Pork and Blue Corn Enchiladas

Urged on by a big pork roast, a package of blue corn tortillas and Mike’s desire to eat a meal once favored years ago led me to make this dish today. It was good to feel well enough again to want to cook something, and nice to have the energy to do so.

Back in the dot com boom, Mike lived in California and frequented a small restaurant called the Tampico Kitchen where he coveted a delicious pork, green chile and blue corn enchilada style dish. He loved it so much that a 40-minute drive one way wasn’t even a detriment in fulfilling his craving. He has asked me many times to try to recreate this dish. After mulling over the process, and how I wanted it to turn out, I formulated a plan.

Two medium onions were diced and sauteed in a large stock pot with a rather sad looking green pepper from the crisper in the fridge. When they were nice and browned but still holding their shape, I removed them to a bowl. I had cut a boneless pork roast into 1″ cubes, then browned that in batches in the same pot. Once it was all browned and golden, I put it all back in the pot, added a 14-oz can of tomato sauce, a 28-oz can of whole peeled tomato that I broke up with my hands, and about a quart of beef broth, just enough liquid to cover the meat. It was brought to a boil, then simmered until the meat was tender enough to break apart with a spoon, about 1 1/2- 2 hours. Due to my yucky cold, I couldn’t even tell if it smelled any good, but apparently Harmon thought the scent was wonderful enough to drag him out of a deep sleep and into the kitchen. Once it was cooled enough, I scooped the meat out of the liquid, mixed it with a jar of salsa verde and put it in the fridge.

When it came time to assemble to dish, I had gathered the rest of the ingredients.; a can of hominy, a can of black beans, a diced red pepper, two minced jalapeno peppers, cheese and fresh scallions.  I layered the blue corn tortillas in the pan and spread some meat over that, sprinkled the meat with a small amount of the above-mentioned ingredients, tossed some cheese over that and repeated the process. Once completely built, I poured more salsa verde over the top, added more cheese and chopped scallions. Then it baked for 50 minutes.

It was delicious, and Mike was thoroughly satisfied with the result. More of a mexican lasagna than an enchilada dish, it was loaded with flavor but not overpowering in heaviness.  The pork was really tender and delicious and the mix of extras in it added a great contrast of tastes and textures; pillowy hominy, crunchy peppers and bites of onion-y goodness. The tortillas look a little washed out, but were really tasty. It needed more salsa verde as I thought it somewhat dry, and it would have done well with more cheese too. Overall, it was a winner. Griffin much prefers red sauce enchiladas, but he ate a helping without any complaint. That only means one thing…..more leftovers for us!