Being back in a third lockdown means lots of walks (again) and to no-one's surprise, lots of cooking!
This time around, I'm trying to do a themed Saturday night every week. So far we've had Japanese, and now Mexican!
I got a brill Mexican cookbook for Christmas (Nopalito, by Guzman & Adimando) so have been looking forward to trying out some new recipes. Last night's menu was pulled pork tacos, with spicy peppers & kidney beans, salsa, sour cream and lime.
Start with the pulled pork as this takes a while to braise. Spread 500g of pork belly slices across a deep roasting tin, and cover the pork in 2 tsps of Ancho chilli, 2 tsps of paprika, 2 tsps of lime & chipotle seasoning (from Sainsbury's), 2 tbsps of lime juice, and 400ml orange juice. Cover with foil and put the seasoned pork into a preheated 150C oven and braise for 3 -4 hours. Remove the foil, turn up the heat to 200C and reduce the liquid to caramelise the pork (you may need to pour some of the liquid out to do this).
Whilst the pork is braising, move onto your tortilla dough. Combine 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients until fully combined. Make a well in the middle and pour in 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil and 1 cup of warm water. Stir well until all of the ingredients are combined and the dough begins to form into a scrappy ball.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Divide the dough into 16 equal small portions. Leave the dough balls to rest for 15 minutes under a damp tea towel.
Along with my Mexican recipe book I also got a tortilla press (yes there is such thing!). This really helped with the next step.If you have a tortilla press, line each side with some baking paper to stop the dough from sticking to the press, and flatten the ball in between each side. If you don't have a press, flatten the ball as thin as you can with the palm of your hand.
Heat a dry frying pan and fry each side of the tortilla until it's golden brown. Keep in foil to stay warm whilst you do the rest and prepare the other bits.
Also with the pulled pork, I made a spicy peppers and kidney bean salsa. Slice up half a red pepper, half a yellow pepper and 1 onion and heat slowly in a pan with olive oil. Mix in 1 tsp of Ancho chilli, 1 tsp of dried/fresh coriander, 1 tsp of lime & chipotle seasoning and 1tsp of paprika and fry until soft. Wash and drain 1 can of kidney beans and stir through until hot.
Serve the pulled pork, pepper salsa, tortillas, hot salsa dip, and a pot of sour cream with some limes. Fill your taco how you want, pour yourself a Margarita and enjoy!
Comments