Mexican Stewed Cranberry Beans with Shredded Pork & Salsa Fresca
Inspired by a recipe from a famous Mexico City chef.
This recipe originated from a highly acclaimed chef in Mexico City, Eduardo Garcia-Guzman, founder of restaurants Maximo Bistrot and Lalo's, considered to be one of the top chefs in the country. But this isn’t what one might consider as “Mexican Food,” which generally is defined in the U.S. as Tex-Mex and/or Southwestern Mexican Food. This recipe is deep interior-style Mexican cuisine. Chef Garcia prepared this dish for Christopher Kimball and his camera crew in an episode of the oddly named TV cooking show on PBS, Milk Street.
Milk Street is a fairly straightforward cooking show with a programming template that first broadcasts live footage of Kimball's journey to some culinary discovery somewhere in the world, then returning to the studio where he and a cadre of culinarians recreate the dish for the home cook.
Milk Street Television on PBS
You would watch this show more for the cooking information it adeptly imparts rather than for any personality Kimball might display on the air. Kimball founded Cook's Magazine in 1980 and clearly has the demeanor of a food editor and writer, generally sedate with a flat affect that defies logic for having selected him as a TV cooking show host, which he’s been doing on this and other PBS cooking shows for decades. More professorial than show host or chef-like, he wears a trademark bow tie and rim-way glasses, and only cooks on the air a third of the time. He instead mostly stands guard as a commentator and spectator while more affable staff actually present and prepare their dishes in front of the cameras.
I tried one of Kimball's other recipes, adapted from a restaurant chef in one of the Greek islands, Ikarian Braised Pork with Honey, Orange & Rosemary. In an effort to reproduce the recipe exactly as presented, My Number One Fan even found an uncommon honey made from Buckwheat pollen. We found the pork dish much too sweet to be enjoyed a second time even though I actually reduced the amount of honey his recipe called for, so I did not post it to Kitchen Tapestry.
The recipe in this post, however, was a winner and while it does contain pork, that is actually considered an optional ingredient. This recipe is really about the beans and the Sofrito, with the Salsa Fresca that accompanies the dish on the side. Sofrito is like a French Mirepoix or the New Orleans’ Holy Trinity in Cajun and Creole cooking. While there are regional variations throughout its use in Latin American and Caribbean cooking, it generally consists of onion, tomatoes, garlic and chili peppers. While a Mirepoix and the Holy Trinity are usually made at the beginning as a base to the dish, a Sofrito is often, as in this case, cooked separately and blended into the dish at the end.
There are two uncommon ingredients that make this recipe work, First and foremost in making this dish authentically Mexican is the use of lard as a cooking fat. Lard is rendered pork fat which has largely fallen from favor in American US cooking. You can sometimes find lard frozen for sale in commercial grocery stores and it is readily available in grocery markets that serve a large Hispanic customer base.
The second uncommon, but no less important ingredient is the beans themselves. While the original Garcia recipe called for a typical Pinto Bean that is common in Mexican cooking, the Milk Street foodies found that American-grown Pintos did not work as well as the original Mexican version that Kimball consumed on the air. While I am sure we're talking only a modicum of degrees’ difference here, they did recommend an alternate legume, the Cranberry Bean, also know as Roman or Borlotti Beans. As the name implies, these beans are native to southern Europe and commonly used in Italian cooking. Pintos, on the other hand originated in Central and South America. Cranberry Beans are slightly larger, a little sweeter, nuttier and creamier than their New World cousin.
By the way, I despise the Milk Street website. All the cooks on the TV show and Kimball himself promote it, reminding the viewer that recipes can be download, but they fail to add, "for free." The Milk Street website is the only cooking show website of which I am aware that requires its viewers to pay for downloading a recipe seen on the air. It's all the more egregious when you consider that Kimball's show is financed through the PBS network of government taxpayer-funded distribution and corporate tax-deductible sponsorships. The site itself is also highly monetized, selling everything from their print magazine and cookbooks, to kitchen gadgets, spices and cookware; instead of hosting an honest recipe archive, it seems Kimball isn’t content with the loyalty of your television viewership or with his purported $20-million net worth, and wants just a little bit more of your money.
Luckily, local PBS affiliates post recipes from his show for free which I hope irritates Kimball to no end.
Mexican Stewed Cranberry Beans with Shredded Pork & Salsa Fresca
Inspired by a recipe from a famous Mexico City Chef.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-1/2 to 2-inch cubes
- 2 jalapeño peppers, cored, stemmed, seeds removed, finely minced
- 2 tbsp garlic finely minced
- 2 tbsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 7 cups vegetable stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
- 1 lb dried cranberry beans, sorted and rinsed
- 2 tbsp fine sea salt
- 2 tbsp lard
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely minced stems, roughly chopped leaves, separated
- 6 cups stock from the stewed pork (recipe above)
- the Sofrito (recipe follows)
- Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Salsa Fresca
- 2 tbsp lard
- 1 large white or yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 tbsp garlic, minced
- 6-7 medium sized ripe tomatoes, cored and diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, cored, stemmed, seeds removed, finely minced
Instructions
- In a stock pot or Dutch oven, combine the pork shoulder pieces with the vegetable stock, jalapeños, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to a simmer.
- Cover and allow the meat to simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until fork tender and the meat is easily shredded.
- Transfer the pork with a slotted spoon to platter or bowl and allow to cool.
- Pour the broth through a strainer into a bowl and set aside for the beans.
- Shred the pork, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- When ready to add the pork to the beans, bring out of the fridge at least an hour before using.
- After sorting through the dried beans to remove any pebbles or foreign matter, rinse well through a colander.
- Combine the beans and 2 quarts of cold water with 2 tbsp fine sea salt. Stir until the salt is dissolved. Cover and soak the beans overnight for 12 hours at room temperature.
- Drain the beans and discard the soaking water.
- In a stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the lard until melted and shimmering, then add the onion and sauté until they begin to brown, 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cilantro stems, and stir fry for a minute.
- Stir in the beans and pork stock. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to a simmer.
- Cover and cook the beans until tender, 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime while the beans are cooking, prepare the Sofrito.
- When the beans are done, remove the pot from the heat and allow them to rest uncovered for thirty minutes.
- Return the pot to the stove over medium heat and return the liquid to a simmer. Add the Sofrito and the shredded pork and heat through.
- Test for seasoning, adding additional fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if needed, then stir in the chopped cilantro leaves.
- Serve in soup bowls with the Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Salsa Fresco and warm flour tortillas on the side.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt the lard until shimmering.
- Sauté the onion until caramelized, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic and sauté another minute.
- Add the tomatoes and jalapeños and stir well to combine.
- Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has reduced and evaporated, 20-25 minutes.
- Keep warm until ready to add to the dish.
Notes
- The pork and its resultant broth can be made and kept refrigerated up to 3 days in advance of making the rest of the recipe.
- While usually, dried beans can be wither soaked overnight or and be quick-started in boiling water, the quick-start method is not recommended for this recipe. The beans must be soaked in cold water for 12 hours.
Salsa Fresco
A simple, fresh, authentically Mexican salsa that has many uses as a dipping sauce or relish to accompany grilled meats, fish and as a topping for other dishes. This salsa was specifically made for the Kitchen Tapestry recipe for Mexican Stewed Cranberry Beans with Shredded Pork & Salsa Fresca.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes (like, Hunt's)
- 2 medium fresh tomatoes, diced
- 3 tsp garlic, minced
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp of dried basil
- 2 tsp of dried oregano
- 6 tbsp of distilled white vinegar
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, heat the oil; sauté both the canned and fresh tomatoes for 10-15 minutes, or until soft.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Stir in the remainder of the ingredients.
- Simmer on low heat, stirring regularly, for 30 to 45 minutes until the sauce has thickened. You're looking for the consistency of a loose salsa.
- Remove from the heat, and let stand for 30 minutes. The sauce will further thicken upon standing.
- Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving, or refrigerate for later use.
