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What are we going to do with all this pork? If you saw my first post ever on the blog, it was about smoking a pork shoulder. To catch you up, basically I smoked an 11 lb pork shoulder last weekend so this week I had to think of some recipes to use up the meat. This is also why I never add any type of sauce to my entire pork roast or all the pulled pork until serving time. I don’t want a BBQ sauce all over my pork if I’m going to be using it in stews, nachos or whatever else I make with the meat. Here’s a link to the Here Piggy Piggy Smoked Pork Shoulder post if you want to read it. The recipes below are using leftover pulled pork that I smoked on our grill, however you could easily use a pork roast cooked in a slow cooker or oven instead. See Slow Cooker and Oven Pulled Pork post for instructions.

I love planning out my weekly meals so that I can double up ingredients for multiple meals. This saves myself prep and cooking time and really makes the most use of our groceries, therefore making that dollar stretch further. Every bit helps, right?

The first couple days after I smoked the pork on the grill, we just had the easy go to Pulled Pork sandwiches with some sides. That’s kind of a given when I do any type of pulled pork. Since this roast was so big, I knew I’d have to be a little more creative in making meals with the meat.

Last winter, my neighbor brought me over some pulled pork green chile stew as a thank you for shoveling her sidewalk and my husband for plowing their drive.I had never had anything like it before, it looked different, but once I tasted it, I was hooked.  I ate the entire container and wanted to work on creating my own version of the soup. So that’s just what I did this week. I created a Pulled Pork Stew. I’m really happy with how it turned out and by lunch time tomorrow, that soup will be all gone! It’s got a little spice to it, but not too much. My girls liked it and loved the flavor. You could always adjust to make it milder or spicier depending on your preference.

 

Pulled Pork Stew with Green Chilies

1 medium-large onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeño minced – seeds and ribs removed

2 TBS olive oil

1 10 oz can Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies. I used original. But you could use Mild or Spicy depending on your preference.

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

2 C low sodium beef broth or dissolve two low sodium beef bullion cubes in 2 C boiling water.

3 C water

2  C cooked pulled pork. See Here Piggy Piggy for smoked pulled pork recipe. See

1 heaping TBS of reserved Pork fat/drippings *** see note below

1 C corn. I used cut off the cob corn that had been blanched and frozen. You could use fresh, frozen, or even canned/drained corn. I just think fresh or frozen tastes so much better and gives a little crunch.

2 fresh tomatoes diced. I used Roma, but I think any would work. If you don’t have these, just use 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes.

1 TBS Ground Cumin

1 TBS cilantro. Fresh chopped or use Gourmet Gardens Herbs fresh cilantro in the tube.

Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste.

 

Directions

In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion for a few minutes on med heat until softened. Salt and pepper and add in minced garlic and jalapeño and cook on medium – low heat for a few min but be careful not to burn.

Add in all the rest of the ingredients. Corn can be added directly to the pot still frozen. Don’t worry. Make sure to stir the reserved pork fat in to mix well into the stew. Bring up to a nice boil and then lower and simmer on low for at least 20 minutes until serving.

Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh cilantro if you have some.

The stew will thicken as you refrigerate leftovers, so you may want to add about 1/4-1/3 C water or so to the individual serving unless you like the new thicker consistency.

*** Note: When I smoked that pork on the grill, I reserved about a 1/2 cup of the fat/drippings and placed in the fridge and knew I would make some sort of use out of it this week. Well, when I was making this stew, I knew that saved gold would really add more smokey porky flavor and it did. This added fat does make the soup have a sheen to it and definitely separates a little when you refrigerate leftovers. Once leftovers are heated, its fine again. If this bothers you or you are trying to cut down on the fat, then just omit it altogether.

*** Another note: I wanted to add diced potatoes to this stew. When I think of a stew, I think of potatoes! But when I went looking in the pantry, my lonely last potato was not looking too good and I did not want to make a trip to the grocery store. The stew was wonderful without the potato, but you may want to try peeling and dicing a potato or two and throwing it in there. Just make sure the stew simmers long enough to cook the potatoes through. You may also want to add another cup of water if you added potatoes since they will absorb some of the liquid.

 

Makes around 3 Quarts