Slow Cooker Carnitas Tacos

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ lb. boneless pork shoulder, trimmed
  • 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
  • ¾ tsp. black pepper, divided (we used freshly ground black pepper)
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice, divided
  • ¼ cup fresh orange juice, divided
  • 2 cups hot water
  • 1 dried ancho chile
  • 4 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 1 white onion, sliced (we sliced ours about ¼ in. thick) (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 oregano sprigs
  • 1 Tbsp. canola oil
  • 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
  • 6 Tbsp. chopped white onion
  • Cilantro sprigs (optional)
  • Lime wedges (optional)

Directions

  1. Cut the pork up into 3-inch pieces, placing them in a large ziplock bag afterwards. Sprinkle the brown sugar, ½ teaspoon pepper and ½ teaspoon salt over the pork.  Add 2 tablespoons each of the lime juice and orange juice to the bag and seal, removing as much air as possible*. Refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
  2. Add the hot water and dried ancho chile to a large bowl, letting it sit for 10 minutes. Take ¼ cup of the ancho soaking liquid and leave it off to the side for now along with the ancho chile. Take a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker out and add the pork to it, discarding the marinade that the pork was in. Add the garlic, sliced onion, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, oregano, ancho chile, that reserved ¼ cup soaking liquid, the remaining 2 tablespoons each of orange juice and lime juice. Put a lid on the slow cooker and let it cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or until the meat is very tender.
  3. Take the pork out of the slow cooker and place it in a container for the time being. Take a bowl out and place a fine wire-mesh strainer over it. Pour the cooking liquid from the slow cooker through the strainer, throwing away any solids. Measure out ½ cup of the cooking liquids, throwing away any leftover liquid afterwards. Take a large cast-iron skillet out and pour the canola oil in, setting the heat to medium-high. Once the oil’s hot, add in the pork, searing it for one minute without moving it**. Take the pork out of the skillet and place it back in the container. Pour the reserved ½ cup of cooking liquid into the skillet, scraping up any bits of pork stuck to the skillet, pouring it over the pork afterwards. Add the salt and pepper to the pork, shredding the pork afterwards. Divide the pork up afterwards among the tortillas, topping each one with 1 ½ teaspoons of chopped onions (we didn’t measure how much much we used). Serve with the cilantro and lime wedges if you’d like.

*After getting as much air out as possible, we rolled the ziplock bag up as tight as possible to help the pork absorb as much flavor as possible.

**We weren’t sure if they wanted you to sear one side only or all sides but we decided to sear for one minute on the first side and 30 seconds – 1 minute on the other sides.

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The pork tasted great the first day we had this but the second day, the flavors were even stronger ! The char on the outside of the pork brings a smoky flavor to the taco and is a nice contrast against the tender parts of meat. The toppings bring a freshness to the dish and the onions offer a nice crunch as well.

Recipe source unknown.

Take care everybody !

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

Ingredients

  • Salsa
    • 1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
    • ½ medium red onion, finely diced
    • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced (we left the ribs and seeds in)
    • 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
    • 1 lime, juiced
    • Pinch of kosher salt
    • Pinch of sugar
  • Tacos
    • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 1 ½ pounds peeled and deveined shrimp (we used extra-large shrimp)
    • 1 (6-ounce) can enchilada sauce (we used hot enchilada sauce)
    • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
    • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    • 16 small corn tortillas, warmed
    • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
    • Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

  1. Let’s get started with making the salsa first. Take a bowl out and mix together the mango, red onion, jalapeño and cilantro. Now add in the lime juice, salt and sugar, stirring to mix everything together.
  2. Now for the tacos ! Take a large heavy skillet out and pour the oil in, setting the heat to high. Once the oil’s hot, toss in the shrimp*, stirring them around for 2 to 3 minutes or until they look opaque. Turn the heat down to low and pour in the enchilada sauce, stirring to coat the shrimp. Add in the cumin and continue stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. Add in the butter, stirring just long enough to melt the butter, taking the skillet off the heat immediately afterwards.
  3. Place the shrimp in the tortillas, topping it with the mango salsa and the avocado. Squeeze some lime juice over the taco and enjoy !

*We actually split cooking the shrimp into 2 batches so they could all be evenly cooked and have a chance to get seared.

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This was such a delicious taco ! You get some sweetness from the mango and heat from the jalapeño and enchilada sauce. The butter gives the sauce a silky texture. We were so excited to eat this that we actually forgot to add on a squeeze of lime but we can only imagine that it would’ve made this that much tastier ! They never did say how many shrimp to put in each taco but we didn’t end up needing all 16 tortillas. We only ended up getting about 8 tacos.

This recipe came from The Pioneer Woman Magazine.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote The Pioneer Woman Magazine.

Take care everybody !

Veggie Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 cups finely chopped zucchini (about 1 large) (we went with the 2 cup measurement)
  • 1 (8-ounce) package sliced baby portobello mushrooms (We bought an 8 oz. pkg. of whole baby bella, cleaned them and removed the stems before slicing them about ¼-inch thick.)
  • 1 cup chopped onion (we used yellow onion)
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach, stems removed
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15.25-ounce) can corn, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained (we used Rotel Hot Diced Tomatoes with Habaneros)
  • 1 (8-ounce) package 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened (we used the original kind instead of reduced-fat)
  • 1 (7-ounce) package shredded reduced-fat Mexican 4-cheese blend, divided
  • 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning mix (we used Lawry’s)
  • 1 (17.5-ounce) package soft taco flour tortillas (We couldn’t find any packages weighing 17.5-ounces but we did end up using 18 soft taco flour tortillas.)
  • 1 (10-ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce (we used Old El Paso)
  • Kosher salt to taste (recipe doesn’t call for it but it helps a lot*)
  • Garnish: chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a 13 x 9-inch baking dish** out and spray the inside of it with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Take a large nonstick skillet out and spray the inside of it with nonstick cooking spray (we chose instead to use about 2 teaspoons of canola oil to coat the inside with). Heat the skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add in the zucchini, mushroom, onion and garlic, stirring frequently for 8 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add in the spinach and continue to stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until the spinach is wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated (ours took less time than that). Add in the beans, corn, diced tomatoes and chiles, and the cream cheese, stirring long enough for the cream cheese to melt.
  3. Stir 1 cup of the shredded cheese into the skillet as well as the taco seasoning. Once everything’s combined, take the skillet off the heat. Take a tortilla and spread about 1/3 cup of the skillet mixture down the middle. Roll the tortilla up to enclose the filling and place it seam side down in the baking dish (we had to tear off the ends of the tortillas to make them fit). Repeat with remaining tortillas. Pour the enchilada sauce over the tortillas, sticking the dish in the oven to let the enchiladas cook for 30 minutes. Pull the dish out just long enough to sprinkle the remaining ¾ cup of cheese over the top of the enchiladas and then stick it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or until it looks hot and bubbly***. Garnish with the cilantro and enjoy !

*When we first tasted this, it tasted “meh” enough that initially we weren’t going to post this but after sprinkling some salt over the enchiladas, it brought out the flavors enough that we changed our minds and decided it was worth posting.

**When we first started making this, we had no idea how many tortillas it would take to use up all the filling. We could only fit 12 though in our 13 x 9-inch baking dish so we had to get another dish out in order to get them all in the oven.

***Maybe our oven runs hotter than theirs did but by the 10 minute mark, our enchiladas were starting to look like they got cooked longer than they should have so next time we make this, we’re going to leave them in for less time.

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While this is tasty, had we known how many enchiladas this was going to yield, we would’ve bought more enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.

We got this recipe from a Paula Deen magazine.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Rotel, Lawry’s, Old El Paso or the Paula Deen magazine.

Take care everybody !

Margranita

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup lime juice
  • 1/3 cup tequila (we used silver tequila)
  • 1/3 cup triple sec
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (we used table salt)
  • 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
  • Sugar, kosher salt, lime zest for coating the glass
  • Lime slices for garnish

Directions

  1. Take a saucepan out and add the water and sugar to it, bringing it to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once boiling and the sugar’s dissolved, take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the lime juice, tequila, triple sec and salt. Let it cool completely. Stir in the lime zest and pour the mixture into a small glass baking dish. Cover and freeze for about 4 hours* before scraping it with a fork. To get the full experience, take a plate out and mix equal parts sugar and kosher salt (we used 1/8 cup each) along with a pinch of lime (we used the zest of 1 whole lime). Rub a lime around the rim of your glass then roll the rim in the salt mixture, fill the glass with the granita and top with a lime slice.

*Ours took more than 4 hours. We’d suggest scraping every 2 hours. With that in mind, we’d suggest making this early on in the day or the day prior to when you plan on serving this.

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Oh my god, this is delicious. This really is the lovechild of a granita and a margarita ! You get all the flavors of a classic margarita in an icy cold format. It’s the perfect cure for a hot Georgia summer day. The granita can stand on its own but the salt rim makes it even tastier ! This would make the perfect treat for Cinco de Mayo or any hot day.

We got this recipe from Food Network magazine.

We weren’t paid in any way to promote Food Network magazine.

Take care everybody !

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ pounds tomatillos, husks removed
  • 1 large poblano pepper
  • ½ cup coarsely chopped sweet onion
  • ½ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (we used table salt)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (we used freshly ground black pepper)

Directions

  1. Preheat your broil (the recipe never says to, but we’d recommend moving your oven rack up one from the middle). Take a rimmed baking sheet and spray it with nonstick cooking spray (we lined our baking sheet with aluminum foil and then sprayed the foil with nonstick cooking spray).
  2. Cut the tomatillos and poblano in half, placing them on the baking sheet (cut-side down) afterwards. Stick them in the oven to broil for 5 minutes or until they are soft and look slightly charred (the original recipe does mention that you may need to remove some pieces before others). Once soft and slightly charred, take them out of the oven an off the baking sheet so they can cool down to room temperature.
  3. Take the lid off your food processor and add to it the tomatillos, poblano, onion, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Pulse or process just long enough for the vegetables to get chopped and the salsa becomes slightly liquid. Put the salsa in a container, put the lid on it and let it sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours to get cold. If the salsa is stored in an airtight container it can last for up to a week.
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This salsa is like chili, good the first day but even better the second !

This recipe came from a Paula Deen magazine.

We weren’t paid in any form to promote Paula Deen’s magazine.

Take care everybody !