Resurrection by way of pork.

Almost a month and a half since this blog has been updated! Yeesh. Well, I am going to revive this here blog with this delicious slow cooked pork recipe that I made yesterday.

Slow-Cooked Beer-Braised Pork and Black Bean Soup (from Real Simple,again!)

Ingredients:
2 12-ounce bottles of beer (I used Blue Heron Pale Ale)
3 cups water (I should have used a little less)
1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin (I used more like a tablespoon and wish I used a bit more)
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound dried black beans, rinsed
1 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt (pork shoulder) (The store I went to only had 2 pound chunks, so I used all of it.)
salt & pepper
sour cream
store-bought refrigerated fresh salsa (I bought a jarred one, it worked fine)
fresh cilantro

1. Set the oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine the beer, water, chilies, adobo sauce, cumin, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.
3. In a big pan, (I used a 9 x 12 glass pan) spread the onions out, pour the beans over the onions, and the pork on top of that. (I cut my huge slab of meat into 3 chunks.) Pour the liquid mixture over everything. I ground a bunch of pepper over the top of all this.
4. Cover with foil, place on a cookie sheet if your pan is almost overflowing like mine was, and place it carefully into the oven so beer doesn't spill everywhere.
5. Cook covered, until the beans are tender and the pork pulls apart easily, 3 to 4 hours. Try not to uncover the dish until at least 3 hours. You want the heat to stay trapped under the foil.
6. Once the meat is cooked, remove from the oven and use a fork to separate the pork into large pieces.
7. Divide among individual bowls and top with sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.

Notes:
-The original recipe is for a slow cooker, which I'm sure would be amazing. I don't have a slow cooker (I plan to get one soon because I loved this), so I cooked it in the oven, covered, at 300 degrees for about 3 or 3 1/2 hours.
-I served this with warm corn tortillas and we also had some tortilla chips, which were good for scooping up the beans. It was a little more liquidy than I expected, and I think the 3 cups that were in the initial recipe could be cut back to maybe 2 cups when cooked in the oven rather than the slow cooker.
-It could have been a tad spicier for my tastes, but it did have a nice amount of heat.
-The meat was super tasty and tender, the beans were perfect. This dish was super simple but extremely delicious.
-Our impromptu guests loved it!
-Lots of Leftovers!