One Local Summer Week 6 - Pork Chili Verde

I got busy with holiday stuff last weekend and missed out on making a One Local Summer meal, so I'm getting back into the swing of it this week. We have lots of good local food in the house right now - picked up a freezer full of meat from my Polyface Farm dropoff this weekend, bought some nice fruit at the Columbia Pike Farmer's Market today, and I still have a few things leftover from my CSA dropoff last Monday.



This week it seemed like the farmer's market was full of peppers, squash and tomatoes. I already had squash and garlic at home from my CSA, so I went with the peppers today and decided to make some chili verde. I got peppers and onions from Westmoreland Vegetables (couldn't find a website for them) and tomatillos from another farmer's market stand that didn't have a sign and I don't know what the name of the farm was. The lard, pork and chicken stock are all Polyface.


(the squash isn't in the picture, I forgot it in the fridge! it was green and just about the size of my forearm)

PORK CHILI VERDE

ingredients:
2 T lard
1 onion, chopped
2 poblano peppers, chopped
2 cubanelle peppers, chopped
2 Anaheim peppers, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
6 tomatillos, chopped finely
1 green summer squash, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb ground pork
2-4 cups chicken stock (depending on how thick you like it)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano or 2 T fresh oregano
1 tsp sea salt

Heat the lard in a Dutch oven and brown all the vegetables except the squash and garlic until they start to get soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute until fragrant. Add the pork and cook until no longer pink. Add the chicken stock and seasonings, bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for 1 hour.

Some good non local toppings: fresh cilantro, diced avocado, lime juice



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For dessert I cracked open that big ole watermelon you see up top and cubed it up and we went to town. Seeds everywhere. Ugly, but good. :)

Beef and Potato Stew with Saffron

I haven't been posting as much as I would like. I've taken some pictures of our food lately but I haven't had time to sit down and write anything up until today. Here is something we ate tonight. It is a delicious paleo beef stew with Spanish flavors. The original recipe is "Beef and Potato Stew with Saffron from La Mancha" from the book "Real Stew" by Clifford A. Wright. I had never used cloves or saffron in a stew before, but the result was amazingly rich and delicious. I think this may be my new favorite beef stew!



serves 4-6

ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-1/4 lbs boneless stew beef
*1-1/2 lbs potatoes, cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks
1 T sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 bay leaf
Good size pinch of saffron threads
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup beef broth, optional
water
1-2 T arrowroot powder, optional

Layer the olive oil, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and beef into a stew pot in that order. Layer the potatoes on top of the beef. Add the salt, pepper, cloves, bay leaf, and saffron. Pour the wine and beef broth over and add enough water to come to the top of the potatoes but not cover them.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours.

The broth is relatively thin at this point. If you would like a thicker stew, with the pot still on the heat dissolve the arrowroot in 2 T cold water and stir into the stew.

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*note: Some people don't consider potatoes to be paleo. I find them acceptable on my personal version of the paleo diet, but if you'd rather substitute a different root vegetable I think that rutabaga would work the best.