Pulled Pork with Cabbage Slaw Burrito

This is from last month and I am slow to blog it. It was too hot to bake anything, but I had a 3 pound pork shoulder roast to cook. I decided to make pulled pork on the stove top.

I don’t have a Dutch oven, so I used my soup stock pot. I put it on medium heat with 2 TBSP of olive oil. I added the roast and browned it on all sides before removing for a few minutes. I wanted it to be browned but also wanted to develop flavors before adding the meat and did not want to use two pans.

I chopped up a yellow onion, added it to the oil, with some salt and pepper and sautéed until tender. I tossed in 4 cloves of garlic and about 4 TBSP of Jamaica Jerk seasoning. Yes, that much! I then added 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cups of vegetable broth. I heated everything, stirring and then put the pork back in and let it simmer for a few hours, checking repeatedly until it was falling apart and tender. This was just amazing! So flavorful and not at all too spicy.  This makes a lot of pulled pork that you can use for all sorts of delicious things.

I made a simple slaw of sliced cabbage, diced onions, salt, pepper and oil and rice vinegar.

• 1 cup of chopped cabbage
• 1 TBSP of chopped onions
• salt, pepper
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of seasoned rice vinegar.

I grilled two flour tortillas using the electric coils on my stove. You have to keep a close eye, do not walk away and have the exhaust fan going on high to avoid setting off your smoke alarm.

After grilling the tortillas, I put half the slaw on each tortillas, and then put a half cup of pulled pork on each, rolling up and cutting in half. It was delicious, meaty and fresh and crunchy with the cabbage.

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Pork Chimichanga

The only problem with that pork roast I got for $1.99 was that darn y-shaped bone. I decided to cut the meat off the bone this morning. By the time I was done, I had about 4 ounces of bits of pork that were not nice for slicing. I decided I would make some burritos or something and ended up making the or something. I had these multi-grain uber healthy tortillas that I thought were practically inedible that were languishing in my fridge. Recalling the chef who won Chopped the other night who when confronted with oni – something she knew nothing about – said there’s nothing that can’t be improved by frying, I thought I might use those burritos and make some chimichangas.

First up was the filling. This was an easy thing to pull together. I chopped one slice of pepper bacon and tossed it in the skillet to give me the lard/fat flavor it would need. I tossed in a teaspoon of cumin and let it toast while the bacon cooked. I added 1/8 of a medium onion, chopped and let them soften. I chopped the pork up a bit, added it and 1 15 oz can of kidney beans (strained and rinsed). Then I added 1/4 cup of Trader Joe’s Tomato-less Corn Chili and the other half of the olives I opened last night. I let this simmer until most of the moisture had been absorbed or evaporated.

Now to making the chimichangas. I put 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a small pan and heated to just over medium. I put the 6 tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften them up. I had a bowl of water that I dipped my hand into and spread the water on the tortilla before putting the pork mix in the center and folding shut. The water helped to seal the tortillas shut. I worked quickly but still had to nuke half the tortillas a second time as they had cooled off.

With the oil hot, I fried one at a time since that’s all that would fit in my small pan. They only needed to fry about 45 seconds per side just enough to crisp the tortillas since the filling was hot and cooked. They were delicious and this made six, enough for three meals or 2 meals and some snacks. Even the too healthy for their own good tortillas were tasty.