Growing up in Amish Ohio, my formative years were largely devoid of chilis—they were simply nowhere to be found in our markets and grocery stores. Amish steer clear of anything spicy, tart, astringent, brined, charred, or alcoholic, favoring instead—anything with mayonnaise, ketchup, butter, refined sugar, or all four combined. So now I eat chilis every chance I get and lucky for us this weekend, the peppers and chilis were still looking good and firm at the farmer’s market.
Our pork cut was the Boston Butt, which is the upper part of the shoulder (not to be confused with actual pig butt which is likely to be labeled “ham”) and the lower part of the shoulder is picnic shoulder—both names of which you’re likely to see at your farmer’s market so it’s helpful to know what you’re looking at, but always just as easy to ask the farmer—they know a lot and love to talk about their product. Our local pork farmer had these vacuum-packed in large cuts, which cook down considerably but still are way too much for two people. Ours was around 3 1/2lbs and we’re going to each get 2 leftover lunches out of it.
This recipe was taken pretty much verbatim from Jamie Oliver’s wonderful cookbook (especially for those of us cooking seasonally and attempting to grow some of our own food) Jamie At Home. It’s very simple. Render the fat out of your cut of shoulder in a dutch oven by placing it fat-side down for about 15 minutes in a pool of olive oil on medium-high heat. Take the shoulder out and sweat out 2 red onions for 10 minutes in the rendered fat and oil and then add 5 peppers of all different sorts chunked, 2 red chilis finely diced, a can of whole peeled tomatoes, 2 heaped tablespoons of paprika, 2 teaspoons of caraway seeds, a good pinch of oregano, salt and pepper, and your shoulder back to the pan. Add 4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and water until just over the pork. Cover and cook in a 350º oven for 3+ hours until the pork pulls apart easily. Serve over rice with greek yogurt mixed with lemon zest and parsley.
This dish is such a treat. Once again low heat works magic with food and the myriad peppers in this roast add a moderate and deep sweetness. The smell fills the apartment within the first hour so from start to finish, we enjoyed this dish all afternoon and evening. On a brisk fall afternoon in the village with an apartment burning candles, a good book, and goulash in the oven—can it get much better?
_Matt
