Campfire Cookin' - Pork Chile Verde

This past June, I had the distinct pleasure of taking a road trip with my brother, sister, and brother-in-law to a family reunion in Montana.  On the way there, we camped out in Yellowstone National Park.  Hooray for that!  It was my first ever time camping and I had a great time, although I froze my ass off that night, had to get up to pee at o'dark thirty (sans contact lenses, in an unheated bathroom that thankfully had a flush toilet but no hot water), and I'm pretty sure I was sleeping head-down on an incline.  >.<

That being said...when we began to plan our camping portions of the trip, I decided that it would be a blog-tacular culinary adventure to cook over a campfire.  I offered to make the food for our dinner in Yellowstone, and I had the perfect adaptable recipe from the March 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine- Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie.  I blogged this recipe previously as part of my Operation: Expand Horizons.

I made some changes to the recipe to make it a little simpler for campfire preparation, brought along my trusty Lodge cast iron Dutch oven and some nonperishable supplies, and bought the rest of the stuff in Cody, Wyoming, a charming little burg you'll want to visit some day.

The adaptations I made to the recipe were mostly to make the dish cheaper and easier to cook out of a cooler.  Instead of the scratch cornbread topping, I used a box of trusty Jiffy brand corn muffin mix and left out the cheese.  I omitted the freshly ground spices and opted for the simpler taste of the roasted peppers.  I didn't spring for any cilantro, and I used canned corn instead of frozen. 

It was simple and rustic and tasted freaking delicious, although my own tastes and the compliments I received may have been tinged somewhat with a healthy amount of road weariness and an overdose of convenience store snacks.  Either way, mission accomplished!

Supplies

Blurry picture- pretty sure it's my fault.

Dutch oven on the campfire

Sauteing the pork cubes in olive oil

Adding salsa verde, onions, garlic, water, and chicken bouillon cubes

Lazy girl's chile-roasting setup for 2 poblanos and 1 bell pepper

Peeling roasted peppers

Dicing roasted peppers

Adding corn and roasted peppers...looking good!

Cornbread topping.  If this was oven-baked, or perhaps buried in coals, the cornbread would brown.  Since we used the Dutch oven's lid and bottom heat, it steam-cooked and was light and fluffy.

We pretty much ate the whole pot.

I ate lots of roasted marshmallows for dessert!

Day Five: Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie

Day five of Operation: Expand Horizons fell on Cinco de Mayo, and it was pure coincidence that I had a Latin-flavored dish on the menu for that evening. Bon Appétit's Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie came out well, with a couple of caveats.

First off, this dish is probably not weeknight fare for most people. It's comprised of a pork and green chile stew that is cooked slowly until the meat is tender, transferred to a cast iron skillet, topped with cheese and cornbread batter, and baked. While it's not difficult to make, it is time consuming, so keep that in mind. However, it was very tasty and worth the wait. This was my first time cooking boneless pork ribs, and I will certainly use them again in other recipes.

My husband was not a fan of the cornbread crust, but said that the filling would be great on its own as pork chile verde. I liked the crust, but thought it was a little too thick in comparison to the height of the stew filling.

I was concerned when first reading the recipe that it might prove too spicy for my sissy husband, but it was just right for him and our 3 year old. I will make the dish again, but as a standalone stew rather than a pie.