Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Best New Recipe I've Tried in a Long Time

This is a slow-cooker meal, which means it is automatically a new favorite.

Pulled-Pork Tacos (Boo hoo pork haters!)
2 cups store-bought salsa, plus more for serving
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
kosher salt
2 1/2 pound boneless pork butt (tee hee) or pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat

18 corn tortillas
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
sour cream

1 lime

In a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the salso, chili powder, oregano, cocoa, and 1 tsp salt. Add the pork and turn to coat.

Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4 to 5 hour or on low for 7 to 8 hours

Twenty minutes before serving, heat oven to 350 degrees, wrap them in foil, and bake until warm, about 15 minutes.


Meanwhile, using 2 forks, shred the pork and stir into the cooking liquid. Serve with the tortillas, cilantro, sour cream, lime, and extra salsa.


So here is what I did. Basically I did exactly what the recipe called for; however, I felt the two-cups of salsa wasn't enough to adequately blend in the spices. Unfortunately, I was out of salsa, so I tossed in a can of tomatoes. I put four slabs of pork shoulder into the crock-pot on top of the salsa mixture, and I smothered them with the sauce. I left the crock-pot on low, then went to work. It cooked for exactly eight hours, and it was PERFECT! The meat just dropped right off the bone, as you can see.

I heated the tortillas as directed and was intrigued to see how they would turn out because I've never warmed tortillas that way. Maybe I purchased cheap tortillas, but I was not a fan of how they turned out. They tore way too easily, and I ended up eating my tacos with a fork, o un tenedor si prefieres. I ate some leftovers today and just heated up a couple tortillas in the microwave, and they were perfect - did not break. Therefore, I personally do not recommend the oven-foil method.

Here is a picture of my finished product. I added some delicioso avocado, as you can see. Dave just could not get enough of these babies! He was going... hog wild. Tee hee hee... get it?!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've had this before ( not the way you made it) but it is absolutely the BEST! Carnitas if you will, is what they are called!. Anyone out there who has not tried this is missing out big time! Les, I am going to steal your recipe.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to try this recipe..Yum Yum.

amiss3 said...

OK, I'll try it! in fact I'll head down to Leonards right now to check out the pork butt selection. I will probably heat up some evoo and place the tortilla in it till it hardens a bit and have it that way. I dont care for heated corn tortillas either. I will be sharing a FABULOSO recipe with you soon, I'll e-mail it!

Anonymous said...

So I didn't actually make it until last night. Jason got home late and dove right in and proceded to sit there making sound effects the ENTIRE time eating. He said its the best pork dish I HAVE EVER MADE!! He then brought ALL of the left over to work to share with everyone, yes you heard me, to share with everyone. Im a huge hit at the work place...mac'n cheese, pork butt etc. *SIGH*
keep 'em comin lester loo loo!
:)