Description
Al pastor is my favorite ingredient for tacos, so why not put everything you love about al pastor inside a potato skin.
Ingredients
- FOR THE AL PASTOR:
- 1 pound Pork Shoulder, Cubed
- ½ whole Large Onion, Quartered
- 1 whole Orange, Juiced
- 6 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 3 whole Pasilla Chili Peppers, Seeded, Boiled And Chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoons Cracked Black Pepper
- ½ Tablespoons Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
- FOR THE POTATO SKINS:
- 2 whole Small To Medium Sized Russet Potatoes, Rinsed Clean
- 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 pinch Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 cup Cooked Al Pastor
- 1 whole Roma Tomato, Diced
- ½ whole Avocado, diced
- 3 Tablespoons Onion, Minced
- 3 Tablespoons Pineapple, Diced
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
- 1 whole Lime, Quartered
Preparation
Begin by putting your pork, the quartered onions and the orange juice into a large Ziplock bag. Seal the bag. Let this mixture sit in the refrigerator overnight. Then put the pork into a crockpot and cook on low for roughly 8 hours. This process will render out some of the fat and the flavors will begin to come together. Don’t get too excited yet, the fun is about to come.
In a food processor, add the garlic, pasilla peppers, cumin, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Process until it forms somewhat of a paste. This paste is going to be used to cook the pork, once again, to form a crispness to the pork.
In a large pot, add the cooking oil and bring to a medium to high heat for a few minutes. Add the pork, then stir in the paste. Mix really well, and cook on medium heat for roughly 15 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and let it cook for another 5 minutes, allowing the flavors to come together even further. Turn the heat off and set to the side.
Preheat your oven to 400 F. Poke the top of each potato with a fork a few times and place on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 1 hour. Once cooked, remove potatoes from the baking sheet and place on a plate to let them cool for about 15 minutes.
Once your potatoes are cooled, use a sharp bread knife and cut each lengthwise, into three segments per potato. Discard the middle slice or use it for breakfast the following morning, or heck for that matter, add some butter, salt, and cream, and make some rustic mashed potatoes.
Next, melt your butter in the microwave. Get your broiler heated to high. Brush the butter on the inside and outside of each potato skin and place them back onto the baking sheet. Season the inside of each skin with some salt and pepper.
Place them under the broiler for 8-10 minutes until the insides get a bit crispy from the melted butter. Remove them from the oven and prepare everything for the next step.
Add approximately 1/4 cup of the cooked al pastor into each potato skin. Top that with some tomato, avocado, onion and pineapple, and shower with some of the cilantro. Squeeze just a bit of lime over the top. Repeat, and serve.
These al pastor potato skins were freaking delicious. They were everything you would expect in what I define as a perfect taco. Instead of a tortilla this uses a really awesome potato skin plus the original awesome balance of taco flavors.
If you are looking for something fun, exciting, and different to make, give these a try. And happy Cinco de Mayo!
