The Perfect Family Meal: Shredded Pork Tostadas

One of the many things Marshall and I promised after we got married was to have different people over for dinner at our house to use all our new things.  Marshall and I have been going down the list of people and one of those select few was my sister.  My sister and her husband have two amazing kids (twins), so I had to come up with something that everyone would enjoy.  Luckily, my niece and nephew aren't too picky, so finding something wasn't too difficult.  We're all big fans of Mexican food, plus it's great for casual get-togethers, which is what I was aiming for having my sister and her family over.

I turned to my new favorite cooking magazine:  Cooks Illustrated.  Unfortunately, when I received the horrible news that Conde Nast closed shop on Gourmet, I had to find something else to feed my repertoire.  I'm not the biggest fan of Conde Nast's other cooking magazine, Bon Appetit, even though I was slated to fulfill the rest of my Gourmet subscription with BA.  That's another post altogether, though.  In any case, I picked up CI off the news rack at the grocery store.  I loved its minimalist design (all 1-color printing, except for the last page), down-to-earth writing style, tried and tested recipes (CI is the companion to the PBS show, America's Test Kitchen), and lastly (but not least) for the fact that there are NO advertisements.  Even Gourmet was inundated with big annoying advertisements and BI is no different.  I understand that's where the magazine gets the majority of their revenue, but they really get in the way.  I've since bought 3 issues of CI in a row and I'm beginning to wonder if I just shouldn't buy a subscription already.

Anyway, the March/April issue contained a recipe for Shredded Pork Tostadas.  I had never cooked up pork shoulder before, but the recipe made it look like such an easy process and I could practically taste the spicy deliciousness by merely reading the ingredients.  Also, the magazine included some great tips, like using a potato masher to shred the cooked pork and then using the SAME potato masher as a weight for frying the tortillas.  By the way, the best tortillas for this are the "Homemade" corn tortillas at Trader Joe's.  They don't contain any preservatives and they smell delicious.  My sister commented that my kitchen smelled like a Mexican restaurant, when I was frying these up!


I made this the first time right when I got the magazine, but when faced with decided what to cook my sister and her family, I decided to gladly make it again.  It was a big hit with everyone, even though my niece and nephew complained it was too spicy.  I only used the smaller amount of chipotle powder, but I suppose for little mouths it might have been a little too much.  My sister brought over some leftover black bean soup, which had the consistency of really good black bean dip, and that ended up being a perfect topper for the tostadas.  I can't seem to have a tostada without beans:  the first time I made these for Marshall and I, I insisted on having beans.  Anyway, my sister and her husband gobbled theirs down and my sister kept complimenting, so I'll chalk that up as a W and move on from there.  :)  It was fun having everyone over and I realized we need to do it more often.  When my sister and her husband moved into their house a few years ago, Marshall and I were going over there every few weeks to play Settlers of Catan.  I miss those nights.  Anyway, it was a treat cooking for others and even bigger treat that everyone really enjoyed the food.

Among the black beans, we had the typical toppings:  avocado (I was lucky and found some California-grown Organic ones at the store, which were less than the ones from Mexico), Napa cabbage, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges.  Oh, and you know we had the perfect libations to wash down the delicious pork:  Modelo Negro, naturally!




Spicy Mexican Shredded Pork Tostadas (Tinga)
Tinga
2 pounds boneless pork butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 Onions (medium-sized): 1 quartered and 1 chopped fine
5 Garlic Cloves: 3 peeled and smashed and 2 minced or pressed through garlic press
4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
Table salt (Kosher salt, which is what I use, works just fine)
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 (14.5-ounce) can Tomato Sauce
1 Tbs Chipotle Powder (You can easily substitute whole canned Chipotle in Adobo Sauce, if you have those on-hand.)
2 Bay Leaves

Tostadas
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Table salt

Garnishes
Queso Fresco or Feta Cheese
Fresh Cilantro
Sour Cream
Diced Avocado
Lime Wedges

1. FOR THE TINGA: Bring pork, quartered onion, smashed garlic cloves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 6 cups water to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook until pork is tender, 75 to 90 minutes. Drain pork, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Discard onion, garlic, and thyme. Return pork to saucepan and, using a potato masher, mash until shredded into rough 1/2-inch pieces; set aside. The pork can easily be made up to 2 days in advance, kept in an air-tight container in the fridge.

2. Heat olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shredded pork, chopped onion, and oregano; cook, stirring often, until pork is well browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in tomato sauce, chipotle powder, reserved pork cooking liquid, and bay leaves; simmer until almost all liquid has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves and season with salt to taste.

4. TO FRY TOSTADAS (OPTIONAL): Heat vegetable oil in 8-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees. Using fork, poke center of each tortilla 3 or 4 times (to prevent puffing and allow for even cooking). Fry 1 at a time, holding metal potato masher in upright position on top of tortilla to keep it submerged, until crisp and lightly browned, 45 to 60 seconds (no flipping is necessary). Drain on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

5. SERVE! Build your tostada in whatever fashion you see fit.

bon appetit!