Smoked Pork – Black Bean Chili
For the Chili Cook-Off at the Noyes Art Museum on October 11, 2012, I smoked a pork loin over hickory and apple wood and then diced the smoked pork into a black bean, rather than a traditional kidney bean, chili. I seasoned the chili with lime and cilantro and lots of farm fresh peppers to give the chili a Cuban flavor. Making this chili is not difficult, but it is time-consuming, both to make the chili and, in some cases, to find the ingredients. The judges at the Chili Cook-Off seemed to think it was worth the time, awarding this chili Third Place. As promised, here is my recipe.Ingredient list
Oil (I like to use La Tourangelle Grapeseed Oil when I make
this at home, but it may contain trace amounts of tree nuts, sesame seeds and
peanuts, so, if you’re making this for a crowd, substitute any good cooking
oil)
Unsalted butter
4 large sweet onions, cut to a large dice
12 cloves garlic, minced
10 assorted sweet bell peppers cut to a large dice (green,
red, orange and yellow as available)
4 poblano peppers cut to a small dice (poblanos are a mild,
flavorful chili pepper)
2 long red hot peppers cut to a small dice (if you can’t get long reds,
substitute jalapenos)
1 cayenne pepper, cut to a small dice
1 mexibel pepper, cut to a small dice (if you can’t get
mexibels and you like your chili hot, substitute a habanero, otherwise omit
this pepper)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, cleaned and chopped
3 pounds pork loin
Chili-lime dry rub (I get my dry rub at Williams-Sonoma)
2.75 pounds ground pork
Piment d’esplet (this is a basque red pepper powder,
available online, or substitute cayenne powder)
Smoked serrrano chili powder (from Williams-Sonoma)
Salt
4 cans of black beans, drained and washed
Smoked paprika
3 cans (28 ounces each) of
san marzano diced tomatoes
1 can (28 ounces) of san marzano crushed tomatoes
juice of 2 limes
Mean Green (a smoky roasted jalapeno and lime juice sauce
from Hoboken Eddie)
Note About Smoking the Pork Loin
If you don’t have a smoker (and I don’t) you can achieve
similar results in less time by indirect cooking with hardwood charcoal and
wood smoking chips in a kettle-style charcoal barbecue (such as a Weber). For an explanation of how this is done, I suggest you take a look at How to Smoke Food on a Charcoal Grill. In this
recipe, I used a mixture of hickory and apple wood chips, soaked in water for
thirty minutes, and a hardwood lump charcoal (rather than briquets). I coated the pork loin with the chili-lime dry rub and, indirect cooked
the loin in the closed kettle for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes (or until done).
Steps
1. Coat the pork loin
with the chili-lime dry rub and cook, as explained above, in your closed barbecue.
2. While the pork
loin is cooking, sauté the onions, garlic, sweet and hot peppers in a mixture
of oil and unsalted butter. Clean and
chop the cilantro and add approximately half the bunch to the sautéed
vegetables. Add approximately 2 ounces
of Mean Green. Let the pan simmer.
3. In a second pan,
fry up the ground pork. Season, to
taste, with the piment d’esplet, the smoked serrano chili powder and salt. (Don’t be afraid to pour the smoked Serrano
powder with a heavy hand). Drain any
grease that accumulates in the pan.
4. Combine the
sauteed vegetables and the ground pork in a large stock pot. Wash and drain 4 cans of black beans and add
them to the pot. Add smoked paprika, to
taste.
5. Add 2 of the cans
of diced tomatoes and 1 can of crushed tomatoes. Add another two ounces of Mean Green.
6. Let the chili
simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally.
7. When the pork loin
is ready, cut the smoked pork into small cubes and add it to the chili.
8. Squeeze the juice
of two limes into the chili.
9. Adjust the
seasoning. Add the rest of the chopped cilantro. Add Mean Green, to-taste, up
to approximately 8 ounces total in the recipe.
10. If the chili
needs more liquid, add the 3rd can of diced tomatoes. Stir and let simmer until ready to serve.
