THE BEAST & THE BOURBON

THE BEAST & THE BOURBON

Pulled Pork Neck Soft Flour Taco with a Bourbon & Chipotle Sauce and a Green Apple & Fennel Salsa

I love that Mexican food is becoming a bit of an in thing at the moment. As a lover of all things Mexican from a very young age, to me it is like a high school friend that becomes famous 20 years later… you feel like you knew them way back when, like you were in on the joke before anyone else.

Now that is not to say that I knew about Mexican food before anybody else… far from it! I am sure that thousands of years of Aztec, Mayan culture and five hundred years Spanish influence override a 5 year old eating westernized Mexican in Brisbane for the first time in 1978.

But from that first bite I have been in love.

Whenever a new Mexican restaurant opens it’s doors you will normally see me there sampling the wares… I just love the food and the culture so much, I can’t help myself. And even if they get it wrong, to me it does not matter, those wonderful flavors of corn and beans, mixed with dark and smoky spices and fresh, crunchy salsas make any dining experience worthwhile.

This dish is a bit of a contemporary take on a classic Mexican Taco. One of my favorite things about cooking is coming up with emotive names for dishes. Normally it is one ingredient that sparks my imagination… for this it was Bourbon.

This dish is lots of fun, the crunch of the Green Apple, the rich, smoky taste of the Pulled Pork Neck and the dark sweet Chipotle and Bourbon sauce…

Pulled Pork Neck Soft Flour Taco with a Bourbon & Chipotle Sauce and a Green Apple & Fennel Salsa 

Ingredients

For the Pulled Pork Neck

500 g Pork Neck Cubed

1 litre Chicken Stock

1 Tin Whole Peeled Tomatoes

4 Diced Jalapenos

1 tbsp Molasses

3 Chipotle Chilies

Pinch Cinnamon

1 Roughly Chopped Onion

1 ½ Tbsp Cumin

Water if you need it

Salt & Pepper

For The Green Apple & Fennel Salsa

1 Green Apple

½ Bulb Baby Fennel

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

½ Handful Coriander Leaves Roughly Chopped

For the Chipotle & Bourbon Sauce

2 tbsp Olive Oil

½ Red Onion chopped

250ml Bourbon

3 Dried Chipotle Chilies soaked and seeded

2 Cloves Garlic Roasted

750mls Chicken Stock

250ml Apple Juice

3 tbsp Brown Sugar

Pinch of Salt

For the Tortilla

3 Cups Flour

Splash of Vegetable Oil

Salt

Water

To Finish

50g Queso Fresco or Fetta Cheese

Chives

To Make Tortilla

1. Add three cups of flour to food processor. Start to blend and drizzle in oil. Add water in slow, thin stream stopping to allow dough to clump. Don’t add too much or we will have glue….
2. When dough forms remove from processor and knead like a mad man for 10 minutes on a floured work surface.
3. Wrap in Cling film and rest for 30 min in cool dry place.

Make the Pulled Pork Neck

1. Heat Griddle pan till the bad boy smokes, add Chipotle Chillies and garlic. Roast Chillies till you can smell that great smoky flavour then remove. Roast garlic until skin has blackened and is soft then remove and skin.
2. Place Chipotle Chillies into bowl, cover with boiling water and submerge for 20 minutes. Use a tin of something to keep them under the water
3. After they have soaked remove Chipotle from water, de-seed and de-stem. Roughly chop & reserve… don’t eat them yet!!!
4. Okay two ways to go here… Pressure Cooker or Old School in a pot… one is quick, one is slow… both taste goooood!
5. In the large pot or the pressure cooker add onions, jalapenos, garlic and pork and brown. Don’t be a lunatic and burn things… the smoky flavour comes from the chillies, not the burnt onions on the bottom of a pan!
6. Chuck in the chicken stock, tomatoes, Molasses (I love Molasses), Chipotle Chillies, Cinnamon & Cumin. Add water to ensure meat is covered. I am leaving this up to you as I am not there and don’t know how large your pot is!
7. If using a pressure cooker place lid on and cook to manufacturer’s advice… please follow this - I don’t want you to blow up or over cook the meat! (Every pressure cooker is different, mine normally takes 30 minutes)
8. If going ‘old school’ and using a pot on the stove, cook covered on low simmer for 1 hour the remove lid and cook for approx 2-3 hours
9. Once meat is tender transfer to large flat pan and cook off excess liquid. Meat should be shredded and juicy… LOVE IT!

Make the Green Apple & Fennel Salsa

1. While the Pork is cooking get started on the Green Apple Slaw. Cut the Apple into thin slices…. Once you have cut the apple to the core stack the pieces julienne and brunoise….
2. Repeat the same process with the Fennel and add to the Apple.
3. Combine Lemon juice and Olive Oil in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pour over the Apples & Fennel.
4. Add Chopped Coriander stir together well and reserve

Make the Chipotle & Bourbon Sauce

5. Repeat steps one to three in the pulled pork section for the Chipotle and the garlic… or if you really want to be efficient…. Do it at the same time!
6. Add the Chillies and garlic to a food processor with half the chicken stock and puree till smooth. Reserve.
7. Heat a pan add the olive oil and sauté the onions. When they are nice and soft de-glaze the pan with the bourbon and reduce until there is only a few tablespoons of the liquid left
8. Add the Chilli Puree, Apple Juice; stock and brown sugar bring to boil and the simmer until you have about half left.
9. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and return the remaining liquid to a clean pan.
10.  Reduce until you have a wonderful and dark rich sauce… season to taste and you are done!

Make the Tortillas

1. Roll out a section small portion of the dough on a floured surface until approx 1mm thin.
2. Using a 10cm Pastry Ring press out rounds in the dough.
3. Heat a fry pan on high with no oil and cook dough for approx 30 – 40 sec on each side so they develop a mottled colour but do not crisp. Reserve in a warm oven and repeat.

Finishing Off

1. Gently separate your tortillas and add a couple of spoons of the Pulled Pork to the centre of each Tortilla.
2. Add a spoonful of the Green Apple and Fennel Salsa.
3. Finish with a drizzle of the Chipotle Bourbon Sauce and garnish with a crumble of Queso Fresco or Fetta and some long Chives.