Paying Homage to an Annapolis Staple

For those that know me outside of the blog realm and have ever sat down to a meal with myself and my husband, you are aware of our extreme appreciation for any and all pork products. There is nary a bit of that magical cloven hooved animal that I don’t love. As a matter of fact, my friends Diz and Mona and I have a long running joke about how much I love pork- there’s a wholesale meats shop just down the street from Mona’s house, and she is always waiting on the day that I will show up with an whole pig (hooves and all) strapped to the top of my car ready to share its culinary mysticism. For years, our friend Adam and his crew would host a pig roast every summer (think high school reunion on speed with kegs, pigs, guns, bonfires and camping. AKA- Best.Time.Ever.), and the moment of unveiling was always the highlight of the night. At one of these events, the police (shockingly!) showed up, and someone shouted “Pigs!” to which my friend Jessie grabbed her plate, only to realize it wasn’t the dinner but rather a suggestion to make one’s self scarce. So it is no surprise that when Kyle and I stumbled on the flavorful, crunchy medicinal-esque powers of the Pork Verde tacos at one of our favorite watering holes when we lived in Annapolis (http://www.themexicancafe.com) it was a religious experience. The pork was done in a traditional Mexican style- marinated in spices, slow cooked and flash fried- and served simply w/ verde salsa, chopped cilantro, onion, tomato and a squeeze of lime. Sublime. The experience was only heightened by their near-lethal margaritas, at peak I think I once consumed 5, and proceeded to bring down the house with Diz at the bar next door with our karaoke rendition of  "Don't Stop Believin'", and do the backstroke across our living room floor.
News recently was passed down to us that Mexican Café would be closing their doors in May 2010 due to a multi-use project wherein the little peach stucco shack will be bulldozed and a CVS will spring up in its place. As much as I would love to dedicate this to a diatribe full of profanity towards such endeavors, I will instead concentrate on the celebration of Mexican Café, their pork verde tacos and my re-creation of this favorite treat. Many spring afternoon and evenings were spent at the Café, and they will live on in infamy with the old Edgewood crew long after they have served their last margarita. To Diz, Carolyn, Rob and Will- always glad we lived within walking distance, and had plenty of room for crashers!
For my version (which has been modified and perfected over the past couple of makings), I don’t use the deep frying process, as I was trying to lighten it up a bit and haven’t had the best of luck when immersing food into hot, spattering oil. This all oven method is a slow cook, but great for a weekend, and an easy and inexpensive way to entertain. I really like using country style ribs for this, as you get a nice mix of light and dark meat, and the fat that is essential to making this pork crispy. Depending on your personal taste, you can leave out as much of the fat during the shredding point and skim the liquid fat out of the pan before the broiling. Personally, I go whole hog (pun completely intended) for the dish, as I think it really rounds out the rustic flavor of the tacos.

Fresh Pork Verde Tacos

For the Pork:
-1-2lbs. Country Style Ribs (depending on how many people you’re feeding/how hungry you are)
-Spice Rub (recipe as follows)
-Olive oil
-1 small can roasted green chilies, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-Cracked pepper & sea salt



Spice Rub:
-2 tblspns chili powder
-1 tblspn ground cumin
-1 tblspn crushed red pepper flakes
-1 tbspn Spanish paprika
-1 tablspn ancho chili powder
-2-3 tblspns good pork rub (I used one I picked up in a specialty shop, season salt can sub in)
-1 tblspn Mexican oregano

For Assembly:
-Small corn tortillas
-½ cup chopped tomatoes (I used a mix of organic heirloom cherry tomatoes for their color)
-½ cup chopped sweet onion
-¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
-1 Avocado, chopped
-Verde Salsa (we have a couple of great Latin markets nearby, so I usually pick some up fresh, but feel free to make your own or sub in your favorite)
-Sour cream
-Lime wedges

Pre-heat oven for 325. Combine all spice rub ingredients in a jar with tight fitting lid and shake to combine. Coat the bottom of a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven (large enough to hold all of the ribs) with a little olive oil. Place ribs in skillet, add in garlic, green chilies, salt & pepper (to your taste) and toss to coat. Cover liberally with spice rub and toss so all surfaces are well coated. If you have any leftover spice rub, it will keep in a well sealed jar for weeks. Place skillet on the middle rack & cook for 1 ½ hours, checking occasionally. This is a great time to prepare and chop all the other components while the pork is doing it’s magic in the oven. This is also usually the time that my very talented husband makes a pitcher of his absolutely knockout margaritas, and I think it really adds to the experience, just make sure any prep involving knife work has been completed.

After 1 ½ hrs., pull out of oven and let rest until meat is cool enough to handle, approx 20 minutes (do not let meat cool completely, as it will be more difficult to shred). Remove meat from skillet onto a plate or cutting board, and working one section at a time, shred back into skillet. Once all meat is shredded, toss in pan drippings/spices to coat well, move oven rack on step higher, turn on broiler and return skillet to oven under broiler. This next phase involves a lot of watching, and a good set of long spring loaded tongs or a long handled wooden spoon are crucial. As pork begins to brown, turn occasionally so all pieces have a chance to get crisp and crunchy and well sauced. This can take anywhere from 15-25 minutes, depending on the heat output of your broiler, so keep a watchful eye. To really achieve that deep fryer style crunch, I let this go for the maximum time and it will be super crunchy and have great texture. If it’s your first time working with your broiler, you may want to start on the low setting- it will take a bit longer, but will buy you a little insurance against cremating your pork.

 Just before desired crispiness has been attained, wrap tortillas in a damp kitchen towel and place on lowest rack below skillet to avoid singing to warm for a minute or two. When pork perfection has been reached- remove wrapped tortillas and skillet. To assemble, place tortillas on plates, load up with pork, dress according to your tastes and enjoy with a big stack of absorbent cloth napkins (maybe a Shamwow???) and a pitcher of homemade margaritas or icy cold Mexican beer. Que aproveche!