Braised Pork Shoulder with Chiles

Adapted from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food, p. 139.

NOTES: Next time, cut meat into chunks, increase carrots, add other vegetables (potatoes, leeks, peas), and serve as stew. Also consider adding a dried red chile pepper.

Clean a 4 lb pork shoulder, trim excess fat.

Ideally, the night before roasting, rub pork shoulder with this mixture:

3/4 tBsp salt, ground

1/4 tsp black pepper, ground

2 tsp dried Mexican oregano

1/8 tsp ground chipotle chile

olive oil

Slice a head of garlic into slivers, poke holes into pork shoulder with a knife, and put slivers in the holes.

Cover and refrigerate the pork shoulder until 1 hour before cooking.

Brown the pork shoulder, and remove. Place in Le Creuset french oven:

2 onions, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1/8 tsp ground chipotle chile

1 tsp dried Mexican oregano

1/2 tsp ground ancho chile

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns

Preheat oven to 375F. Place meat on top of vegetables, and pour in hot water. Water should reach 1/4 way up the roast.

Roast in oven, covered, for 75 minutes. Turn roast over and cook for another 30 minutes. Turn and cook for 30 minute increments until roast is tender. Total roasting time should be about 3 hours.

Remove roast. Strain sauce and serve with roast.