Tacos de Carnitas

It's clear if you've read my blog that we love tacos. We eat them every chance we get when we're out and about whether in Mexico, California, North Carolina, Toronto, Niagara or here at home in London, Ontario.  And I love to make them at home too.

Tacos de Carnitas are time consuming to make, but not difficult at all. And while you're taking the time to roast pork shoulder in its own fat, it only makes sense to make enough to feed a crowd. 


Even if, like me, you know people who "don't like tacos", these carnitas are so mildly spiced, tender, crispy and delicious, I can't imagine anyone not falling in love at first bite. 

The recipe and technique comes from The Food Lab at Serious Eats. I didn't make their salsa verde, because I have my own, canned last summer. But I followed the rest of the directions pretty much exactly. 

Here's what you need for these amazing tacos.  This amount will feed 8-10 people but you can easily halve or double the recipe.  I froze half of the roasted pork and then thawed and crisped it weeks later.

Little Hasselback Potatoes

I was lucky enough to receive some "Creamer" potatoes to try from The Little Potato Company.  

The Baby Boomer variety is a tiny, yellow-fleshed potato that's great for roasting, so I thought I'd turn them into mini hasselback potatoes.  

Hasselback potatoes is a Swedish potato recipe where thin slices are cut almost all the way through, but the potatoes stay whole, so you get crispy crackles on top, but have creamy roasted middles.  The best of all potato worlds. 

Crispy Sesame Thyme Chicken

I'm not going to say this is an incredibly healthy dinner but it is so delicious. I love the crispiness of the chicken and the flavour of the sesame and lemon zest in the coating.  

It's based on this recipe from Chatelaine.  Here's what you need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 1/2 tbsp thyme
zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil

Mix the sesame seeds and thyme. These are black and white ones but you can use regular sesame seeds.

Add the salt and lemon zest.

Then add in the panko and mix it all together.

Now you need to pound the chicken breasts a bit.  You're not pounding them thin like scallopini but they need to be the same thickness all over.  Place them between two long pieces of plastic wrap.

Pound them lightly with a mallet or heavy pan until they're an even thickness all over.

Crack the egg into a bowl and add a little salt.

Add a couple of tablespoons of water to the egg and scramble it up.

Coat the chicken with the egg.

And then coat with the sesame panko on both sides.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat.  I like to use grapeseed oil to cook at high heat but you can use olive oil if you want.

Once the oil is hot, add the coated chicken.

After about 4 minutes, flip the chicken and brown the other side for about 4 minutes more.

Drain on paper towels and plate it up. 

Look how nice and crispy!

I served this with (leftover) mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.

This tasted amazing and was so easy to make.  A great alternative to grilled or baked chicken.  

Panko Mustard Chicken Fingers

Making your own chicken fingers has got to be healthier than the ones that come out of the box, right?  These are doubly mustardy with dry mustard in the coating and a mustard-yogurt dipping sauce. 

Here's what you need:

Boneless chicken breasts, panko breadcrumbs, an egg, dry mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Plus spicy and/or Dijon mustard and yogurt for the dipping sauce.

Crack the egg and add a little mustard powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Whisk the egg and spices with a fork.

Now you're going to make a breading station.  In a separate bowl, measure about 1/2 a cup of flour and season with salt and pepper.  I also added some paprika and mustard powder.

Mix the spices into the flour with a fork.

And now spice up your panko.  I did salt, pepper and mustard again.

Now cut the chicken breast into strips.

Now dip a chicken strip in the egg to coat.

Remove the chicken from the egg and let the excess drip off.

Now dip the chicken in flour to coat.

And shake off the excess.

Now dip the floured chicken back into the egg.

Let the excess drip off again.

Put the chicken into the panko and coat it well.

Place the coated chicken on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet.

These two big chicken breasts made a lot of chicken fingers!

Bake in a preheated 475 degree oven for around 10 minutes then flip them and bake 5-10 minutes more until cooked through.

For the dipping sauce...

... mix about 1/2 a cup of yogurt with about a tablespoon of mustard in a small bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  

You can also add Dijon mustard.

Once the chicken fingers are browned and crispy, remove them from the oven.

You can serve these with potato wedges or a salad.

These potato wedges were just tossed with oil, salt and pepper and baked along with the chicken for 30 minutes, flipping half way through.

And serve with the mustard yogurt sauce.