Thursday, May 05, 2005

Mole and Pork Chops


Lomo de cerdo
Originally uploaded by BillieS.
There is a meat market about a block away from our house in San Miguel. It may be 10x10 in size. Just large enough to have a meat case for showing the meat, a chopping block and a saw. A saw without an on/off switch. You plug in the saw for on and unplug the saw for off. Hey, it works just fine for the butcher.

Yesterday I wanted pork and we haven't cooked anything with mole since we returned to Mexico so it was going to be pork with a mole sauce. My butcher had a very nice pork loin. He trimmed it up and cut me two chops. They looked really good but the one thing I've learned about meat in Mexico is that it generally has a denser texture than meat in the USA. Not necessarily tough but I haven't found it to be as tender if grilled so I usually braise meats. I braised the chops with onion, garlic, wine, a little chicken stock.

Braising

Across the street from the butcher is the chicken store and he always has a large container of mole de Guanajuato. I bought the smallest amount, 1/4 kilo (about 1/2 pound). It is a thick paste about the consistency of peanut butter. You add water or chicken stock to get it to a consistency of a cream gravy. I like to use what is left of my braising liquid to start thining the mole. The mole de Guanajuato is very good and has a nice ting on the tongue but it isn't hot.

Dinner

To finish out our dinner, I made rice and broccoli sauteed with garlic. It was a good dinner.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

mmm, that looks pretty darn good!

Billie Mercer said...

Earl, hope you'll stop in again. I like cooking and who knows what might be on the menu next time.

Anonymous said...

Earl's right. Unfortunately, in northern MI, you either make your own mole, or rely on Dona Maria. I doctor D.M. and believe it to be close to what you describe. I know what I"ll fix for dinner today. Thanks, Billie.