Slow Cooker Tacos Al Pastor Food

SLOW COOKER TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Place pineapple, onion, chipotle peppers plus 1 1/2 teaspoons adobo sauce, guajillo chiles, chile de arbol, garlic, and oregano in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add orange juice, vinegar, achiote powder, salt, cumin, lime zest, chile powder, and black pepper. Mix sauce well.
• Place pork in a slow cooker and cover with the sauce. Cover and cook on Low until pork is very tender, 7 to 9 hours. Begin heating tortillas 35 to 40 minutes before pork is done.
• Heat oil in a saucepan over high heat. Cook tortillas one at a time until brown spots appear, 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Plate tortillas in stacks of two for each taco.
• Shred pork using 2 forks; mix to coat with the sauce. Scoop pork onto tacos using a slotted spoon. Top each with a portion of pineapple, cilantro, and onion.

TACOS AL PASTOR IN THE SLOW COOKER

Steps:

• Season pork loin with salt and pepper and place in a slow cooker.
• Puree 1/2 of the pineapple with chicken broth, orange juice, red onion, vinegar, lime juice, chipotle pepper, 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, garlic, chili powder, salt, cumin, garlic salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, onion powder, and oregano. Pour over the pork. Add remaining pineapple and frozen corn.
• Cook on Low for 8 hours. Shred pork and warm for an additional hour.

AL PASTOR TACO SALAD WITH SPICY SALSA VERDE RANCH

Steps:

• For the tortilla bowls: Heat the oil in a large, heavy, deep pot to 350 degrees F.
• Gently press a tortilla into the center of 7-inch spider to form a bowl. Using a 5-inch spider, gently press down into the tortilla to hold its shape. Carefully submerge the spiders into the hot oil and fry the tortilla until puffed, crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove and gently place upside down on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet to drain of excess oil. Season with salt. Repeat with the remaining 3 tortillas.
• To make the spicy salsa verde ranch: Mix together the ranch dressing and salsa verde in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• To assemble the salad: In a large mixing bowl, add the shredded lettuce, cilantro and about 1/3 cup of the salad dressing, adding more if desired. Divide the salad among the 4 tortilla bowls. Top each with 1/2 cup Al Pastor, radishes, Pickled Red Onions and 2 tablespoons queso fresco. Drizzle some dressing on top. Serve immediately.
• Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the tomatillos, onion, poblano, garlic and jalapeño. Cook, flipping the veggies as needed to evenly char and soften, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Carefully remove the stem from the poblano chile, so as to not let the juices spill out (we want that yummy pepper juice!) and add to the carafe of a high-speed blender. Squeeze the garlic from the skins into the blender. Add the remaining roasted veggies and any juices from the bottom of the pan. Add the cilantro, lime juice, green onion and salt. Blend on high speed until pureed and smooth.
• In a large bowl, add the achiote paste, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, cloves, black pepper and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to fully combine into a paste. Add the pork and rub the paste all over to completely coat. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a pressure cooker, mix together the crushed pineapple, chicken broth, garlic, bay leaves, chile, onion, oregano and sage. Add the achiote-rubbed pork. Pressure cook on low for 4 hours or high for 1 hour until the pork is fork-tender. Carefully release the steam away from your face. Remove the pork to a plate or baking sheet and shred using 2 forks.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the pork and spoon some of the braising liquid over to moisten, as needed. Season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy, 4 to 6 minutes. Set aside.
• Place the onions in a food storage container and set aside while you prepare the pickling liquid.
• In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add the vinegar, granulated sugar, salt, cumin seeds, bay leaf and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar and salt are dissolved, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely. Pour the cooled pickling liquid over the onions and allow to pickle for at least 30 minutes. At this point, you can either strain the onions to prevent from further pickling and use immediately, or put the lid on top and store in the refrigerator to further pickle until ready to use.

CHARRED TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Combine adobo, ancho powder, oil, achiote paste, brown sugar, salt, cumin, garlic and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Whisk until uniform while bringing to a simmer to bloom all the spices and flavors, then simmer, about 5 minutes. Take off heat to cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Coat all slices of pork with marinade. Spray a plastic quart container with cooking spray. Stuff the container with the slices of marinated pork, arranging them in a stack. Cover and place in the fridge 8 hours or overnight to marinate.
• Slide marinated meat gently out of quart container. Cut the pineapple into 4 equal rounds. Reserve 2 whole slices of pineapple and core the remaining 2 slices, then cut them into chunks. Place the stack of marinated meat in between the reserved slices of pineapple. Evenly skewer the stack with 8 to 10 metal skewers to make the "pastor".
• Heat a grill for cooking at about 275 degrees F. Using a chimney starter, ignite 3 to 4 charcoal briquettes. Place the briquettes in a smoker box with apple or cherry wood chips that have soaked in water 30 minutes, and place the box directly on the grate.
• Place onion and pineapple chunks in a small drip tray or roasting pan. Position the pan right on the grill, and the pastor on the elevated grill shelf directly above it. Place smoker box directly in front of the drip pan, so that some of the heat and smoke from the wood can reach the pastor.
• Cook for 4 hours, rotating a quarter every 45 minutes to 1 hour. Take it off the heat and let rest for at least 1 hour.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Dice onions and pineapple from drip tray and sear in the skillet until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
• Holding the pastor vertical, shave off shards of pork. Sear off in the skillet until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
• Serve with corn tortillas, salsa verde and fresh cilantro.

TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Toast chiles on a skillet or comal or in a hot oven (425°F) until darkened slightly but not burned. (On a skillet this takes just seconds- as soon as they release their perfume).
• Bring water to a boil, add toasted chiles, stir well and remove from heat. Soak chiles for 15 to 20 minutes, drain and reserve water. Puree chiles in a blender with a little of the water and the tomatoes.
• Heat oil in a 4 to 5 quart saucepan or in a pressure cooker. Brown meat a little at a time, remove, and reserve cooked pieces.
• Add onions and then garlic and cook until onion is softened and begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Add oregano, cumin, thyme, bay leaves, and pepper along with chile-tomato puree and fry for one additional minute, stirring constantly.
• Return browned pork to the pan and add vinegar, pineapple juice, sugar, salt, and 1 cup of reserved chile soaking water.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 35 minutes, at 15 pounds in the pressure cooker. (Note: if using a regular pan, cook covered on low heat for about 1 1/2 hours until meat is tender. You may need to add water during the cooking process to prevent burning.).
• Strain the sauce from the meat and cook longer, if needed, to thicken.
• To serve, shred meat and place in soft corn tortillas. Garnish with chopped green onions and serve with guacamole, some of the reserved sauce, salsa fresca, and lime wedges.

MEXICAN TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• For the marinade: Seed the chiles, and chop finely.
• Mash them together with the garlic, cloves, and cumin; add vinegar (avoid touching the chiles and vinegar with your bare hands if possible to prevent burning the skin).
• Boil the ingredients in heavy saucepan until it thickens into a heavy paste, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
• Let cool.
• Cut the pork meat in thin steaks or slices (normally the slices rest on top of each other while marinating and cooking).
• Apply the paste to the meat putting one slice on top of the other (At an authentic taqueria, this would form a unit topped with pineapple for added flavor and moisture, and placed into the rotisserie and rotated constantly).
• Cover and place in the fridge at least 6 hours (or overnight).
• If using a rotisserie, cook the meat until well done.
• If not using a rotisserie, drain the marinade and cut the pork in small pieces.
• Put in a frying pan with a little oil and cook the meat with small pieces of pineapple making sure the pork is well-cooked, using care not to burn.
• While the meat is cooking, heat the tortillas.
• Finely chop the onion and cilantro together.
• Cut the limes in quarters.
• Serve the cooked meat wrapped in the hot tortillas, and garnished with the chopped cilantro, onion, pineapple, and the lime quarters.

QUICK TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Coarsely shred pork, reserving juices. In a small bowl, crush half the pineapple with a fork., In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add whole pineapple chunks; cook until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove from pan., Add enchilada sauce and crushed pineapple to same skillet; stir in pork and reserved juices. Cook over medium-high heat until liquid is evaporated, 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally., Serve in tortillas with pineapple chunks, onion and cilantro. If desired, top with queso fresco and salsa, and serve with lime wedges.