I'm experimenting again. I love pastor and have made it only once. It was definitely a learning experience because I needed to figure out where to find the
chiles I was not familiar with, like guajillo and pasilla. Not only did I need to find them I needed lessons on what they actually were. Alton Brown, and others, showed how one chile can have 3 names depending on whether it is fresh, dried or smoked. Here's a link to a great site that helped me figure it out, Cook's Thesaurus
The recipe I had used before called for guajillo chiles, and pasillas which I was able to find. They were then soaked and the pork was marinated. It was from the LA Times and fairly involved. It turned out good but not as fantastic as I'd hoped.
Last weekend I made another attempt. Now, I'm not really aiming for the ultimate authentic version. According to the purists I'd need a spit and a taco truck for that. I wound up at a local Von's without much time so I went with what they had - no guajillo, no pasillas - they didn't even carry the dried spices anymore. They didn't even have the little cans of chipotle in adobo I needed. OK so here's a sort of Sandra Lee version of Pastor using, of all things, Taco Seasoning Mix! They had a hot version so I used that. I started with the epicurious recipe and veered way off due to ingredient issues:
Here's what was declared "Very Tasty" by my significant other who's not prone to compliments and has definite opinions about his Mexican food.
1 large white onion, halved
1 16 oz can sliced pineapple
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup italian dressing
2 TB hot taco seasoning :)
3 garlic cloves, halved
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 2 1/2-to 3-pound pork sholder cut into 1/2-inch slices - (don't cut all the way through)
1 large or 2 small chipotle chiles and 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo from canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Corn tortillas
Put the pineapple slices between the slices of pork. Slice 1 onion half. Add orange juice and next 5 ingredients. Place pork in large resealable plastic bag with onions. Add marinade and seal bag, releasing excess air. Turn to coat. Chill 1 hour. Remember I was short on time. 4 hours or a day would have been better.
Cook in crock pot for 2 hours then 300 degree oven (covered) for 1 1/2. Take the fat off the top of the sauce formed while cooking and add the chipotle and adobo (that your significant other has brought from Ralph's in time to add it after the cooking has taken place). Cook the sauce down until it becomes thick enough to brush onto meat. I added some honey at this point, maybe a tablespoon.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill pork with some sauce until slightly charred 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer pineapple and pork to work surface; chop remaining pineapple into 1/2-inch cubes, Chop pork. Transfer to platter; toss to combine with more of the sauce.
Meanwhile, finely chop remaining onion half and place in medium bowl. Add cilantro; toss to combine. Grill tortillas until warm and slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.
Serve pork-pineapple mixture with onion-cilantro relish.
Maybe I need to come up with another name for this dish since the only thing that clings to the pastor tradition is the pineapple. Next time I'll use fresh pineapple (won't do a long marinade with fresh pineapple -enzymes you know) and do the whole soak the real chile thing. But, for a fake version this was "tasty."
Here are some links I came across in my search:
This site has a picture of what the authentic pastor situation in Mexico City is
http://www.batista.org/pastor.html
This site gave some good background on the pastor tradition. I'm not sure I'm onboard with cinnamon in the recipe though... Looks like a good recipe blog. He's a transplanted Californinan living in NYC trying to find good Mexican food. I remember being in the same situation in Boston.
http://www.norecipes.com/2008/05/04/tacos-al-pastor/
These recipes use a bay leaf which I think I'll try next.
http://onebigkitchen.com/?p=152
http://www.nibbledish.com/people/norecipes/recipes/tacos-al-pastor
Personal pet peeve - NOBODY USES APOSTROPHES CORRECTLY ANYMORE!
Plural words don't need them I ate 2 tacos.
Possesives use them. The taco's flavor. As in the flavor owned by the taco
Contractions use apostrophes This taco's good. As in this taco is good
OK I feel better. Heaven knows I'm not perfect but sheesh people. As the language changes the apostrophe will probably either be used for everything or dropped entirely.
