Southwestern Pork and Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes mitigate this braise's spicy heat, brought on by the combination of a pickled jalapeño's sour spiciness and the more complex heat of ancho chile powder.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  ancho chile powder
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 2  garlic cloves
• 1  small onion, peeled and quartered (about 7 ounces)
• 1  pickled jalapeño pepper, stemmed
• Cooking spray
• 2 1/2  pounds  boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed
• 1  (12-ounce) dark Mexican beer (such as Dos Equis Ambar)
• 1  (4-inch) cinnamon stick
• 3  cups  (1-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 pound)
• Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Preparation

Place first 6 ingredients in a food processor; process 1 minute or until a thick paste forms.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove pork from pan.

Add chile mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring occasionally. Stir in beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add pork and cinnamon; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours or until pork is tender.

Remove pork from pan; shred into large pieces with 2 forks. Stir shredded pork and sweet potato into pan; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Discard cinnamon stick. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

243 (30% from fat)

Fat:

8g (sat 2.7g,mono 3.6g,poly 0.9g)

Protein:

26.4g

Carbohydrate:

13.6g

Fiber:

2g

Cholesterol:

83mg

Iron:

2mg

Sodium:

499mg

Calcium:

32mg