Cranberries in an appetizer. Cranberries in a main dish. Cranberries in dessert. Cranberries in my sleep. Oh no! A cranberry just rolled across the counter. Cranberries, Cranberries, CRANBERRIES!!!
I had plotted for months on what to do with cranberries when I came across the idea of making a spicy cranberry sauce but then had been stumped as to what to put it on. I toyed with the idea of putting spicy cranberry sauce with a ramekin of shrimp and grits but nixed that idea. It still sounds good to me though. In looking for a recipe for a spicy cranberry sauce I came across this recipe-
Cranberry Chipotle Sauce
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 red pepper, chopped
- 6 oz. dark beer
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 C. brown sugar
- 3/4 C. cider vinegar
- 1/4 C. tomato paste
- 2 T. molasses
- 2 C. whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
Toss everything in a pot and bring to a simmer, uncovered. Cook for 20 minutes. Pour into a blender and puree. That is the basics of it but I took it a step further by straining the sauce through a fine strainer so I would just have saucy goodness and no pulp. I made the sauce on Thursday night but on Saturday morning I tasted the sauce and decided to throw in about a quarter cup of cranberry juice. Can you tell I was worried?
But what should serve this tasty sauce on? My first thought was to put the sauce on a carne asada (grilled meat) little taco. I threw that idea out to a culinary compadre (Alison, if you read this) and she suggested pork carnitas instead. Ohh good idea-
Slow Cooker Carnitas
- 1 t. salt
- 1 t. garlic powder
- 1 t. ground cumin
- 1/2 t. crumbled dried oregano
- 1/2 t. ground coriander
- 1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 C. chicken broth
Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and coriander in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.
Cover and cook on Low until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.
Thursday night while my sauce was simmering away I mixed up the spice blend and put it in a container for Saturday. Love the prep work. Once Saturday morning rolled around I assembled everything in the crock pot and played with the family for the next few hours. Later that afternoon for the last of my prep work I cut up two large white onions into little pieces and minced fresh cilantro leaves to go on the carnitas.
Dinner time is near and it is time to assemble the carnitas for the competition. Using a electric griddle I grilled two corn tortillas per carnitas until they were good and hot. I stacked the two tortillas, topped them with some of the pork meat and a bit of onion and cilantro. Last came a zig-zag or two of the cranberry chipotle sauce across the top and Voila (or whatever is the Mexican equivalent).
As Tracy said, I won second prize for best of the best and that made me happy. Now that this year is over and next years ingredient is "leaves" I have a lot to think about. Spinach leaves . . . Basil leaves . . . Arugula leaves . . . Cilantro leaves . . . Banana leaves . . . oh the possibilities . . .
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