Pork Shoulder Triple Play

I’ll be the first to admit that I wouldn’t know a good sports metaphor if it smacked me between the eyes, but a nice, slow-roasted pork shoulder allows for lots of options, so I’ll tell you about the three dinners we made this week. We started by plopping a pork shoulder (7-9 pounds) in the slow cooker set to low for 10-12 hours with about a tablespoon of salt rubbed on it.

BBQ Pork – 1st Day

Reheat 1/3 of shredded, roasted pork shoulder (we use 2 forks and a knife if it comes to that) and mix in 1 bottle of BBQ sauce. Serve on buns. The real treat today was that our friend, Leslie, gave us some pickled peppers that she canned. They were great for kicking these sandwiches up to the next level!

This week we paired the sandwiches with roasted asparagus and peach cobbler.

Tamale Skillet Pie – 2nd Day

1 T. oil

1 onion, chopped

1 can pinto or black beans, optional

1/2 jar salsa

1/3 shredded, roasted pork shoulder

1 can cream style corn

1 – 8 oz. pkg. cornbread mix

2 beaten eggs

3/4 c. milk

1/3 c. oil

1/2 t. salt

1-1 1/2 c. grated cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a large, cast iron skillet, sauté onion in oil. Add shredded pork, salsa and beans, if using. Meanwhile, mix all remaining ingredients except cheese in a bowl.* Spread corn mixture on top of meat mixture, top with cheese, and transfer skillet to oven. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until corn topping is set.

Feel like you need some vegetative matter in your life? Add lettuce and maybe even tomatoes on top when serving. Sometimes we get crazy and add sour cream, pickled red onions and avocados. 

This week we had some time constraints, so we kept it simple – pork and salsa on the bottom, corn mixture on top. We prefer sturdy lettuce as a topper, but the recent E. Coli scare has put a crimp in our romaine usage. We had to settle for leafy greens.

*(Incidentally, this is a corn casserole that can be baked on its own at 350 degrees for 45 minutes if you ever need a side dish.)

Breakfast Burritos – 3rd Day

This is an amorphous dish that can take any form you choose. We call them breakfast burritos because it lets us eat them at 6:00 in the morning. What follows is less a recipe than a list of stuff we are happy to wrap in a tortilla.

1 pound of sausage, pulled pork or chorizo (obviously, this time, we used the pulled pork)

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper (whatever kind you like), chopped

1 potato, cubed in 1/4 inch pieces

1 can green chili, drained

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

2-4 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

12+ flour tortillas

1 jalapeño, seeded, and finely diced

Sour cream, to taste

Avocado or guacamole, to taste

Salsa, to taste

If using raw meat, brown in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, and remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Add onion, pepper, and potato to pan, and cook 5-10 minutes. Add cooked meat to pan and heat through. Add green chili, chili powder, adobo, and beans, stirring and cooking 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a separate non-stick pan, heat tortillas, 30 seconds on each side, one at a time. When tortilla is warm and pliable, put it on your work surface, and plop some shredded cheese in the middle. Spoon some of the filling from the other pan on top of the cheese and roll it up. I start by folding the part closest to me on top of the filling, folding in the sides, and then rolling it the rest of the way, away from me. Next, I put it back in the non-stick pan for about a minute, seam side down, and then a minute on the other side.

If eating immediately, top with jalapeño, sour cream, avocado and salsa, if using. If you’re stockpiling for Armageddon, let burritos cool, then wrap in plastic wrap. Place wrapped tortillas into large resealable bag and freeze. To reheat, remove burrito from wrap and microwave on high for about 2 minutes.