Chorizo and Potato Tacos

Maybe I should rename this the taco blog!  I do love a good taco and this is my current favorite.  It might sounds a bit odd to have potatoes in a taco but I can promise you that it is delicious.

The inspiration for these tacos was from a trip to the Mexican island of Cozumel.  We spent a heavenly week there, some years ago, at a lovely resort, sunbathing, scuba diving, snorkling, and of course eating!

On the very last day of our trip, we managed to find the local food market.  And in the middle of the market was a taco stand...a wonderful amazing taco stand with a huge variety of fillings.  One of these fillings was potato and chorizo, and it was sublime.

For the chorizo, I am using the fresh variety which must be cooked, not the dried type that you would eat sliced with cheese.  The flavors are very similar but the texture is different.  If you can't find the fresh type, then you could use the dried but just make sure to chop it quite finely, so you don't get big chunks of hard sausage.

You can use whatever kind of potatoes you like--it doesn't matter whether or not they are a boiling or mashing variety because the potato does not have to hold its shape.

Serves 4 to 5

about 750 grams potatoes
2 onions
400 to 500 grams fresh chorizo
about 12 small flour tortillas
salt and pepper to taste

To garnish
tomatoes
onion
cilantro
avocado
lime

First, you prepare boil the potatoes.  This can be done in advance. Peel the potatoes and put in a pot.  Fill with water and add a generous amount of salt.  Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to medium low.  Boil for 15 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and are tender and can be easily pierced by a fork.  Drain the water from the potatoes, put a towel over the pot and the lid back on.  Set aside and leave to cool until you are ready to make your taco filling.

Prepare all the ingredients for the taco filling.  Chop the onions into medium sized pieces, chop the cooked potatoes into chunks.  Slice the skin of the chorizo lengthwise and peel off the skin.  Cut the naked chorizo into small chunks.

Heat a pan with a bit of olive oil and add the chorizo and onion. Saute on a medium heat, stirring now and then until the onions start to soften.  Add the potatoes.  Cook, stirring occassionally, until the onions and potatoes have some nice crispy bits and the chorizo is all cooked.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  I find usually that very little salt is necessary since the chorio adds enough flavor.

While this is happening, prepare your garnishes (onion, cilantro, tomato, and avocado), chopping each quite finely and putting them in separate bowls.  Cut a lime into wedges to squeeze over the mixture.

When the taco filling is cooked to your liking, put the pan on the table with the bowls of garnish and let everyone help themselves.

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.

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.