Spicy, Slow Cooked, Pulled Pork Tacos

One of my favs!

Ingredients:

• 3 ancho chiles
• 4 jalapenos
• 3 chipotles in adobo sauce
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 4 cups broth
• 3-4 lb pork shoulder
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• corn tortillas
• taco toppings (I like queso fresco, limes, cilantro, and avocado)

First, the sauce! Oh, the sauce! This sauce is burning spicy. But after it slow cooks in the crock pot for 5-6 hours, it tames down. I was really worried the 1st time I made this. But I promise, just see it through. I love super spicy food. So much that my husband thinks I'm always trying to kill him with jalapenos. But he loves this (so much so that he bought extra pork shoulders last time we picked up meat from our local source at Homestead Farms) and thinks the spice is perfect.

 *I forgot the garlic and chipotles in this pic.

First, re-hydrate your ancho chiles. Ancho chiles are dried poblanos. They are not spicy. Great flavor.

Put a little water in a pot, about 1/4 cup. Add your anchos and put a lid on the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Leave the lid on and let them sit for about 10 minutes.

While those are steaming, chop everything else. Just rough chops, it's all going in the food processor.

This is chipotles in adobo sauce. You get them in a can in the Mexican food aisle. They have about 15-20 in the can. They are spicy so I only use 2-3 at a time. So freeze the leftovers. When you need more, just chop off what you need. It's all one big clump, so I just guessed on how much 2-3 peppers are.

Chop the jalapenos, onion, and oregano. Peel the garlic.

Remove the stems and seeds from the anchos. Chop.

 Throw it all in the processor. Add the honey, apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp salt, and 2 tbsp olive oil. Puree until smooth.

 Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a big pot on med-high heat.

Add the sauce. Saute on med-high for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. It will turn into a thick paste. WARNING: You eyes will burn during this step! I'm telling you, the sauce is spicy. But I promise it cooks down to a wonderful spicy flavor (wonderful, not deadly, I promise!).

Add 4 cups broth. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.

My pork shoulder is about 3 1/4 lbs.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add to the crock pot. Add cinnamon sticks. Cover with sauce. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Because of my work schedule, I poured the sauce over the meat and put it in the fridge overnight. So when Ryan came home from lunch, he could just pull it out of the fridge and press start on the crock pot. I have never marinated the meat overnight before, so this isn't necessary. If you are doing this ahead of time, be sure the sauce cools completely before you put it on the meat. You don't want the meat to start cooking with a hot sauce.

Cook on low for about 6 hours.

The last thing this meal needs is more peppers & chiles! Between ancho, jalepenos, and chipotles, there's plenty. But I just roasted some hatch and have them in the freezer. So I pulled out a few and thawed them out overnight in the fridge. See how I roast them here.

I also prepped for my rice the night before (it's my busy season with work, so a little pre-day help goes a long way). Here's my rice recipe. It's consistently one of my top viewed posts. Every time I make this rice and take it anywhere, it's a guarantee someone asks for the recipe.

Because my crock pot was preoccupied, I couldn't make my slow cooked beans. And I wasn't home to cook them on the stove. So canned beans tonight. We used refried black beans. But if you have a 2nd crock pot or are home to watch a pot of beans, here's my slow cooked beans.

I am a taco topping & condiment hoarder. I try to stuff so much in a tortilla or taco shell, it's absurd. Which is why I like taco salads (here's my taco salad with roasted hatch chiles). But this pork is so good, that I keep it very simple. Cilantro, fresh lime juice, queso fresco, and a little avocado. I added hatch chiles this time just because I had some. Queso fresco is a mild, crumbly Mexican cheese. It's Ryan's favorite cheese. And, of course, a side of my homemade salsa.

Here are the hatch chiles after they thawed. Peel, seed, and dice.

When the meat is easy to flake with a fork, it's done. Remove it from the juice and shred it.

Talk about fall off the bone!

There's the sauce. That stuff is so spicy! It would make a good base for a spicy soup or slow cooked spicy beans. I don't ever save it just because I'm never organized enough to have anything planned for it. By the time I get that together, this would be a week old and no good.

I heat up the corn tortillas in the oven. 350 for 2-3 minutes. Keep an eye on them or else you'll end up with tostadas!

And dinner is ready!

I love spicy! I don't know why, but I like it so spicy I sweat. Ryan doesn't understand why I hurt myself, but I love it! So I put some of the sauce on 1 of my tacos. It was perfect!

Featured on All My Bloggy Friends.