Couple recall warmth of Mexico in conchinita pibil
Sherri Robinson and Steve Ross love Cancun, been there three times. But it was a side-trip to Chichen Itza that transformed their tastebuds.
Their tour bus to the ancient Mayan city on the Yucatan Peninsula stopped for lunch, Robinson said, “just in the middle of the jungle.” It was there they discovered a rich red sauce with buttery, fork-tender pork – and promptly fell in love.
When they longtime couple returned home to Spokane Valley, they attempted to make it. And then they tried again. And again.
“We got inspired,” Ross said, admitting, “I kind of get obsessed with things.”
Nearly six years later, their version of conchinita pibil, a slow-cooked pork dish with citrus juice and annatto seed, is one of their favorite, go-to main dishes when they’re missing the warmth of Mexico. It’s particularly comforting during the darkest, dreariest months of the year – from late autumn through deep winter.
One of the best things about it, Ross said, is “The recipe is very forgiving.”
After their vacation in February 2009, he and his wife searched online for recipes for conchinita pibil, which traditionally involves roasting a whole suckling pig in a fire pit. Typically, smaller pieces of pork are marinated in citrus juice seasoned with ground annatto seed, or achiote paste, then wrapped in banana leaves and roasted.
“In the original recipe, you bake it forever in banana leaves,” Ross said, noting, “There are some ingredients I don’t even know how to say.”
He and his wife recommend Michoacana Mini Market at 10617 E. Sprague Ave. and De Leon Foods, a Mexican deli and grocer in Spokane, for ingredients such as achiote paste, which gives the dish its signature, vibrant, reddish-orange color.
De Leon, at 102 E. Francis Ave., is also where they buy corn tortillas. The store makes its own in house. Sometimes, when he picks them up at the store, Ross said, they’re still warm. He reheats them at home over the open flame of the gas stove.
“The tortillas are very important,” said Ross, who buys pork butt – “the fatter, the better” – at Costco at 20 pounds a pop. Ross tried the recipe with a leaner cut of meat, pork tenderloin, but “that didn’t work. You need the fat.”
He and his wife work separately but alongside each other in their kitchen, where they make a variation of their beloved conchinita pibil recipe about once a month. They often serve it with Cuban black beans, rice, pico de gallo and – for dessert – lightened-up key lime pie.
“It sounds a lot more exotic than it is to make,” Robinson said. But, “It’s always a hit.” And, “If you’re doing a potluck, it travels very well.”
Robinson and Ross have lived in Spokane Valley since 1985. She spent nearly two dozen years in pharmaceutical sales. He was a special education teacher in the Mead School District for 33 years.
Both come from California, although he’s from NorCal and she’s from SoCal. They met in a freshman biology class at the University of California, Riverside, where – as Robinson puts it – “I nearly killed him. I literally took his breath away.”
They were partners in some kind of lab experiment on respiration, and “Steve decided it would be easy to be the subject.”
After a teacher’s assistant opened the oxygen valve and Ross could breathe again, “He didn’t actually” want to hang out with her.
But he was friends with friends of hers and by senior year, after plenty of dinner parties, he was “a good friend” of hers, too.
Robinson invited him to a sorority dance, and soon they were hanging out every weekend. They eloped after graduation and Ross landed his first teaching job in Sandpoint, prompting a move north.
Now both 60 and retired with two daughters, ages 29 and 25, they have more time for dinner parties, which are often themed: French, Italian, Mayan. Their conchinita pibil always receives rave reviews.
When they first started making the dish, the couple experimented. First they experimented with baking the dish with banana leaves.
“It was neat to pull it out of the oven and open up the banana leaves. The aroma is just wonderful,” said Ross, who also “thought this is a little crazy to have to do this.”
The next time, they simmered the meat and sauce in the slow cooker for about five hours.
It “was just as good and the cook doesn’t have to monitor the oven,” Robinson wrote in her submission to the Food section’s “In the Kitchen with … ” feature.
They often serve the dish taco-style, topped with quick-pickled red onions that Ross makes.
“It really brightens up the dish,” he said. “It adds both crunch and color.”
Conchinita Pibil
From Sherri Robinson and Steve Ross of Spokane Valley
7 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 ounces achiote paste
1 cup orange juice
Juice of a whole lemon
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 pounds pork butt
Mix all ingredients except pork in a bowl with a whisk. Add liquid to slow cooker. Add pork.
Cook 4 to 6 hours on low or 2 to 3 hours on high. Pork should be tender and shred easily. Skim fat. When done, remove pork and shred. Return to crock pot until ready to serve.
Serve with warm, small, white corn tortillas. Top tortillas with pork, quick-pickled red onions and fresh lime juice. Serve with Cuban black beans, mango and avocado slices, rice and pico de gallo.
Note: Robinson and Ross usually cook the pork for 1 hour on high, then switch to low for another 4 hours.
Quick-Pickled Red Onions
From Sherri Robinson and Steve Ross of Spokane Valley
1 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 red radishes, thinly sliced
3/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/8 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Splash olive oil
Put red onions in a bowl. Cover with boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. Add rest of ingredients and let set for 3 hours. (Longer is better.)
Cuban Black Beans
From Sherri Robinson and Steve Ross of Spokane Valley
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
3 cans of organic black beans, drained and rinsed 2 to 3 times
½ cup cilantro, chopped
Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and sauté until soft, 5 to 8 minutes. Add lime juice and cook about 2 minutes. (Juice should reduce.) Add black beans and cook until thoroughly heated, about 3 minutes. Add cilantro, cook 1 minute more, then serve.
Yield: about 6 servings
Pico de Gallo
From Sherri Robinson and Steve Ross of Spokane Valley
1 cup chopped tomatoes
¼ cup chopped white or yellow onion
¼ chopped fresh cilantro (use small, long scissors for easier cutting instead of a paring knife.)
Juice of one, fresh lime
Stir in small, plastic container and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow flavors to mix.
Note: The recipe makes 1 cup of pico de gallo, which in can be used the next day, but not any longer.
Lightened-up Key Lime Pie
The crust has a bit of crumb because of the reduced fat. Robinson says the pie makes a wonderful light summer dessert and doesn’t heat the kitchen with lots of baking. The pie travels well, too, so it’s a great choice for picnics or potlucks.
Adapted from Cooking Light.
For the crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoon canola oil
For the filling:
1/2 cup plain 2 percent reduced-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup bottled key lime juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
3 large egg yolks
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 cup frozen low fat-free whipped topping, thawed
1 lime, sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To prepare crust, combine crumbs, sugar and salt in a bowl, stirring well to combine. Add butter and oil; toss with a fork until moist. Press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until beginning to brown; cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare filling, place yogurt and next 4 ingredients (through milk) in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes or until set. Cool pie completely on a wire rack. Cover loosely, and chill at least 2 hours. Top with whip topping and lime slices.