Cooking good food makes everyone richer

Let today be a lesson on reading recipes the night before you are preparing to make them. I stayed up about 2 hours past when I wanted to fall asleep finishing boiling some black beans because I thought that mole sauce had black beans in them. I am still pretty sure of it but I could not find a recipe linking the two. Pork shoulder has rapidly become my favorite cut of pork, great flesh to fat ratio, and when you slow cook it, the pork practically melts in your mouth. Put them together and you get quite a cost effective meal with lots of flavor depth. Added bonus to this dish is that it tastes even better after sitting for a few hours as both the ingredients are in their own unique way, sauce-rich, the pork in the stock and the mole in itself.

Shredded Pork

Ingredient List ~$5

• Pork Shoulder, about 2 lbs
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• chili powder
• garlic powder
• sea salt
• black pepper
• crushed red pepper

First you will want to season your shoulder. Cover each side thoroughly with all of the listed spices, patting them on. If you are particularly neurotic feel free to pat spices on the sides as well.  While you are seasoning the shoulder you can heat your oil in a large pot or saucepan(large enough to hold the shoulder and stock) . Get the oil nice and hot and then place the shoulder into the pan. Sear each side until they are browned, should not taking longer than 30 seconds per side. You can then add the stock, be careful not to pour the stock directly onto the shoulder as this will most likely wash away the spices off the meat.

Cook for about 2 1/2 hours, flipping every 40 minutes or so, until the meat gives way to a fork(enabling you to shred it). While you are waiting for it to cook, get on with your mole!

When done simply, shred the meat with a fork until small pieces/strands and pour some mole over it.

Mole Sauce

Ingredient List ~$2

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 poblano chile, diced (use any kind of chile you want, just make sure it is fresh, not dried)
• 2 cups tomatoes, diced

I pretty much modded this whole recipe because I first wanted to expand it, as well incorporate fresh ingredients, instead of the canned stuff the recipe called for. It turned out really well, best mole I’ve ever had. After you have prepped all your ingredients, heat up your oil in a medium sized saucepan. Once hot add the garlic and onion, and cook until slightly brown.

Next combine in the cocoa, cumin, cilantro and the poblano and stir together until everything is a nice off brown color. Stir in your tomatoes next and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, and remove from heat. Let it cool for a few minutes, and then throw into a food processor and create a smooth silky sauce. You can leave it chunky if you want, but the ingredients mix together more evenly after pureeing them together.

I had the mole both hot and chilled, and honestly liked the chilled mole over warm pork the best. Play around to see what you like the most.

Eat Well!