Crispy Crockpot Carnitas Tacos with Mango Salsa

It's Taco Tuesday y'all! Is there any other reason that a day of the week starting with a "T" to share with you my BEST taco recipe to date? No joke. Crispy taco shells. Crunchy pulled pork. Sweet juicy mango salsa. Everything is right in the world. We had these three days in a row. No exaggeration. I am finding it hard to put full sentences together they are that good. Sooooo instead of rambling on and on. I'll just leave the recipe and some photos here for you and you can be the judge. 

Crispy Crockpot Carnitas Puffy Tacos with Mango Salsa

Carnitas:

• 3-4 lb. bone-in pork shoulder
• 2 tbsp. high heat oil (like canola)
• 12-oz. vegetable broth (can substitute for beer if you prefer)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 2 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 1/2 tbsp. salt
• 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Mango Salsa:

• 1 mango, peeled, seed removed, and chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 2 tbsp. red onion, minced
• 1 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro
• pinch of salt

Tacos:

• canola oil (enough to fill pot 2-3 inches full)
• 10 corn tortillas
• shredded Monterey jack or cotija cheese

Heat the high-heat oil over high heat in a large heavy duty cast-iron skillet. Season the pork shoulder on both sides with just a bit of salt and pepper. Sear pork in the hot oil, about 3-4 minutes on each side, until slightly browned all over.

Meanwhile, add in the rest of the pork ingredients from the broth all the way to the pepper into a crockpot. Mix together and place the seared pork shoulder on top. Place the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 10 hours. I prefer to pop mine in right around dinnertime, and then when I wake up the next morning, like magic, the pork is cooked perfectly tender!

To make the mango salsa, simply mix together all of the listed ingredients until combined. Then place into the fridge until ready to use. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.

Once cooked, remove the pork from the crockpot and place into a tupperware container in the fridge if you are not using right away. Drain the liquid though a find mesh sieve, catching all of the onion, garlic, and any pork remains, then toss, reserving the liquid.

When ready to crisp up the carnitas, lay the shredded pork onto a single layer on a baking sheet. Pour about 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid over the top and broil in the oven for a few minutes, until the edges are crispy.

To make the crispy tacos, heat the 2-3 inches of oil over medium heat. To test when the oil is ready, simply drop a small piece of tortilla into the oil and if it fries up right away, you know that it is ready. Careful not to turn the heat up too high, because the oil can easily burn.


Drop the first corn tortilla into the oil and wait for it rise back to the top and begin to puff slightly. Then with a pair of metal kitchen tongs, hold the sides of the tortilla down, creating a shell shape/fold, and hold there for 20-30 seconds until the tortilla holds the shape on its own. Remove to a paper towel to drain off the excess oil and repeat with the remaining tortillas.

To assemble the tacos, simply place the crispy carnitas in the center of the puffy tacos shells and top with mango salsa and shredded cheese.

Then invite me over so we can share!

Taco Dogs

Because it's Memorial Day Weekend, and well, because I love a good hot dog (obvi), I decided to make us all an American classic, with an Arizona twist. Nitrate free, all-beef hot dogs snuggled up in a sweet Hawaiian roll, then topped with taco-seasoned ground beef, and some classic taco toppings. Tacos + Hot Dogs = LOVE. What are you making for Memorial Day Weekend?

Taco Dogs
Makes 4

Ingredients:

• 4 nitrate free beef franks
• 4 hot dog buns (I prefer Hawaiian sweet roll hot dog buns, they are my not-so secret weapon)
• 1 tsp. oil
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. salsa
• shredded lettuce
• shredded cheddar
• crushed tortillas chips
• hot sauce

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add in the ground beef, breaking up with a spatula, then add in the chili powder and garlic powder, and salsa; cooking until no pink remains. 

Meanwhile, heat up your grill and grill the dogs until hot all the way through. Remove from the heat and place into hot dog buns.

Top with the ground taco meat, shredded lettuce, cheese, tortillas chips, and hot sauce. Devour!

HDFB Takeout: Barrio Queen

Last week I met up with my wedding planner, and long-time friend Kris, 1/2 of of the Konsider It Done team, for happy hour. Her and her husband, Tyler, are helping Andrew and I plan the wedding of our dreams, but in order to talk wedding, we needed some food to tide us over the hours of idea swapping. We ended up at Barrio Queen in Scottsdale for their Taco Tuesday special. All tacos are $2.50, and you all know my love for tacos is infinite, so needless to say I was in my happy place. We grabbed a quiet corner table out on the patio, surrounded by fresh flowers, where we dined on tableside guacamole and tacos on tacos on tacos. Being as I have dines here dozens of times before, I was feeling adventurous, and went for the Nopalito taco. In other words, this taco was stuffed with tender cactus, serrano pepper, onion, tomato sauce, and queso fresco. Cactus was something new to me, other than the occasional prickly pear margarita, and I can't way that I would order it again, but I am glad that I tried it. It had somewhat of a mushy-mushroom-esque texture to it, and not much flavor. I am one who loves BIG flavor in my tacos, so this was a miss on my mark. An otherwise impressive as always visit to Barrio Queen left me wanting to share some of my favorite things with you all in case you find yourself in Scottsdale looking for a great place to dine.

Barrio Queen
7114 E. Stetson Dr. Suite 105
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-656-4197

What to Order:
Any of their 400+ tequilas
Barrio Guacamole (made to order tableside)

TACOS!
Pictured below: the Cochinita Pibil, Nopalitos, Carne Asado y Huevo

I never met a taco I didn't like.

Short Rib Tacos with a Spicy Butternut Squash Crema

My boyfriend and I love to be social, grabbing happy hour, dinner, and/or drinks with our friends whenever the opportunity presents itself. But with the holidays coming up and lots of travel in our near future (see you in 4 days Hawaii!), we have been bringing the social hour to us and hosting dinners at our house. We recently had my college roommate and her husband over for build-your-own-taco night and apple cider margaritas. I took a simple short ribs recipe and added some pizzaz with this butternut squash crema, inspired by The Faux Martha. By serving the tacos with this crema, you really cut down on all of the excess toppings, because it brings so much flavor and texture, that all you really need is a little cabbage for crunch, and you are good to go! 

Short Rib Tacos with a Spicy Butternut Squash Crema

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. short ribs
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 8 oz. beer
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 1 cup thinly sliced green cabbage
• 2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 cut into fourths

Butternut Squash Crema

• 1/2 cup cooked butternut squash
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• pinch of salt

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Season all sides of the short ribs with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides, about 1 minute on each side and add the short ribs to your crock pot. Sprinkle the short ribs with the chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin. Add in the beer, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours. 

30 minutes before you are ready to eat, mix the cabbage and the lime juice together in a bowl and set in the fridge to marinate.

Once the short ribs are tender enough to shred with a fork, remove from the crock pot and shred. Set aside. 

To make the butternut squash cream, mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

To assemble the tacos, add some of the short rib to the middle. Top with some shredded cabbage and the butternut squash crema.

BBQ Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple

Instead of Taco Tuesday, I bring to you; Taco Thursday! I'm a rebel. I know. You know what else is rebellious? Mixing classic barbecue flavor with standard taco ingredients. Oh, and grilling pineapple. These tacos are super simple to assemble, and you really don't need very many ingredients. But trust me when I say that these taste like a million BBQ bucks. The sweet pineapples and smoky tang of the BBQ sauce really blend well together. And if you're anything like me, you'll add a few jalapeño slices for a good bite! So fire up the grill and enjoy the summer weather while you still can!

BBQ Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. chicken breast
• 1/3 cup BBQ sauce, plus more for drizzle
• 2 pineapple spears
• 8 small flour or corn tortillas

Garnish:

• thinly sliced red cabbage
• chopped avocado
• chopped cilantro
• shredded Mexican blend cheese
• thinly sliced jalapeños

30 minutes before you are ready to grill, marinate the chicken in a large zip lock bag with the BBQ sauce and place in the fridge.

Preheat your grill to medium high heat. Grill chicken breasts on both sides until cooked through; about 6 minutes on the 1st side, then flip and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove from the grill and let rest on a plate.

While chicken is resting, grill your pineapple spears, 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove from the heat and turn off the grill.

Chop your chicken and pineapple into bite-sized pieces. Wrap your tortillas in a damp paper towel and cook in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

To serve, place some cabbage in the center of each tortilla. Top with BBQ chicken, cheese, avocado, cilantro, jalapeño, and grilled pineapple. Drizzle with a little more BBQ sauce and devour!