Pork Tacos
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup bread crumbs
4 flour tortillas
2 ounces cheddar, grated
2 ounces Monterey jack, grated
salt and pepper
- Combine pork, cumin, paprika, cayenne, garlic and bread crumbs and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Flatten the pork mixture into a disk the size of the frying pan and fry until browned, then flip and continue cooking until cooked through to the center.
- Remove the pork from the heat and cut into slices. Serve on tortillas with shredded cheese and other desired toppings.
Makes 4 servings
Tortilla Soup
2 tablespoons corn oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chilies, seeded and chopped
6 cups chicken broth
19 ounces canned diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1 cup masa (corn flour) or 10 corn tortillas
4 ounces cheddar, grated
4 ounces Monterey jack, grated
4 ounces mozzarella, grated
1 cup milk
1 cup tortilla chips
salt and pepper
- Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Sauté carrots, onions, garlic and chilies until tender.
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then stir in the tomatoes, cumin, paprika, cayenne and oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the pork and masa or corn tortillas and cook until pork is done and masa is thoroughly incorporated, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce heat and stir in milk and 3/4 of the cheese. Serve garnished with tortilla chips and remaining cheese.
Makes 6 servings
Anybody Got Some Salsa?
I've read a lot about a Tortilla Soup over the year and never thought it sounded particularly appetizing. I was thinking about it today though and since I don't really have any other options off the top of my head, decided to make it. While searching through the recipes, there seems to be quite a flame war going on for what the "real" tortilla soup is! "So and so doesn't know how to make it properly, this is the real tortilla soup!" and then they go on to list a recipe containing something like onion soup mix, chili powder, tomatoes and tortillas. I decided to go with pork because I had some on hand.
Now, I couldn't find any corn tortillas, but luckily I had a ready supply of masa in my cupboard. I mean, who doesn't? It's a pretty accurate substitute for this purpose. I'm not really sure how the tortillas just dissolve in the soup because of my substitution though. I thought that the soup was incredibly thick and ate more like a dip for tortilla chips than a soup. We discarded of the leftovers and won't be making it again, as a soup or part of a party platter.
Since we were both starving while waiting for the soup to cook, I used the leftover ground pork to make Pork Tacos. I used the same principle as when making Gyros to make a sort of pork roll that I then sliced up. The pork meat was good, but I didn't realize we didn't have any taco toppings except lettuce and cheese until after preparing them, so the tacos were a little plain. This would be a winner if we had salsa and sour cream in the house! I'm all for this gigantic patty method of using ground meat now.