Mexican Pork Stew

[recipe] You can use fresh pork in this recipe, but it also works really well with left-over pulled/slow-roast pork. Serves 4. -- 25ml olive oil 450g boneless pork in 2-3cm cubes 1 medium onion, coarsly chopped 1 red pepper, chopped into 2cm squares 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 20g plain flour 500ml chicken stock - fresh or from stock cube 450g can chopped tinned tomatoes, with their juice 215g jar green jalapeño chillies, with juice 1 heaped desert spoon ground cumin 1 heaped desert spoon dried oregano pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional, for extra heat) 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained -- Fry the onion and pepper in the olive oil over a medium heat in a cast-iron casserole until lightly browned. Add garlic and fry for another minute or so, then remove vegetables and set aside, aiming to leave some of the oil behind Fry the pork cubes until browned (this may be easier in smaller batches) Return the vegetables to the casserole, with the pork, and add the flour, stirring for 30 seconds or so to avoid burning Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, jalapeños, cumin, oregano and the chilli flakes, if using, and stir for a few minutes until the sauce thickens, ensuring that there are no lumps of flour. Note that some brands of jalapeños may be more vinegary than others, so you might want to hold back some of the juice and check for taste - the sauce does however need to have the tart "zing" that the brine contributes Put the lid on the casserole and simmer over a low heat (or place in an oven at 130°C) for 1½ hours, checking occasionally that it's not drying out - add a bit more water if this is the case. If it's too thin at the end of cooking, remove the lid and simmer on the hob until reduced Add the the black beans and simmer gently on the hob for a further 15 minutes or so Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste (the chilli brine may contribute sufficient salt on its own) -- Serve with rice, or use to make tortillas/burritos with rice, grated cheese, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo. -- Use lean pork trimmmed of all visible fat, replace the olive oil with 1-cal spray and use cornflour mixed with water instead of the flour to thicken. [end]