These were awesome. One of my favorite dishes of recent weeks, these were just absolutely delicious. The pork was interestingly sweet (it smelled amazing while cooking), and it had just a little heat in the after taste. As I’m writing this, I wish I was eating more right now. I got the recipe from the Feb/March 2009 issue of Food Network Magazine (only the second issue ever of this magazine). I had to make several changes due to availability of ingredients, so here’s the original recipe, and below is my variation.

Pulled Pork Tacos

I made some out-of-the-box Goya Yellow Rice (the only rice I don’t completely destroy, aside from risotto) to go with it. I also made both of my standard salsas and used shredded cheddar for toppings.

Cooking time
Slow cooker: 5 hours
Dutch oven: 2 hours, 15 minutes (I used this method when I ran out of time for the slow cooker)

Ingredients:
3 whole poblano peppers
4 garlic cloves, peeled
3 chipotles in adobe sauce (any grocery store should have this in the canned goods aisle)
1/2 medium white onion, roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons spicy honey (I used a fantastic Red Chile Honey that Adam bought during a visit to the Santa Fe School of Cooking)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican (I eyeballed this)
2 teaspoons chipotle seasoning (Again, I used a great seasoning mix from Santa Fe School of Cooking)
3 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 lbs boneless pork butt (This is half the meat of the original, and a different cut–the butcher recommended it. It can feed 4 or make lots of sublime leftovers)
Freshly ground pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
Tortillas, warmed for serving (we had a mix of flour fajita tortillas and corn tortillas)
Toppings

1. Put the poblanos and garlic in a bowl and microwave on high until “soft and pliable,” 2-3 minutes. Stem and seed the chiles. Put the chiles and garlic in a blender. Add the chipotles, onion, 2 tablespoons olive oil, honey, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt, oregano, and chipotle seasoning to the blender. Puree until smooth.

2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over high heat; add the chile sauce and fry, stirring, until thick and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Pour in the broth and reduce until slightly thickened.

3. Season the pork all over with salt and pepper and cut unto chunks.

4. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, then pour in the sauce.

5. For the slow cooker: Cover and cook on high until the meat is tender, about 5 hours. For the Dutch oven (my method): Cover and cook at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, lower the heat to 375 for 45 minutes, then cook uncovered at 375 for another half hour. **The original recipe uses lower heat, but I liked this super soft and falling apart.

6. Discard the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Shred the pork with forks or a mashed potato masher (my preference). Season with salt and pepper.

7. Serve the shredded pork in tortillas, along with the toppings.