Shredded Pork Tortilla Salad
Recently I’ve completely cleared out my Pantry, transferring all of its items into the Dining Room segmenting and sectioning the parts on how they will be placed once the new shelves as part of the kitchen remodel are installed.
Now I won’t show you a photo on this current state of affairs but I will share that although it is rather organized, as the days go by, the perfectly stacked cookie sheets as needed become, well let’s just say, not as perfectly stacked as they started, and so on, along with all the other stacks of kitchen equipment if you know what I mean.
The Pantry is without a doubt one of the absolute top features in my house, nearly the size of the laundry room, no kidding, though I’m not sure who thought that one up on the laundry room. My laundry room was clearly designed by someone who had no clue on the endless laundry volume that takes place in a household. You may well know what I mean here too.
The Pantry has always been a place to store most of the food and equipment items needed to run my kitchen, especially since the kitchen cabinets were originally designed for your average eight-foot tall woman of which I fall short. The Pantry completely solves the dilemma from needing to create a space permanently accommodating a six foot ladder.
In the pantry reorganization I came upon a few surprise treasures, those things that happen to secretly set behind other things and delight us in their rediscovery.
Hooray, I found the Whatchamacallit! Whats it’s name? a tortilla basket, a tortilla frying basket? Not sure on that, but easily remedied by the internet, you know Amazon at least carries everything in the world. Sure enough, one click was all it took AMAZON first on the list was shouting right in my face, a Tortilla Frying Basket it is!
One usually does not think of metal gadgets as warm and cuddly but then upon finding this Tortilla Frying Basket it gave me such a warm and happy feeling kindling memories on my years living in Arizona. In Arizona, among some other specialties, we love re-fried beans so I’ve surely included them into this dish today mixed with some chopped scallions and jalapenos.
Building the Shredded Pork Tortilla Salad:
Delicious crunchy, crispy, colorful Shredded Pork Tortillas Salad in Tortilla Cups. Ole.
Shredded Pork Tortilla Salad
Ingredients
- For Preparing the Shredded Pork:
- 4 pound pork roast, more or less
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 4 cups cold water
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 2 scallions, white and green parts very finely chopped
- For Frying the Tortilla Baskets:
- 6 flour tortillas, medium size
- canola oil for frying
- For Preparing the Guacamole:
- 2 ripe avocados, skinned, large seed removed, mashed until smooth,
- juice of one lime
- 1/2 plum tomato, seeded, diced into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons diced red onion
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more according to taste
- For Preparing the Re-fried Beans:
- 1 15 1/2 ounce can traditional re-fried beans
- 1/2 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 2 scallions, green and white part, finely chopped
- For Assembling the Salad:
- 3 cups romaine lettuce, sliced thinly into strips then chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1/8 cup sour cream
- Recommended Equipment:
- slow cooker for pork, metal tortilla fryer basket, deep fryer, baking sheet lined with paper towels
Instructions
- Preparing the Shredded Pork: Into a small bowl combine salt, cumin, coriander, cayenne, chili powder and pepper, stir. Set pork roast into a Slow Cooker then rub the spice mixture on the top of the pork and all over. Pour four cups of cold water into the bottom of the slow cooker then plop in 2 chicken bouillon cubes on the bottom of each side of the pot, cover and cook on low for about 6 hours until pork is very tender. Remove pork from slow cooker placing into a large bowl cooling to the touch, shred pork, pulling meat apart into strands using a fork. Using a small ladle pour some of the liquid remaining in the slow cooker onto the pulled pork in the bowl to just moisten meat, stir lightly, stir in chopped jalapeno and scallions, stir through
- Frying the Tortilla Baskets: Heat canola oil in a deep fryer. One tortilla at a time center a tortilla onto the bottom part of the metal tortilla basket, gently tucking in without tearing the tortilla, set the top basket onto the positioned tortilla, lower basket into the hot oil and fry until golden about three to four minutes. Transfer fried tortilla baskets to the paper towel lined baking sheet. Use care when removing fried tortillas as both the basket and tortillas will be very hot right out of the fryer.
- Preparing the Guacamole: Mash avocado to smooth then squeeze in the fresh lime juice and stir well. Stir in the tomato, onion, cilantro, and salt, check seasoning adjusting to taste
- Preparing the Re-Fried Beans: Spoon the canned re-fried beans into a small sauce pan, cook until hot on very low heat, stir in chopped fresh jalapeno pepper and 2 finely chopped scallions
- Assembling the Finish for Shredded Pork Tortilla Salad: Spoon about two tablespoons of re-fried beans into the bottom of each fried tortilla cup, top with some romaine lettuce strips. Next, layer on a couple spoonfuls of the shredded pork in the small amount of liquid broth. Sprinkle over the cheddar cheese, then dollop on a spoonful of the fresh guacamole and dot with sour cream. Sprinkle over the chopped tomatoes and cilantro. Garnish with cilantro leaves and a wedge of fresh lime
Facebook Comments