Pork Adovado

This is a recipe adapted from the Frugal Gourmet for a chile-garlic-oregano marinade that looks crazy hot, but can be adjusted to suit your taste preferences.  How you apply the marinade to the meat also dials the heat up or down.  So no worries!

I used to use 3 dry ancho/pasilla chiles, 3 dry jalapeno/chipotle chiles and 1 dry habanero chile pod.  These days with the kiddos, I err on the milder side and use 4 anchos and 2-3 chipotles.  I also used to marinate thinly sliced loin chops so more marinade could work into the meat, but I tend to marinate whole cuts of pork now.  You can also choose to cook the meat in the marinade (hotter) or drain it off before cooking (milder).

Marinated pork shoulder makes an awesome crockpot meal.  If you marinate a loin roast, I'd cook that one in the oven.  Chicken would also be fantastic with this marinade.

Crockpot Pork Shoulder Adovado
Makes 4-6 servings

2 lbs. bone-in pork shoulder
7-8 dry chile pods
3 cups hot water
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano

Soak chile pods in water for 1 hour.  When soft, remove stems, seeds and ribs from the pods.  Put the pods in a food processor or blender and add 1 cup of the soaking water, garlic, salt and oregano.  Blend well. 

Pour marinade over meat in a ziptop bag and fridge or freeze.

To cook, thaw thoroughly.  Put meat in crockpot (with marinade, if you want, or drained) and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Pin It