Craving Carnitas

I'd been jonesing for tacos for days, and just hadn't got around to making them. Then, fortuitously, some friends said they were going to be in the 'hood one evening, which gave me the perfect excuse to try a new method for making carnitas. (And yes, I'm one of those people who tries out new recipes on guests, much to the chagrin of my mother who considered it much too risky.)

I'd already pulled a four-pound pork shoulder out of the freezer, it being a weekend and the perfect time for a nice slow braise on the stove. So I picked up some cotija cheese made by Albany's Ochoa's Queseria, cabbage for slaw, plus an avocado, salsa and tortillas. (I'm a huge fan of the organic tortillas from Three Sisters Nixtamal. It's a local company that makes masa using a traditional process called nixtamalization, where dried corn kernels are soaked in slaked lime, then ground and made into dough.)

Carnitas, which means "little meats," is made by simmering chunks of pork with citrus and spices for several hours until it's tender and on the verge of falling apart. I had some whey left over from making ricotta, so I decided to use it for the braising liquid, since the acids in the whey would help to break down and tenderize the meat. The method I used then calls for shredding the meat, roasting it in the oven (or in a cast iron pan on the grill) until any remaining liquid evaporates and the meat is crispy.

Warming the tortillas on a griddle is quick and easy, though I'm always tempted to pile them with heaps of fixin's, but exercising a teensy bit of restraint is worth the reward of the perfect bite, instead of bursting the taco or losing too much on your plate. Plus it means I can enjoy a few more of those longed-for tacos!

Carnitas

4 lbs. boneless pork shoulder
1 qt. whey, water or stock
1 onion, sliced in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/8” slices
8 cloves garlic
2 tsp. oregano
4 bay leaves
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 orange, quartered
1 Tbsp. kosher salt

Put all ingredients into large Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 2-3 hours until meat is starting to fall apart and liquid is almost gone. If there is quite a bit of liquid left, remove the meat to a roasting pan, disposing of the orange peel and bay leaves. Bring the liquid in the pot to a boil and reduce until there is less than 1 cup remaining.

While liquid reduces, heat oven to 450°. When liquid has reduced, pour over meat in roasting pan and place in oven for 20-30 minutes or until it starts to brown. Shred any remaining large pieces.

Hot House? Chill Out With Cool Shrimp Tacos

I know it's been too hot for too long when I open a cupboard door and a blast of hot air rolls out and hits me in the face. At our house it seems to take about three days of temperatures in the high 90s to achieve this effect, so the last thing I want to do it exacerbate the problem by turning on the stove. Normally that means grilling outside, but Dave's been out of commission this week with cataract surgery, leaving dinners a last-minute "what are we gonna do" problem.

Fortunately there are good friends who have our back, who know that the last thing a person wants to do on a hot evening after a day of shuttling back and forth from doctor appointments is figure out what to have for dinner. My friend Ann offered to bring over her family's favorite hot weather, no-cook dinner on one of those nights, arriving in the late afternoon with a chilled container of shrimp salad she'd adapted from a recipe clipped out of a newspaper years before.

Made with local pink shrimp—which have passed a rigorous certification process and been declared a sustainable fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)—and in-season avocados, this is a godsend in hot weather, but it's also a terrific quick solution to a weeknight dinner. Plus I can see it topping a salad of chopped greens or piled into a pita or tossed with hot or cold pasta or topping some crostini for a refreshing appetizer. Seriously, it's that flexible.

So while it's kinda hard to clip a recipe out of the computer screen, it'd be worth your while to bookmark it, save it or pin it someplace for future reference. Which is exactly the reason I'm writing this post—so I can find it the next time I need it!

Shrimp and Avocado Tacos

1 lb. pink shrimp

2 medium slightly firm avocadoes, diced

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced crosswise

1/2 c. chopped cilantro (leaves only)

Juice of 1 lime

Salt to taste

Corn or flour tortillas, at room temperature or warmed in the microwave

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Serve with tortillas.

While this is great all by itself, I chopped some cabbage to serve alongside, and you could also included sour cream, salsa or hot sauces as desired.

Hot Nights Call For Easy Chorizo Tacos

With long-term forecasts calling for temperatures in the 80s and 90s and with no rain for the next several weeks—climate change deniers notwithstanding—it's time to get some cool and groovy plans laid for dinner.

Lookin' toasty.

If only that would include eating out every night, right?

But since that's a situation that will have to wait until we chance upon that winning lottery ticket at our local stop-and-shop, I guess it's going to be me battling it out in front of the stove every night with my very own version of Top Chef.

"What's she going to tantalize us with tonight, folks?"

The spread.

Well, the other evening I happened to have some ground pork in the fridge, thinking it was time to make a meatloaf, but it was just too dang hot to crank up the oven. That's when the idea of tacos blipped across my brain's radar. Cool. Easy. Simple. Just involves a bit of chopping and mixing and they're done.

The pork would make a nice chorizo, I thought, and wondered how hard it would be to replicate the incredibly good Tolucan red chorizo made by Salud and Angela Gonzales of Don Felipe (available at the Beaverton Farmers' Market). A quick internet search yielded some basic guidelines, and with a bit of improvising I was able to fry up a pretty good facsimile. Now I have to go get some of theirs and try them side by side!

Tolucan-style Chorizo

4 dried red chiles (I used three New Mexico chiles and one ancho chile)
2 c. boiling water
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 lb. ground pork
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 Tbsp. tequila
3 large cloves garlic, minced

Remove stems and seeds from chiles and tear into 1” pieces. Place in medium bowl (I used my 1 qt. Pyrex measuring cup). Pour boiling water over the top, making sure that the water covers the chiles. Let stand 30 mins. Drain, reserving the chile soaking liquid for another use (chili, chile sauce, etc.). Put chiles, vinegar, oregano, salt, thyme, allspice, cloves and tequila in blender and purée.

In large bowl, thoroughly combine pork, chile mixture and garlic. Place in large skillet over medium heat and fry until the pork is cooked through, stirring to break it up and crumble it, approximately 15-20 min.

Camp Stories: Chorizo, Chicken and Steak, Oh My!

Tea ceremonies. Church services. Thanksgiving dinner. Heck, even a game of Flip Cup. All rituals with their own processes and rhythms.

Just a little piperade, home-smoked bacon and polenta…for breakfast!

So it is with our annual Fourth of July Free-For-All camping extravaganza at Paradise Creek on the flanks of Mt. Adams. It starts with reserving our campsites at the crack of the new year in January to get our creekside spots. The first haphazard organizing starts in early June with e-mails going back and forth about head counts and guesses about the weather, really just an excuse to vent some excitement about the trip.

Fresh oysters? Don't mind if I do!

This year the group consisted of 11 adults, one toddler and five dogs sharing three campsites. Two of our regular crew couldn't make it, so two victims…um, I mean, friends…were asked if they'd like to come. A couple from San Francisco, they were city folk who'd never been camping before, and to everyone's amazement (and delight) they accepted.

Chorizo tacos…yum!

A week or so ahead of time there was a flurry of messages about what people were bringing, and one of the more organized among the group devised a loose menu. We volunteered a few pounds of Dave's home-smoked bacon and a few dozen eggs from a friend's chickens. I offered to make chorizo tacos the first night, since I'd run across some crazy good chorizo at the Beaverton Farmers' Market. Called Don Felipe, it's made by Salud and Angela Gonzalez in the style of their native Toluca, Mexico. It was paired with a cabbage slaw and local Don Froylan cotija cheese, all nestled in fresh handmade tortillas from Por Que No (at $3 a dozen, a steal).

Steak for 11? No problem!

A group that size meant there was a plethora of activities to choose from, including hiking, reading by the stream, playing board games, napping, going for a beer at Backwoods Brewing in Carson or just hanging out. There were several cocktail-meisters in the crew and all kinds of libations were shaken, stirred and poured into (gasp!) real glassware.

One evening's appetizer selection.

No slackers in the food department, there were fresh oysters shucked with French oyster knives, an Asian ramen salad sided a grilled-on-a-Weber marinated chicken and there was the obligatory "Steak & Corn Night." Each evening's appetizers ranged from salami to a borage flower-accessorized cheese platter to fig-accented chevre. This is a group that makes camping not just painless, but a true pleasure. Even our two newbs were convinced that sleeping on pads on the ground wasn't such a crazy thing to do…and they proved it by signing up for next year's trip.

Chorizo Tacos with Cabbage Slaw

Salud and Angela's Don Felipe red chorizo is made with dried red chiles and spices, with a deep but not intense heat. The green chorizo is an intriguing and uniquely Tolucan mix of spinach, serrano pepper, pumpkin seeds, garlic, onion and spices. It's also somewhat spicy and very lovely. You can buy it at the Beaverton Farmers' Market on Saturdays from 8 am to 1:30 pm or at the Forest Grove Farmers' Market on Wednesdays from 4 to 8 pm.

For the slaw:
1/2 head green cabbage
1/2 head purple cabbage
3 carrots, grated
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
Salt to taste

For the tacos:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 lbs. Don Felipe chorizo, or any fresh Mexican chorizo
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 lb. cotija cheese, crumbled
3 dozen corn tortillas
Salsa, Crystal Hot Sauce or Czar's Pinot and Habanero Sauce

Slice each half cabbage lengthwise into quarters. Remove core by placing quarter on its side and slicing at an angle around the core. Slice quarter in half lengthwise, then slice it crosswise into thin shreds. Repeat with rest of cabbage. Place in large mixing bowl with shredded carrots. In a small bowl, combine mayo, sour cream, rice vinegar and salt. Stir until smooth, adjusting seasonings to taste (you can even add sugar, though I don't). Pour over cabbage and toss to combine.

Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and sauté till browned. Add onion and garlic and sauté till tender. Briefly heat tortillas on cast iron griddle or skillet.

Fill tortillas with small amount of chorizo, slaw and a sprinkling of cheese, as well as sauce (if desired).

Read other Camp Stories in the series: last year's trip to Paradise Creek, Trout Creek Campground, Shadow Bay at Waldo Lake, LaPine State Park, Indian Crossing Campground, Frog Lake Campground, Patrick's Point State Park, Harris Beach State Park, Moss Creek Campground and our first trip to Paradise Creek.

Everything's Better with Crema

Some people go to the store or the farmers' market with a list and stick to it. Milk, eggs, bread. Peppers, chard, cheese.

I have a list, too, and diligently check off the items as they pile up in my cart. But what I'm really looking for when I go shopping is inspiration, some ingredient that will spark a new dish or give me a reason to explore new territory.

That's what happened the other day when I saw a big pile of dark green poblanos at my neighborhood supermarket. Sometimes the peppers in the bins are a little tired and wrinkled, but these were shiny and firm to the touch, begging to be roasted.

So when I braised a pork shoulder in chile sauce a couple of nights later, the idea of frying up a mess of rajas, or roasted, slivered poblanos and onions, seemed like a natural. I've done straight rajas before, but I'd never made rajas con crema before, a traditional condiment of southern and central Mexico. Then a thought bubbled up that it would make a lovely sauce if I processed the rajas into a crema to drizzle on the tacos.

See what I mean about inspiration? A little experimentation, a touch of exploration, and I've got a new addition to taco nights. Sweet!

Poblano Lime Crema

4 medium-sized poblano chiles
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 med. onion, quartered and sliced thinly
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 lime, juiced
1 c. sour cream or tofu sour cream, divided
Salt to taste
Milk (or water) to thin (optional)

Roast peppers over gas flame or in the broiler until blackened. Place in paper bag and allow to steam for 10 min. Using your hands (I'd recommend rubber gloves…these babies can be surprisingly hot), rub off most of the charred skin but don't worry about cleaning it all off—it'll add a smoky flavor to the finished sauce. Remove stems and seeds from peppers and slice thinly.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add onions and sauté till golden, about 15 min., until reduced to about half of their original volume. Stir frequently to prevent browning. Add sliced peppers and garlic and sauté about 1 min., then stir in cumin and oregano. Add 1/2 c. of sour cream and simmer another minute or two.

Pour mixture into food processor with the remaining sour cream and lime juice. Purée mixture until smooth. Add salt to taste and milk or water to thin if desired.

Get a recipe for a killer chile-braised pork that's great with this sauce.

Praising the Braise

I am lucky to have great friends who are great cooks. When we get together, whether for dog walks, coffee or grabbing a table someplace to catch up, the conversation inevitably, and not surprisingly, turns to food—what we've been eating recently, what we've been cooking, where to get great ingredients.

The roast shoulder, pre-shredding.

And they're used to me perpetually asking for their recipes, and if it just may be, might be okay to publish them on the blog. Pretty please?

Michel and I were out with our dogs, hers a gorgeous flat-coated retriever named Shona, who is the long-legged love of Walker's life and a new favorite friend of Kitty's. As they romped their way around the wet, grassy field at a nearby school, she mentioned a lamb dish she'd whipped up for a recent dinner.

Taco-licious.

Now Michel has a serious history with food, so when she starts raving a recipe, my ears perk up. This one was for short ribs, but she said it would make a great braise for pork, beef or chicken. With most of Petunia still sitting in the freezer, I latched onto the pork idea and, on arriving home, dried off two very wet dogs and pulled a big shoulder roast out of the freezer.

The next night we had pork tacos with rice and a quick slaw, with a roasted poblano crema made from peppers I'd stashed in the vegetable bin. The pork also made some awesome pulled pork sandwiches that Dave was thrilled to pull out of his lunchbox, and the last of it got mixed in with roasted tomatoes and tossed with pasta.

So what I'm saying is that the recipe below is limited only by your imagination, and would go from company's-coming to warmed-up-for-lunch. Thanks, Michel!

Short Ribs Braised in Coffee Ancho Chile Sauce

This would be fabulous with lamb and pork, too.

4 dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, ribs discarded
2 c. boiling-hot water
1 medium onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp. finely chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (optional)
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
3 tsp. salt
4-6 lb. beef short ribs or flanken (or in my case, pork shoulder)
1 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 c. espresso or strong French press coffee

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Soak ancho chiles in boiling-hot water until softened, about 20 minutes, then drain in a colander set over a bowl. Taste soaking liquid: It will be a little bitter, but if unpleasantly so, discard it; otherwise, reserve for braising. Transfer ancho chiles to a blender and purée with onion, garlic, chipotles (if using) with sauce, maple syrup, lime juice and 1 teaspoon salt.

Pat ribs dry and sprinkle with pepper and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown ribs in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer as browned to a roasting pan just large enough to hold ribs in 1 layer.

Carefully add chile purée to fat remaining in skillet (use caution, since it will splatter and steam) and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add reserved chile soaking liquid (or 1 1/2 cups water) and coffee and bring to a boil, then pour over ribs (liquid should come about halfway up sides of meat).

Cover roasting pan tightly with foil and braise ribs in middle of oven until very tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Skim fat from pan juices and serve with ribs.

Michel's note: Ribs improve in flavor if braised 2 days ahead. Cool, uncovered, then chill, surface covered with parchment paper or wax paper and roasting pan covered with foil. Remove any solidified fat before reheating.

Kathleen's note: When the pork was done, I removed it to a board and shredded it as seen in top photo, fat and all. The shredded meat then went into a large skillet with enough of the sauce to moisten it. It was kept warm while taco ingredients were prepared, then served.

Get the roasted poblano crema recipe that goes ever-so-well with the pork tacos. Get another of Michel's incredibly delicious recipes: Braised Lamb Shoulder.

Impromptu: Pork Tacos At Our House!

The plan had been in place for weeks, and we were looking forward to having a Saturday night dinner on the deck at the home of good friends. We'd even been given the menu, the better to whet our appetites in advance of the evening: cocktails and tomato-basil bruschetta to start, then grilled pork ribs, corn salad and the hostess's gramma's green beans. Boysenberry pie for dessert.

Yeah, we were drooling, too.

Pork before.

Saturday morning dawned warm and sunny, with the promise of a beautiful, not-too-warm Portland evening for the dinner. Then around mid-morning we got a call. A painting project had run over schedule, an unexpected memorial service had come up for that afternoon. Could we reschedule the deck dinner and go out instead? Maybe margaritas and Mexican at a place with outdoor seating?

Pork after.

Though there are several great places in town that fit that bill, I'd really been looking forward to spending time with our friends without the distractions and constraints of a restaurant meal. Why not just change locations and come over to our house? Dave's margaritas are as good, if not better, than any I've had out and, sticking with the Mexican theme, I could throw some pork on to braise for tacos and we could pot luck the condiments.

After hanging up I looked around, realizing the house was a complete shambles. Ack! Good thing we were eating outside…and we could clean up enough that, in the dim evening light, it might not look too awful.

Ready to go…take a seat!

On the way to the store I ran into my neighbor Susana, who waxed poetic about the dinner she'd made the night before featuring short ribs braised in apricots and cherries. We agreed it would be perfect for the pulled pork I needed for the tacos so, armed with her inspiration, I bought the necessary ingredients, came home, threw it all together and three hours later had the most luscious pulled pork ever.

And our dinner that evening? Perfection…just like we'd planned it all along.

Pork Tacos with Apricot, Cherry and White Wine Pulled Pork

For the pulled pork:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1-2 medium yellow onions, chopped fine
3 large cloves garlic
2 c. cherries, pitted and halved (I used yellow Rainiers)
2 c. apricots, pitted and quartered
5 lbs. pork shoulder, cut into large chunks
2 1/2 c. dry white wine (I used a dry Pinot Grigio)
3 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

For the tacos:
Corn tortillas (order them in advance from Por Que No…awesome!)
Cabbage slaw with lime vinaigrette
Guacamole
Corn or cherry salsa
Tomato salsa
Cotilla cheese, crumbled
Sour cream
Limes, quartered
Assorted bottled chile sauces

Preheat oven to 325°.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add onions and garlic and sauté till translucent. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover and place pot in oven for 3 hours until pork is falling apart.

Remove pot from oven, and transfer the chunks of pork to a large platter, leaving cooking liquid in pot. Bring liquid in pot to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, and reduce until most of liquid has evaporated and it is a syrupy consistency. While liquid is reducing, smash pork with back of spoon or pull apart with a fork. When liquid in pot has finished reducing, add pork back to pot and combine.

Serve with condiments.

This pulled pork would be amazing with any recipe calling for pulled pork, and is infinitely variable with any seasonal fruit…think plums, peaches, apples, etc. You could also add whole chiles like ancho or poblano to give it some heat.

Back to Mexico for Dinner

It's no surprise that we're still reliving, if only virtually, our vacation to Mazatlan, considering the cold weather that's been visited upon us since our return. So when I saw giant pork shoulder roasts on sale at New Seasons, I had to grab one.

Browning the meat.

Then I pulled out my collection of cookbooks by Diana Kennedy, the woman who single-handedly brought Mexican cuisine to the attention of Americans who thought of Mexican food as refried beans and yellow cheese. She revealed the complex flavors and preparations, as well as the regional differences, in this ancient cuisine that was local, fresh and sustainable before we were even a glint in our founding fathers' eyes.

Simmering the ingredients.

We are crazy for carnitas, and when I saw her recipe for Carnitas Caseras, or home-cooked carnitas, it was a done deal. The preparation is relatively fast and easy and takes minimal effort, being basically a braised dish, and I had most of the ingredients on hand. So it was brown the meat, throw in the rest of the ingredients, let it simmer and then reduce the liquid. Easy!

After reducing the liquid.

Served with rice, guacamole, salsa, a salad and corn tortillas, it was like being back on the Malecon, feeling the warm breeze off the ocean. Maybe next time we take this trip we'll bring some friends along!

Carnitas Caseras (Home-Cooked Carnitas)
Adapted from The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy

4 Tbsp. lard or canola oil
4 lbs. pork shoulder roast, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 fresh marjoram sprigs or 1/2 tsp. dried
4 fresh thyme sprigs or 1/2 tsp. dried
3 bay leaves, broken up
1/2 tsp. fresh-ground pepper
1 orange, cut into eighths
1 c. milk
Salt to taste

Heat the lard or oil in a heavy braising pot, add the meat to the pan without crowding it and brown in batches. Remove the meat and saute the onion until softened, scraping up the brown bits from the meat. Put the meat back in with the onion and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat and fry, stirring and scraping until the pan juices have been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Drain off any extra fat and serve.

The carnitas may be prepared ahead up to the point of the final frying, but they should be kept covered so that the meat does not dry out.