Mexican Pork Loin with Adobo Sauce

By Anthony Salemme, contributing chef

It’s the dog days of summer and I had a hankering for some good Mexican food. I cooked this on the BBQ in a covered cast iron pan for 1 1/2 hours at 350 F.

2 – 3 pound pork loin sprinkled with salt and pepper

2 teaspoons oregano

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Adobo Sauce

3 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided

7 dried guajillo chile peppers, stemmed and seeded 

1 dried ancho chile pepper, stemmed and seeded

6 garlic cloves

2 onions, chopped

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin

1⁄2 teaspoon oregano

1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Place the 3 cups chicken stock, guajillo peppers, garlic, and onion in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.

Place mixture in a blender, or food processor, and blend until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids.

Stir in sugar, salt, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, black pepper, vinegar and the remaining 1⁄2 cup of chicken stock. Mix until well combined. Set aside.

Cook the pork:

Sprinkle pork with salt, black pepper, and oregano.

Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until browned on all sides. (At this point you can use a slow cooker if you want)

Stir in sauce; reduce heat to low. Cook covered for 1 hour and then remove the cover continue cooking another 30 minutes, stirring often, or until the pork is cooked through and reach an internal temperature of 145 F. The BBQ grill should stay at 350 F.

When done let the pork rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with Adobo sauce, and rice.

Leftovers make great Tacos El Pastor.