So you got a smoker, and you made a huge portion of Pulled Pork (because it’s AWESOME!), and you have been enjoying yourself all weekend. Monday morning rolls around and your spouse, significant other, or roommate says “you’re not going to have yet another sandwich for breakfast, are you?”
Of course you were. Why not? but in order to insure domestic tranquility, you somehow find yourself saying “um, no. I am going to make an amazing breakfast that you never thought me capable of and you will love it!” Then you have to start thinking up some kind of amazing breakfast that you were never before capable of, so she will love it.
Introducing, Pulled Pork and Eggs! Ok, so the name needs work, but it’s drop dead simple and amazing.
Put a good sized chunk of the Puled Pork into a skillet, over medium heat. Break it up and spread it around so it will all get nice and warm, making the entire kitchen smell like bacon. And yes, you may find that you also want bacon. Try to stay on task.
Meanwhile, crack some eggs into a bowl, cup, dish, whatever, and mix them up with some pepper. (Don’t need salt here, the seasoning on the Pulled Pork has plenty).
When the meat is heated through, pour the eggs over it, and cook them like scrambled eggs, turning occasionally.
Keep turning them, and stop when they still look a little underdone, as they will coast a while after you stop the heat.
Serve in a tortilla with anything that would go into a breakfast burrito (cheese, peppers, salsa, etc), or by itself on a plate, or hanging over the sink directly from the pan (don’t judge me; we have all done it).
So we made the Mexican Carne yesterday for my wife’s sister’s family, who is in town visiting. But we made way too much. Like, several pounds too much. And I love the stuff, so it is not a problem to eat it all week, except they have plans for the rest of the meals for the week. And I do not dare upset the plans of the sisters, lest I not get to eat what they come up with.
So a new plan was needed. And my beautiful wife came up with the idea of a freezer meal. That’s where you make the entire dish, put it in a disposable oven container, and put it in the deep freeze. Sometime in the next couple of months, you then pull it out, put it in the oven, and voila! You have a ready to eat meal that is better than a TV dinner. only one question remained: what could we make out of the Mexican Carne that would freeze well, and heat well?
The answer tonight was Enchiladas!
So off the the wonderful internet to find a good enchilada sauce. And we found one. it is really good. Check out the post over at Add a Pinch.
Of course I could not leave well enough alone. So I adjusted it to better work with the pork version of the Mexican Carne. Meaning I cut some of the sugar she has in there, and only used half the Chicken stock (and yes, you can use water if you don’t have stick on hand).
Start by making a base similar to a French Roux, only thinner. Combine the oil and flour in the pan, and put it on low to medium heat. Whisk the entire time (about two minutes), to keep from burning, and to cook the flour a little bit (since nobody likes the taste of raw flour). Once it no longer smells like flour, you can lower the heat and add the crushed tomatoes, spices, and whatever else is on the list. Sauce will thicken fairly quickly when stirred together with the roux.
Stir it together and set to a low simmer for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
It really is quite tasty.
If you are making it into a freezer meal like we did, simply roll up the Mexican Carne in flour tortillas, line them side by side in a disposable pan, smother them in the Enchilada Sauce, and tightly cover the pan with aluminum foil. Label it with a permanent marker, and put it in the deep freezer. Whenever you choose to use it in the future, put it into a 350 degree oven for an hour, then check it. If the center of the middle ones isn’t heated through, put it back in the oven until it is.
Truly Good Enchilada Sauce, adapted from http://addapinch.com/cooking/enchilada-sauce-recipe/
Ingredients
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons chili powder
½ cup chicken stock, or water
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
Mix together vegetable oil and flour in a medium saucepan. Put over medium heat and whisk constantly for two minutes, until you no longer smell raw flour.
Turn down heat and add crushed tomatoes, spices, and the remaining ingredients. Stir together.
A few years ago, a friend of ours told us that her mother was visiting from southern Mexico. Would it be OK if she came over to visit and bring her mother? Would it be OK if she cooked at our house? Would it be OK to mame some authentic Mexican Carne?
Well, yeah. Definitely.
As a bit of background, I spent a few years in South America when I was younger. I learned Spanish, at least the Uruguay version of Spanish, and I learned some Latino Culture. Not all of it, of course; I was 20, so of course I wasn’t the best for studying and learning. But I did learn to speak the language.
Fast forward 20 years, and we had a very pleasant lady visiting us, who spoke very little English. And my wife, who spoke very little Spanish. And my habit of chatting and shooting the breeze pulling me off on my own discussions, rather than work as translator. My wife had a difficult time of it, and it was a long night, but she really enjoyed the company and we watched, and asked questions, and we learned. Carne. Simple, delicious, and always a hit.
We use some of the meat from the Pulled Pork, but you can use whatever shredded meat you have, beef, pork, and probably chicken, though I haven’t tried that. If you don’t have the time to smoke the pulled pork, you can put a pork shoulder or a beef roast into a crock pot with water, stock, veggies, V-8 juice, or whatever you have. Cook it on low overnight, take it out of the pot and shred it with a couple of forks.
Start by chopping the vegetables. We used three onions, two green peppers, and one Jalapeno. Ok, it’s best with a jalapeno, but the store was out, so the pictures have a small red pepper in them, I don’t remember which kind; Red Fresno, maybe. It’s better with the jalapeno. Also, feel free to use two or three of them if you like spice; one will add flavor and almost no spice; three may be too much for a general audience.
Add oil to to a large saute pan. Vegetable oil works well here. I knew we were making Mexican Carne, so I kept some of the oil from the Pulled Pork.
Add the peppers. And onions.
And saute them until they soften a little.
Add the shredded meat, and mix it in.
Then chop the tomatoes and add them.
Now you want to add a little more liquid, water or stock, etc. Then simmer the entire thing, stirring occasionally, until it’s texture changes. Usually takes about 30-40 minutes, depending on how hot the simmer and how full the pan.
And that is what it looks like. The photo doesn’t do it justice. It changes from a bunch of stuff in a pan to a meaty goodness. Be patient; you’ll know when it gets there. Go ahead and taste it. If you didn’t use the Pulled Pork or a stock, etc, when making the meat, and didn’t season the meat before this, the Mexican Carne will need salt and pepper added here. But taste it first, don’t over salt.
Serving Suggestions. Roll it into a tortilla. Add your favorite things like Queso Fresco, lettuce, sour cream, etc. Put it on a salad. Or hang over the kitchen sink and snarf it before the kinds show up to eat it all; and yeah, that rarely happens if you have more than one kid.
Saute onion, green peppers, and jalapeno pepper in oil until softened, about five minutes
stir in shredded meat, warm through
stir in diced tomatoes
simmer until everything changed texture and blends, 30-40 minutes. If it starts to dry, add some liquid that the meat was cooked in if available, or water
So you got a smoker, and you made a huge portion of Pulled Pork (because it’s AWESOME!), and you have been enjoying yourself all weekend. Monday morning rolls around and your spouse, significant other, or roommate says “you’re not going to have yet another sandwich for breakfast, are you?”
When the meat is heated through, pour the eggs over it, and cook them like scrambled eggs, turning occasionally.
