Shredded Pork

Before I start I am going apologize for the second recipe being a pork recipe too. I only eat pork every other week and it has been about two weeks since my last pork dinner. Today for dinner I made some shredded Pork Tacos. I like this recipe because I can put it in the crock pot. Originally this recipe was cooked in the oven, but I modified it so I could put it in the crock pot in the morning and leave it all day. I found the recipe in a Sunset magazine about five years ago. I love the Pork at Cafe Rio, but this recipe has no sugar yet has a sweet flavor.

Café Pasqual’s Barbacoa (Shredded Tacos)

If cooking meat up to 3 days ahead, chill airtight; freeze to store longer.

Makes: about 10 cups (I half the recipe! But it does freeze well)

1 pound onions, peeled and diced
1 pound firm-ripe tomatoes, rinsed, cored, and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 fresh jalapeno chilies, rinsed, stemmed, seeded, quartered lengthwise
2 dried bay leaves
1 cup chicken broth (I use a cup of water and a bouillon cube or Better than Bullion)
½ cup lime juice
2 T. white wine vinegar or I use cider or red wine
2 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
1 boned, beef chuck or boned pork shoulder or butt (4-5 lbs)-- either meat is really good!

Put all of the ingredients in the crock pot except the meat. Rinse beef or pork and put in crock pot. Cook on high for five hours or low for eight hours or until meat is tender enough to pull apart. Transfer meat to a platter. Pour pan juices through a strainer into a big pan (discard bay leaves; reserve remaining vegetable mixture); skim and discard fat. Boil juices over high heat until reduced to 1 cup, 25 to 30 minutes.
When meat is cool enough to handle, use two forks or your fingers to pull meat into shreds; discard fat and connective tissue. Add meat and reserved vegetable mixture to pan with juices. Stir occasionally over medium heat until steaming, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Serve on tortillas with crumbled cotija cheese, cheddar cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, or whatever toppings you like. I also like to use this in Taco Salads.

Chile Verde

Here's a recipe for Chile Verde that we really like. I made this the first time when my husband brought home a giant Pork Loin instead of Tenderloin from the store. Needless to say I felt daunted by this large piece of meat, but quickly realized I could make Chile Verde with it. I had always wanted to make Chile Verde and now was my chance. I served it the first time to my brother-in-law since it is one of his favorite dishes. He ate so much of it that he could barely walk. I knew then I had a winner. I found this recipe somewhere on the Internet and of course improved it to my liking. So enjoy.

Pork Chile Verde

2 lb. lean pork -- cut into cubes
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large onion cut into chunks
1 large can chopped green chiles
6 fresh tomatillos -- peeled, washed, and cut into quarters
2 cloves of garlic
6 fresh peppers -- I use a combination of poblano, green, Anaheim, and 1 jalapeno. Chop the peppers in big chunks leaving seeds in if you want a spicier sauce.

Lightly brown pork and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer everything to a slow cooker on high heat and add can of green chiles.

Put chopped tomatillos in blender. Blend well. Add peppers, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp. of oregano and 1/2 tsp. of cumin. Blend until everything is chopped up. Pour sauce into cooker and turn to low. I also add 1 tsp. of Better than Buillon Chicken flavor or buillon into the crockpot. Cook until meat is tender. Since pork cooks quickly, it is usually done in about 6 hours.

I serve this with tortillas -- any kind, using the sauce as the filling and putting some on top, refried beans, mexican rice, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese -- cheddar or cotija.

Angie's Extras: I like to get all the browned bits off the pan that I used to cook the pork in. I usually put the blended sauce in the pan and scrape up all the drippings in the pan before I put the sauce in the crockpot.