Mexican Pork Stew

" I love Mexican food. Love the complexity of the sauces, the abundant use of fresh ingredients, the subtle heat of the spices. I have tweaked and honed these recipes over the years. Each is absolutely perfect. Each calls for the dishes to be made from scratch" Says Ralph Robert Moore from his web site,ralphrobertmoore.com. I'm sharing his Mexican Pork Stew with you today.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 54 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 lbs  pork shoulder, cut into one-inch cubes
•  flour seasoned with  salt and pepper, for dredging
• 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 1  large yellow onion, chopped
• 2  large garlic cloves, minced
• 4  anaheim chilies, roasted, skins and seeds removed, stem beheaded, coarsely chopped
• 3  tablespoons chili powder
• 1  tablespoon cumin
• 1  bay leaf
• 1⁄2 tablespoon basil
• 1⁄2 tablespoon thyme
• 1⁄2 tablespoon oregano
• 3 1⁄2 cups chicken broth (divided use)
• 28  ounces plum tomatoes, drained, squeezed, chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can  refried beans

Directions

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven. Dredge pork cubes in seasoned flour, brown on all sides. Set aside.
2. NOTE: "Brown" means "brown." Don't remove the pork cubes when they're merely gray (the biggest mistake home cooks make when they're browning meat for a stew.) The pork cubes should be browned to where they look like they could be eaten as is.
3. Add onion, garlic, and Anaheims. Cook until onion softens, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add seasonings and bay leaf. Cook 1 minute.
5. Deglaze with ½ cup chicken broth. Return the pork to the Dutch oven. Add the remaining chicken broth, chopped tomatoes, and refried beans.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer with lid off for two hours.
7. Can be served on the plate as a stew, with heated flour tortillas to sop up all the goodness, or can be used to make burritos. Just add an appropriate amount of stew in a line across the center of a heated flour tortilla, sprinkle on top of the stew some shredded iceberg lettuce and chopped fresh tomatoes, and place at either end of the line sour cream and guacamole.
8. To increase the heat, add more Anaheims. To increase it further, add more chili powder (but try increasing the heat first by adding more Anaheims.).