Q.E.D.: Pork Cube Steak Soft Tacos with Simple Slaw

Are you tired of my fast and delicious taco recipes? Well, that's unfortunate because I have another one!

Notes: These tacos were a grocery store inspiration. I wanted something fast and simple for dinner. As I was walking by the meat section, I saw pork cube steaks. They're pounded thin, so they cook very quickly and they are inexpensive. On their own, they might not be that exciting, but cut thin and served in a taco they're great. I thought they'd be best with a light crust sort of like a lighter version of country fried steak.

If you have the time, it would be nice to rub the seasoning on the steaks and marinade them in the fridge for an hour or so.

I used some bagged slaw mix for the simple slaw, but if you have fresh cabbage, by all means use that.

I only made enough tacos for Scott and I, so I only used two steaks. If you're feeding four people, I'd use four steaks.

Ingredients:
2-4 pork cube steaks
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Oil for pan frying
Corn tortillas
Simple Slaw (recipe follows)

Directions:

Heat enough oil to pan fry the pork steaks on medium in a large skillet. While the oil is heating, whisk together sugar, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and hot sauce in a small bowl to make a paste. Rub the paste all over the pork steaks. Let stand just a few minutes.

Put the flour on a plate or in a wide bowl. Dredge the pork steaks in the flour. Fry for about 4 minutes per side until they're a deep golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess grease.

When the steaks are finished, slice them into thin strips. Warm the taco shells and assemble the tacos with the steak and the slaw. Enjoy!

Ingredients for slaw
1 heaping cup of shredded cabbage
2 rounded tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons sweet relish
1 teaspoon celery seed

Whisk mayo, relish, and celery seed together in a bowl. Add in the cabbage and toss to coat.

Slow Cooker St. Louis Spareribs

It was another wintry icy day here. Luckily we went to the grocery store yesterday and took care of all our errands. I had planned to make these ribs anyway and it just worked out that the gross icy day turned out to be slow cooker ribs day!

Notes: These were delicious! If you like saucy ribs, warm up a cup of your favorite bottled sauce before the ribs are done and paint it on when you take them out of the slow cooker. I liked the dry rub all by itself, though we did add a little hot sauce.

Stay tuned: I'm planning to use the leftover rib meat for another recipe.

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork spareribs (sometimes labeled St. Louis style or country style)

1 onion

Dry rub:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 heaping tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1 tablespoon cumin

5-6 drops liquid smoke

Directions:

The night before you want to make ribs, mix together the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Break up as many of the clumps as you can to form a smooth mixture. 

Put the ribs in a glass baking dish and rub each one with dry rub. Massage the dry rub in thoroughly. Cover with foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. 

In the morning, slice the onion into rings and lay them at the bottom of your slow cooker. Put the ribs in meat side up (fit them in as best you can). Set the slow cooker for 10 hours on low.

Pull the ribs out carefully (the meat will fall off the bone). Serve and enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Pork Tacos with Diced Mango

I mentioned that we got a lot of leftovers out of our slow cooker pulled pork. So we decided to make some pork tacos. Of course they were amazing! It's hard for them not to be since the pork was so great.

Notes: The only thing I think I would have changed would be to add some lime zest to the cabbage/cilantro mixture. But I didn't have any limes.

I opted for the havarti cheese because I didn't want the cheese to overpower the pork. You can use whatever you like, but I wouldn't go with something strong.

If you haven't made slow cooker pork, you could use some rotisserie chicken from the store in its place to keep this meal Q.E.D.

Ingredients:

1 box of your favorite taco shells

2-3 cups of cooked shredded pork 

1/2 Nappa cabbage

1 bunch cilantro

1 mango

4-5 oz. of havarti cheese

Salt

Hot sauce (optional)

Directions: Heat the oven to the temperature you need for your taco shells.

Thinly slice the Nappa cabbage. For 6 tacos, you'll need about 1 1/2 cups. Finely chop the cilantro. Mix the cabbage and cilantro together in a small bowl, season with salt, and set aside. 

Dice the mango and set aside. Grate the cheese and set aside.

Warm the shredded pork in the microwave or in a pot on the stove while you taco shells are cooking. Add as much hot sauce as you like.

When the shells and pork are hot, assemble everything together. Serve the mango on the side or on top of the tacos. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Lisa over at 100 Days of Real Food is a genius and I am indebted to her forever for this recipe.

It. Is. Amazing.

I've been looking for more slow cooker recipes now that school has started again. It's so easy to just throw everything together before I go to work and when I come home dinner is ready!

I'm skeptical of meat in the slow cooker because I've had some bad luck with it. So I was nervous to try this recipe. But Scott loves pulled pork and he convinced me to do it. I'm SO glad I did.

Notes: This is quite literally the greatest slow cooker meat I have ever eaten.

If you get a pork butt or shoulder that's particular thick, you might want to cut it in two pieces. Mine was pretty normal, so I didn't do anything to it.

The pork doesn't have a sauce per se, so if you're thinking you're going to get a thick BBQ sauce like the bottled kind, you're barking up the wrong tree (or pig). You end up with really tender pulled pork with a great flavor, but it's not saucy. I dashed some hot sauce on mine and it was all I needed. The flavor of the pork is so great, you don't need much else!

You'll end up with plenty of leftovers, so plan accordingly. We're going to make pork tacos tomorrow night!

Ingredients:
1 3-3.5 pound pork shoulder or pork butt (I used bone-in)
3 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian herb mix
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
10-15 shakes of hot sauce (to taste)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion

Directions:

Take the pork from the fridge and let it sit out for about 30 minutes to come closer to room temperature.

Slice the onion into thick rings and lay them on the bottom of the slow cooker, making a layer for the pork to rest on.

Stir together all the dry ingredients (cumin, salt, chili powder, pepper, garlic powder, Italian herbs). In another bowl, stir together the wet ingredients (oil, vinegar, hot sauce, and honey). Put the wet and dry together and stir or whisk to make a paste.

Put the pork in the slow cooker and pour the paste all over the pork. Rub it in and then set the slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours.

When the time is up, shred the meat with a fork. Serve and enjoy!

Served here with roasted potatoes and lemon garlic green beans!

Meatball Sandwiches with Brown Butter Kale

I know, there's no sandwich in that picture. I decided at the last minute that I just wanted the meatballs. Scott assured me that the sandwiches were good.

Now, meatballs.

People have a lot of theories about how to make a good meatball. For me, it's all method. What do you really want out of meatball? You want a tender, flavorful meatball bathed lovingly in sauce, right? Does that mean you fry the living daylights out of it or bake it into a hockey puck? No, it does not. It means you steam it.

That's right, I said steam it.

The only downside to steaming is that you don't get the pretty brown crust on the outside. But, look, do you want the meatball to be tender or do you want it to be pretty? It's going to be bathed lovingly in sauce anyway, so you won't be able to see the color! Trust me on this one. If you want a melt-in-your-mouth meatballs, steam them.

Notes: The only reason this isn't Q.E.D. is because you have to give the meat about 10 minutes to come to room temperature. Otherwise, meatballs are just not that complicated.

You want a decent fat content in these (they're meatballs, not a salad). I like a meatball mix with beef, pork, and veal. I couldn't find that in the store today, so I just got beef and pork.

Use your favorite cheese on the sandwiches. Provolone is a favorite for cheesesteaks in Philly, so we went we that.

If you feel bad about eating meatballs, just serve it with kale and it will make you feel better.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef, chuck, or sirloin
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons of herbs de provence
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup grated parmesean cheese
3-4 tablespoons milk
1 bunch kale
4 tablespoons butter
Hoagie rolls
Provolone cheese
26 oz. jar of your favorite marinara sauce (or homemade!)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400. Take the meat out of the fridge and let it sit for about 10 mintes.

While you're waiting, thinly slice the kale. Add the bread crumbs, herbs, and parmesean cheese to a large bowl. Stir them together just to mix them evenly. Slice open your hoagie rolls.

Add water to a large skillet (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Heat it on medium. You want the water to simmer, not boil.

Add the meat and the milk to your bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the meat into the dry ingredients. You don't want to knead it like dough, so use a gentle touch. Just make sure everything is evenly mixed.

Roll the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and put them in your simmering skillet. Put the lid on it and steam the meatballs for 25 minutes.

When the meatballs are done, pour off any excess liquid. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and put the lid back on. Turn the heat back to medium-low and let the meatballs simmer in the sauce.

While the meatballs are simmering, add the butter to another skillet and heat on medium-high. When the butter browns and starts to smell nutty, add in the kale. It'll pop and crackle, but don't worry. Toss the kale in the butter for about five minutes until it's wilted and emerald green. Season with salt.

Right before you put the kale in the pan, put your hoagie rolls on a baking sheet and put a slice or two of provolone inside. Heat in the oven for 5 minutes until the cheese melts and the bread toasts. Nestle your meatballs and sauce into the rolls and enjoy!

Adventures in Dough, Part 3: Pork Empanadas

Remember when I said I was trying to cut back on meat? Well, that's true, but not for this particular dish.

There was an empanada joint in Urbana that we used to frequent in graduate school. Warm, toasty savory hand pies were perfect on those chilly days (which, in Urbana, were plentiful). When I saw this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for empanada dough, I knew what my next baking challenge would be.

I intended to make them with beef, but our local grocery store had small pork roasts on sale by one get one free. I have trouble passing up that kind of a deal.

My summer fling with my slow cooker continues, so I decided that nothing would be better than shredded pork empanadas.

Notes: The meat-free efforts should have continued. Although I was happy with this dish overall, I was unhappy with the meat filling. I wanted something much saucier than what I got. The pork was pretty sad as well. It only needed three hours in the slow cooker, but I set it for four. It was definitely overdone and under-seasoned. I'm leaving the seasonings I used as is and I'll let you play with the spice level. Or change the filling entirely. I think I will.

This batch was supposed to make 24 empanadas. I only got 16 out of my batch. 8 was plenty for the two of us and we had some leftover. I froze the other 8 for Scott to eat later. He liked the filling better than I did.

Ingredients:
For the filling and wet rub:
2 small pork loin roasts (2 lbs of pork total)
1 small onion
6 garlic cloves
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1/2 bag of dried black beans, pre-soaked
1 chipotle pepper plus 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup water
Salt
Pepper

For the dough (altered slightly from this recipe):
4 1/2 cups of flour (3 1/2 white, 1 wheat)
2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and cold
3 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs (plus one for egg wash)
3/4 cup of ice water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Start your filling first. Place your pork roasts in the slow cooker.

Mah pork babies

Get your spices together for your wet rub.

Add the honey, mustard, cumin, chili powder, and paprika to a small bowl and stir it until you end up with a paste.

Rub your pork roasts with the paste so that they are both well-coated.

Add one cup of water to your slow cooker. Add your chipotle pepper and adobo sauce to the water. Add onions and garlic. Stir and set for 3 hours on high.

While the meat is cooking, make your empanada dough.

Add your flour and salt to a large bowl. Sprinkle your cold butter on top and start working it into the flour with your pastry blender (or your hands).

Blend until the mixture has the look of coarse corn meal and the consistency of damp sand.

Mix the wet ingredients together and then add them to the flour/butter mixture. Stir until the dough comes together.

Knead it once or twice in the bowl, turn it out on a floured surface. Divide the dough in half and shape it into flat rectangles.

One, not so much a rectangle

Chill the dough for least an hour and up to six.

When the filling is an hour away from being finished, shred the pork and add in the black beans and corn. Return to the slow cooker to finish.

Mine is more cubed than shredded

Once the dough is chilled and the filling is done, take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into eight equal pieces. Roll each one out into a 5 inch round.

Round-ish

Add three tablespoons of filling in the center of the round.

Wet the edge of the round with water (just wet your finger and trace the edge of the dough), fold it in half and crimp the edges closed with a fork.

Beat 1 egg with one tablespoon of water. Brush the egg wash over the empanadas.

Place the oven racks in the bottom third and top third of the oven. Bake the empanadas at 400 for 20 minutes, 10 minutes on the bottom and 10 minutes on the top.

Serve hot and enjoy!