Szechuan Surprise

I came across some Szechuan peppercorns while waiting in line to pay for some cheese today, and of course I had to get some. I recently saw a program that featured the famous, fiery Szechuan hot pot, which consists of a bubbling hell broth spiked with chili oil, onion, ginger, chili peppers and these little berries called Szechuan peppercorns. They were banned in the U.S. for years because they carried a virus that spread to citrus trees. Now they've figured out how to heat treat them without ruining the flavor completely, and they're available again on these shores.

I popped a peppercorn in my mouth and gave it a crunch, expecting it to be overwhelmingly spicy, but to my surprise, it was pretty mild. It's slightly citrusy, similar to pink peppercorns, with more of a black peppercorn aroma. The coolest thing happened, though, about a minute later. My tongue started to tingle as if I had been eating Pop Rocks, and it didn't stop for about 10 minutes! I was standing in my kitchen laughing to myself like a fool, but it was the coolest thing food has done in a while. I can't wait to corral some of my bravest friends for a traditional hot pot dinner one of these days. Maybe Chinese New Year will be the day.

Carnitas, Part 2

Those were some delicious tacos, I don't mind saying. After about 4 hours in the slow cooker, the meat was nearly falling apart, so I took it out of the broth and shredded it with two forks. I let the broth settle for a while and then skimmed the majority of the fat off. The meat then went back into the broth and simmered until dinner time, giving every morsel a chance to soak up the lime-garlic-spice goodness from the juice.

There's another thing you can do with the meat, for that authentic taco stand touch. After the meat is super tender, take the chunks out of the broth and lay them out on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 oven until the surfaces have crisped up, then take them out and shred them. Do with the broth as you please, but I would suggest draining your black beans and putting some of the broth in to stew some flavor into them.

This recipe is a winner, I'd definitely make it again. One butt down, more to come!

Here, Piggy Piggy

A little while back, my grandparents took delivery of half a pig, naturally raised on an organic farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I just got back from visiting them, and I'm now the proud owner of a fresh ham, a picnic shoulder, fresh pork belly, several pounds of ground pork, a loin the size of a yule log, and many, many butts. I had no idea how many butts a pig could have.

I'm trying to make carnitas tacos for dinner tonight, and after searching the web and cobbling together some recipes, I've come up with this so far. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Carnitas

2 1/2 lb. pork, trimmed of major fat and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried cilantro leaves, or 1/4 c fresh
1/2 tsp oregano
2 c hot chicken bouillon
2 tsp vinegar
juice of 2 limes (optional, but I like it)
hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Put it all into a crock pot set on high, and cook until the meat is super tender and ready to shred. Pack it into warm corn tortillas with guacamole, black beans, chihuahua cheese, pickled red onion (see below), hot sauce, fresh cilantro, and anything else you think might be good.

These pickled onions come from a Cuban friend of a friend who brought them to a barbecue this summer. They were excellent on tacos.

1 red onion, halved and sliced
1/2 c vinegar (cider or white)
1/2 c water
2 1/2 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Put everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, let cool, and pack into a sterile jar. Keeps for a few weeks in the refrigerator.