Pork Stew, Two Ways

Pork stew with veggies! To make posole, omit the black beans and add chipotles in adobo and lots of garnishes.

This "recipe" was born from forgetting to pick up a can of chipotles in adobo before the snow day the other week. I had planned on making a traditional Mexican Pork Posole and lacking that critical ingredient, ended up with something else at first. A couple days later with the chipotles con adobo in hand, I doctored the leftovers to match my original plan. The general technique can be used to create a variety of takes of a pork stew.

"Regular" Pork Stew (Pictured)
Meat: 1 large pork roast (Boston butt or picnic roast are suitable)
Aromatics: 4-8 cloves garlic, 1 onion, quartered, 3-4 dried chiles (de arbol and ancho work well), 3 bay leaves, dry oregano (1 handful stems or 1 TBS flakes)
Broth: 1 pint chicken broth plus water. The pork contributes a lot of fat during cooking.
Veggies: dry or canned black beans, dry or canned hominy, carrots cut into chunks, cabbage chopped, extra greens, of whatever you want
Seasonings: 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon coriander, salt to taste

Brown the pork roast on all sides (tilt it to get the ends too) in a dutch oven on medium-high. Add the aromatics and stir just until glistening and fragrant, then pour in broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer until pork is cooked through, about 2 hours, through longer is fine! Remove meat from broth and also fish out the aromatics. Separate herb stems and inedibles and puree the rest (onion, chiles, garlic) and add back to the broth. Pull the pork and add back to the broth. Add the veggie components andseason to taste. Simmer to meld flavors. If you use dry beans or hominy, you'll need to add these in while the pork chunk is still in the cooking phase. Serve with a splash or Worcestershire and a dinner roll.

Make it "Posole" - much preferred in our house (but I didn't take a photo of it)
Omit the black beans. Add half a can of chipotles in adobo at the broth step. Put in a whole carrot at the beginning and puree it with the other ingredients. Serve with sliced radish, avocado, and cornbread or homemade tortillas.