Tres Cerditos Tacos (Three Little Pigs Pork Tacos)

My wife and I were visiting her best friend in NY when we stopped by this great gastropub called Prison City Pub and Brewery in Auburn, NY. (Whenever we are back up there, I'll probably do a full review.) I ordered a sandwich they call Three Little Pigs which is made of pork prepared 3 ways: pulled pork, ham, and bacon. I really enjoyed this so I decided to come up with my own version with a Mexican flair called Tres Cerditos Tacos. I did a bit of research into the ways pork is prepared in Mexico and I came up with my duo of tacos that contains pork three ways: carnitas, chorizo, and bacon.

Ingredients:

Basics:

Carnitas
1lb chorizo

½lb bacon
Corn tortillas

Recommended Toppings:

Chopped cilantro
Sliced avocado
Queso cotija
Fresh lime
Crema
Roasted tomato salsa

Directions:

Cook the carnitas according to the recipe I previously posted here, and while it is resting prepare the other meats. Cook the pound of chorizo by either cooking the sausages and then chopping them, or, my personal favorite way, strip off the casings and cook the stuffing. If you can find uncased ground chorizo, that would be perfect but I have had a lot of difficulty finding that. Once cooked, set aside. Slice the bacon into thin bits and fry again, set aside and drain once finished. I recommend using the bacon grease to fry the carnitas.

Once you meats are all prepared, prepare your toppings. I recommend chopped cilantro, avocado slices, some fresh slices of lime, cotija cheese, crema, and my roasted tomato salsa. Cotija cheese is a crumbly Mexican cheese that has a similar texture to grated parmesan, but it doesn't melt. If you can't find it, feel free to use any cheese you usually like on your tacos, I suggest a combination of monterey jack, cheddar, and mozzarella. Crema, as I mentioned in my nachos recipe, is Mexican sour cream. Crema is more liquidy than sour cream so I like to store it in a squeeze bottle for easy serving. If you can't find crema, feel free to replace with sour cream.

Once all of the meats and toppings are ready to go, it's time to start making tacos! Place two soft corn tortillas and put a serving of carnitas in one and a serving of chorizo in the other. Sprinkle the carnitas with the bacon bits, and some cheese, then spritz with lime. Top the chorizo with some chopped cilantro, a few avocado slices, some of the cheese, and then squeeze on a little crema and spritz on some lime. Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Salsa

I've put quite a few salsa varieties on here and it looks like I'm not slowing down anytime soon. This one is really quite easy. Since you are blending the ingredients together you don't have to worry about getting carefull, bite sized pieces, you can use larger chunks which makes this a quicker, simpler salas to prep for.

You might notice there doesn't seem to be much salsa in the bowl in my picture. Well, my wife and I didn't have very good self control and started eating it before I had taken any pictures of the finished product. Don't worry, the recipe makes plenty, and if you have a larger skillet, it can be easily doubled.

Ingredients:
5 roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno, sliced*

½ red onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper

½ t of cumin
2 T of olive oil

Directions:
Turn your broiler on high and move an oven rack to the 2nd highest position.

Cut the tomatoes in half, and place in a 10 inch cast iron skillet, add the jalapeno, onion, crushed garlic, and then stir in salt, pepper, and the cumin. Toss with the olive oil to coat.

Place under the broiler and roast, stirring every 3 minutes, until a light level of char builds on the edges of the tomatoes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool to room temp before blending to a desired consistency.

Serve and enjoy or refrigerate to enjoy later.

*Don't worry about seeding the jalapenos, the high heat that they will be subjected to will dull the fire.

Carnitas

Carnitas, as anyone who frequents Chipotle will know, is Mexican pulled pork that is usually fried after it's cooked so it forms a nice crust. In Mexico is it usually confit or, slow cooked,  by simmering the pork in lard. I chose to go the more American route by just using a slow-cooker. These carnitas have way more flavor than anything you'll get at your usual burrito place and then go great in burritos, tacos, nachos, or a host of other Mexican dishes. My favorite part is that they make your whole house smell like a good Mexican restaurant.

Ingredients:

3lb bone in pork shoulder
4 T of olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
2 t of dried oregano
2 t of cumin
1 jalapeno, sliced
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 orange, cut in half

Directions:

Coat your pork shoulder with 2 T of the olive oil and then liberally cover with salt and pepper. Combine the oregano and the cumin and the rub onto the pork. Place your pork shoulder in your crockpot or slow cooker and then add the sliced jalapeno. You don't have to worry about seeding the jalapenos in this dish because they will cook for so long that most of the heat will be gone. Add the two sticks of cinnamon, and then squeeze the juice from each orange half onto the pork and then add the spent orange halves.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours.

Once the pork is fork tender, remove for the pot and let is rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Remove the other solids and discard. While to pork is resting, pour the cooking liquid in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat to reduce by half. Once the pork is rested, use forks to pull into bite sized shreds and then put the meat back in the crock pot. Add the reduced cooking liquid and then stir until is absorbed back into the meat.

In a 10 inch skillet, add the remaining 2 T of olive oil and heat it over medium high heat. Once the oil is nice and hot, add the carnitas and cook until a light crust forms on the bottom. Remove from the heat and serve.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard

My friend Cody and I were hanging out at his apartment one afternoon when we realized we needed lunch. Cody didn't have much in his fridge for lunch making but he had some chicken breasts and some bread crumbs, we also found some honey mustard dressing and a good collection of spices and decided to try our hand at making our own nuggets. I refined the recipe and wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

½ C of honey mustard dressing
1.25 C of unseasoned panko breadcrumbs
2 t of mustard powder
½ t of cayenne powder

¼ t of ground black pepper

Canola oil or other vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

Trim the chicken breasts and cut into nugget sized portions, about thumb size. Place in a plastic bag and pour in the dressing, smush the dressing around and make sure that each piece is getting some coverage. Let that marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Now to get everything ready for the frying. In a bowl mix together the dredge of breadcrumbs, mustard powder, cayenne powder, and black pepper. Make sure to mix thoroughly for even chicken dredging. Then, in a heavy bottom skillet, pour ¼ inch to ½ inch of canola oil and bring to a temp of 350-375 degrees. Also, now would be a great time to set up a draining station, some paper towels on a baking sheet will do.

While the oil heats up, start dredging your marinated chicken pieces in the panko dredge. Make sure you get good, even coverage on each piece for even cooking and crunch. Let the dredge set for a minute on each piece before frying.

Fry in small batches, making sure to not crowd the pan. Fry on each side for about 1 minute or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove to the draining rig to remove excess oil and to let the breading set so it doesn't just come off in you hands as you eat.

Serve with some of the dressing (obviously not the stuff the chicken was marinating in) as a dipping sauce and enjoy! I like to serve mine with some baby carrots and cherry tomatoes to make a whole finger friendly meal.

St. Patty's Day Shake

A few years ago I got to try a Guinness shake and I decided I was going to serve that at every St. Patrick's Day party I would ever have from then on. But, I decided I wanted to make them green so I took the opportunity to add a little more flavor, and a little more alcohol, by adding creme de menthe. Thus was born one of my favorite cocktails, a light green dessert, perfect for St Patrick's Day parties.

Ingredients:

2 C of vanilla ice cream*

⅔ C of Irish stout

1.5 fluid oz of creme de menthe

Directions:

Add all ice cream, Guinness, and creme de menthe into your blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy with a Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

*You can use any vanilla ice cream you want, but I would suggest a premium vanilla because the higher fat content and higher density makes for a smoother, tastier shake.

Quinoa Salad with Candied Walnuts

I love quinoa, as I'm sure you can tell if you are a regular reader of my blog. But, I have generally limited myself to serving it as a hot side. With spring upon us and unseasonably warm temperatures here on the east coast, I decided to branch out and try my hand at making a cold quinoa salad. Quinoa is a wonderful grain for making cold salads since, unlike many other starches, it doesn't get rock hard once it gets cold.

Ingredients:

1 C dry quinoa
2 C water
salt to taste

¾ C dried cranberries

¾ C candied walnuts

3 T basting oil*

Directions:

Cook your cup of quinoa in the water and salt to taste before refrigerating it to get to down to room temp or cooler. Gently stir in the cranberries and walnuts (which I made from my previous recipe, minus the sesame seeds) before drizzling on the basting oil and tossing to coat. Serve immediately for the best crunch on the candied walnuts.

*Basting oil is delicious herb infused oil that is great on everything from meat to pasta. If you live near a Wegmans you can easily pick some up there or you can follow their recipe, in the link provided, or make your own by combining some of your favorite fresh or dried herbs with a neutral flavored oil.

Southwestern Meatloaf with Southwest BBQ Sauce

A couple weeks ago I decided I wanted meatloaf cause I had some ground beef left in the fridge that needed to be used up. It was a fine meatloaf, but it was a bit bland and not very exciting. I thought about adding some regional flavors to it and settled on southwest style as I was in the mood for chili at the time. I was talking to a co-worker about trying to make a southwest style meatloaf, we bounced around some ideas, and I settled on combining American chili flavors with Mexican pico de gallo flavors to capture a more full range of southwest flavors, and it turned out delicious.

Like anything southwest style, it demanded a sauce so I doctored up my favorite bbq sauce to add a bit more flavor

Ingredients:

Meatloaf:

1 t chili powder

½ t paprika

½ t cayenne powder

¼ t cinnamon

1 t cumin

¼ t garlic powder

½ t ground black pepper

½ red onion, diced

1 tomato, diced

¼ C packed chopped cilantro

1 C crushed tortilla chips

1 T Worchester sauce

1 egg, beaten

1 c milk

1.5 lb ground beef

¼ C BBQ sauce

2 T brown sugar or demerara sugar

Sauce:

1 C BBQ sauce
3 T of brown sugar or demerara sugar
½ t of cumin
½ t of chili powder

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375.

Combine the spices then add the produce and stir in the milk and eggs. Add the ground beef and gently work in the mixture. I recommend using your hands, but a spatula will do if you don't want ground beef and egg all over your fingers. Place in a greased loaf pan and use a spatula to smooth the top and work into the corners. Baste the top with the BBQ sauce and sprinkle with brown sugar or demerara sugar. Bake for 1 hr and then let rest for 15 minutes.

While the loaf is resting combine the 1 cup of BBQ sauce with the sugar and spices in a small sauce pan and stir over medium heat until smooth. Serve alongside the meatloaf.

One of the interesting things about this recipe is that, as long as you use a gluten free BBQ sauce, this is gluten free.