My wife and I had a weird weekend. That’s part of the reason this is getting posted so late. But the weekend was punctuated by a very strange Super Bowl Sunday. Basically, a work crew arrived unannounced and started digging up my front yard. And what a game?! That was an awesome Super Bowl. I don’t care who you were rooting for. Here’s how the whole day went down, beginning with the meal: Jalapeno Pork Stew.
I tried this recipe for the very first time just a few weeks back. This time I used less pork and a lot more onions. I started with just over four pounds of pork shoulder (I used just over five pounds last time out), then cut that into two-inch cubes while trimming away any fat. With that much meat this process took a while. Season the pork with two teaspoons of cumin and mix well so the cubes have an even spread of seasoning, or at least as evenly spread as possible.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil is a heavy pot or dutch oven. Then brown the meat in batches, removing to a plate when finished.
Now about this time I noticed a couple guys in my front yard. Turns out they found a gas leak under our front yard. I’ll tell you that I’ve called the gas company before because I smelled gas and they never found anything. Glad someone called them again because there clearly was a problem. Anyway, these guys got to work trying to find the leak.
Turns out the main city gas line had a few very small holes in it. They must pack some serious pressure into that line because I stood near the hole and could feel a strong wind of natural gas rushing out. It was like standing in front of a big fan and that pipe is still a good four feet under the surface. The whole area really reeked of gas too. They patched up the holes but may end up replacing the line for the whole block. So I’ve got a big hole in my front yard for a while. These guys started a couple hours before kickoff and worked well into the darkness of the second quarter. Thanks to these two dudes who sacrificed their Super Bowl Sunday to keep my house from blowing up.
Meanwhile I finished browning the pork.
Once removed, into the pan I added two more tablespoons of vegetable oil and three tablespoons of flour. Mix that around while it cooks for a minute.
Then add one 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained, four cups of water, one cup of orange juice, two sliced jalapeno peppers and twelve whole cloves of garlic.
The original recipe this is based on calls for zero onions. Last time I added one. This time I’m adding three.
Bring this to a boil while stirring up any browned bits stuck to the pot. This will kick in a lot of flavor.
Once boiling, put the pork back into the pot and return it all to a boil once again.
Cover and place in your 325-degree oven for three hours. Now it’s time to pickle your onions. Combine 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, a half-teaspoon of salt and one sliced red onion in a bowl. Mix well. Then refrigerate for anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 1/2 hours.
Here’s why my stew look like after three hours in the oven. Look how awesome it came out with all those cooked down onions.
Now add one pound of frozen, cut okra.
Mix that together well, cover and then return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Somewhere in this window is a great time to prepare your grits to serve with the stew. Here’s how the stew looks after cooking.
I serve the stew over the grits.
Then sprinkle some pickled red onions over the top to finish it all off. This really kicked some serious ass. I really like having a lot of the cooked-down onion bits throughout this. This was a strong meal that went perfectly with a strong finale to football. How am I going to live without football? Someone, please tell me.































