Pork Carnitas

For so long I have been looking for a Pork Carnitas recipe. I decided to check Pinterest and of course found my self a great one! It was also amazingly simple. My mom and hubby thought it was one of the best things they have EVER eaten. I think I quite agree. It came from the For the Love of Cooking blog. Just make sure you put some good mexican cheese and tasty toppings like red onion, guac, cabbage and cilantro.

Pork Carnitas:
Recipe by For the Love of Cooking
Recipe adapted from Noble Pig and Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

• 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup milk
• Corn tortillas, warmed
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Red onion, thinly slice
• Guacamole
• Sour cream
• Cotija cheese, grated
• Salsa
• Lime wedges

In a large Dutch oven over high heat, combine pork, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and 8 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a medium low and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Drain well. In the same Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add pork, 1/2 cup fresh orange juice and 1/2 cup milk then cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and pork has browned, about 8 to 12 minutes. The pork will start browning after liquid has evaporated. Season well with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Serve carnitas in corn tortillas with cilantro, red onion, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cotija cheese and fresh lime wedges. Enjoy.

My time in Virginia Beach

My mom and I took a girls trip over to Virginia Beach this past weekend to visit my oldest friend Jill Tyler and her fam. It was such an fun trip, we spent the first day at Colonial Williamsburg enjoying the crisp fall weather, shopping and of course amazing food.

Jill told us about this place that has AMAZING Hot Cocoa, and she was right it was Amazing even the homemade marshmallow inside was to die for.

Here is Jill dipping it into her Hot Chocolate ( or what we like to call the cup of melted chocolate)!

While this is one of the most extraordinary cups of Cocoa I have ever had, you must not drink one all by yourself after about the 8th sip or so it's overwhelming richness makes you want to chuck it! I know it sounds weird but both Jill and I had the exact same reaction and couldn't even make it through a 1/3 of the cup. Anyways if you do happen to make it out to Williamsburg hit up this place and see for yourself.

The Blue Talon

Both Jill and I have both been wanting to try these delicious looking Apple Pie Caramel Apples off The Girl Who Ate Everything .

We both aren't the best "candy makers" but we gave it a try.

Jill doing her special "tap" technique to get the excess caramel off.

"I am so proud of Me!"

We ran out of sticks so the knife made do.

Mixing up the white chocolate

adding the cinnamon sugar

ours didn't turn out quite as perfect as hers, but of freaking my they were MMMMMM Good!

I don't know exactly how many we ate, lets just say the kids didn't get much.

Will I make these again, Yes indeedy!

While we were there the Tyler's took us to the famous Wood Chicks BBQ, who won the Throwdown with Bobby Flay for their pork sandwich and is also on Pit Masters.

Well BBQ Pork sandwiches are one of my many food weakness and I couldn't wait to try it

I apologize that I ate it too fast and was unable to take a picture. But I will tell you it Rocked! So if you have a chance please stop in to Wood Chicks.

Thanks for a GREAT time Tyler's you fed us well!

Jill will also be featured in an upcoming guest food post! Till then, happy trails.

Red Neck Taco

I love watching DDD ( Diners Drive-Ins and Dives). I write down where I want to go to and what I want to get there. My goal is to one day take a cross country drive and hit all those places up. Most of the dishes are things I could never make but this particular one looked so good and easy that I thought I would give it a try. It was called a Red Neck Taco from Martins BBQ in Nashville Tn. A corn cake topped with pulled pork, bbq sauce and a mountain of coleslaw on the top. This looked so good my mouth was watering. Now I have never actually made a corn cake or my own coleslaw so I found some recipes off the food network for them. Made the pork I usually make and then topped it with some Sweet Baby Rays sauce ( your fav. sauce can be substituted here)

I absolutely loved this meal and had it for leftovers for about 3 days ( I made way too much pork and coleslaw) btw coleslaw is better the second day. So I hope you try this or make it to Nashville to try it in person, I know I will try!

Pulled Pork recipe

Ultimate Coleslaw

Tyler Florence

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar or pinch
• 1 store-bought bag shredded slaw mix (containing red and green cabbage and carrots)

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Add the shredded slaw mix and toss until combined.

Corn Cakes

Emeril Lagasse

• Ingredients
• For the Corn Cakes:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup fresh sweet corn kernels, from 1 medium-size ear
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup bleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup masa harina flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning, recipe follows
• 
  
• Directions
• For the Corn Cakes: Heat the olive oil in a medium-size saute pan over medium heat. Add the corn, shallots, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the black pepper and cook, stirring, until the corn and shallots are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Combine the eggs and cream in a large mixing bowl and whisk to blend well. Add the cornmeal, flour, masa harina, baking powder, cayenne, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the water. Mix well. Fold in the corn-and-shallot mixture. Heat 1/2 teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, gently drop the batter, 1 tablespoon at a time, into the pan. You can cook about 8 cakes at a time. Cook until the cakes are lightly golden on both sides, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Repeat until all of the oil and the batter are used up. Drain the cakes on paper towels. Sprinkle with the Creole seasoning.
• * I left out the creole seasoning and shallots- still great

RIB Fest 2010

First off I would like to apologize to the Throngs of people who read this blog for my lack of posting! I have been re-reading Eclipse for the 3rd time to get ready for the movie and have not been able to put it down so my eyes have been burning, and looking at a computer screen was the last thing I wanted to do. I will do better I promise.

Last week Pork Ribs were on sale and since Pork ribs are my fav. I bought a TON and had the usual Tuesday crowd over ( My Uncle Bill and Grandpa Bob), plus a few scavengers!

I made my Ribs with some sweet Corn on the cob (also on sale) and then I made these Crashed Hot Potatoes from the Pioneer Woman. The meal was a true comfort meal that tasted great. The potatoes were a little bland for me ( I must have not done it right) so I added some cheese and ranch. Other than that a great meal.




My favorite way to cook ribs is how the Cummards taught me.

1st Boil ribs for 3 hours till they are practically falling off the bone.

2nd add tons of BBQ sauce

3rd stick in the oven to crisp them up and carmelize the sauce onto the meat.

Presley watching intently as her dad "Shucked" the corn.

A favorite trick I learned from Rachel Ray for Corn on the Cob is.....

After it is boiled drain the water

add butter and seasoning

put on the lid

and SHAKE!

it is so much easier than rolling the corn in the butter stick and seasoning while turning over. Try it I guarantee you will love it.
Now doesn't that look Mouth watering!

Chalupa

A couple of years ago during an Enrichment night we had this dish called CHALUPA. One bite and I was hooked, I think I have made it for every big occasion since. It is a great meal to make for a large group of people and a definite crowd pleaser.

A couple of months ago I made way too much so I put the leftover in the freezer. The other day I pulled it out, thawed it and popped it in the microwave for about 10 min. and once again another scrumptious and easy meal, plus it tasted like I just made it that day. ( my husband kept asking where the crockpot was)

Chalupa

3lbs. pork roast

1 lb pinto beans

5 garlic cloves

1 can diced green chilis

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. chili powder

Cover everything with water and cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours or until beans are tender! Then shred the pork and put back in . Serve with fritos, cheese, green onions, avacados, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa & anything else that sounds good with it.

A Meal For 10 Under $10!

This past week while shopping I asked the butcher if he had any pork shoulder, he informed me that he did but if I wasn't planning on cooking tonight, that it would be on sale the next day for $.99/lb. ( the roast ended up being less than $4)

SCORE!

So I planned one of my favorite meals.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Corn on the Cob

I also had some fantastic Buns from Sprouts that my neighbors gave us, Score again.

First thing I did was place this Fine piece of meat on top of a bed of sliced onions. Then I seasoned it up with some salt and pepper, threw in about a cup of water and let 7 hours in a crock pot do the rest.

While that was cooking I boiled up some fine looking corn.

I also made a little extra since I had some last minute guests.

Here is what the pork looked like after I shredded it up and De-fatted it ( I think that is a word).

I decided not to cook it in bbq sauce, since my favorite place to get pulled pork sammy's is Joes BBQ and they serve theirs plain and then you add sauce. I also feel like you can really taste the flavor of the meat, instead of Just the sauce.

Then I got some Yummy sauce ( pick whichever you like best). I prefer Joe's sauce but didn't have time to go and get it, so I settled for my second favorite which is Sweet Baby Rays. Then I toasted up a lightly buttered bun(Joe's style) and served it up.

The end result was an A++. The flavor of the meat was perfect and it was oh so juicy, I also loved the onions in with it as well.

So if you are looking for a cheap meal to feed a lot, head on over to Safeway and pick up a pork roast. Hurry quick tomorrow is the last day, and I just picked up 3 more myself.

I also sliced up some strawberries and powdered sugar to go along with it. Yummy right?