Yesterday it was the perfect Sunday - to me. It was cold, rainy and gray. And although some of my family mock me for my hatred of the sun, I don't think it's strange at all to love a rainy day, or even several in a row. I have friends who will back me up on this one. Those hot, sunny days that so many of you crave are, for some of us, devil spawned.

So, just know that if you're angry about "bad" weather on the weekend, there are many more people than you think in the world who are thrilled to hear rain pelting against the window. Originally, I had planned to make a cilantro stuffed pork tenderloin, but the weather outside was so perfect and the apartment was so cozy – that instead I decided to make a spicy pork stew.

We also still had a batch of fresh tortillas that I made on Friday, so we had the perfect side to go with this sweet and fiery dish.

Spicy Pork Stew

1 pork tenderloin, chopped into 1 inch cubes

½ cup of flour

Pepper

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 carrots, sliced

2 hot peppers, sliced (I used Thai chilis, but jalapenos would work too.)

2 teaspoons of chili powder

2 teaspoons of cumin

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 ½ cups of chicken broth

1 14.5 ounce can of stewed tomatoes

3 tablespoons of chipotles in adobo sauce

Preheat oven to 375.

Preheat the olive oil in the pan until hot but not smoking. While the olive oil is heating, pour the flour and desired amount of ground pepper into a small paper bag. Add the pork and shake until the pieces are covered in flour. Place the pork into the frying pan and brown on all sides. Remove the pork from the pan and turn the heat to low. Drain the pork cubes on paper towels. De-glaze the pan with the chicken broth – and make sure you get up all of the browned bits.

In a dutch oven, add the pork and the rest of the ingredients. Pour the chicken broth over everything and stir well to combine. Put the lid on the dutch oven and bake for an hour-and-a-half.

(Warning: The stew smelled amazing and left us nearly drooling for the last ½ hour of cooking.)

Serve with bread or tortillas.

Serves 4.

(Photo by Launie Kettler)