Wow. Just, wow. I’ve been meaning to make carnitas tacos for at least a year now, and can’t believe how wonderfully they turned out. I started with a recipe from Elise’s site and made some modifications based on some of the comments, and changed the toppings to suit our tastes. Moist, spicy, fall-apart pork, crisped up in the oven and placed in a tortilla with homemade pico de gallo, crunchy cabbage, and sweet-tangy pickled red onions. This might be my favorite dish we’ve made this year.

Chris says:

Wow; do you smell that kitchen?

Lisa says:

The kitchen? Try the whole house! I’ve been drooling for the last three hours!

Chris says:

This is awesome — and amazingly simple for the results. It’s somewhat time-consuming, but most of it is unattended. The most complicated part was carving up the pork and trimming off most of the fat!

Lisa says:

Seriously? That rules — I think this is one of the best meals we’ve had in a while. Home-cooked or at a restaurant.

Chris says:

Everything works so well together: the savory pork, the freshness of the pico, and the tartness of the onions… I love it.

Lisa says:

You go ahead and keep talking about how good it is — I’m going to shut up and eat.

Chris says:

Actually, I think I’ll join you.

Tacos de Carnitas
4 lbs boneless pork butt (shoulder), cut into large cubes (remove as much fat as possible)
1 quart beef broth
2 cups chunky salsa, medium-hot

corn tortillas
pico de gallo (diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime juice)
pickled red onions (recipe below)
cabbage, shredded
creme fraiche (or sour cream)

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine pork, broth, and salsa. Add water to completely cover the meat, if needed. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 3 to 4 hours, until meat pulls apart easily.
Remove the meat from the liquid in the pot, set aside, and shred. (I use “shred” lightly, the pork will be so tender that just pressing it with the back of a fork will make it fall apart.) Pour the liquid through a colander to filter out solids, then return a third of the liquid to the saucepan. Heat over high heat for 12-15 minutes until it reduces to a gravy-like consistency. Add the reduced liquid to the pork and mix thoroughly.
Turn on the broiler in your oven. Place the shredded pork in a shallow layer in a roasting pan, or a wire rack over a cookie sheet, on the bottom rack of the oven. Broil for 5-7 minutes, until pork starts to crisp up. Use a spatula to flip the pork, and broil for an additional 5-7 minutes until crisp.
Serve the carnitas in warm corn tortillas with homemade pico de gallo, marinated red onions, and shredded cabbage. Drizzle with a little creme fraiche.

6-8 Servings

Pickled Red Onions
1 red onion, cut into 1-4″ half-rings
rice wine vinegar (about 1 cup)
1/2 tsp sugar
orange juice
oregano
peppercorns
coriander seeds

Blanch the red onions in boiling water for 15 seconds, then drain, rinse, and pat dry. Dissolve the sugar into the rice wine vinegar. Place onions in a shallow dish, then add rice wine vinegar to just about cover the onions. Add about 1/4 cup of orange juice (enough to totally cover), the oregano, a few peppercorns, and a few coriander seeds. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. These will keep for about a week in the fridge.

Lisa wanted to make dinner tonight, and we had a ton of vegetables to use up from our CSA box, so we came up with these vegetarian enchiladas, filled with summer squash, spinach, and mushrooms, and topped with a green chile enchilada sauce.  Photogenic?  Not so much.  Healthy, full of veggies, and quick?  Absolutely!

Lisa says:

How come all the food I make is ugly?

Chris says:

Hey! All the food you make isn’t ugly; and I think the biggest reason this one isn’t exactly photogenic is because of the blue tortillas.

Lisa says:

Hmm… maybe… I love that enchilada sauce, it’s got a really nice flavor.

Chris says:

I like the creaminess from the creme fraiche.

Lisa says:

The filling is awesome — I don’t miss not having meat in there.

Chris says:

Totally — and I like using up all our CSA veggies from the fridge.

Lisa says:

I can’t wait to have ugly but delicious leftovers tomorrow.

UBD Summer Squash Veggie Enchiladas

1 14-oz can green chile enchilada sauce
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 1/2 cups mixed summer squash, cubed
8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 red salad onions, bulbs and stems thinly sliced OR 1 large red onion, sliced
10 oz spinach
10 corn tortillas
pepper-jack cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the summer squash and mushrooms; cook for a couple of minutes until the mushrooms start to brown.  Add the garlic, about three quarters of the red onion and continue cooking until the onions turn translucent and the squash is crisp-tender.  Add the spinach and red salad onion stems, stirring constantly, until the spinach is wilted.  Season with a teaspoon of salt, and cover to keep warm.
Lay out the tortillas on a baking sheet and spray on both sides with cooking oil, then stack in twos. Bake for 3 minutes or until soft and pliable. Remove and stack in a single pile; cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm.
In a small pot, heat the enchilada sauce to boiling, then lower the heat.  Stir in cilantro and the creme fraiche into the sauce.  Taste and season with salt, if desired.  Hold a tortilla by one edge and dip into the sauce.  Fill the center with 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling, then roll and lay seam side down in a 9×13 baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and remaining red onion, and bake for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Garnish with additional salad onions.

Makes 10 enchiladas.

Lisa and I are both big potato salad fans, as long as they’re not super-mayo affairs.  We needed to come up with a side dish to bring to a BBQ this weekend, and this recipe from The Border Cookbook seemed like a nice twist on the standard summer potato salad.  A vinegar and oil dressing replaces the usual mayonnaise, and  onions, tomatillos, and carrots provide an interesting flavor and texture combination.

Lisa says:

It’s sweet!

Chris says:

Yeah I like it, too.

Lisa says:

No, I mean — it’s sweet. As in, the dressing.

Chris says:

Ah! Yep, you’re right. The tomatillos seem to add some sweetness, and the vinegar gives it a nice tangy flavor.

Lisa says:

It’s definitely different. I like all the carrots.

Chris says:

The flavors seemed to intensify as it chilled — the recipe calls for you to refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours.

Lisa says:

So *that’s* why you wouldn’t let me taste it earlier…

Baja Potato Salad
1/2 cup rice vinegar
10 peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 small head of garlic, minced
3 oz tomatillos, husked and chopped
4 carrots, grated
4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled in salted water until tender, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
3/4 tsp oregano
salt and fresh ground pepper

In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaf to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep.
In a deep skillet, warm the oil over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the tomatillos and cook an additional 5 minutes. Finally, add the carrots and cook an additional minute, or until the carrot wilts.
Place the potatoes in a bowl and spoon the carrot mixture over the top. Strain the vinegar and pour over the mixture. Add the jalapeño, parsley, and oregano, and mix again. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. Refrigerate, covered, for at least two hours.
Serve chilled.

6-8 Servings

It’s three in a row for us from Quick From Scratch Herbs & Spices. We were out of town this past weekend so all our dinners this week have been either improvised or planned at the last minute. This book has been great for quick, easy to prepare meals. We’ve made a seafood albondigas soup previously, and I’ve been looking forward to making a beef version. Normally I’d avoid making hot soups like this in the summer months, but Seattle has been in refrigerator-mode recently, and it’s seemed more like late fall than early summer!

Lisa says:

Jeanette’s going to love this — three in a row from the book she got us.

Chris says:

Yay for mini-meatballs! How do you like it?

Lisa says:

Yum, I like this soup — and this one seems more filling than the seafood version.

Chris says:

I was worried you’d complain about it not being hearty enough. You don’t always like these broth-based soups.

Lisa says:

It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s that I think of them as snacks. Plus, I had a bunch of chips beforehand just in case.

Chris says:

Well, I’m definitely a fan.

Mexican Meatball Soup
1 tbsp canola oil
1 small red onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch slices and quartered
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 15-oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
1 3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 tbsp lime juice

In a large pot, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and half the jalapeños and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon of the cumin and cook, stirring, until the zucchini starts to soften, about 3 minutes.
Add the broth, water, tomatoes, 1 1/4 teaspoons of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper; bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, garlic, the remaining jalapeño, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1 tablespoon of the fresh oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the bread crumbs, and the egg. Shape the mixture into 24 meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter.
Add the meatballs and corn to the soup and simmer until the meatballs are just done, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and the remaining 1 tablespoon fresh oregano.

4 Servings

I’ve had this cookbook, “Nuevo Tex-Mex“, for about 7 years now, and amazingly, this is the first time we’ve used it. (How is this possible? I grew up on Tex-Mex and mourn the loss of it constantly!) Lisa was in the mood to make something with mushrooms, and we both love enchiladas, so this seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of oil, which we were able to cut down to about 1 1/2 tablespoons by steaming the tortillas instead of frying them. We weren’t sold on the mole — more so because of the look, rather than the taste.

Lisa says:

Yeah, because it looks like refried beans.

Chris says:

But it tastes a lot better than refried beans… and I love this filling.

Lisa says:

Me too, but I think these might taste even better with a tomatillo sauce or something like that.

Chris says:

Wait, that sounds familiar… didn’t we do a recipe like that already?

Lisa says:

That’s the one! That was pretty similar, except it also had chicken in it, right?

Chris says:

Yep — hm, maybe this book goes back on the shelf for now…

Lisa says:

Maybe the Tex-Mex recipes in this book are a bit too “Nuevo”.

Wild Mushroom Mole Enchiladas
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb assorted wild mushrooms, sliced (we used oyster, shiitake, and portobellos)
1 cup chopped scallions
2 tsp marjoram
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese
3 tbsp roasted garlic puree
8 corn tortillas
2 cups refried bean sauce mole tejano (recipe follows)
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Preheat an oven to 350. In a medium-sized skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until they start to wilt. Add the scallions, marjoram, and cilantro and saute for 2 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender. Transfer to a bowl and add the goat cheese and garlic puree. Mix well and set aside.
Steam the tortillas by wrapping them in a wet kitchen towel and placing the wrap in a microwave-safe plastic bag, end folded over, but not closed. Microwave at 50% power for 4 minutes, then let sit for 3-4 before removing.
Divide the mushroom stuffing evenly among the tortillas, roll them up, and place seam-side down in a greased baking dish. Pour the mole sauce over the top. Place in the oven for 10 minutes or until bubbling hot.
Remove from the oven, transfer to plates, and garnish with sesame seeds.

Makes 8 enchiladas

Mole Tejano
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1 ancho chile, stemmed, seeded
1 pasilla chile, stemmed, seeded
1 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1/4 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp chopped almonds
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup chicken stock
salt

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 more minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt.

Makes 2 cups