I don’t have any prep photos of this recipe, because I was almost certain we would be ordering pizza after we tasted this. I couldn’t be MORE WRONG! It was simply amazing!! I was so astounded that I did snap a shot of my bowl of it (sans the flour tortilla for dipping, because I was still so non-plussed how great this tasted.) Then for grins I took a shot of my hubby’s interpretation of how this should be eaten.
I was going through the freezer and found a half a tube of Mexican ground chorizo sausage and decided to do something with it. I also had two gallon bags of frozen tomatoes from our last harvest and I had to use at least SOME of them soon. I had made brined pork chops the night before, which were a total failure, I tell you. Hardly anyone touched the pork, so you won’t get any info on that except for my brining shot of it, sigh. I will not make THAT recipe again. Kitchn website, you failed me this time…
I threw caution to the wind, and stuck the frozen chorizo, peeled frozen tomatoes, and almost a pound of the failed pork (cut up) into the crock pot, thinking if I just cook the hell out of something it might be decent. In went some chicken broth, potatoes, onions, spices and such. Just whatever sounded good. Then covered it up and cooked it all day long, hoping it wouldn’t be a last-minute pizza night.
I almost feel like I painted a masterpiece with this. Almost. This was INCREDIBLY delicious! My daughter and I couldn’t stop warming up more tortillas to slop up every last morsel of goodness. We also stirred in some cheddar cheese into the bowls, for garnish. My husband, on the other hand, made rolled up cheese quesadillas/burrito type things, stuck some of the mixture inside, and then slathered them over with more stew and mounds of sour cream. Mounds, I tell you. A little odd, but I let him do it. It’s his mouth.
You may adapt however you like, because it’s not like I followed any semblance of a recipe to start with. (p.s. it is the ground chorizo that makes this recipe and sets it apart from my other Carne Guisada recipe, so at least don’t skip that ingredient!)
Hints: Whenever a recipe calls for a small amount of tomato paste or chipotle chiles, I freeze the rest (labeled) for later use. Just nuke for a tad and take what you need and refreeze. Yes, I got mine out of the freezer for this.
Now on to the (sort of) recipe!
Chorizo-Based Carne Guisada
1 pound of pork, cooked or uncooked, cut into small pieces
7 ounces ground Mexican pork chorizo, uncooked
2 cups diced tomatoes, frozen, from a can, fresh, whatever
1 medium potato, any kind, unpeeled, washed and diced
1/2 cup chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium, or water
1/2 cup chopped onion, any kind (I used red)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon of sauce from a can of Adobo Chipotle peppers
Juice from 1/2 small lime (maybe a couple of teaspoons?)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Ancho chile powder (or any other kind)
Large pinch of cumin powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped (plus more for garnish if you want)
Warmed flour tortilla, for slopping up
Grated cheddar cheese, for garnish
Mounds of sour cream, for garnish (or not)
Prep your pork and veggies and such, throw them all in a crock pot, give it a good stir to mix, and cook on low about 8 to 10 hours or high on 4 to 6 hours. Give it another good stir at the end. That’s it! Serve with garnishes. Easy, huh?
Kathryn, looking at your wonderful recipe makes me want to buy a crock pot. Thanks for the tip on freezing the tomato paste, I don’t know why I didn’t think about that since I freeze my chipotle peppers. Oh well, that’s why I enjoy looking at blogs. You always learn something. Have a nice weekend.
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Thank you Gerlinde for your nice comment! I too, am surprised at how much I learn from reading other cooking blogs. Now go buy a crock pot, they are wonderful cooking appliances if you have the room to store one. 🙂
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I think it’s fabulous that you took a miss and turned it into such a huge hit! When i have that kind of miss, i try… and the best i ever achieve is “edible.” 😀 Well done, KR. Hugs!
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Oh Teagan, you must give yourself more credit than that! If you can put food on the table, you’ve done good! Hugs back!
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So when are you getting your own cable show. This looks great. My crock pot can’t wait!
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You are too kind Juliette, thank you! I was amazed at how good this came out.
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Throw caution to the wind and everything else into the crockpot 🙂 Love this recipe!!
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Thank you Mel! I wish I had thought to say that phrase, excellent!
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I’d say that your experiment worked like a dream. It looks awesome! As for the brined pork chops …win a few, lose a few.
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Thanks Adam, I had high hopes for them, but it just wasn’t meant to be. 🙂
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Sweet! Love those happy accidents!
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Your “sort of” recipe sounds like it turned out great. The things we make that we don’t take photos of, can end up being some of our best recipes. Good thing you took a couple of photos at the end.
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Thank you Karen for your kind words. I was glad to have at least a couple of photos to share.
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Alright, I’ll be making this. Very soon. It sounds amazing. I had to laugh coz you said “tad” which is something I always say. Tad, sometimes “titsch” and smidge, too. My daughter just cringes! 🙂 Especially when she says “how much” and I say just a tad bit. Whatever that means…
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LOL, I use “tad,” “pinch, “smidgen” etc. all the time. Then I got these cute wee measuring spoons that had those labels on them for my husband, ha! You should get some for your daughter. Thank goodness we don’t have many slugs here wither, as we are on the high desert part of Oregon. My friends over in the valley or in Portland are inundated with them!
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Oh I’ll have to look for those spoons! She’ll just die. I have heard that about the slugs in Oregon! Yuck!!
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