Carne adovada is traditional recipe from New Mexico. Chunks of pork are simmered in a thick sauce made from dried red New Mexican chiles. Adobada, the Mexican preparation on which the dish is based, refers to meat cooked in an adobo sauce of chiles, aromatics, and vinegar.) The meat is slowly braised until fall-apart tender, and this dish that is robust in red color and flavor is served with tortillas or rice and beans.
These photos are long overdue for an update, as these were taken with my old point-and-shoot camera. What the photos lack in appeal, the recipe does not!
I’ve never been to New Mexico, but I certainly plan to. UPDATE: We finally made it to New Mexico in October 2018. This dish was listed on many of the restaurant menus where we stayed. My husband ordered it, and it was very spicy! Fortunately, making this delicious stew at home enables me to dial back on the heat from the chipotle peppers!
One of my personal achievements, in learning how to improve my cooking techniques, was to learn the art of searing meat. For this recipe, I used my trusty cast iron Dutch Oven. It take close to 30 minutes to sear the pork into beautiful crusty brown bits of meat. I was left with a nice fond to cook my onions and to “bloom” the spices, so there was a lot of flavor.
In the meantime, the prep for the sauce came together pretty fast. I love my immersion blender. Pureeing food in a blender is messy work, in my opinion. I was able to puree the sauce, right in my Dutch Oven in a manner of minutes. If you won’t own one, I can’t rave enough about what a useful cooking tool that they are. I added the seared pork back into the pureed sauce.
At the last minute, I decided to put the stew into my slow cooker, rather than braising the meat in the oven. I needed to leave the house, and I don’t think it’s smart to leave my oven on if I’m not home.
When I returned home, five hours later, the house smelled “smokey”– not as in “fire” but as in flavor! I had to skim off some fat, but there wasn’t a lot of it. I had a beautiful rich sauce, so I decided to serve this over brown rice. Rather than adding the fresh cilantro into the sauce, I garnished it on top of the stew.
My husband and I were very happy with the flavor of this recipe. On a scale of “ten” being Fire Engine Spicy Hot, this recipe rated about a “six” on our scale. If you can’t handle too much spice, I would decrease the amount of chipotle to 1/2 Tablespoon. If you love heat, then go for it! I used 1 Tablespoon, just like the recipe called for.
The pork was so juicy and tender!
New Mexico Pork Chili Carne Adovada
Ingredients
- 1 boneless pork shoulder roast 4- to 5-pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup brewed coffee
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 onions chopped
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon chipotle chiles in adobo sauce minced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon grated zest and 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350°
- Combine raisins and coffee in small bowl. Wrap tightly with plastic and microwave until liquid begins to boil, 1 to 3 minutes; let stand 5 minutes, until raisins are plump.
- Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of pork, about 10 minutes. Transfer to plate and repeat with remaining pork.
- Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from Dutch oven. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour, chili powder, oregano, chipotle, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth and raisin mixture, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil. Working in 2 batches, transfer mixture to blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Return sauce to pot.
- Add browned pork to sauce in pot and transfer to oven. Cook, covered, until pork is fork-tender, about 2 hours. Skim sauce, then stir in lime zest, lime juice, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. (Pork can be refrigerated in airtight container for 3 days.)
Notes
Nutrition
You’re a saint!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
I admit I reduced the chipotle to 1/2 T. ( I’m not a fan of a lot of heat, but a little is good) and increased the lime juice to 2 T., but what a wonderful flavor. The blending of the sauce produces a velvety smooth beautiful flavor. this is a keeper.
You’re a saint!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
I admit I reduced the chipotle to 1/2 T. ( I’m not a fan of a lot of heat, but a little is good) and increased the lime juice to 2 T., but what a wonderful flavor. The blending of the sauce produces a velvety smooth beautiful flavor. this is a keeper.
Robert, thanks for stopping by and posting how your dinner turned out. So happy that you enjoyed it.
Not sure if I’m a saint… but… I try. 🙂