Carcamusa, a Spanish Pork Stew, from Milk Street Kitchen

Honestly, the picture of the reddish brown mass called carcamusa in Milk Street Magazine didn’t excite me. Besides, I am not even good at imagining flavors by reading the ingredients. It just happened that all the parts were on hand and we had to have something for dinner and tomorrow’s lunches.

My excitement started building up during chorizo slicing — guilty, I love tasting as I go. Grinding it though made me sad — the chewy smoky bits were gone into mush. But pieces of well browned hot lightly salted pork perked my mood up — back to tasting. The whiffs of garlic from the food processor brought even more confirmation. And everyone knows the effect of fried onions smell.

At first, adding sherry to the onions felt like too much — fried onions always look so good by themselves, why ruin something already perfect. But once liquid evaporated, onions got their sheen back acquiring a pleasant fruity scent.

Mixing in tomato-chorizo paste also didn’t feel right in the beginning — I can eat fried onions on a slice of bread alone. Whatever — it’s the recipe and I am following — in plopped my perfectly charred pork. Lid on.

When in about half an hour, a slightly cooled reddish brown mess was scooped onto toasted sourdough, thoughts on cooking magic came to mind once again.

Smoky and not too much, acidic but ever so slightly, creamy but chewy, meaty and fruity sweet my Spanish carcamusa was the best of everything.

The next day, we couldn’t wait for lunch and made it our breakfast. It tasted so much better — as if it was something not made by me.

 

WHAT WENT IN

— 8 oz Spanish chorizo, casings removed, sliced thin;


— 8 garlic cloves, peeled;


— 2 1/2 tsp dried oregano;


— 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin;


— salt and pepper to taste
;

— 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, fruit and juice separated;


— about 1 1/2 lb pork loin, trimmed and cut into 1/2” cubes;


— 3 Tbsp new teal oil;


— 1 large onion, chopped;


— 1/2 cup dried Sherry;


— 12 oz jar roasted red peppers, cut into 1/2” pieces;


— about a cup roughly chopped parsley leaves.

 

THE PROCESS

1. In a food processor, combine half the chorizo, garlic, oregano, cumin, 1 tsp pepper, and 3 Tbsp tomato juice. Process until smooth.

2. Use 3 Tbsp of the chorizo paste, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp of the tomato juices to marinate cut pork at room temperature for 15 minutes.

3. Add drained tomatoes to chorizo paste in the processor and whizz them into a paste.

4. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil on medium-high until smoking. Add the pork in a single layer and cook without stirring until well-browned on the bottom side, about 5 minutes. Return the pork to the bowl.

5. Cook onion in remaining 2 Tbsp of oil until softened, about 8 minutes.

6. Pour sherry into onions and cook, scraping up browned bits, until most of the liquid evaporates, 2 to 4 minutes.

7. Stir in tomato-chorizo paste and tomato juice. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook on medium-low until the flavors meld, about 10 minutes.

8. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste slightly thickens, another 5 minutes.

9. Return the pork with any accumulated juices to the skillet, add remaining chorizo and peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is heated through, about 5 minutes.

10. Stir in the parsley and check for seasoning.