Tacobab Al Pastor Food

BURGERS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Soak the chiles in boiling water until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain and puree with the marjoram, oregano, garlic, one-quarter of the chopped onion and the pineapple juice in a blender until smooth. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Blend to combine.
• Combine the pork and the marinade with a fork in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the broiler. Divide the pork mixture into 6 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet; place the patties on the baking sheet and broil until slightly charred and cooked through, about 9 minutes per side. Transfer the burgers to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Let rest about 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, lightly oil another rimmed baking sheet, add the pineapple and broil until slightly charred, about 2 minutes per side.
• Spread about 1 teaspoon mayonnaise on the cut sides of each bun and broil them until the mayonnaise has melted, about 2 minutes. Place the burgers on the bottom halves of the buns. Top with the pineapple, cilantro, the remaining chopped onion and the bun tops.

AUTHENTIC TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Cook tomato on a ridged grill pan over medium-high heat until slightly blackened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool until easily handled. Peel off skin and remove seeds.
• Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add guajillo and ancho chile peppers; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain.
• Combine tomato flesh, softened chile peppers, 2 slices pineapple, orange juice, quartered onion, vinegar, chipotle peppers, salt, garlic, cloves, cumin seeds, and oregano in a blender; blend until smooth.
• Arrange pork slices in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Pour blended mixture over pork, ensuring all sides are evenly coated. Cover baking dish with plastic wrap.
• Marinate pork in the refrigerator, 4 hours to overnight.
• Cook remaining pineapple slices on a ridged grill pan over medium-high heat until slightly blackened and soft, about 5 minutes per side. Chop into small pieces.
• Wipe out grill pan and preheat over medium-high heat. Cook marinated pork in the hot pan, turning once, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Chop pork coarsely into small pieces against the grain. Serve with pineapple, chopped onion, and cilantro.

TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• At least 6 hours before cooking, make the marinade: Heat a heavy griddle or frying pan over medium heat and gently toast the chiles, pressing them down quickly with a spatula. Turn and repeat on the other side. Be very careful not to scorch the chiles or they will have an off taste. Cool and then remove the stems, seeds, and stringy ribs.
• Tear the chiles into small pieces and pulse in a spice grinder until they are as finely ground as possible.
• In a blender, combine the garlic, vinegar, achiote, salt, cumin, and cloves. Puree until well combined. Add the ground chiles and blend for several minutes, or until the sauce is very smooth; if necessary, add a tablespoon or so of vinegar to make a thick paste.
• Heat the oil over medium heat in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the chile paste; use the water to swish out the blender and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until thickened. Scrape onto a plate and cool completely.
• Cut the pork into lengthwise slices about 3/4 inch thick and smear a layer of the chile paste on each side (thick enough to draw a line in). Stack the slices in a shallow container, cover, and refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours.
• Cut the crown off the pineapple and cut a slice off the bottom. Carve off the prickly skin, slicing from top to bottom, then cut the flesh into slices 1/2 inch thick; set aside.
• Grill Method: Half an hour before cooking, clean the grill thoroughly with a brush and wipe it down with an oil-dampened rag. Preheat the grill on high. Remove any thick blobs of chile paste from the meat, as these will burn. Grill the meat and pineapple for 7 minutes on each side, directly over the flame (if your grill is hot as heck -- medium is ok). Watch carefully to make sure the chile paste is not burning; if needed, turn down the heat or move the meat to a cooler part of the grill. The pineapple should be given a half-turn partway through cooking to make nice crosshatch marks. When the meat is cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees (don't overcook) remove to a warm plate.
• Oven method: Preheat the oven to 375°F Spread the meat out in one layer in a shallow, lightly oiled baking dish or a rimmed cookie sheet. There should be some open space between the pieces; it's better to use several baking dishes than crowd the meat. Cut half of the pineapple slices into quarters and scatter over the top. Reserve the rest for another use. Roast the meat and pineapple for 30 to 40 minutes, or until well browned and crisp; there should be some caramelized juices in the bottom of the dish. Remove from the oven, cover the cooked meat and pineapple loosely with foil, and let stand 5 minutes while you heat the tortillas.
• To Serve: Heat the tortillas' keep them warm in a cloth napkin or a tortilla warmer. Dice the meat into small bits, mix with the juices on the plate or in the baking dish, and fill the tortillas. The pineapple can be chopped up or cut into quarters. Serve with the onion, radishes, cilantro, and your choice of salsa or hot sauce.

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:

• For the al pastor: Put the ancho and guajillo chiles in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow the chiles to steep until they are rehydrated, about 30 minutes. Discard the seeds and stems and toss the chiles in a food processor along with the pineapple, honey, smoked paprika, vinegar, salt, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, garlic and oregano.
• Slice the roast into 3/4-inch-thick slices, but don't cut all the way through.
• Slather the marinade between each layer until all the meat is covered. Stack the onion slices in between the slices of meat. Tie the roast back together. Cover it and allow it to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
• Put the roast on a rack in a roasting pan and add water to the bottom of the pan (this is to keep the drippings from smoking). Roast for 30 minutes at this temperature, and then turn down the heat to 300 degrees F (160 degrees C). Roast until the meat is very tender, about 3 hours.
• After removing the meat from the oven, cover it with foil and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
• When you're ready to serve, thinly slice the meat. Serve the meat on corn tortillas and garnish with onions, salsa and cilantro, and lime wedges on the side.

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.

TACOS AL PASTOR

Steps:

• Coarsely chop 1 onion half. Coarsely chop 2 pineapple rounds, discarding core; cover and chill remaining pineapple. Place chopped onion and chopped pineapple in blender. Add orange juice and next 7 ingredients; puree marinade until smooth. Place pork in large resealable plastic bag. Add marinade and seal bag, releasing excess air. Turn to coat. Chill at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill remaining pineapple until warm and slightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Grill pork with some marinade still clinging until slightly charred and cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer pineapple and pork to work surface; chop pineapple into 1/2-inch cubes, discarding cores. Chop pork. Transfer to platter; toss to combine.
• Meanwhile, finely chop remaining onion half and place in medium bowl. Add cilantro; toss to combine. Grill tortillas until warm and slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.
• Serve pork-pineapple mixture with onion-cilantro relish, Salsa, and lime wedges.