Showing posts with label tacos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tacos. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Pulled Pork Tacos Slow Cooked in Oatmeal Stout Beer and Simmered in a Roasted Rhubarb Sauce



Looking for a no fuss, weekday dish that's also worthy of a Sunday supper? These slow cooked pork carnitas are sweet and tangy and exploding with flavor. Coming home to the smell of a roast that has been slowly simmering in a dark, oatmeal stout is the best way to end your day! Finish them off by simmering the shredded meat in a simple roasted rhubarb BBQ sauce.








After a long day of working in a busy O.R. with demanding surgeons and difficult cases then driving home in the sweltering desert heat the very last thing I have the energy for is making dinner. It takes what little energy and patience to help the kids with their home work which is quickly becoming too difficult for me to do. What's with the way these kids are taught nowadays?  Very interesting and productive but I learned math the old school way and my kids look at me distrustingly when I try to explain how to do it my way. "That's not how my teacher does it mommy." And now learning Mandarin is main stream in most schools! My kids are going to have to start teaching me pretty soon.













We developed this technique for shredding meat many years ago when me and my aunts and cousins were making batches of tamales. You can see it here in action for my BBQ chicken sandwiches which is my most popular post and Pinned image. You simply throw in your cooked, boneless chicken, pork or beef and use the cookie paddle attachment on your stand mixer. In less than 20 seconds you will have perfect, restaurant style shredded meat for enchiladas, tacos BBQ and beyond!
Make sure the meat is warm or hot when you mix it, a refrigerated pork roast killed my aunts mixer.

































Add a bit of tangy flare to your BBQ sauce with roasted rhubarb. If you can put these tacos together without slurping up half of the sauce your a better person than I am!





Rhubarb Sauce adapted from Let's Dish Recipes


TIME    8 HOURS  {HANDS ON - 15 MIN}         SERVES    8      
    

You Will Need

4 lb pork roast (shoulder or butt)
12 oz Oatmeal Stout Beer (or other dark beer) use water if you want to omit the alcohol
2 tablespoons high heat oil like coconut, sesame, safflower, grape seed  or peanut oil (do NOT use olive oil)
1 yellow onion, diced into small pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons paprika
small flour tortillas
1 head green cabbage, finely shredded (I use my Kitchen Aide shredder attachment which make the cabbage taste sweet)
Jack Cheese, shredded (optional)


Heat oil in a large cast iron pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the roast with salt and paprika on all sides.
Carefully, place the roast in the skillet and sear it on all sides for 2 minutes each. Using heavy tongs and a large fork, place the roast in a slow cooker. Add beer, onion and pepper. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.
Remove roast from slow cooker and carefully place in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the cookie paddle attachment on speed 4, blend the roast to shred it, about 20 seconds. Do not over mix.
Place the shredded meat back into the slow cooker with the juices. Add the sauce and cook for another 1/2 hour to combine flavors.

For the Sauce
4 cups chopped rhubarb (about 5 stalks)
4 cloves garlic
1 cup water + more if needed to desired consistency
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder (New Mexican if possible)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
  1. Place the chopped rhubarb and garlic cloves on stone baking sheet or prepare a roasting pan by lining with foil and spraying with cooking oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft.
  1. Transfer the rhubarb and garlic to a food processor or blender. Puree with one cup of water until smooth.
  1. Pour the puree into a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Add additional water, as needed, until sauce is desired consistency.
  1. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
  1. Cool before pouring into storage containers. Keep refrigerated




















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Monday, June 15, 2015

Red Chile Shredded Chicken Tacos. How to win over your man's stomachand steal his heart #SundaySupper








I had all intentions of writing a mushy gushy, what a great guy my husband is post for Father's Day. That is until I calmly excused myself from the dinner table and stated that I needed to make sure my Sunday Suppers Father's Day post was up to par and ready to post and said dear husband stated, "You still need to finish it? What have you been doing in there all afternoon?"  The nerve.


I suppose I'll forgive him (shhh, don't tell him that ;) seeing as that he's a pretty amazing guy and an even more amazing dad to our 4 rug rats (teenager included). I'll skip all the mushy gushy and just post 2 of my favorite pictures/moments of my love being the wonderful father that he is.






Daddy's little girl. Period. With 3 older brothers, this little girl is no short of spoiled. And while I may spoil her with an extra pair of shoes (or 3) and the all too necessary accessories every 4 year old needs, her daddy spoils her rotten with every last bit of his adoring affection and attention. 









I mentioned those 3 older brothers right? Well, here they are in all of their glory. Amen. (roll of the eyes as exaggerated as possible). This is how we do Christmas at our house. Classy huh? Nonetheless, boys have some crazy, deeply embedded and apparently unbreakable need to roll around on the floor and wrestle with each other that I will never, ever, ever understand. Which is why I'm glad they have a father who is every bit as goofy and immature ummmm, playful and physical as my boys are.


My poor couch.....




P.S. This all started because cocky teenager below (not so difficultly) provoked a contest to see who was more awesome...... in boy standards.  *sigh










So why did I choose these Red Chile Chicken Tacos for Father's Day? Well, this is the very first meal that I made for my sweetie when we were dating 13 years ago and I'm pretty sure it's why he asked me to marry him. All I know is he came over for dinner, devoured about a dozen (seriously) of these tacos, a few cold Corona's and the next day, from out of town with his buddies, I received a dozen of the most gorgeous long stem roses I've ever seen and a sweet love note (tacos mentioned).


Men. If you want to win them over, its their stomachs you must appease.











I'm telling you, this is my secret, signature recipe. Quite honestly, it should have been the very first recipe I posted here on Simply Healthy Family seeing as that I was asked often by friends and family for the recipe and got tired of jotting it down and even secretly making it for a girlfriend of mine for her fiancé and passing it off as her own (and she's Hispanic! :)



These are pretty fabulous not only because they are tasty but because they could not be easier to make. I've waited 13 years to share these with the world and I couldn't be more excited. 






A pressure cooker (or a big pot of boiling water)
4 big (boneless, skinless) chicken breasts
2 cans El Pato
3 cups Canola oil for frying tortillas + 3 tablespoons for frying onions and chicken
20 corn tortillas
1 small yellow onion, diced
handful of cilantro
Avocado, shredded cheese and sour cream for garnish
Ice Cold Cerveza

Throw chicken breasts into a hot pressure cooker, secure lid and bring to 2nd ring. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes if frozen, 7 if thawed. Let pressure come down by removing from heat.   Boil chicken for 15-18 minutes if you don't have a pressure cooker. Remove chicken breasts and place in a Kitchen Aide Mixer (or similar) with the cookie dough attachment. (see my post here on this neat little trick on how to shred chicken in 30 seconds).  
Pour chicken broth from pressure cooker into a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the pot with a paper towel and return to medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons oil to pot, let heat for a few minutes then add chopped onion. Cook for 5 minutes until golden brown and translucent. Add shredded chicken to pot and toss to coat. Let sit for 5 minutes, toss and cook a few minutes more. Pour in El Pato chile sauce and toss to coat. Cook a few minutes till heated through.  Meanwhile, in a small sauce pot, heat 1/2 of the oil over medium high heat. Using tongs and a fork, carefully place tortillas, one at a time into the pot of oil. Using the tong and fork shape them into tacos. Remove from oil when golden brown and crispy. Place on a pile of paper towels to drain. Scoop chicken into taco shells, garnish as you please. 






Check out what other bloggers are making their men for Father's Day!





Manly Starters:
Manly Mains:
Manly Desserts:
Wine Pairings for Man Food #SundaySupper byENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Sunday Supper Movement Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday!
We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. Check out our#SundaySupper Pinterest board for more fabulous recipes and food photos.
Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

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Monday, March 16, 2015

South Western Soft Tacos with Roasted Butternut Squash {12 Weeks of Winter Squash}








These vegetarian soft tacos are stuffed with the flavors of the South West and are just the thing to warm up your tummies on cold winter nights. They are full of good for you veggies and beans to get you back on track after all of the Holiday feasts and treats.











Winding down from all of the Christmas craziness festivities and celebrations means that me and my honey get to chill in the evenings for a few days and enjoy watching the kids play with their gifts. Relaxing for me means simple dinners that will warm and comfort us through the Winter Break so we can and hang out afterwards and play with our new games and snuggle up to watch our new movies.






 I'm a little glad that Christmas is over so we can just relax and spend time together for a couple of weeks before we get on with our normal routines. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but all of the running around and the sweets overload had to stop! Everyone was strung out on chocolate and candy canes and hopped up on egg nog for a solid month it seemed. With 4 kids there was a party every single day for a week and a half and family parties and get togethers every night.

Blessed. We are truly blessed. That's truly how I feel…… when I wasn't not exhausted from running from school to school with specified goodies, from store to store with requested side dishes to share and from city to city for gathering after gathering of our ginormous extended family.

Blessed.




Boring tacos just won't do during the winter Holiday season. Winter squash is in abundance after all and I fully intend on getting the most out of it until mid February when we are all sick of it and looking forward to the early spring harvest here in the Sonoran desert.





Of all the winter squashes out there, butternut squash is probably my fav. It's the most creamy, sweet and flavorful of the squashes IMHO and requires little to no added ingredients to be just perfect. Simple, natural, delicious. It's name says it all, butternut. That's pretty much what it tastes like a la mode, buttery and nutty. It is also very versatile. Roast it with some apple cider and cinnamon and you have a sweet side dish to your pork. Add chili powder, paprika and caramelized onions and you have a spicy side for your roast chicken. Blend it up with a bit of cream, spices and garlic, BAM my favorite hot and creamy comfort soup.





Last but not least, it makes a perfect vegetarian 'filler' for burritos or tacos. I'm not a big meat eater at all and much prefer hearty, healthy veggies instead.  Not only is it healthier and cheaper to sub veggies for meat as much as possible but very convenient. I pick up a few squash, sweet potatoes and sturdy greens at the store and when I'm looking for a last minute weeknight dinner I go to my  pantry and grab a squash, some beans, an onion and have a casserole, burritos or these tacos on the table in no time.





SERVES     6          TIME    30 MINUTES
Ingredients 
6-8 whole grain soft taco size tortillas 
1 cup (or 1 can) black beans, rinsed and cooked 
1 teaspoon cumin 
1 teaspoon chili powder 
1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
1 teaspoon salt, divided

1 teaspoon olive oil 
1 small butternut squash 
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips 
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese 
Arugula (or baby spinach) 
Avocado, sliced 
Roasted or Chipotle Salsa (my fav's, use your fav)
1 small handful cilantro, chopped



Preheat oven to 400F 

Peel and cube the squash, lightly toss with oil, sprinkle with salt, paprika and chili powder and roast at 400F on a stone baking sheet for 20 minutes till done but firm.  Read my post with step by step photos and tips for cutting and preparing squash here.
In a small sauce pot over medium-low heat cook beans with cumin and salt for 15-20 minutes till warmed through. 
Place tortilla on plate, layer with cheese, squash, beans, arugula, cilantro and avocado. Spoon on roasted salsa.




This is my post for week numero 9 of #12 Weeks of Winter Squash hosted by my peeps Heather and Joanna. Got some yummy winter squash recipes to share? It's not too late to join!










HAPPY HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I HOPE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE TOGETHER AND YOUR LIFE IS FILLED WITH BLESSINGS!






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