Dinner 26 & 27

So our family is Polynesian.  Most of the food I think is a little disgusting.  I do love their pork though.  So I decided to try my hand in it and make our own Kalua Pork.  It worked out pretty well.  We all loved it and it was super easy.  Those are my favorite kind of meals.

I forgot to take a picture of it on a plate, but here it is after I put it away.  It was so juicy.  It just kind of melted in your mouth.

Dinner #26-Kalua Pork

Ingredients

• 3-4 pound pork roast
• 1-2 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 1/3 c. liquid smoke
• 1 c. cup water

Instructions

 Rub pork generously with salt, place in crock pot, pour on liquid smoke and add water. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Shred pork and put back in crock pot in the juices.  Serve with rice, mac salad and Hawaiian rolls. 

 Mine took about 6, but I'm finding that my new crock pot has shortened my cooking time for everything by about 2 hours  My kids made sandwiches out of their pork because they weren't in the mood for rice. It makes a lot.  I used a 3.25 lb roast.


Dinner #27- Carne Asada

 I've always wanted to make this and have never been brave enough to try.  This was pretty easy, but I did the prep work the night before so it could marinade all night.  Then it was just a matter of grilling and making the side dishes.  Easy stuff.  I did however feel that it was missing an element.  Something with a sweet zing to it.  Maybe some mango or peach would have been perfect.  We will have to try it next time.

• 2 Lb. carne asada or skirt steak (sliced very thin) (my grocer doesn't sell that kind of steak anymore because it was to fatty.  The butcher recommended that I use a round roast and then he cut it for me really fine.  Time saver that man is!!)
•  
• MARINADE:
• 1/4 c. adobo sauce (not adobo paste, if you are having a hard time finding it, you can get the canned chilies in adobo sauce and just use the sauce from it)
• 1/4 c. vinegar
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. beef broth
• 4 oz. can diced chilies
• 2 Tbsp. diced jalapeno (canned is fine)(I didn't have any of these and I don't really like them)
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh oregano (or about 1 tsp. dried)
• 7 shakes green Tabasco sauce(left this out too because we don't like really spicy stuff in this house)
• juice of 1 lime

Instructions

• Combine marinade ingredients. Add carne asada to marinade (separate out the slices so it all gets evenly covered in the marinade) Place meat and marinade in a Ziploc bag, squeeze out all the air, and seal tightly. Allow to marinate overnight (or at least 6-8 hours).
•  Heat grill to medium-high heat and place meat on grill for about 1-2 minutes on each side (it is way thin so it will cook through quickly). Remove from grill and serve. Serve with tacos, burritos, salad or any other yummy thing you would like.

We did our carne asada with tacos, avacados, spanish rice, black beans and tortilla chips.