Driftless Appetite

Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter.  But Jimmy X in Sun Prairie says it will be an early spring.  See, another reason local is better!  Just in case Jimmy’s got this one wrong, we decided to make some warm weather for ourselves.  We turned the thermostat up 10 degrees and made pork tacos and pomegranate martinis.

RECIPE

Slow Braised Pork

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

• 1.5 lbs. pork shoulder (cut up in large cubes) (from Weber’s Meats in Cuba City)
  
• 1 large onion chopped
  
• 1 c. cola
• 1/2 c. orange juice
• 2 bay leaves
• 5-8 cloves crushed garlic
• salt
• pepper

Place everything in a Dutch oven and bake for 4 hours.  Take pork out of the liquid.  It should be very tender and can be pulled apart using two forks.  Set aside.

Salsa

• 1/3 c. diced tomatoes
• 1/4 c. chopped onions
• 2 T. chopped cilantro
• 1 T. lemon juice
• drizzle of olive oil

We used store bought corn tacos which we heated using an open flame.  A lovely discovery was using leftover butternut squash instead of re-fried beans.  It had the satisfying starchy texture but lighter and sweeter.