Carne de Puerco con Rajas

2-1/4 pounds pork, half country-style spareribs and half boneless stewing pork with some fat cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
6 garlic cloves
2 peppercorns
1 tbsp salt or to taste
1-1/4 pounds tomatoes
3 tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed
3 serrano chiles or more to taste
about 6 medium chilacas or 3 poblano chiles, charred, peeled, seeds and veins removed, and torn or cut into narrow strips

Put the pork into a wide pan, cover with water, and set over medium heat.  Crush the garlic with peppercorns and salt and add to the pan.  Cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add the whole tomatoes, tomatillos, and chiles and continue cooking until the chiles are soft but not falling apart - about 10 minutes.

Transfer the tomatoes, tomatillos, and chiles to the blender jar with 1 cup of the meat broth and blend to a textured puree.  Take out a second cup of the broth and reserve.

Remove the cover and continue to cook the pork until it is just tender - about 10 minutes.  Remove any remaining broth and reserve.  Continue to cook the meat over low heat until the fat renders out; there should be about 3 tablespoons - remove or make up to that amount with lard.  Lightly brown the meat, add the blended ingredients, and fry over fairly high heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking, for about 5 minutes.  Add the chile strips and the reserved broth - there should be about 2 cups.  If not, make up that amount with water.  Taste for salt and cook 5 more minutes.

Carne Con Chile Guero

The Meat:
2 pounds stewing pork with some fat, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 garlic cloves
salt to taste

The Sauce:
12 guero chiles
12 ounces tomatoes, broiled until soft
6 garlic cloves

Put the pieces into a heavy pan, add water to come just below the surface of the meat, the garlic, and salt, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.  Drain off half of the broth and continue cooking uncovered until the pork is just tender - about 20 minutes.  Continue cooking until the fat renders out and lightly fries the meat.

Meanwhile, char and peel the chiles, remove the veins and seeds, and chop roughly.  Peel the tomatoes if you like and crush with garlic and chiles to a textured sauce (you can do in a food processor, but not a blender which would puree the mixture).  Add the mixture to the meat in the pan and fry, adding a little more salt if necessary, until the moisture has reduced, about 5 minutes.  Dilute with about 1 cup of the pork broth and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.