Pork in Guajillo Sauce with Avocados

I had a pork roast and no idea what to make. Usually I wing it with roasts, this time I hit my cookbooks. I found this recipe, Pork in Guajillo Sauce with Avocados (Cerdo en Salsa Chile Guajillo con Aguacate in Spanish) in 1,000 Mexican Recipes by Marge Poore. According to the recipe, it is made traditionally with avocado leaves that give it an anise flavor. The recipe calls for anise instead due to the fact it is harder to find avocado leaves than anise at the store. The dish also calls for potatoes that are roasted.

My love of guajillo chiles started with the turkey breast marinated in guajillo chiles roasted in banana leaves from the Winter Holiday meal of 2015. I had heard about them from Aaron Sanchez’s Taco Trip on Cooking Channel. Guajillos were an ingredient in many dishes on the show. I even remade my pipián sauce with guajillos instead of anchos in the second batch. I left the seeds and veins in; it gave it a bit of heat. I bought some guajillo powder, but unfortunately it was a mild version.

Cerdo en Salsa Chile Guajillo con Aguacate 

On June 8, 2016, I made the dish. The ingredients were guajillo chiles, onions, garlic, olive oil, cumin, anise, salt, oregano, chicken broth, pork, red potatoes, and avocados. The recipe wanted this roasted in the oven; I however cooked this in the sauce in a slow cooker. The roast and sauce cooked for 6-8 hours. I roasted the potatoes in the oven as the recipe directed. The avocado was sliced and served on the side. I simmered the sauce and thickened it with masa flour.

The dish was wonderful; the avocado cut the fat and heat from the pork and sauce. The potatoes and sauce together were hearty. This is a meat and potatoes dish that is not your Standard American meat and potatoes. I added this to my menu rotation. I have made this a few times at work, and it is a hit.