Pulled Pork Tacos with a Cilantro Jalapeno Slaw and Chipotle Sour Cream

I have made so many variations of this dish it’s not even funny. I have used the same pulled pork recipe for burrito bowls and sandwiches. And the same slaw has been on fish tacos, steak tacos, shrimp tacos, chicken tacos and (as featured above) pulled pork tacos. But... "If the shoe fits" -and- "If it ain't broke, don’t fix it". These combinations are always a crowd pleaser, and I haven’t had a complaint yet!

For the pork:

6 lbs pork butt/shoulder/picnic pork

1 can Dr. Pepper

2 cups orange juice

8-10 cloves garlic

1 yellow onion

cilantro stems (cut them off of the bottom of the bushel you will use later for the slaw)

salt and pepper

1. Heavily sprinkle salt and pepper on every side of the pork.

2. Place a Dutch Oven on the stove top, drizzle 1 little bit of olive oil and brown the pork on all sides ; roughly 4-5 minutes per side.

3. Add the onion (quartered), cilantro stems, garlic (coarsely chopped), Dr. Pepper and orange juice. Cover and place in the oven. Cook at 22 degrees for 4 hours. Raise the oven temperature to 300 and cook an additional 30-45 minutes.

4. Carefully remove the meat and shred it; adding 1/4- 1/2 a cup of the liquid from the Dutch Oven and a little bit more salt and pepper to taste.

(6 lbs is a lot of pork, you can use it for leftovers, make a pork pizza, bbq pork rolls, etc... or freeze it. But you will have a difficult time finding a pork butt (which is actually the shoulder) in a smaller cut.

For the Slaw:

1 head of cabbage

1 bushel of cilantro

3/4-1 cup jarred jalapenos

3 limes

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Cut up the head of cabbage. I leave out the thick, whiter core; cut off the sides that surround it, leaving a sort of cube with the base of the head behind. You're going to want to cut it as finely as possible. If you're a real stickler for measuring, I came out with roughly 6 cups of loosely packed slaw from my head of cabbage. Toss the cabbage into a large mixing bowl.

2. Cut up your cilantro. I really like cilantro. So if you have large bushel, you're probably okay with one. But if your grocer only seems to have small ones in stock, I would go ahead and grab two. Add the cut up cilantro to the cabbage.

3. Measure out 3/4- 1 cup of diced jarred jalapenos. (I know it’s funny I use jarred, but the inconsistent heat on regular jalapenos makes them difficult for me to cook with. Plus the acidity in the jarred jalapenos adds to the slaw flavor.) Add to the bowl.

4. Juice your limes over the bowl.

5. Add the mayonnaise.

6. Add 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp black pepper and mix together thoroughly.

7. You can set this aside and refrigerate before preparing your fish tacos. If you do this, give it a good stir again, since the liquid will have most likely settled at the bottom.

For the Chipotle Sour Cream:

1 1/2 cups sour cream

3-4 chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp garlic powder

1. In a sauce pan, stir together sour cream, powder, chipotle peppers(cut up/smooshed into almost a puree) and salt.

2. Cook on a low heat to warm to the sauce. And serve when ready.

You Will Also Need:

Tortillas (I prefer corn, 8-16... If you use flour they are larger and you will need less)

1 package of feta

Extra limes or cilantro for garnish/flavor

Putting it all together:

(I really hope this is all self explanatory.)

1. Lay your tortilla on a plate.

2. Add the slaw.

3. Add the pork.

4. Add the chipotle sour cream.

5. Crumble the feta. (Yes feta, trust me, I promise.)

6. If you want to squeeze a lime wedge or add extra cilantro leaves, be my guest.

7. (Tina) eat your food!