1 med red onion, sliced- Juice of 2 limes
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 5 or 6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 c chicken stock
- 1/2 c blanched whole almonds
- 1/2 c unsalted peanuts
- 1 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, grated or made into a paste
- 1 sm yellow onion, chopped
- 1 c raisins
- 2lbs pork shoulder, cut into bite-size cubes
- About 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 lg bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 12 flour or corn tortillas
- Queso fresco, crumbled
Place the ancho chiles in a pot and cover with the chicken stock. Turn on the heat and warm the stock to reconstitute the chiles, 10 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, toast the almonds and peanuts over medium heat until browned. Transfer the nuts to a food processor. Reserve the pot. Add the ancho chiles with the stock to the food processor along with the cocoa powder, cloves, garlic, yellow onions and raisins. Season with salt and pepper. Puree until smooth. (You may need to do this in two batches.)
Pat the pork dry and heat a thin layer of oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper, then brown in two batches, adding more oil between batches as needed. Return all the pork to the pot and pour the ancho sauce over it. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the pork is very tender, 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours (depending on how large you cubed the meat).
Warm the tortillas. Serve the stew with crumbled cheese and the tortillas.
