Taco Tuesday on the 4th of July

Carnitas Ready for Nachos

It's been pretty busy around here, leaving little time for blogging. But I'm back and ready to go, with some great new ideas.

Rewind to the 4th of July. We always have a block party in the cul de sac and this was no exception. We all decided to do a nacho bar and have everyone chip in. Homemade guacamole, pico de gallo, smoked chicken, and my contribution, carnitas.

For the carnitas, I looked at a few recipes and got work!

The Recipe:

• 4 to 5 pound pork butt
• 3/4 Cup Lime Juice
• 1/4 Cup Orange Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Oregano
• 1 Teaspoon Cilantro
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Pepper
• 5 Garlic Cloves - Minced

Carnitas on the Smoker

Combine the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, and spices. I used fresh squeezed juices for mine. Marinate the pork butt overnight. I used a gallon storage bag. Make sure to save the marinade for basting.

The next morning, get the smoker fired up. I use a combination of lump oak charcoal and hickory and pecan chunks in my smoker. Tips on getting the smoker started can be found here.

Once the smoker is ready, bring out the pork butt. Mine was on the smoker about 8 hours. I keep the smoker temperature between 200 - 250 degrees and go for a target internal temperature of at least 140 degrees.

Carnitas ready to come
off the smoker!

Once the pork butt is off the smoker, it needs to rest. If it comes out of the smoker too early, with maybe a few hours before dinner, wrap it in foil and put it in an empty cooler. This keeps it hot without over cooking it.

Once the pork butt is ready, it is time to pull it apart. I've found the best way to do this either with 2 forks or your hands.

Now, it's time to pile the carnitas insise some tortillas or on a pile of chips!

Happy Eating!

Honey Mustard Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Honey Mustard Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I was messing around one day with salad dressing variations and mixed some lemon juice with some Dijon mustard. It was good, but not quite right. It needed something sweet in it. The classic honey mustard combo was what I went for. After the initial salad dressing test, I tried it on a few other things. It makes a good coleslaw. But where I hit gold, was as a pork marinade. The spice of the mustard, the sweet of the honey, and the acid of the lemon compliment the pork perfectly.


The Recipe:

• 1 Cup Spicy Dijon Mustard
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• Juice of 1 Large Lemon
• 2 Pork Tenderloins
• 1 Large Storage Bag

Use a plastic storage bag for marinating

Perforate the pork with a fork to allow the marinade to get inside the meat. Move the pork to a large storage bag. In a large bowl, mix together the mustard, honey, and lemon juice. I like to use a coarse grain mustard to give it some extra spice, but it depends on who I am cooking for. A milder, smoother mustard will work fine. Just don't use yellow mustard here. Don't worry about straining out the seeds or pulp from the lemon. It helps with the flavor. Pour the marinade in to the bag with the pork. With the bag sealed, work the pork and marinade around to get the pork completely covered. Let the pork sit in the fridge for at least 12 hours, preferably overnight.

Get a good smoke going to really enhance the
the flavor. The smoke is just to enhance the flavor,
not to actually cook the meat.

Remove the pork from the bag and place on a plate to let the extra marinade drip off. The mustard has a habit of burning and let it drip off a little will help prevent any unwanted burning on the grill. I like to use charcoal for this dish instead of gas, so that I can get a good smoky flavor in the pork. The smoke and mustard flavors were meant to be together. Get the grill to about 450-500 degrees. If you want to throw some oak or hickory in there to help get some smoke going. I use an oak lump charcoal that works really well. Grill about 10 - 15 minutes per side and then over indirect heat another 5 - 10 minutes. 

Honey Mustard Marinated Pork with
Cheesy Mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Asparagus

I've served this with a few different things. Salad. Mixed veggies. Roasted potatoes. Usually I'll have rolls in the freezer I can throw in the oven. This time, I served the pork with some cheesy mashed potatoes and asparagus sautéed with onions and garlic.

6 Fall Grilling Recipes You Have to Try

I love grilling in the fall. Those peaches go great on the grill. I used to do a balsamic glazed pork chop that is very similar to the one in here too.





6 Fall Grilling Recipes You Have to Try:



'via Blog this'

Pork Chops with Caramel Apples

Back in college, I got tired of only knowing how to cook spaghetti, at least only knowing how to cook spaghetti well, so I started watching cooking shows and experimenting in my kitchen. I would use my friends as guinea pigs. Before long, they started looking forward to my calls to come over for my latest creation.

One weekend my parents came to visit and I wanted to cook something special I had been working on. There wasn't time for a trial run with the friends, so Saturday night was purely experimental. Fortunately, after a day of visiting west Texas wineries, the experiment paid off. In my kitchen that night, I cooked Pork Chops with Caramel Apples for the first time.

Top Left: Seasoned pork chops in cast iron skillet.
Top Right:Sliced apples sauted in butter.
Bottom Left: Apples in finished caramel sauce.
Bottom Right: Pork chop with apples and caramel sauce. Served with sauted asparagus and onions.

The Recipe:

For the pork chops:

• 4 pork chops 
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Brush the pork chops with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until done, flipping as needed.

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter
• 4 medium apples - sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the apples and cook until the apples change color. Add in a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar and cook until dissolved. It is important not to cook much longer after the sugar is dissolved so that the sauce doesn't turn too thick.

I have served this with mashed potatoes, pureed cauliflower, roasted potatoes, and in this case, sauted asparagus and onions.