Tangled Branches: Satiated
riveting tales of how we sustain ourselves
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Carnitas Tacos
At long last, we got to eat something from the garden other than herbs. It would still leave you hungry, because it was still just seasoning, but it was actual fruit - not leaves!
Carnitas Tacos with Pico de Gallo
I swear that I have a cookbook here somewhere which tells me that Pico de Gallo is a relish of chopped chiles and onions - sharp like a rooster's beak (pico de gallo). The thing called Pico de Gallo that's commonly served in restaurants these days is more like what I always called a Salsa Cruda (uncooked salsa) - diced tomatoes with chile and onion. Well, whatever it's called, I was trying to imitate the Carnitas Tacos at Picante from several years ago. (They've changed their menu since.)
First, I made the relish. I finely minced five assorted chile peppers (that's the garden part). These were only mildly hot, so I left the seeds in. Then I finely minced some yellow onion; the amount was roughly equal (or a little less) than the amount of the chopped chiles. I cut a few coriander leaves (cilantro) (there's the garden again) and minced those finely. Mixed everything in a small bowl, and added lime juice and salt to taste.
I cut up some pork chops into carnitas-sized pieces, approximately half-inch dice. Tossed the diced pork with some soy sauce, sliced garlic, and lots of black pepper, and set them aside for a while to soak up the seasoning flavors.
Then I put the pork on flat metal skewers (leaving the garlic behind in the bowl), and grilled it over charcoal until crispy.
We then assembled tacos from the meat, relish, some romaine lettuce, and flour tortillas.
Verdict: a winner, but the chiles could be hotter.
posted by Entangled at 9:23 AM
2 comments
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Quick Carne Adovada Burritos
It's looking kind of cobwebby around here.
We really have been eating all this time, and we've been to some good restaurants, but my cooking has been mostly expedient and <yawn> dull.
Here's one expedient idea that we actually liked.
The set-up:
Spouse was coming home for lunch. I wanted to garden in the morning before the weather got too hot. I did not want to go the grocery store.
Contents of the fridge:
a couple of pork chops, some chipotle puree, part of an onion, a package of flour tortillas.
Pre-processing:
The chipotle puree was just a 7 oz.can of chipotles in adobo, whirled in the food processor with a little vinegar (1 tbsp?) and sugar (1 tsp?). I already had this in the fridge from a previous meal.
The prep:
Slice pork chops into long thin strips. These were thin pork chops from the Korean market, which means they had some fat on them.
Chop onion coarsely (about 1/4 of a large onion).
The cooking:
Heat skillet.
Saute pork and onions until onion is soft and pork looks mostly cooked.
Add a spoonful of chipotle puree, and enough water so the pork can simmer a bit. Simmer until sauce is reduced and thickened. Add to taste: vinegar, salt, Penzey's Fajita Seasoning.
Serve:
We do this buffet-style. Heat a non-stick griddle and place a flour tortilla on it. If you have the heat right and you have good fresh tortillas, they will brown slightly while puffing up with steam. As each tortilla is ready, remove it to a plate, spoon some of the pork in the center, and roll it up burrito-style. Eat. Then heat another tortilla, and keep doing this until you run out of pork or tortillas. The spouse added some canned red salsa to his, but I don't think it's necessary.
The wrap-up:
We liked this a lot. It's similar to one of our favorite winter meals - carne adovada - without all the time-consuming preparation of chile sauce and all-day simmering of the pork stew. It's fairly picante, but that's how we like it.
posted by Entangled at 6:20 AM
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