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Calabacitas With Seared-Then-Simmered Pork Tenderloin

Course Entree
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword pork
Author TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

  • 3 T olive oil, or to taste
  • 2 pork tenderloins, trimmed of silver skin and rubbed with salt and pepper
  • 2 T good quality sherry vinegar
  • 3 medium onions, chopped
  • 8 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 small roasted chile peppers, minced (If I had had poblanos, I would have used 1-2 poblanos)
  • 4 t ancho chile powder
  • 2 t ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 t or more chipotle chile powder
  • 3 small-medium zucchini, chopped
  • corn from 4 cops of corn, or frozen corn off-season
  • 2 small-medium yellow summer squash, chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes, roasted and peeled
  • 1 large heirloom tomatoes, chopped, with juices
  • approx. 1-2 cups chicken stock, to desired soupiness
  • 2-4 T heavy cream, to taste
  • 2 oz cream cheese, to taste
  • 2 oz muenster cheese, to taste
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
  • juice of 1 lime plus more to serve with
  • shredded cheese for garnish
  • sour cream for garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. When it is shimmering, add the pork tenderloins and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
  2. Add the chopped onions to the pan with the sherry vinegar to deglaze the pan. Scrape up all the browned bits and then sprinkle with some salt. Stirring occasionally, let cook for 8-10 minutes, until the onions are starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and chile pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the spices and stir thoroughly--let cook for 1-2 more minutes.
  3. Add the zucchini and summer squash and stir thoroughly. Sprinkle with salt. Let cook for 5 minutes, then add the corn and the fresh and roasted tomatoes. Stir and add the chicken stock until you reach your desired consistency (I wanted mine to be more vegetable-heavy and less of a true soup, so I did not add much). Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes.
  4. When the pork has cooled, slice it into thick rounds (it should be raw in the middle). After the soup has been simmering for 10 minutes, add the pork into the calabacitas and return the lid. Simmer until the pork is cooked through (for me about 10-12 minutes), but not dried out.
  5. Turn off the heat and add the cream and cheeses to the pot. Stir them in and give them a moment to melt into the calabacitas. Add the cilantro and lime juice and stir. Serve garnished with shredded cheese (we used a 4 cheese Mexican blend), sour cream and/or lime wedges. We also sprinkled additional chipotle on the adults' portions to ramp up the heat.