Braised Mexican Pork Loin Rib Roast

Contains:  Nightshades, legumes.  Is:  Gluten-free, mildly spicy.

Carving the finished braised pork loin.  Add items still in the pan when serving.

Haven’t done anything Mexican recently, so I got inspired to go check out a Mexican goat recipe – and there really is such a thing, done as a stew.  However, this is a Rib Roast I’m cooking, not out and out stewing meat, so I modified the following recipe-idea to become a braise.  I originally did this with a goat loin rib roast, and it was good.  But I didn’t write mine up or take photos… so… here I repeat, using pork instead – no more goat available!

Mexican Goat Stew

But yeah, this one will be an oven-braise instead.  Simply similar ingredients, although prep varies enough from the above in that I call this “inspired by“.

I’ll be using dried Guajillo chili peppers – the author notes these may well be preferred although he/she didn’t have any to hand.  But feel free to go chipotle (which are smoked jalapeños).  But at any rate, I like learning about new things:

“A guajillo chili or guajillo chile (chile guajillo in Spanish, meaning big pod) is the dried form of mirasol chili, a landrace variety of chile pepper of the species Capsicum annuum, and is the second-most commonly used dried chili in Mexican cuisine after poblanos (ancho).” Wikipedia.

According to the Guajillo package I have here, the Scoville rating is 6000 units, which puts this on the mild side of life.

Yes, a political fight may occur between Penzys and Goya in my braising pan. So be it. Both already existed here.

It also appears that the best flavors are imparted to the chili by toasting them on both sides for about 3 minutes in a dry heavy duty skillet.  Recipes appear to call for them deseeded, but you judge your own heat tolerance needs.  (I left in the seeds as you can see from the photos.

A great dinner, and provides great leftovers!

The goat mentioned in the source recipe can be substituted with lamb or mutton (adult lamb), or as here, with pork.

Prep Time:  15-20 minutes, accounting for roasting of the dried Guajillo.
Cook Time:  3 hours.
Rest Time:  10 minutes.
Serves:  3-4.
Cuisine:  Mexican-inspired.
Leftovers:  Certainly!

Braised Mexican Pork (or Goat!) Rib Roast

• Around 1 3/4 pounds rib roast, bone-in (6-8 ribs).  
• 1 yellow or white onion, quartered or “sixthed”.  
• 2 plum tomatoes chopped
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 orange, peeled and segmented
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ancho chili pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (or more, your discretion)
• black pepper to taste
• 2 dried Guajillo chili peppers, dry-roasted briefly in a sturdy skillet, then coarsely chopped. Remove or keep seeds as you wish.
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 cup water
• 15.5 oz. can black beans, including juice
• salt to taste
• Optional cilantro, as garnish.  (Parsley can work for the cilantro-intolerant.)  

Preheat oven to 350 F / C.

Brown the rib roast on all sides in a skillet.  About 2-4 minutes a side at medium high temperature.

To an oven-ready pan, add all ingredients except the cilantro.

Place in oven and let this cook for about 3 hours.   Carve, planning on each person (or each serving) to have two ribs apiece.  Serve with cilantro garnish.

Side serving suggestion:  corn on the cob.  No, I did not cook the corn with the meat – added for photography’s sake.  Maybe also serve with some roasted, mashed, or scalloped potatoes.

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Linked to:

Fiesta Friday, co-host Liz @ Spades, Spatulas & Spoons.
What’s For Dinner? Sunday Link Up.
Full Plate Thursday, 
Homestead Blog Hop.