Taco Tuesday....

The holidays are over and winter is finally making an appearance in the Philly area. Christmas day it was so warm that I actually turned on the air conditioner, but last night when I drove home, the temperature display on my car dashboard read 13°F.

I remember growing up in Houston, I never understood why folks wanted to take tropical vacations in the winter. Of course, running the AC on Christmas day is pretty normal in Houston. I could understand taking a trip to the mountains to ski, but warm and tropical just didn't compute.  

Then I moved to the northeast. Now I understand.

While the winter this year hasn't been very cold, at least up until now, tropical vacations are still in the works for a lot of my friends and neighbors. Winter is also our busiest time of the year at work--cooking classes make great holiday gifts, and our classes are selling out fast. It's actually a vacation blackout time for the chefs, through the end of February. So, a tropical vacation is just not in the cards right now.

Although I can't go to the tropics, I can at least take the tropics for culinary inspiration. One of my favorite Mexican dishes is Cochinita Pibil. "Cochinita" is the Spanish word for a baby or suckling pig, and a "pibil" is a traditional cooking fire pit in the Yucatan. The cochinita is marinated in a mixture of garlic, bitter orange juice, ground achiote seeds, and other spices. The pibil is dug into the ground and a fire is built and allowed to burn down to the coals. The pibil is then lined with banana leaves, the cochinita is placed on top of and wrapped with the leaves, and the pibil is then covered over to hold in the heat. The cochinita slowly roasts, getting flavor not only from the marinade, but the banana leaves and smoky coals. After the cochinita has been removed from the pibil, the meat is shredded and served with pickled onions and corn tortillas.

Digging a pit in the backyard isn't an option for most of us, and neither is cooking a whole suckling pig. A cast iron Dutch oven and pork shoulder will definitely fit the bill instead, but banana leaves are a must to get the flavor of the pork right. Banana leaves can be found in Asian or Latin markets, either fresh or frozen. You might find the ground achiote seeds (also called annatto) and bitter orange juice (also called Seville orange juice) in larger grocery stores, but I recommend going to a Latin market for these ingredients as well. 

I hope you enjoy!

Cochinita Pibil (Yucatan Braised Pork)

Serves 8 to 10

For the marinade:

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

1 tablespoon ground annatto seeds

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

¹/₈ teaspoon cayenne pepper

5 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press

¼ cup bitter (Seville) orange juice, or fresh sour orange juice

For the pork

4 to 5 lb     pork shoulder roast (bone-in or boneless)

1 cup bitter (Seville) orange juice, or fresh sour orange juice

1 or 2 banana leaves (thawed if frozen)

Pickled onions, pico de gallo salsa, sour cream, and corn tortillas to serve

                 

To make the marinade, mix the salt, spices, garlic, and ¼ cup orange juice together in a large bowl. Cut the pork roast into 3 or 4 large chunks of approximately equal size. (If you buy your pork at a Latin market, you can often find the bone-in shoulder already cut into 1 to 2 inch thick slices, which is what I usually use for this recipe.) Sprinkle each piece liberally with salt and ground black pepper. Place the pork pieces into the bowl with the spice paste and coat completely with the paste.

Using either a gas stove burner, a propane grill, or a creme brulee torch, pass the banana leaves over an open flame.  

This will soften the leaves as well as to burn off the green odor and flavor in the leaves. This is a very important step, if the leaves aren't torched, they will give too much of their flavor to the pork.

Place the leaves in a single layer at the bottom of a large oven safe stew pot or Dutch oven. Place the pork pieces and all of the marinade on the leaves, then wrap the leaves over and around the pork. Place a lid on the pot and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300°F.  Partially unwrap the top layer of banana leaves and pour in 1 cup bitter orange juice. Rewrap the leaves, and bake the pork, covered, for 3 to 4 hours.

Carefully unwrap the leaves and remove them from the pot, leaving the pork and cooking liquid in the pot.  

Using two forks, shred the pork, removing and discarding any bones and large pieces of fat or skin. Mix the shredded pork into the cooking liquid. 

Serve with pickled onions, pico de gallo salsa, sour cream, and corn tortillas.

Pico de Gallo

Makes 7 cups

1 large sweet onion, such as Maui or Vidalia (about 14 to 16 oz), diced

9 Roma tomatoes (about 2 lbs), diced

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced

1 cup firmly packed cilantro, leaves and tender stems, chopped

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Serve with corn tortilla chips.

Pickled Red Onions

½ cup sugar

½ cup red wine vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 red onion, sliced VERY thinly

Bring sugar, spices, and vinegar to a boil in a small sauce pan. Place the onions in a heat proof bowl and pour the hot vinegar mixture over the onions. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let cool to room temperature. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise and chill the onion vinegar mixture in the refrigerator.