Recipes in Practice: Pork and Hominy Stew
- The previous evening, move frozen pork cutlets from freezer to fridge in hopes they will thaw. Try not to think about what a food safety inspector would say.
- Check ingredients list. Wonder what hominy is.
- Go to Safeway. Buy a 28 oz can of hominy. Looks like… giant corn kernels?
- Spend several minutes rummaging through spice cabinet.
- Combine 2 tablespoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons of oregano, 1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in large bowl. Stir, but not too vigorously.
- Set aside 1.5 teaspoons of spice mix aside for mysterious reasons.
- Is the pork thawed? Kind of! Slice frosty pork into cubes.
- Put frosty pork cubes into spice bowl and roll around with your fingers until they are orange (the cubes, and probably also your fingers)
- Wash your hands in warm water until fingers are no longer numb and orange.
- Chop 2 cups onion, weeping profusely as you do at the end of every Studio Ghibli movie.
- Chop 1.5 cups bell pepper. Recipe calls for green, but yellow and red are much more festive!
- Crush and mince 1 tablespoon garlic. Marvel at how incredibly painful garlic juice is in the cut on your thumb.
- Drain hominy into measuring cup, then fill up with water to 2.5 cups. So hominy is… soaked corn kernels?
- Ready to fry! Heat some olive oil in the big pan and toss in the pork.
- Clean out the spice bowl so you can use it to store the pork when it’s done.
- Fry pork until it’s whitish-orange and the oil is deep orange. Scoop pork back into bowl.
- Fry vegetables in orange oil to add flavor, grease.
- Put the pork back in the pan. Tire of transferring pork.
- Throw in the remaining spice mixture that was previously set aside for mysterious reasons.
- Add the hominy water, plus one 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes and 2.5 teaspoons of chicken stock. Boil that sucker up.
- “Partially cover?” Put the pan lid on a bit cockeyed, turn down the heat, and let it stew for 25 minutes or so.
- Internet!
- Stir up stew a bit, ladle into bowl. Hominy tastes like corn tortilla. Not bad, not bad at all.
- Put away leftovers. Rinse pan before oil stains it permanently orange.
Tags: recipes in practice hominy
