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DinnerPork and Beef

I’m Tired of Pretending

By January 14, 2013October 2nd, 201355 Comments

“I’m tired of pretending.”

These were the words I heard from my husband while we sat by the edge of an closed-for-the-season swimming pool in South Carolina over the holiday break. The kids were getting dressed in the locker room after an hour on the tennis court. It was the last week of December and the sun was white in the lonely winter sky.

“Really?” I say. “So that’s it? Fifteen years of marriage and I find this out now?”

“Well, this is important — it’s our first vacation dinner and I don’t want to ruin it by pretending that I like what’s on the table.”

I had just told him I was thinking of making some kind of pork and sweet potato stew with hominy — a riff on a recipe Victoria Granof had developed for Time for Dinner.

“You could’ve told me before now,” I said, at this point more confused than angry. “All those sweet potato fries? All those Thanksgiving mashes with oranges?” The room narrowed and widened simultaneously. The many sweet potato moments in our lives together started pulsing before me like a scene from Run Lola Run. “Your father’s birthday party in our first apartment!” I said, louder than I had intended to. It was one of the first times we had ever entertained, rotating our scrappy desk sideways against the wall to create a makeshift dining room table. “We made Emeril’s Three Potato Lasagna that night — and you ate every bite!”

His eyes were fixed a heron gliding across a lagoon. He said nothing.

“You’re telling me all this time you never liked sweet potatoes?”

“Nope. Not really. Cloying. Overpowering. Too sweet. Like dessert, only bad.” Pause. “Figured I’d tell you before we go shopping. I’m tired of acting like sweet potatoes are good.”

The heron landed on a small upturned log in the lagoon. His eyes scanned the water, like he was looking for some lunch.

“And what about hominy?” I asked. “Should I even bother?” The girls were coming out of the locker room, their hair smooth and brushed in the front, but gnarly and knotted in the back where they couldn’t reach. I looked at him.

“Why don’t you just let me go shopping,” he said.

 Braised Pork in Adobo with No Sweet Potatoes

2 1/2 pound pork loin, salted & peppered
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1  tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 bay leaf
(or 3 tablespoon chili powder instead of above three spices)
1 chipotle in adobo (not the sauce, just the dripping single pepper; you can freeze the rest)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup cider vinegar (or vinegar-based bbq sauce like Shealy’s)
2 garlic cloves, halved
1 medium onion, chopped
handful fresh cilantro

Preheat oven 350°F. In a small-ish Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, over medium-high heat, brown pork in oil on all sides, about 4-5 minutes a side. Add everything else to the pot so the pork is 2/3 immersed in liquid, stirring. Bring to a boil, cover and place in oven for 2-3 hours. Remove pork, shred with two forks, and place back in the braising liquid.

Serve with polenta and shredded cabbage that’s been  tossed with chopped apples, lots of freshly squeezed lime, cumin, a scoop of plain yogurt, chopped cilantro, and olive oil.

P.S. We wanted to do this with hominy instead of polenta but couldn’t find it in where we were staying. (Usually, you can find a 15-ounce can in the Goya section.) If you want to use the hominy, add a can (drained and rinsed) to the stew about 10 minutes before you plan to serve and heat through.

P.P.S Any leftover pork: Amazeballs on nachos under a pile of melted cheese.

55 Comments

  • Avatar Val says:

    I’m with Andy on this one – I *want* to like sweet potatoes (and beets for that matter), but there’s something terribly strange about how sweet they are, and not in the good way like dessert.
    I have to give him credit though – I don’t think I could pretend nearly as long.

  • Avatar erinn johnson says:

    Funny what love does.

  • Avatar sarah says:

    Hey – that’s a very mean way to start a post! I was alarmed for real that you two were splitting up, and having bought the book and read this blog since its inception years ago, I feel like I know you four. No teasing like that!

  • inthefastlane says:

    My husband feels the same way, only he doesn’t pretend. This is an issue because I LOVE sweet potatoes. This is not the only food disagreement we have, however…..ah….blissful married life 🙂

  • Avatar amanda says:

    hahaha! my husband and I are closet sweet potatoes haters as well. I want so badly to like them but I just don’t (except for sweet potato fries) 😉

  • Avatar anna says:

    ha! hilarious, my MIL and i were just discussing that we don’t know any dudes that like sweet potatoes. including my husband. HOWEVER, i chopped them up real small and added them to a roasted veggies for tacos i made last week and he declared the tacos the best ever. it could of been the avocado cream sauce that went with it, though.

  • Nikki says:

    About 3 years into our marriage, I discovered that my husband and I were living a bacon lie. That’s right – a bacon lie. I’d been making it extra crispy because his mom does and that’s what I thought he preferred, and I wasn’t willing to advance the cause of slightly softer bacon. Until the texts:
    Me: Breakfast for dinner tonight. Sausage or bacon?
    Him: Bacon – not too crispy, please.

    It was like a revelation and the dark days are over.

    But, we both love sweet potatoes. I think.

  • Avatar Lori says:

    My SO told me maybe 7 years into our relationship that he hates pasta with marinara sauce, which I made all the time since our kids like it (and it’s easy). He also is not a fan of sweet potatoes.

  • Avatar jamie @ green beans & grapefruit says:

    I just stumbled upon this (gorgeous) blog and read the first line of this post only to think that this was the break up of a marriage (like I HAVE seen/done in the past). Suffice to say, I am relieved your husband loves you, but dislikes sweet potatoes. Phew. Great story (and love your header)!

  • Avatar Lucy Mitchell says:

    I was about thirty before a saw a sweet potato in the flesh. Before then that my only sighting was in Rachard Scarry books. Even now, they occupy a very small space in the supermarket here (Ireland). Its funny because regular potatoes are still SO popular. And the sweet ones we have are always grown in the States. Maybe we have too much rain? I like them though.

  • Avatar Charlotte says:

    Ok – now I don’t feel so wierd about the time my husband had something serious to discuss with me and then let me know he didn’t want to eat beef or lamb anymore. And since then even more has come off the will eat list for a variety of reasons (tomatoes, garlic, citrus, fish, seafood, lentils, spicy) but I think sweet potatoes are still on the ok list – we had them in a dish last week that he announced was delish and should be repeated.

  • Tabbitha @ Turnip Tootsie says:

    Another wonderful post from DALS! Jenny I was just telling my husband how much I love your blog. Your writing is wonderful, and even though we can’t eat some of the meals (we are those weird vegans) I check into your blog regularly! Glad your husband finally let you know he does not like sweet potatoes. Men!

  • Emily says:

    hahahaha – I would totally let him go shopping. Most of the time.

    Also – I just read Suffering Succotash…maybe Andy’s secretly a picky eater? 😉

  • Holly says:

    My husband says the same thing about Sweet Potatoes. He doesn’t do sweet vegetables at all.

  • Jenna says:

    Oh, marriage. This post made me smile hard.

  • Avatar Nicole(Whole Strides) says:

    The only way I like sweet potatoes is with butter and sugar involved, which really negates the health benefits I think. Fortunately(I guess), no one else in my family likes them either.

  • Avatar Tara says:

    I have always felt that I really ought to like sweet potatoes more than I do. But they’re just too, well, sweet, I guess. Apparently I’m not alone. Re: Run, Lola, Run – Wow, haven’t thought of that film in a while. Nice reference.

  • Avatar Beth says:

    I like almost all foods but can not eat any orange vegetables – no carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash – no matter how many times I try. *shiver*

    My husband, on the other hand, does not like fried chicken. Who the heck doesn’t like fried chicken?

  • Avatar Paper Friday says:

    Ha ha ha… This is so hilarious!! I can sympathise, my husband hates ‘sweet/savoury’ food… So no sweet potatoes, no pumpkin, no squash- carrots just about make the grade!! It is so annoying as I LOVE these things!

  • Avatar Afton LeSueur says:

    This is my first time at your website, but I just wanted to tell you that I just read your book, and I loved it! I have a serious cookbook addiction, and yours was my favorite I’ve read it ages!

  • Kerstin Lock says:

    I love the way you started that post! The recipe looks amazing too, but it’s so great to hear the sacrifices people make when they’re in love.

    I don’t know what he’s talking about though, sweet potatoes are the best! 🙂

  • Avatar Stearns 205 says:

    Great… now I’m getting the “wow, maybe he loved her that much…” business. I waited exactly one meal before I let slip my disdain for any pasta with any red sauce (reminds me of the bleak days of grad school when my grocery list was pasta and whatever red sauce was on sale). My wife is entirely unimpressed with me now (“15 years… you must not love me that much”). Thanks, Andy.

  • Avatar Nora says:

    I am a longtime blog reader, just bought the book, so first must say thanks, Jenny! You have a lot of pork dishes that sound delicious, but we don’t eat pork. Any suggestions/rules of thumb if subbing chicken or beef? Or are some of the pork recipes better avoided with other meats?

  • Avatar Gina Crowley says:

    Ha ha..my husband hates sweet potatoes too! Pretty much anything in that family. However, I did turn him on to spaghetti squash…nothing a little butter and parmesan won’t fix.

    How’s the 7 recipe challenge coming?

    I only have 1 to go. So far I have made:

    1. Porcupine meatballs (declared awesome by all)
    2. Crockpot split pea soup (split decision)
    3. Sweet barbecue salmon (declared particularly awesome by my son..but he loves salmon)
    4. Brussells sprouts, italian sausage and cannelini beans (well, I liked it anyway and my son liked the brussells sprouts)
    5. Chicken with mushrooms in cream sauce (from one of the Real Simple cookbooks). Loved this.
    6. Salmon with swiss chard and warm lentil salad (well, they liked the salmon and the swiss chard wasn’t completely trashed)
    7. ??????

    I need a big finish but I’ve got to get a meatloaf in here before my husband defects.

  • Carlinne @Cook with 2 Chicks says:

    I am the only one who likes sweet potatoes in my family. My husband says they are too sweet and overpowering, agreeing with Andy. He will tolerate them chopped small, roasted with “regular” potatoes. Once again, a hilarious post.

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