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by Emily

Red Curry Coconut Pulled Pork

Spring is in the air and flavorful, fruity recipes are on my mind! This time of year is always pretty busy for me, but spring of 2016 is proving to be especially crazy, mostly because I’m officially six months away from my wedding (yes, shockingly someone has stepped up to the plate to spend the rest of their life with me, who knew).

So I’m knee-deep in all sorts of wedding planning and bridal budgeting, while trying to juggle a day job, all my blogging projects, and SXSW, which completely takes over the city of Austin in both good ways (parties, events, and bands galore!) and bad ways (traffic, omg the traffic).

Basically, this leaves me with zero time to cook. The good news is, I have a slow cooker. And with a slow cooker, you cannot fail. Throw some ingredients in there, set it, forget it, come home from your job or event or meeting and you have a piping-hot meal waiting for you to devour. In this case, that meal is a mouth-watering, sumptuous pulled pork that you will be oh so happy to say aloha to after a long day.

Of course, the ingredients you throw into that miracle slow cooker need to be good. And this recipe here is full of good stuff. We’re starting with a boneless netted fresh pork shoulder roast from Smithfield. This pork is the star of the show and it couldn’t be easier to prep. Literally go buy it at the store, take it home, cut it out of its net, and drop it in the crockpot. Done. No trimming, no chopping, no nothing. Love it!

Then you need some flavor to make your pork great. This is where the aforementioned fruit comes in. The pork shoulder is drenched in crushed pineapple and pineapple juice, plus a bunch of bright, island-y flair: ginger, soy, agave, sriracha, and curry paste come together to make a sweet-spicy-tangy sauce that is so perfect with this juicy, tender pulled pork. Oh, and you’re adding in some coconut milk at the very end for a little bit of creamy sweetness that takes this tropical pulled pork to the next level.

Even if springtime means “no time,” I promise this meal will come together in a snap and everyone will love it. Make sure to have plenty of sweet Hawaiian rolls and white rice on hand for serving!

Red Curry Coconut Pulled Pork

Late Night Eats in Mexico: Pastor to Die For

You guys. Look. Look at that plate of deliciousness!

Okay, let me take a step back. At the end of the week I’m headed to Tulum (which, in case you didn’t know, is a little beach town on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, about a 90 minute drive south of Cancun). I’ve never been to Tulum before, but I’ve heard it’s a wonderland of beautiful beaches & cenotes, Mayan ruins, bohemian vibes, and great food. And yes, when I’m back later this month, I’ll be sure to give you a full report, especially on the food aspect!

While Tulum will be a new travel experience for me, I do know one thing I plan on eating a TON of while I’m there: pastor tacos. Thanks to my visit to San Miguel de Allende (a gorgeous town in central Mexico, south of Mexico City) last year, I now realize how wondrous true pastor really can be. Pastor is a big late-night draw in certain parts of Mexico, and it’s so much better than the late-night hot dogs we’re used to in the USA. And sure, I’ve had plenty of al pastor here in Texas, but it is NOT THE SAME as the succulent, spicy, rich meat you find in Mexico.

The best pastor in San Miguel de Allende was at a little taco cart called Andy’s, which doesn’t open until after dark, so we’re talking late night treat only. And when I say taco cart, I mean taco cart. There’s a few little counter seats where you can get a glimpse of the action, but otherwise it’s standing room only. You walk up, order what kind of tacos you want and how many (trust me, never stop at just one) and then wait for your order to be ready and served up to you on a plastic plate covered in… more plastic.

So let’s talk about the composition of these tacos. The pork revolves around on a giant upright spit (think similar to a traditional kebap or gyro). The pork is sliced directly off the spit, fried up on the flat-top with gooey white cheese, garnished with traditional toppings (onion, cilantro, spicy salsa). You can also get pineapple or no pineapple. Some people have an aversion to adding the fruit, but I love it. You can see it roasting there above the pastor itself.

Just look at this glorious messiness… yes.

These pastor tacos are traditionally served on small corn tortillas, but you can also get “gringo” style which is basically the same exact taco, just served on a big flour tortilla. You really can’t go wrong either way! If you’re ever in San Miguel de Allende, Andy’s is definitely the place to hit up… they don’t have a website that I can find, but if you ask a local, they should be able to help you out. And as far as the best pastor in Tulum… well, I’ll let you know sometime in March!

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by BS

Porky Photo of the Day

Just a little snout sandwich at Tenderloin Grill in Kansas City, Missouri. It tastes like…um, like biting into an effing pig’s nose. With hot sauce.

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by BS

Post-Thanksgiving Breakfast: Egg in a Hole…In a Pork Loin

When we last encountered Smithfield Mesquite Marinated Fresh Pork Loin Filet, I was wrapping it in bacon for some extra-good pork-on-pork action. Fortunately, the good folks at Smithfield must have thought this was such a good idea that they now have a fresh pork loin product that comes with the (real) bacon already mixed in. Thank. You.

Even though I love me some bacon mixed in with dinners and desserts, it’s still hard to deny that it goes best with its longtime life partner, the Bert to its Ernie. I’m talking about eggs of course. I love everything about egg in a hole breakfasts — the cute appearance, the way the whites stick together in a small space and get nice and rich, and especially how the little yolky hole makes such a good spot for ripping off bread and dipping. In thinking about how to use this pork loin for a hearty holiday season breakfast I settled on recreating eggs in a hole…inside a pork loin. Here’s how it went down…

Bacon and Eggs in a Pork Loin

Easy Pork and Apple Tacos

As you could probably tell, I was pretty excited about my recent bacon, apple and pork creation/monstrosity. As much as I’d like to eat pork wrapped in pork and then grilled every day, unfortunately I don’t always have the time to make such an over-the-top meal. I had another of these Smithfield marinated pork loins on hand this month and was looking for a quicker way to cook it up. Smitten with the pork and apples combo, I made a quick pork and apple taco meal, perfect for that busy back-to-school, back-to-work, dear-god-why-am-I-not-on-vaction-anymore time of year.

Easy Pork and Apple Tacos

One Smithfield marinated peppercorn and garlic pork loin

One red apple

1/2 onion

queso fresco

corn tortillas

Simple directions: make this in to tacos!

Full directions:

Cut the pork loin up into small, 1/4-inch strips.

Throw the pork pieces in to a large saucepan on medium heat.

Meanwhile, chop up the half onion into small strips and throw those in with the pork.

Peel and chop your apple up in to small cubes. Toss these on the pork right as it’s just about done (after 10 minutes). I do this just to get the apples nice and hot — don’t want them all mushy!

Lather everything on to a warm tortilla; top with queso fresco and Sriracha.

This sponsored post is part of Endless Simmer’s 2015 series as a Blogger Ambassador for Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork.

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by Emily

Food Porn Champion: The Most Bangin’ Biscuits and Gravy

Rise and shine, ESers! Feast your eyes on this: an insanely epic biscuits & gravy dish I discovered during Sunday brunch at Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden in Austin.

The menu describes it as a “house-made biscuit, milk gravy & your choice of housemade bacon or housemade breakfast sausage” but let’s be real, that bacon is clearly just two huge slabs of pork belly. And just look at that river of gravy. These people are NOT messing around with their breakfasts and next time you’re hungover in Central Texas, you now know where to go.

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by Emily

Food Porn Champion: The Ultimate Meat Salad

Look at that. Would you call the above photo a salad or a giant pile of assorted meats and cheeses? Turns out, you’d be right either way.

This is the FeedTX Chef Salad (menu description: “chilled greens, cheeses, rotisserie meats, bay shrimp salad, hot smoked salmon, egg, avocado, tomato, cucumber”) at Liberty Kitchen, a popular Houston restaurant that recently opened another location in Austin. They feature all sorts of decadent meat and seafood dishes, and even a salad is not really a salad. I was disgustingly full after about half of this bad boy. I mean, “meats”… okay, there’s pork belly, turkey, chicken, bacon, and not to mention a giant hunk of smoked salmon AND shrimp salad. Talk about some protein.

in Bacon / Eggs / Pig / Red Meat / Restaurants 0 comments