Chile-Smothered Pork with Vinegar

[conuly]

I took this from 660 Curries.

( Recipe )

I carefully cut the amount of chiles in half, and it was still extremely spicy. I like spicy foods more than the rest of the family. I should've known better than to put 4 chiles in anything.

The recipe notes that this is often made with beef, mutton, or seafood instead of pork.

I used a stick of Vietnamese cinnamon instead of the usual cassia cinnamon that you can more easily find. I am not certain that cassia cinnamon would've pureed at all - it takes forever even to grind in a spice grinder.

I served this with rice and with sauteed cauliflower with mustard seeds.

Dal-inpsired stew

[colls]

Last Christmas as I was visiting family, we went into a Barnes & Noble (yes! inside! with people and books and everything). I bought one of the seasonal Better Homes & Gardens magazines 'Soups & Stews'. This recipe is adapted from one I found in there but using ingredients I had on hand.

( with pics because why not )

It was delicious and one of the best soups I've had in a while. It made more than I expected, so I froze some - we'll see how well the potatoes do after being frozen. Anyway, I will definitely make it again and bake fresh bread to dip into it. I might even try the actual recipe with lentils one day - LOL!

P.S. Does it count if I don't actually follow the recipe?