Entries Tagged as 'mexican'

sweet pork tacos

Monday, January 31, 2011

So I’m pork-obsessed lately. I think it comes from the fact that I have 8 or 9 pork loins in the freezer that I bought when Publix was having a sale.

sweet pork tacos | © karacooks.com + kara hudson
In keeping with my promise to start working through my archives of saved recipes from 2010, I pulled a recipe that was posted to A Chow Life back in February. It’s a variation of Rick Bayless’ Minced Pork Tacos with Almonds, Raisins, and Sweet Spices (from Authentic Mexican). The recipe helped me realize that it was ok to cook a sweet taco filling, which inspired me to play even more.

So this is definitely not the same recipe I linked (that was just my inspiration), and overall it’s less of a recipe and more of a “what I did”. Oh, and the photo isn’t pretty-pretty … but boy was it good.

You may recall that last summer I went peach-crazy and bought 60 lbs of scratch-n-dent peaches from the local farmer’s market. Part of what I made with those peaches were 10 quarts of a spicy-sweet peach chutney with lots of vinegar, onion, and garlic, and tempered with golden raisins and brown sugar. (Yeah, I know, I never posted the recipe or photos of those either. Sorry! If you’re interested, the recipe I used is here: Spicy Peach Chutney)

In the spirit of the recipe I had archived, but adapting to my own needs, I took my 1.5 pound pork loin and plopped it in the slow cooker, then emptied a quart of the chutney over it. I added about 1/2 cup of water (mostly just swished around the chutney jar to get the bits out), set the heat on “low”, and let it cook for about 6 hours.

After 6 hours I shredded the pork with a fork, and served it in white corn tortillas, with a little sour cream, and some shredded cabbage topping. I paired it with a mixed spring salad with some crumbled feta cheese on top.

sweet pork tacos | © karacooks.com + kara hudson
To tell you how good it was? I had 3 tacos. H had 5. And scraped the bottom of the pot for whatever little bits were left! :) The pork was tender and moist, and the flavor was rich, tart with the vinegar and onion, but still sweet and slightly caramelized from the hours in the crock pot.

The only thing I would do differently next time – we agreed – is to add a couple of dried chili peppers to the crock pot to spice it up a bit. A little heat would have nicely offset the sweetness of the chutney.

I promise the next recipe WON’T be pork!

tomato salsa

Monday, August 9, 2010

salsa © karacooks.com | kara hudson

This week at the farmer’s market, it was all about the tomatoes. I bought 2 large bags of tomatoes at about $0.30 a pound. I knew immediately that I’d be making a huge batch of my summer-time standby salsa. This is one of those “recipes” that is really all about personal taste. The technique is applicable to any combination of ingredients you choose.

Core your tomatoes and roughly chop them. Throw them into a food processor with half a red onion, some cilantro, a couple of cloves of garlic, the juice of a couple of limes, and a splash of vinegar.

salsa © karacooks.com | kara hudson

Then pour the salsa into a saucepan and cook over medium heat at a simmer until reduced by 1/3.

salsa © karacooks.com | kara hudson

Finally chill – overnight if you can, to allow the flavors to blend.

salsa © karacooks.com | kara hudson

Obviously you can serve this salsa with chips as a dip, but it’s also great on eggs, in tacos, as a salad dressing … and tons of other ways.

shrimp quesadilla

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Quesadillas are one of my standby lunch items.  They’re so easy to make, taste yummy, and can be stuffed with a huge variety of leftovers.

I always use my Lodge Logic 6″ Skillet for making quesadillas. It’s a perfect size for the smaller flour tortillas, and of course cast iron conducts heat so beautifully that they always turn out perfectly browned.

I started with a tortilla, sprayed lightly with olive oil Pam, and laid in the bottom of the cast iron which had been heated over a medium flame. I added leftover boiled shrimp from the night before – there were 9 of them left which turned out to be just right.

On top of that, an ounce of shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend.

On top of that, 1/2 a sliced avocado.

Add another tortilla to the top, sprayed also with olive oil Pam. Let it cook 6-7 mins and then flip it (tricky, but doable, if you’re careful).

Let it brown on the other side for another 5-7 mins (and let the cheese get nice and melty).

Cut into wedges and serve with plain, unflavored, Fage yogurt (in lieu of sour cream), and the salsa of your choice (for me, the hotter the better!).

This makes a perfect quick lunch with reasonable calories, and a nice balance of carbs, protein, and fats.

Cals 439 | Fat 22g | Sodium 650mg | Carbs 47g | Fiber 10.4 | Protein 22g

(This item was published on Tastespotting HERE)