Wet Tacos

Did I mention that I love tacos?  Here is another delicious taco recipe.  It is a bit messy to eat because the filling is wet and tends to drip all over the place, but that is also part of the charm of eating it. This stew also tastes delicious over rice and is certainly less messy to eat that way.

The recipe is based on my friend Greg's "Hot Meat" dish which he made for me when we were in college.  His version was a bit simpler but no less delicious--take a jar of prepared salsa and stew the meat in it.  You will notice that in my recipe, the "sauce" is essentially a salsa!

This dish would also be lovely made with chicken instead of pork. Use a combination of chicken thighs and breasts for the best flavor and follow the same procedure as the pork.

Serves 4 to 6 as a stew on rice, and 6 to 8 as tacos.

1.5 kilos pork shoulder (or chicken)
6 to 8 cloves garlic (about half a head)
2 onions
1 can crushed tomatoes (500 grams)
2 bunches cilantro
1 tsp cumin
zest and juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for frying

2 to 4 small flour or corn tortillas per person
lime wedges, sour cream, and cheese to garnish

Cut the pork shoulder into chunks.  The smaller pieces you cut, the shorter the cooking time.  I usually do it in walnut sized pieces.  Heat a large cooking pot on high heat.  Add a bit of olive oil and put a single layer of pork pieces in the pot.  Brown on one side and turn over and brown on the other side.  Remove the pieces into a large bowl and put another layer of pork in the pot.  It will take 3 to 4 batches to get all your pieces browned.  Do not be tempted to try to hurry this process and put more pork in at a time.  You will just end up with a watery mess because the heat will not be enough to brown the pieces.  If the brown bits at the bottom of the pan threaten to burn, in between batches, you can rinse it with a tablespoon of water and add these juices to the bowl.

While the pork is cooking, peel your onions and chop roughly. I usually cut the onions into quarters and then slice them. Peel and chop your garlic. Chop the cilantro (incluidng the finer part of the stemps). Zest the lime and cut in half. When the pork is all browned, set it aside in the bowl.  Add a bit more oil to the pot, if ncessary, lower the heat to medium and pour in the onions and garlic.  Stir and cook for a few minutes until translucent.  Add the tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper and stir until combined.  Add half of the chopped cilantro, saving the other half to stir into the meat before serving.  Add the pork and the juices in the bowl. Add the lime zest and juice.  Stir until combined.  Bring the juices to a boil and then turn the heat to very low.  Do not be tempted to add water, even if the mixture looks dry because the meat will release a lot of water as it cooks. Put on the lid and let it cook for an hour.

The stew after all ingredients have been added.

The meat is tender but the sauce needs to be reduced.

After an hour, check the stew for seasoning.  As you stir it, the pork should be very tender and start to break up.  If the pork needs a bit more cooking, put the lid back on and cook for a further half hour.  Once the pork is sufficiently tender, take the lid off and cook for an additional half an hour or so to reduce the sauce (You can make the reduction go more quickly by increasing the heat but then you have to watch it and stir more carefully to make sure it does not burn). Right before serving, stir in the remaining chopped cilantro.

Wrap the tortillas in tinfoil and warm in the oven at 350F (180C) for 10 to 15 minutes.  Put the pork in a large bowl on the table. Lay the garnishes out in bowls on the table and let everyone help themselves to make their own tacos.  Eat immediately with plenty of napkins.

Chili Con Carne

Chili was from a can when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in California, served in a bowl with lots of cheese on top. The first time I ever made chili from scratch was, strangely, when I lived in London for the first time.  Made with ground beef and lots of vegetables and served on rice, it was a flavorful and relatively cheap way to serve a crowd.  It has since become a family favorite. I like mine served with some avocado and sour cream on top, the kids like it with lots of chedder cheese.  Either way, it tastes much better than the canned version.

In this recipe, I have used stewing beef, cut into small pieces.  This makes for a luxury version, but I normally just use ground beef, which makes the preparation a bit easier.  Ground chicken would also work well.

Serves 4 to 6
1 kilo stewing beef or ground beef
2 bell peppers
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
2 cans crushed tomatoes (about 500 grams each)
2 cans kidney beans (about 400 grams each)
11/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
about 1 cup water
red chili pepper, if you like

Cut the beef into bite sized pieces.  In a large pot, turn on the stove to high heat, and add oil.  Fry the meat in 3 to 4 batches, putting the meat in the pot in a single layer, browning the outside.  Put the browned meat in a bowl. If the browned bits at the bottom of the pot start to look in danger of burning, then add a few tablespoons of water in between batches. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan so that all the browned goodness is melted into the water.  Pour the water into the bowl with the rest of the meat. Do not be tempted to add all the meat at once, this will only lead to your meat boiling instead of browning.  If you are using ground beef, use the same procedure.

While the meat is browning, prepare the vegetables.  Peel and chop the onions.  Peel and mince the garlic.  Peel and cut the carrots into bean sized pieces.  Cut the peppers into bean sized pieces, discarding the core.  Once the meat is browned, add the vegetables to the pot and pour the meat and juices back in.  Add the tomatoes and the drained canned beans. Do not be tempted to use the liquid from the beans because while it tastes fine, it is viscous in texture and will add an unpleasant mouth feel to your chili.

Add in all the spices, stir and bring to a boil with the lid on.  Let the chili cook for half an hour and then taste and check the seasoning. Cook the chili for a further half an hour or until the meat is tender.

Slow Cooker Method:  Brown the meat and then put the meat, vegetables, and spices all in the slow cooker and cook according to how long you will be away.  Adjust the seasonings before serving.

Serve hot by itself with any of the following garnishes: cheese, sourcream, chopped onion, chopped avocado, or chopped cilantro. Tortilla chips or cornbread would be delicious with the chili. Alternatively, serve the chili on a bed of rice or on big oven roasted potato wedges. Cut baking potatoes into wedges lengthwise and put on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle liberally with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake in a hot oven for about 45 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and tender inside.

Slow Cooker: Oriental Beef Stew

This fragrant stew is an easy riff on a classic Chinese dish called red-cooked beef. When I was a child, my Chinese grandmother would make a similar type of dish for special occasions like my birthday enriched with boiled eggs and glass noodles.  The eggs, which were my favorite part, would be boiled and peeled and then cooked with the beef, and would end up colored and tasting of the delicious broth.  The eggs symbolized fertility and the noodles symbolized long life.  Sometimes, my grandmother would have a dish of red colored eggs where the red color meant prosperity, good luck, and happiness.

The flavor of the stew comes from star anise and five spice powder which is a mixture of spices normally including cloves, cinnamon, sichaun pepper, star anise, and fennel. I love using star anise because they are so amazingly pretty.  The five spice powder can be used as a spice rub on meat, in stir fries, or even stirred into mayonaise for a dip.  It makes everything taste vaguely Chinese!  Orange and ginger are complementary flavors that I throw in, if I happen to have the ingredients around.  But the stew will taste also good without them.

For everyday, I usually don't bother to do the extra step of boiling the eggs. Making it in a slow cooker makes it easy to serve on a weekday, but you can also make it on a pot on the stove.

Serves 6

1.5 kilo stewing beef

1 large onion

2 to 3 carrots
2 to 3 turnips or half of a daikon radish

2 star anise
2 teaspoons five spice powder

4 tablespoons soysauce, adjust to taste
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, optional
grated zest of one orange, optional
8 cloves of garlic

black pepper

oil for frying the beef
4 to 6 boiled eggs, peeled (allow one per person), optional

First prepare all the ingredients. This can be done the night before, if you just want to throw it all in the slow cooker in the morning. Cut the beef into bite size chunks.   Chop the onions into large dice.  Peel the carrots and the turnips or radish and chop into large bite size pieces.  Peel the garlic and chop each clove into two pieces.  Peel the ginger and slice thinly.

Take a large pot or skillet and put on the stove on the highest heat.  Put some oil in the pan and brown the beef in three to four batches.  If you try to brown all the beef at once, the heat will drop in the pot and the juices will come out of the meat and you will end up boiling the meat instead of browning it.  For each batch, drop in pieces in a single layer to cover the bottom of the pan, making sure that each piece has contact with the pan.  Turn the pieces over until they are nicely brown on all sides.  Put the browned pieces in a bowl (or straight into the slow cooker pot), and then repeat until all the meat is done.  In between batches, if the browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan look like they might burn, throw in a quarter cup of water and scrape the bottom of the pan.  Add this water to the bowl with the browned meat.  It is these caramelized juices that will form much of the flavor of the stew, so you want to make sure you get it all! Then, heat the pan again and add a bit more oil and continue browning the meat.

When all the meat is browned, add a bit of water to the pan and scrape the bottom of the pan, stirring until all the browned goodness at the bottom is dissolved into the water.  Pour this water into the bowl with the meat.

Put the browned meat and the juices into the pot (or your slow cooker), add the vegetables, onion, garlic, and peeled boiled eggs if you are using them, and pour in water about half way up (about 2 cups of water).  Put in the spices and soysauce.  Pepper generously. If using a slow cooker, then turn it on, according to how long you will be away and put on the lid.  

If cooking on the stove, then bring the stew to a boil.  Let the stew simmer at a light boil for an hour with the lid off (this will evaporate some of the liquid to make a stronger tasting broth).  After an hour, taste the stew liquid for salt.  Add some salt or more soysauce if necessary.  The liquid should taste fairly full bodied.  If it tastes a bit weak, leave the lid off to reduce the liquid further, but be careful to salt with a light hand.  If the liquid already tastes good, then put the lid on and lower the heat until the stew is just simmering.  Simmer until the meat is very tender, a further one to two hours. 

Whether made on the stove or in the slow cooker, taste and adjust the salt before serving hot over white rice.  Stir fried bok choy, spinach, or other greens make a nice accompaniment.

Slow Cooker: Carnitas Tacos and Borolotti Bean Soup

Meal 1: The best tacos ever!

Sweden has gone crazy for texmex.  The stores are filled with brightly wrapped flour tortillas and packaged taco spice mix. Friday night tacos has become a tradition all over the country, complete with crispy corn taco shells and jarred salsa.  For

Meal 2: Wonderful, warming soup!

me, this is a blast from the past as I re-live my 1970s Amerian childhood. To be honest, I am quite fond of a good crispy taco, even one with ground beef spiced out of a packet and packaged taco shells.  It is comforting and it tastes good.  It has nothing, however, to do with a taco as the Mexicans eat them, as a street food, and one of the most delectable things on earth, in my opinion.

One of my favorite tacos (although I really love them all) is carnitas...shredded crispy bits of pork, topped with a bit of onion, cilantro, and avacado, all wrapped in a freshly made soft corn tortilla.  Here in Sweden, the only way I am going to get that is to make it myself.  And really, it is not hard.  Except for the tortillas; I will have to make do with flour instead of corn tortillas.

This dish is easy to make on a weeknight, if you have the help of one of my favorite tools...you guessed it, the slow cooker!  Just pop the pork in and when you come home in the evening, the delicious scent of roasted pork will have filled your kitchen.  Then you simply shred or chop the pork, chop up some toppings, lay them out and let everyone make their own! 

To be really authentic with the pork, after you chop it up, you should get some crispy edges in.  I like to simply stick my chopped up pork under the broiler until some pieces are crispy but others are still moist and juicy.  However, if this step is too fiddly, just skip it. 

I also love this recipe because the meat can be served in so many ways.  I like to double the amount of meat I need so I can get at least two meals out of it.  With one half of the meat, I will have tacos.  The next day,  I will have bean and pork soup.  Other choices would be to serve the pork  on a bed of rice with some stir-fried veggies and soysauce.  Or, if I was even lazier, I could make a pulled pork sandwich by just mixing the meat with a bit of BBQ sauce and spreading it over a crusy baguette.  Either way, this is easy and all kinds of good!

Basic Pork Recipe
Enough for 2 meals for 4 to 6 persons

4 to 6 pound pork shoulder (about 2 kilos)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon oregano

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika
grated zest of one orange

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

The night before you want the pork, mix together spices in a bowl.  You can choose your own spices, depending on what you like and what you have in your cupboard.  For carnitas, oregano, cumin, and orange zest are traditional.  Rub spice mixture all over pork shoulder, rubbing vigorously.  Put the pork in your slow cooker bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. Don't be tempted to cut off any outside fat on your pork shoulder. These fat bits will melt down and will add incredible flavor and moistness to your pork.

The next morning, put the slow cooker bowl with meat (nothing else, no oil or water is necessary) in the slow cooker and turn on.  Cook at the setting from 6 to 10 hours, depending on when you need your meat to be ready.  If you do not have a slow cooker, you can simply put the meat in the oven in a covered casserole dish.  Cook at 350 degrees for 3 hours, until the meat is tender and falling apart.

When the cooking is finished, take the meat out of the bowl.  Pour any accumulated juices in another bowl or jug.  Shred the meat with two forks into bite sized pieces.  Don’t discard the fatty part!  This will crisp up beautifully in the broiler. Wet the shredded meat with some of the juices that you saved.  If you would like, at this point you can put the shredded meat in the oven with the broiler on until some of the pieces go a bit crispy.  This pork is so delicious, that you have to stop yourself from eating it all right away with your fingers.  I am sure you can think of nice ways to serve this delicious meat, but here are some of my favorite ways:

Mexican Carnitas Tacos
Serves 6

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped finely
1 yellow or white onion, chopped finely

1 avocado, peeled, and chopped into small pieces
Corn tortillas, either purchased or home-made (warmed in microwave or oven)

Put out all the garnishes in bowls and allow everyone to make their own tacos by taking a warmed tortilla, place some meat along the center, garnish with the cilantro, onion, avocado and tomato, as you please.  Consume quickly.

Borlotti Bean and Pork Soup
Serves 6 to 8
This soup will be subtly flavored with the spices that were used on the pork rub, so the added flavorings are simply  onion and garlic.

About 1 pound (500 grams) dried borlotti beans or other beans of your choice.
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
2 to 3 vegetable bouillon cubes
250 grams frozen chopped kale or spinach (about half a bag)
salt and pepper to taste
Leftover pork and any juices
parsley and parmesan cheese to garnish

The night before you want to make the soup, pour the dried beans into a large bowl and cover generously with water and soak them over night.  In the morning, drain the beans and put them into the slow cooker, along with the leftover pork and juices.  Chop up the onion and the garlic cloves and add to the pot.  Add in the frozen kale.  Add water until it covers the beans by an inch or so.  Add in 2 vegetable cubes and a generous grinding of pepper.  Turn on the cooker and let cook for  6 to 8 hours.  You can also simply do this in a big pot on the stove.  Put the ingredients in the pot, bring the water to a boil, and then turn down the heat to the lowest setting and let simmer.  When the beans are tender, the soup is done.  Taste the soup and add another bouillon cube if it needs more salt.  Serve with chopped parsley and grated parmesan on top.