For the last six years, Chef Rodney Worth and The Peasant & The Pear have been helping locals and visitors alike appreciate the art of enjoying simple food with a twist. Using the freshest local ingredients, including meat butchered in the Valley and seafood and fish from the Monterey Bay, no doubt is a key to his success.

Worth has been so successful that in July he opened The Little Pear in Blackhawk Plaza, a European-style cafe serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, featuring favorites from The Peasant & The Pear and more.

To kick off our Foodie Friday column, Worth shares his Braised Pork Shoulder and Beans recipe from the menu at The Peasant & The Pear. 

"This dish really reminds me of fall cooking with the big pot of beans and a pork pot roast," said Worth. "Slow cooking is where we really rise to the occasion. That's our peasant style. Anyone can make a filet mignon taste great. We can make a secondary cut taste great and that's how we try to keep our prices good."

Braised Pork Shoulder and Beans

Part I: Pork

Use four baseball-sized cuts of pork shoulder.

Seasonings:

• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt

Other ingredients:

• 2 cups beef or chicken stock
• 1 cup orange juice

Rub seasonings on pork shoulders and let sit for at least one hour. Brown pork in a hot pan. After all sides are browned (not gray, brown), move pork to a roasting pan with 2 cups of beef or chicken stock, and 1 cup of orange juice. Cook at 250 degrees for 3 hours.

Part II: Beans

Use dry Spanish corona beans or gigante beans.

Other ingredients:

• garlic
• onion
• celery

Soak beans overnight, change water before cooking. Add fine diced garlic, onion and celery. Put beans in a pot, fill with water and bring to a slow boil. Cook for at least 1 hour, and taste for doneness.

Ladle beans into large soup bowl. Top with braised pork shoulder, serve with warm corn tortillas.