tacos

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Pork Tacos

August 15, 2014 by Asharae 3 Comments

These barbacoa pork tacos are the perfect thing to serve to a large group of friends. Most of the work is done in the morning, then you throw everything in the slow cooker and let it get happy for 10 hours or so. Your house will smell amazing and I promise your friends will love you more than they did before. Before they arrive, you remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred it, and put it back in with a little of the reserved juices to keep it moist. You’ll still have time to get all cleaned up and enjoy eating and chatting with your friends rather than working away in the kitchen. (Unless of course you offer to make margaritas for everyone like I did, then all bets are off.)

We had a bunch of friends over to our house before our summer travels got started and this is just what I made for them. With a side of cilantro lime rice and all the chips, salsa, guacamole, and queso our friends wrangled up, we had quite the feast on our hands. I even had a little extra fun with the decorations – I rolled out some brown kraft paper on our dining room table, set it up as our buffet, and used chalk to write out all the taco options.

If you’ve never cooked with pork before – fear not! This is probably the easiest way to cook it – the process of slowly cooking over low heat makes the meat so moist and tender and delicious. If you want to add an extra layer of fabulousness to these tacos (and you’re up for a little challenge), brown the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed skillet before placing it in the slow cooker. This gives the meat a little more depth of flavor and those browned edges tend to be my favorite once the pork is cooked and shredded.

Enjoy the barbacoa pork in tacos, in quesadillas, over rice, or on nachos. I’m certain any way you enjoy it would be delicious. You can also serve it with this pico de gallo, or one of these corn salsas.

Please tell me you’ll make these tacos? It just might change your life.

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Pork Tacos

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

For the barbacoa

5-7 lb pork shoulder bone in
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce minced
1/2 bunch of cilantro chopped
1/2 red onion cut into large pieces
6-8 cloves of garlic sliced
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbs kosher salt
Juice of 4 limes
32 oz beef stock
3 bay leaves

For the tacos

Flour tortillas
Freshly shredded cheese
Red onions diced
Fresh cilantro chopped
Lime juice
Other toppings of your choice

Method

(Optional - gives the finished pulled pork an extra layer of tastiness when it's all done) In a large Dutch oven or deep heavy-bottomed pan, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium high. Remove the pork shoulder from the packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. Brown the pork shoulder on all sides, carefully using a pair of tongs to turn the meat in the pan every couple minutes. This is a tricky operation, so be very careful not to burn yourself.
Once pork shoulder is browned, place it in a large slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients.
Cook on low for about 10 hours, or until pork shreds easily with a fork.
Carefully remove the pork from the slow cooker and place on a rimmed baking sheet. The pork should be falling apart, so this part gets a little messy. Use two forks to shred the pork, remove the bone and fatty pieces, and place the "good meat" in a large bowl. Discard the bone and fatty pieces. Continue this process until there is no pork left in the slow cooker. Carefully pour the remaining juices into another large bowl or stock pot. Put the shredded pork back in the (now empty) slow cooker and ladle some of the reserved juices on top of it until the pork is moist.
Let the shredded pork rest in the slow cooker while you prep the rest of your taco ingredients.

Roasted Corn Salsa, Two Ways

July 25, 2014 by Asharae 2 Comments

This summer I was determined to find the perfect roasted corn salsa recipe. And, my friends, I thought I’d done it. I photographed this fabulous salsa recipe, was all excited to share it with you, and then a few weeks later – I tried another corn salsa recipe. And it was better. Way better in my opinion. So much better, in fact, that I figured I’d skip photographing it altogether and just share both recipes with you now! You can decide for yourself which one you like better – I determined that I prefer roasted bell peppers in my corn salsa instead of tomatoes. But if you’re a huge fan of tomatoes, you should probably test out both recipes. Just sayin’.

There are two different methods I’ll share for roasting corn, and they’re interchangeable depending on how much time you have, how much effort you’re willing to spend, and whether or not you have a grill. I prefer the slightly smoky flavor the grill gives the corn, but if you’re short on energy and/or a grill, feel free to roast those bad boys in the oven.

Adapted from Minimalist Baker

Roasted Corn Salsa, With Tomatoes

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings: 3 -4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

4 ears of corn shucked and silks removed
Olive oil
1/4 of a red onion finely diced
2 medium tomatoes seeded and diced
1 jalapeño seeded and diced (I leave a few seeds to give the salsa a little heat)
Handful of cilantro finely chopped
Juice of 1-2 limes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Place corn on a rimmed baking sheet that is lined with tin foil (for easier cleanup). Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Broil in the oven 15-20 minutes, or until corn kernels begin to char. Check every few minutes and use a set of tongs to turn the ears of corn as needed. Remove from the oven and let cool. Use a knife to carefully cut the kernels away from the cob. I like to stand each ear up on its end in a large bowl, I hold onto the top of the ear of corn, and use a knife to slice the kernels away - that way my fingers are safe and the kernels fall into the bowl, rather than fly all over the counter.
Combine the rest of the ingredients and let rest for 30 minutes or so in the fridge for the flavors to combine.

Adapted from Simply Scratch

Roasted Corn Salsa, With Roasted Bell Peppers

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

4 Ears of corn shucked and silks removed
Olive oil
1/2 orange bell pepper seeds removed
1/2 red bell pepper seeds removed
1/4 cup red onion finely diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 Tbs pickled or fresh jalapeño diced (optional)
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp Kosher salt plus more to taste

Method

Brush each ear of corn and bell pepper half with olive oil and heat on the grill, turning occasionally until the kernels are charred to your liking and the bell pepper skins are charred as well. Remove from the grill and let cool. Carefully cut the kernels away from each ear of corn (see note on previous recipe for a helpful way to do that).
Use your fingers to peel the charred skin off each bell pepper (it doesn't have to be perfect - I leave some blackened bits for color). Dice the roasted bell peppers and combine with the rest of the ingredients.
Let the salsa rest in the fridge for 30 min or so for the flavors to get happy.

Simple Breakfast Tacos

May 5, 2014 by Asharae Leave a Comment

Happy Cinco de Mayo you guys! Hope you had a wonderful weekend full of adventures! Tim and I had our first weekend off since March, so we spent it up in Raleigh and Durham visiting friends, going to the Handmade Market, eating good food, and going to a Durham Bulls game – we couldn’t have asked for better spring weather to spend all weekend outside!

We’re also (finally) getting a start on our garden here and we spent yesterday afternoon picking up additional flowers and veggies for our front porch and raised-bed garden. We brought them home, did a little research on Smart Gardener (highly recommend for anyone starting a garden or wanting to learn more!), and carefully placed each tomato and pepper plant in the soil. I’ll be honest – the main reason I have a garden is to be able to make salsa all summer long. Salsa and bruschetta and tzatziki. That’s pretty much it.

This year we’re adjusting what we’re growing to exclude the peas and beans that we never got around to eating last year (they’re still in our freezer) and include a few new veggies that we haven’t tried before – namely zucchini and eggplant. We’re trying a few new tomato varieties that we’re pretty excited about, and we even planted marigolds and basil next to the tomatoes to test out the theories that marigolds help tomatoes grow better and basil makes them taste better! Who knew? (Lots of other well-seasoned gardeners, that’s who. Not us though – we’re learning as we go!)

We’ve still got some extra space in the garden and we haven’t yet figured out what we’ll plant. Have you grown veggies in the past? Anything in particular that is easy to grow and produces tasty veggies? Anything we should shy away from that’s difficult to grow?

In honor of Cinco de Mayo I’ve got a simple recipe for breakfast tacos – who says tacos can only be for lunch and dinner?? You already know that I’m more of a savory breakfast person than sweet, so I absolutely love meals like this one for breakfast! Feel free to add your own flair to this recipe – add some salsa or jalapeños, brown some breakfast sausage and toss that in, slice up an avocado and include it in your taco.

This would make a really fun brunch for a group of friends – you could set up a make-your-own taco station with tiny bowls for each ingredient, brown some sausage and cook up a large batch of scrambled eggs, and have everyone assemble their own tacos!

Asharae Kroll

Simple Breakfast Tacos

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Course: Breakfast/Brunch

Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

Eggs 2-3 per person
Small Flour Tortillas 2-3 per person
Cheddar Cheese or queso fresco if you have it!
Your choice of red onion cilantro, tomatoes, salsa, avocado, lime juice etc.

Method

Whisk eggs together with a splash of milk and a dash of cumin, chili powder, a little salt and some pepper. Scramble over medium-low heat in a greased pan.
Heat tortillas and serve topped with eggs, cheese, and your choice of red onion, cilantro, tomatoes, salsa, avocado, a spritz of lime juice, or whatever other goodies you'd like to add to make these breakfast tacos your own!
You could also add browned sausage or cooked bacon to give these tacos a little something extra!