Carnitas Tacos

Carnitas are a wonderful thing. Slowly braised Boston Butt tender and succulent on the inside with a nice caramelized crunch on the outside. The principle is simple, cut up a Boston Butt into about 2 inch strips and add just enough water to cover the meat and then slowly simmer until the water is gone. Once the water has simmered away you will be left with the pork and the rendered collagen cooking away to form the caramelized crunchy exterior. The whole process will probably take 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Mine didn't quite turn out as well as I had hoped as I started stirring the meat too much once the water had evaporated and shredded quite a bit of the meat. I used a large cast iron wok but a dutch oven would work very well. The next time I'll be a little more gentle turning the meat once the water has evaporated. Oh and you should never touch the meat during the braising process. Anyway if you want to see it done the right way check out The Homesick Texans version.
I decided to make tacos with Salsa Verde, onions and cilantro on flour tortillas. I served these with baked pablano peppers filled with refried black beans, queso Chihuahua and Mexican sour cream.

Hot Dogs Chicago and WV Style

I never “got” Chicago style hot dogs looking at pictures of them or seeing them on television. I was like “That’s no hot dog, there’s way too much stuff on them!” Some of them were topped with huge amounts of toppings that would presumably take a knife and fork to eat. It just didn’t make sense to me until one day I went to a Chicago style dog place and had one and it clicked. These are great man!. I can’t believe I never had one of these before. Notice I said Chicago style dog as I have never been to Chicago. I do feel there is a reasonable amount of topping to put on one though even if I were in Chicago. I’m sure I’ll be lambasted for that as well as not using poppy seed rolls.

The pickle wedge is in there trust me

I cook my dogs in a cast iron skillet over medium heat with about 1/2 cup of water or more. After the water simmers away the dogs will be left to cook in the rendered fat.

Traditional Chicago style hot dog toppings. Tomato, relish preferably neon green), minced onion, Sport peppers, yellow mustard, Kosher dill pickle, celery seed and optional cucumber on a poppy seed roll.

My all time favorite though is the West Virginia Slaw dog with chili sauce, minced onion, yellow mustard and sweet slaw on a steamed roll. Again I’ll probably be lambasted for using wheat rolls here but I liked them.

Taquitos #14

I'll have the #14. Nothing authentic here, just the feel of ordering a number from the menu of your local neighborhood American Mexican restaurant. Tasty, comforting and familiar, it's how Americans eat Mexican food but nothing like real Mexican food. I'm going to have to try some of those Mexican street foods I've seen on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations but for now please enjoy your number 14.

What you will need for the Taquitos.
2 Lbs chicken breast cut up
1 red onion diced
1 red pepper diced
2-3 jalapeños diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbs Mexican oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil for frying
24 Corn tortillas

Heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat, add about 2 Tbs oil, chicken, onion, red pepper, garlic and jalapeños and cook until chicken is done and vegetables are soft about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the oregano and cumin. Add the chicken mixture to the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, set aside.
Prepare the tortillas for the filling. There are two ways to do this, restaurant style and nuke. To prepare restaurant style heat about ¼ cup oil in your skillet and place a corn tortilla in for about 3 seconds then turn over for another 2 seconds, remove and place on paper towels to drain. The corn tortillas really only need 5 seconds. To microwave place tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp cloth or paper towel and microwave for about a minute depending on your microwave. Please be careful here as you don't want to start a fire in your microwave.
Place about a tablespoon or so of the chicken mixture in a tortilla and roll tightly securing with a few toothpicks. I always make these too big. I just can't seem to make the small and tight. Oh well. Keep the tortillas covered while working to keep them pliable. Fry the Taquitos for a few minutes, turning after a couple of minutes until nicely browned.

Tuna Salad

I was eating a lame tuna sub at a well known sub shop the other day when I decided to make my tuna salad so the memory of this tuna sub wouldn't linger too long.

Tuna salad on toasted French bread slices.

What you will need.
Two 12oz cans solid white Albacore or fresh tuna
One 14oz can quartered artichoke hearts
1/2 red bell bell pepper minced
1/2 red onion minced
2 Tbs capers
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup chopped basil
2 cloves garlic minced
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
Lemon pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup mayonnaise
Or
Extra virgin olive oil

This salad works well with mayonnaise or extra virgin olive oil.

Baked Ziti

There are a lot of variations on this great Italian comfort food and here's one I made recently. It's easy to make, inexpensive, delicious and reheats well. Pair this ziti up with some garlic bread and a salad and you've got a meal that's sure to please. Try different variations with ricotta, pancetta, prosciutto, meatballs and vegetarian to keep it new and interesting.
I used crumbled sweet Italian sausage but you could just as easily used sliced sausage.
Oh and check out how this Italian lady makes her Baked Ziti.

What you will need.
1 Lb sweet Italian sausage
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Lb ziti
about 5 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
16 oz mozzarella cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the sausage, onion, green bell pepper, crushed red pepper and garlic until the sausage is done. Drain the fat and set aside.
Cook the ziti according to package directions, drain and place back in the cooking pot Don't rinse your pasta or PrincessDiana161 will be really upset. Add the Italian sausage mixture, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese and half of the Parmesan and stir to combine. Spread a little of the pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole the pour in the ziti mixture. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes in a 350F oven. Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Jambalaya

Is it Cajun style or Creole style? Well it's sort of a cross between the two. I didn't use tomatoes as you would in Creole style but I did add equal parts water and rice in the creole style. Cajun style jambalaya usually calls for twice as much water as rice. Nothing fancy here just simple goodness. The holy trinity married with the andouille sausage, shrimp and spices is really all you need for a great tasting jambalaya.

Cook the sausage over medium heat for 8-10 minutes then set aside. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pot and cook the vegetable until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the andouille sausage back to the pot, add the shrimp, stir in the spices and cook over medium low heat for another 10 minutes. Add the rice and water and bring to a boil. After a boil is reached reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is done.

What you will need.
1 Lb Andouille sausage
1 Lb Shrimp peeled and deveined
1 large onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 red pepper chopped
3-4 ribs of celery chopped
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp black ground pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
3 1/2 cups rice
3 1/2 cups water

Carolina Style Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

Pulled pork in a 5qt dutch oven is easy and straightforward with a couple of minor exceptions. The first is to cook the pork until it reaches an internal temperature of 185F. At first thought you might think “Whoa that's 25 degrees higher than the USDA recommendation. Won't it be tough?” That might seem valid considering I usually cook pork at 150-155 but the higher temp allows the fat in the Boston Butt to render and tenderize the meat. The second thing is the resting time. Most would let it rest for about 15 minutes or so but I learned a technique from an avid BBQ guy about resting and when I say BBQ I mean slow cooking on a smoker. Wrap the Boston Butt in heavy aluminum foil and place it in a small insulated cooler with towels above and below the meat and let it rest for an hour or so.This step will continue the rendering and tenderizing process. Don't worry it will be steamy and warm when you pull it out of the cooler.
The Carolina style comes from the vinegar and mustard based BBQ sauce.

What you will need for six hungry people.
1 onion sliced
6 cloves of garlic slightly mashed with the back of a knife
1 – 18oz bottle of Carolina style BBQ sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
28 oz beef broth
½ tsp pepper
3 ½ lb Boston Butt
2 Tbs cornstarch and 3 Tbs water blended

Combine first seven ingredients in the dutch oven and stir well. Add the Boston Butt, cover and place in a preheated 275F oven. Cook for 3 hours, turning once halfway through. Remove the meat and let it rest for an hour in the cooler (see above). For the sauce, strain about 2 ½ to 3 cups of the cooking liquid into a saucepan, add the cornstarch water mixture and bring to a low boil for 4 to 5 minutes. After the meat has rested pull the pork into long shreds using two forks. Ladle the sauce over the pulled pork or pass separately.

For the slaw combine 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 2 Tbs sugar, 1/4 tsp celery seed and whisk until blended. Add 1/2 cup light mayo, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp ground pepper and whisk until smooth. Add a 16oz bag of Fresh Express 3 Color Deli Style Cole Slaw and stir to coat evenly.

Forget serving the slaw on the side. This is the way to eat BBQ!