Monday, July 22, 2013

38 x 38 - New Recipes (#8 and #9)

Cooking for the people I love is one of my favorite activities. This weekend, both boys were home and all felt right in my world (Marcus was gone for a month working and Nate was with his dad). 

I decided to try a couple of new recipes to celebrate. I hope you enjoy!


Pork Carnitas

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com but I made some modifications. 

2 tbsp olive oil (the original recipe called for 1/4 cup of vegetable oil)
4 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into large pieces (original recipe called for pork shoulder)
3 tbsp kosher salt
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 cans of chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat oil in large dutch oven over high heat. Season pork with salt and arrange in dutch oven to cook until browned on all sides (about 10 minutes). Add the onion, garlic, lime juice, chili powder, oregano, and cumin. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and continue to simmer until pork is tender (original recipe said 2.5 hours, I did it for 1.5). Transfer pork to a large baking sheet, drizzle with small amount of cooking liquid. Bake until browned, about 30 minutes. Drizzle cooking liquid every 10 minutes, use two forks to shred the meat as it browns. 

This was delicious and worth the effort!! 

I served it with rice and a homemade "salsa." For my salsa, I chopped 4 tomatoes, 1/4 of a sweet onion, added cilantro, a touch of salt, and a dash of apple cider vinegar. Stir it up and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. 

I didn't have tortillas to serve with it so I looked online and found a recipe! 

Homemade Tortillas

I've made tortillas before a long time ago (my first husband's sweet grandma taught me). However, they were made with lard and I remember them being time consuming. When I stumbled on this recipe, I thought I'd give it a shot!!

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup warm water
3 tbsp olive oil

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir in water and oil. Turn onto lightly floured surface, knead 10-12 times, adding more water or flour as needed to achieve a smooth dough. Let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a 7-inch circle (or in my case, as close to a circle as you can get, maybe a triangle? Square? lol). Heat a large non-stick skillet and spray with cooking spray. Cook tortillas over medium heat for one minute on each side or until lightly browned. Keep warm until ready to serve. 


I didn't eat these (it's not on my eating program) but my boys LOVED them and begged for more. I can say they were probably the easiest thing I've made in forever!  

For my meal, I added a side salad and then served the meat and salsa over roasted poblano peppers. This isn't a new recipe but roasted poblano peppers are one of my all time favorites!

Roasted Poblano Peppers

Set your oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with foil. Spray your peppers with cooking spray on all sides. Put on baking sheet and broil about 5-10 minutes on each side. The skin will get dark and bubbly (doesn't need to be completely dark but you'll notice the "skin" coming up, you want it to look like that so you can peel them). Remove and place in a bowl for 20 minutes. Remove the skins from the peppers. Remove the cap and the seeds. Voila, done! I put my pork on these peppers with the salsa on top and a tbsp of avocado. Super delicious. 





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