of the fat but not too much.

Season the pork liberally with salt and pepper and get to browning.

Look at the caramelization of those onions! Damn!

Get the last batch of pork in the pan and add in the garlic.

When the pork is browned, set aside for a bit to cool.

Let’s get back to the chile sauce.

That’s right. It’s time to break out the big boy.

Now pulse it up. You can use a standard blender for this too, just make sure the sauce is fully cooled before pouring in your blender.

Important tip! Make sure the sauce is fully fucking blended. Don’t half ass this. Full ass this! Too many bits of chile pods… does stuff to your digestive tract. Just blend the shit up OK?

Add the sauce to the pan that you browned the pork in. Next add the pork back in too.

Cover it up and place in the refrigerator for a full overnight rest.

Next day this will go in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 3 hours. Keep covered while cooking. After the first hour and a half, give everything a good stir and baste some sauce over the pork to keep it moist.

While the pork cooks, we can start the beans. Y’all know the drill by now.

See those chile pods in the beans there? Symmetry!

These will cook for the requisite 2 and 1/2 hours.

Now it’s high time we get to work on the fry bread.

Fry bread!

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 to 1 cup hot water

1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

A couple of big tablespoons of Crisco for frying

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Then mix in the hot water.

Drizzle the vegetable oil over the top to keep the dough from drying out. Now let the dough rest.

Once again take note: the dough needs to rest for 2 hours. The dough will not necessarily rise but it does need time to let the glutens relax. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel while it rests.

As the beans near their completed cooking time we give them their always delicious finishing touch.

Bacon fat.

Add the bacon fat to the beans and remove the chile pods.

Give some of the beans a good mash with the back of a spoon. Be sure not to mash all of them. Now they are good to fucking go.

That’s fucking perfect.

Time to cook some fry bread.

Secret ingredient!

Yep.

I used the non-stick pan today. This was my first time making fry bread and I erred on the side of caution working with a somewhat unfamiliar dough.

Melt the shortening down over a medium heat and get your ass ready to cook.

Time to remove the pork from the oven so it can rest for a bit.

Great gawd almighty just look at that! The smell while this cooks is dazzling. Tantalizing as hell. Your neighbors may very well end up hating you for this. Fuck ’em they weren’t invited.

Now time for the fry bread.

The first recipe I read said to toss and flatten the dough similar to how you would make a pizza dough. Then put it in the hot oil.

Just a minute or so per side then give a flip.

Alright. I see what we’re doing here. Let’s try again. This first one was a little small and dense.

Into the pan.

This time I stretched and worked the dough a little more thus giving us a wider piece of bread.

Better. Now the turn.

You know what might really help here?

How ’bout we roll this shit out?

/slaps forehead.

Sometimes you need to improvise. I can officially attest that this method works much better than the “Roll and toss with your hands” bullshit that was in the recipe.

Trust your instincts and you will be rewarded.

Let’s go ahead and finish these things.

Put the cooked fry bread in a dish lined with paper towels in a 225 degree oven to keep warm while you finish cooking the bread.

There it is. See the difference in those top two pieces when compared to that little goddamn hockey puck in the first picture? Much improved.

Let’s go ahead and assemble us a “taco”. Grab a piece of the warm fry bread, coat with a layer of beans and put some of the pork right on top.

Fuck me!

At this point you can dress it up as you see fit. Pretend it’s a regular-ass taco and add your favorite toppings.

This! This motherfucker? It’s phenomenal. 

The bread is warm, toasty and pairs perfectly with everything. It also does it’s primary job of holding everything on top, soaking up the pork juices as well as keeping your hands clean. The wider pieces of bread are even foldable, provided you didn’t put 2 pounds of pork on top like my starving ass did.

That pork is a fucking player, I tell you what. It’s rich, earthy, smoky and dank from the chilies.

There’s a perfect alchemy going on with the pork fat, the chilies and the onion and garlic. You need to be very cognizant of the fact that this isn’t technically a “chili” as in a bowl of chili. It’s called carne adovada for a reason and it’s also not called pork chili for that some fucking reason. It’s pork cooked in chilies and if you love dried chilies as much as you all KNOW that I do then this motherfucker will become a permanent part of your cooking rotation.

The fry bread is really intriguing. It’s like a cross between a tortilla and a donut. Really. Considering this was fry bread version 1.0 it will only get better from here. I know going forward to use the “roll out” trick so that will help too.

I don’t even have to tell you shit about the batch of beans other than the fact that it was as good a batch-o-beans as I’ve ever done.

One of my regular season wrap-up things is to mention some of what I thought were the best dishes of the year in the last Sunday Gravy episode.

Right now?

This fucker is the leader in the clubhouse.

I know you hear me say this a lot but really, honestly try to make this dish. Try the pork at least. The fry bread is a lot of fun too.

This was really terrific stuff today!

I hope the rest of your weekend is amazing too.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight so there’s some sports viewing going on also.

We’ll see you back here next week.

Take care and stay safe.

PEACE!