Chock a Pot Pork Stew (Latin Fusion)

Submitted by justcallmetoni

"Trying to use up the last of a pork loin purchased on sale I began consulting the my new cookbook of healthy dishes with a Latin flair (WW Simply Bueno - which is wonderful). There were several stews that appealed to me but I couldn't decide and eventually came up with my own. This stew combines ingredients from various regions from the chilies of the southwest, plantains typical of the Caribbean, to the use of squash found in South America. Authentic, maybe not. Delicious, absolutely. (WW 7 pts/Core)"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 dried New Mexico chiles (see note in directions)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 1⁄4 lbs lean boneless pork loin, trimmed of excess fat and cubed into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 -4 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2 - 1 inches cubes
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can hominy, drained not rinsed
• 1 large plantain, cut into 3/8 inch thick slices
• 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

directions

1. Tear off tops of dried chilies and place them in a bowl with the boiling water. If you want a mild sauce discard seeds before placing in water. Allow the peppers to seep for 20-30 minutes, until soft. Place chilies and the brewing water in a blender and puree into a sauce.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add in cubes of pork and stir for 1 or 2 minutes. Add in onions and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add in garlic and cook an additional minute.
3. Pour the chile sauce and canned tomatoes into the saucepan and bring to a low boil. Reduce to simmer and add in cumin and oregano. Allow to cook at least 25 minutes. If you are not in a hurry, cook a full 35 minutes for a more tender pork.
4. Add in the diced butternut squash and cook an additional 15-20 minutes, until the squash is starts to become tender. (You can poke the squash with a fork, but it still has some resistance). Add in the the hominy and cook an additional 10 minutes. Add in the plantain and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until the plantains are soft but not breaking apart.
5. Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve.

Reviews

[Bokenpop aka Mad]

This was an interesting sounding dish and I liked the combination of ingredients but alas the rest of the family did not care for it much. (Perhaps it was too different from what I usually make?) Nontheless, it is an easily assembled, unfussy dish to prepare and if I were to prepare it again, I would reduce the water content by 1/2 as the sauce was rather watery.