All About Cooking, Food and Stuff: Cookin It, Old Scool...

There was something about standing in front of the stove today with my cast iron skillets that made me think about my grandmothers and how they use to cook "back in the day". It was nostalgic in a way that was hard to describe; the heating of the cast iron, warming of tortillas, the smell of pork being fried in lard wafting through the air...it was comforting. What caused all of this sentimental cooking today, carnitas tacos and refried beans.

Every Sunday (or almost every Sunday) we have dinner at my sister's and brother in-laws home, in which I proceed to steal all leftovers that I can get my hands on. This past Sunday, we had pulled pork...which was awesome (click here to see Kirk's BBQ blog). He suggested using one of my many cast iron skillets to make carnitas with the leftovers. In case you don't know, carnitas is the most awesome stuff in the WORLD...translating to "little meats"; its pork that has been roasted or braised or fried (I know that's how it is done in El Paso, at least that is what it tastes like and it is AWESOME!!!).

So for lunch today I pulled the leftovers out of the fridge and decided to make carnitas tacos. I started off by heating up the medium skillet with about a tablespoon of lard and then I threw the pork in to fry it up. I also heated up the corn tortillas using my 8" skillet that had belonged to Good Mama (my mother's mother, can you tell I have family from Kentucky).

I then mixed up slaw to go on the tacos. The slaw is from a recipe, from a restaurant in Old Mesilla, NM...La Posta.

La Posta's Coleslaw

For printable recipe, please click here
1 small head of cabbage shredded

or 2+ cups shredded (trust me you will need more)
¼ C olive oil or Wesson oil
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Mix together oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add cabbage and mix thoroughly. Chill before serving. Add more cabbage as necessary.