Pork with Beans and Green Chile - 200

What to do with a small pork roast...

First I went through my Mexican cookbooks and found that most recipes either required a grill, banana leaves or a number of ingredients I didn't have on hand. I then pulled out my own repertoire of Mexican recipes, ones that I have just recently organized into a binder. I think it was the organizing of these recipes - many of which had become family favorites - that got me thinking about this whole project in the first place.

Flipping the pages of this binder as I played a game of Spanish Scrabble with Javier, I came across a recipe for something we used to call "Chalupa." The real meaning of the word chalupa is a small boat, similar to a dugout canoe. In different parts of the country they refer to tostadas as chalupas, but this pork recipe of mine is not related to a tostada, or at least not in any way that I've been able to figure out. It's one that came to me from my aunt when she lived in Fresno, CA.

This pork dish is, perhaps, one of the easiest Mexican meals you can fix. You put dry pinto beans into a large pot, then add whole green chiles, a whole boneless pork roast, and 3-4 seasonings. Then you cover the ingredients with water before covering with a lid and cooking on low for 5-6 hours. During that time yesterday I turned the pork roast once and added another 1 cup of water, but other than that, it was on its own. About 15 minutes before serving, I broke up the pork roast with a large serving fork, then stirred the large chunks and stringy bits of meat into the beans and green chile, which were now sitting in a reddish broth.

You can eat this resulting "stew" in a bowl as it is, or you can serve the meat mixture with a slotted spoon into warm flour tortillas or on top of tortilla chips. The garnishing is up to you. We had some lowfat Mexican cream, more of the green salsa from the night before, and a ripe avocado that we served on the side as you can see from the picture. Javier made flour tortilla tacos for himself, but I ate mine out of the bowl with a little salsa, cream and diced avocado on top. We will count this among the most memorable meals we've had in the past week!