Pork recipes

Santa Fe red pork chili with coarsely ground pork shoulder, beer, stewed tomatoes, and layers of cumin and chili powder. No beans, no shortcuts. A thick, meaty Tex-Mex red chili simmered low and slow.

Slow cooker pinto beans with cubed beef chuck and salt pork simmer for 10 hours into tender, smoky cowboy-style beans perfect for feeding ranch hands.

Mexican meatballs (albondigas) made with three meats, corn tortillas soaked in milk, cumin, and oregano, simmered in red chili sauce and beef broth. A traditional Southwestern appetizer or main dish.

Slow-simmered conch stew with salt pork, tomatoes, oregano, and potatoes. Two hours of low heat transforms tough conch into a rich, tender Caribbean-style chowder.

Homemade chaurice sausage from pork shoulder seasoned with paprika, cayenne, cumin, and chili powder. Stuff into casings or form patties, then serve fresh or smoke them for deep Louisiana flavor.

Hearty pork and beef chili simmered low with cocoa powder, cinnamon, cumin, and chili powder for deep, earthy heat. Pinto beans and cornmeal thicken the pot. Serve with sour cream, Parmesan, and chopped onions for a bold weeknight dinner.

A hunter's venison stew marinated overnight in red wine and vinegar, then braised with mushrooms, pearl onions, crispy salt pork, and gravy. Serve over wild rice with cranberry sauce for a proper game dinner.

Pork and beef chili with cocoa, cinnamon, and a finishing stir of masa harina. The mole-inspired chili that builds dark depth over a slow simmer. Beans optional.

Posole Don Federico: a soul-warming Mexican pork and hominy stew, built on pig's feet and pork shanks for a rich broth, with green chiles, garlic, and beer. Garnished with cilantro and scallions.

Numero Uno Chili simmers ground beef and pork with cocoa, cinnamon, toasted cumin, and Mexican oregano for a rich, complex bowl with serious depth. Kidney beans and cornmeal round out the texture.

Mexican meatballs in chile sauce made with a three-meat blend of beef, pork, and ground ham, bound with milk-soaked corn tortillas and simmered in red chile sauce.

Pork chili verde slow-cooked with tomatillos, jalapeños, and green chiles, then crisped under the broiler. Tex-Mex burrito and bowl filler with deep, smoky flavor.

For starters, the water, beer and sugar take this recipe in the wrong direction. Substitute these ingredients with red wine. Also, forget the pork - this has not flavor in chili. Just add more beef. These small changes would have won them $40,000. I made those changes and had people chasing me for the recipe afterwards.

Guisado rico, a Mexican pork stew with roasted loin simmered in green chiles, tomatoes, beer, and chicken broth. Served in bowls with cilantro, refried beans, and warm tortillas.

Cuban-style navy bean soup simmered with smoked ham, salt pork, butternut squash, and potato in a sofrito-tomato base. Thick, smoky, and deeply satisfying.

Wesley Pitts' award-winning Texas chili with beef chuck, ground pork, beer, mole powder, and masa harina thickening. The legendary Terlingua competition formula.