Chipotle and Orange Pork Tacos

If you want to make something sooo good and flavorful- make these pork tacos. They were extremely tender and had just the right amount of orange flavor. They were pretty spicy-so if you have an aversion to spicy foods- I'd leave out some (or all) of the chipotle peppers and just add the chipotle pepper sauce. The spicy-ness factor toned down the next day, though. I thought they were even better as leftovers. Try the pork with enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas, nachos- anything!



 recipe from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs of pork shoulder, cut into large chunks (be sure to trim the fat)


• 1 package of Sazon con Culantro y Achiote (coriander and Annatto)*


• 3 tbsp olive oil


• 2 large oranges, zested and juiced


• 3 cloves of garlic, skin removed, smashed


• 3 canned chipotle peppers, chopped  (see note above)


• 4 tbsp of the chipotle adobo sauce (I only used 3 tablespoons)


• guacamole or avacado


• Small handful of cilantro, chopped


• red onion, sliced


• shredded cheese


• sliced black olives


• shredded lettuce


• corn tortillas, warmed through (to make tortillas crispy- heat a skillet with a drop or two of canola oil on high ish heat- add a tortilla and cook until crisp. keep warm in a 250 toaster oven or regular oven on a plate)

Begin by sprinkling the sazon all over the pork shoulder chunks. To a large skillet, add the oil and bring to a medium high heat. Add the pork, in batches, and brown each side. During this time, bring out the slow cooker.  Zest the oranges and place in the bottom of the slow cooker, along with the juice from both oranges. When the pork is browned, add them to the slow cooker. Top with the pieces of smashed garlic, the chopped chipotle peppers, and the adobo sauce. Place on low, cover, and forget about it for at least 6 hours. I let mine go at least 10-12 hours, which is perfect if you prep the night before, and let it cook while you go to work (or church- in my case- as I made these yesterday. I cooked mine for about 10 hours).

Get some tongs or two forks, and begin shredding apart the pork, within the slow cooker. If cooked long enough- the pork will just fall apart. You can place these on your warm tortillas at this stage, or you can take a small batch of the shredded pork, and add it to a skillet that has been warmed on medium heat, and build a little bit of crisp on the strands of pork. I like doing this as it adds just the right texture to the pork. (I did this when eating leftovers- so good)

When you are ready to serve, add as much pork as you want to two corn tortillas with cheese melted between them (a quesadilla of sorts). Add toppings and devour.

note: served this with cilantro lime rice (recipe to come!)

*The sazon might be hard to find- but if I can find it in a walmart in the podunk town I live in, you probably can too. It's in the ethnic food aisle. As a bonus- I think it only cost $1.12 and it contains 8 little (5 gram) packets.