Thursday, August 22, 2013

Pulled Pork Tacos with Citrus Slaw {Crock-pot}


Pulled pork is one of those foods that I usually just don't get tired of. Put it in a breakfast taco with eggs and cheese, use it in a quesadilla, pulled pork nachos, pulled pork on pizza, pulled pork enchiladas and of course, pulled pork tacos. Pork is a great and tasty alternative to eating chicken every night. This is a crockpot meal, which is one of my favorite vessels, when it was time for dinner all I did was make a slaw and warm up some tortillas. Awesome!

These tacos had tons of flavor from the fresh orange juice, jalapeños, and onions that it had been going in all day. My husband enjoyed his plain with cheese and I tried a variety of different tacos. My favorite was the pulled pork, an onion and jalapeño from the crock-pot, and slaw. These are perfect as leftovers, serve the meat over chips, topped with cheese, and then when they are out of the oven topped with slaw.

The cooking time for this is longer than most slow cooker recipes, if you want it to cook fast, cut your pork into fourths, before you sear, and sear each piece. I would recommend making the salsa right before dinner, it is best fresh!
Source: adapted from, Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network

Ingredients:
For the Pork:
3 lb. Pork Shoulder, boneless
1 tablespoon of Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon of Black Pepper, freshly ground
3 tablespoons of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
3 cups of Water
1 can of Chicken Broth, 14.5 oz.
1 cup of Orange Juice, freshly squeezed
1 teaspoon of Cumin
3 Jalapeño Chiles, halved & de-seed, if you don't like spicy
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Onion, coarsely chopped
Corn Tortillas

For the Citrus Slaw:
3 Oranges, large
1 Grapefruit
2 tablespoons of Grapeseed Oil
1 tablespoon of Agave or Honey
1 tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon of Black Pepper
3 cups of Nappa Cabbage, about 1/2 a head

Directions:
First, heat a skillet with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Liberally season the pork with salt and pepper, all over. Sear all sides of the pork, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Place pork in the crockpot.

Now, place the water, chicken broth, orange juice, cumin, jalapeños, garlic, and onions in the crockpot.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the pork is easily pulled with 2 forks. If it is tough, it needs more time.

When the pork is almost ready, make your slaw. Cut the ends off of the oranges and grapefruit, now, cut the skin from the sides off. Cut each segment along the membrane; coarsely chop the fruit and place in a bowl. Squeeze the membrane in the bowl, discard. In a small bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, agave, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Place the cabbage in the bowl with the fruit and toss, drizzle the wet ingredients over and toss to combine.

When tender, remove pork from crock-pot to a large bowl, to catch juices. Pull pork with two forks. Set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, warm tortillas through, flipping once. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking,
The Barbee Housewife

No comments:

Post a Comment