Cerdo Navideño Enchilado

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Pork Leg marinated in red chile sauce, Pierna de Cerdo Enchilada, is one of the popular dishes among many families for Christmas dinner or New Year’s Eve which is a big celebration in Mexico.

This holiday season take some of the stress off with my version of this dish. My recipe eliminates the task of making a chile adobo sauce marinade and cooks in less than 40 minutes not 2-3 hours because I use a chile dry rub and pork tenderloin. I enhance this classic dish by capping the pork with a golden crusty crust, but that’s optional.

I accompanied my tenderloin with roasted potatoes and carrots.

Let’s get started

Ingredients

Serves 5-6

1 ¾ lbs pork tenderloin (solomillo de cerdo)

Rub

2 tablespoons ground chile ancho

1 tablespoon ground New Mexico chile

15 whole peppercorns

8 whole allspice

¼ teaspoon cilantro seeds

¼ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon oregano

1 bay leaf

1 ½ teaspoons of sea salt

Crispy crust (optional)

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 clove garlic minced

2 tablespoons shredded cotija or parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons melted butter

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

Preparation

Tenderloin

Remove silverskin, rinse and dry

Rub

Using a molcajete or spice grinder pulverize all the spice ingredients listed above.
Add1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to make a paste.

Tenderloin

Brush all sides of tenderloin with olive oil; smear the paste to layer the rub on the meat.
Refrigerate the tenderloin for 3 to 24 hours for the flavors to marinate.