Recipe Time!

I often get asked for recipes for inexpensive cuts of meat. I buy a lot of cheap cuts of meat because it is important to me to buy good meat...meat without hormones, antibiotics and raised  humanely. This meat comes at a higher price so I often buy the less desired cut to save on our grocery bill. This was the case this week when I bought a pork roast for $2.99/lb - super cheap!

The key to cooking a tougher and sometimes not as flavorful piece of meat is braising. In reality, I really like to cook this way because once I have it going, I can leave it in the over for a couple of hours and not worry about it. Now, I detest the crock pot for some reason, but love this convenience. Go figure!

Here is what I did to the pork...and wow it was good! This would work well with beef  too, but may need a bit more cooking time.

Chopped Pork Tacos

1.25 lb. pork roast, cut into 1 -2 inch chunks
1/2 tsp. each: cumin, coriander, smoked paprika
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 c. onion, diced
1/4 c. green pepper, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 c. white wine or beer
1/2 c. water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 tsp. oil in  large, oven-safe pan. Place pork into a large plastic container. Add all the spices, salt, pepper and 2 tsp. oil. Seal container and shake until all pork is well coated.

When oil is shimmering in pan, place pork into it, careful not to over-crowd the pan. If need be, cook in two batches. Brown the pork on both sides. Add the onion, green pepper and garlic. Stir to mix and pour wine or beer and water over top. Gently scrape bottom of pan to de-glaze. Cover and bring to a simmer.

Place in oven, covered for 1 hour. Remove lid and cook for 30 minutes uncovered. Replace lid and cook additional 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Once able to handle, remove pork and chop into bite sized pieces. Place back in pan and stir together with juices.

From here, move forward as you would if you were making any other tacos.

Enjoy!