Tacos al pastor

Solson005 · February 2013

While walking through Academy I did what any good egghead would do and strolled through the BBQ / Grill isle and when I stumbled upon this turkey fryer stand and thought about making it into a spit on the egg.

So we decided to make some Tacos al pastor. I used bits and pieces from a few recipes out there and made one of my own. First off was to find some pork to use, after looking at the butts I decided that a pork loin should be easier to freeze for a little bit and slice.

Out came the electric knife and make some slices around ½'" thick

Then I put the slice in-between a cut ziplock bag

and pounded it expanding the size to help with stacking it on the spit.

Once all the slices were pounded out to about the same size it was time to make the marinade.

I put two Guajillo and two pasilla chiles seeded and stemmed in a pan and dry pan and toasted them till the kitchen smelled like chiles.

Then added the entire bag of achiote powder (I couldn't find paste like most recipes call for) four chipotles in adobo, plus four tablespoons of the adobo, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 3/4 cup water in a blender with the chilies. Plus the juice that was left from one pineapple after I used my pineapple cutter.

Not the best picture but here are all the slices of pork getting happy for 24 hours.

Fast forward to the next day and it was time to roast some veggies for the two kinds of salsa and guacamole.

It was a beautiful afternoon and a great day to be out cooking on the BGEs.

Roasted the garlic, tomatilllos, onions, and jalepenos on the small egg breaking in the gasket I replaced the day before. New handle and gasket change for the Small BGE

Up next was making a batch of Masa tortillas

We found a oiled up ziplock split in half makes for a good way to make the tortilla in the press

Then onto the cast iron comal on the large egg.

After the tortillas were made it was time for the cooks to rehydrate.(I think the gnome was jealous)

After cutting a hole in a pie plate it was time to start stacking the pork.

With a hole just slightly off center the slices were shingled around the spit.

I used my CGS spider and the grate from my small egg to get the spit setup right over the coals. Dome temp was just under 400°

Once the spit was on the egg it was back to the guacamole and salsas. First up was Rick Bayless Grilled Garlic and Orange Guacamole I have made this a few times and usually get asked for the recipe, the orange is a unexpected hit. Segmenting can be a pain but as anything gets easier with practice.

Six of the roasted garlic cloves go in the mortar and pestle.

Then the roasted red onion and one roasted jalepeno.

Then two large avocados and a some salt and lime juice to taste. When that is mixed together gently stir in the orange segments and cover and chill in the fridge until dinner.

Then the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa also by Rick Bayless

Put two grilled garlic cloves, one jalepeno, and the roasted tomatillos in the blender along with 1/4 of a white onion, six sprigs of cilantro, and 1/4 cup water. Season with salt after blending.

Then we made Rick Bayless Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa

one jalepeno

three garlic cloves

one can fire roasted tomatoes diced

1/4 cup cilantro

juice from one lime

salt to taste

Back to the al pastor!

Looking good a little over an hour on the egg.

At a hour and a half the backyard smelled so good.

Time to throw the pineapple on.

Then it was time to trim off the outer layer and get some bark on the inside

Everything is looking good!

Quick flip of the pineapple

We shaved it down one more time and then decided to bring it inside and wrap it in foil till it was almost time to eat.

The comal went back in the egg and was heating up while we waited for the guests to arrive. Then what slices weren't cut already were cubed up and tossed on the comal to crisp up and stay warm.

The spread of all the homemade goodies

The finished tacos with a little fresh white onion, cilantro sprigs, grilled pineapple, tomatillo salsa and just a dab of the roasted tomato salsa on a homemade corn tortilla.

You can't have a feast without dessert! Mexican Brownies with caramel and cinnamon topped with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Perfect end to a great meal with friends and family!

MrCookingNurse · February 2013

This was amazing man. Something I've been wanting to make for my egg for a while now!!! Thanks for the write up! Did you have to go low to get the turkey stand to fit? I was thinking it could just come out the too if I took the DW off.

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @MrCookingNurse I've been trying to find a method to make a pit on the egg too. @Zippylip 's Gyros, a blow by blow - vertical spit definitely got the ball rolling and I finally came up with this method.

I did it low to have it closer to the heat and I wasn't sure how hot the top of the spit would get. I used the coat hanger looking handle to lift it out of the egg and probably couldn't have done that if it was just sitting on the grate. You can see towards the end the pie plate was getting pretty full of juice so it was a delicate operation to get it off the egg and back inside.

johnkitchens · February 2013

The Food Network will be calling you soon! That was a great presentation, and it looked very tasty!

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @johnkitchens Oh the things I could make if I had the Food Network's budget!

It was a lot of work but made some of the best tacos i've had!

SmokinDAWG82 · February 2013

Looks great and I love El Pastor, but it also looks like a lot of work. You did a great job with the cook and with your documentation!

Griffin · February 2013

Wow!! That is impressive. The pork, homemade tortillas and all the guac and salsa! Bravo! Glad I don't have dial up with all those pics.

I only see one problem, though. That new handle. I kid, its a work of art. Very cool.

NecessaryIndulg · February 2013

W O W ! =P~
Impressive cook! =D>

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @SmokinDAWG82 it was well worth the process.

Thanks @Griffin we usually do dinner on Sunday night and my cousins 13 yr old son has been my helper the past couple weeks so we just made a afternoon of it and did everything from scratch.

I figured some of you Texas guys would have a comment or five about the handle.

Danny does great work and I like that it kind of ties in to the mobile "chuck wagon" part of my small egg.

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @NecessaryIndulg it was a fun, creative cook that turned out really tasty!

shucker · February 2013

wow! what a meal! Very impressive and if it tastes half as good as it looks you should invite us next time!

six_egg · February 2013

Man you are truely amazing. That is not cooking that is art. I can not say enough great things about this post. The best I have seen to date would sum it up. ^:)^ =D>

Budgeezer · February 2013

Wow, awesome.

smitherspoon · February 2013

I am in awe of this meal. Very impressive.

Chubbs · February 2013

Man you are truely amazing. That is not cooking that is art. I can not say enough great things about this post. The best I have seen to date would some it up. ^:)^ =D>

"Sum" or "some" it up?? Joking. 8-} Agree, this is a solid cook.

SaltySam · February 2013

Incredible! Cooking everything from scratch, on the Egg, including the tortillas is beyond impressive. The fact that you included the 13 year old is another bonus. This is one of those "raise the bar" type cooks.

That tomatillo salsa from Rick Bayless's cookbook is dynamite. My wife made that last summer, and it's delicious.

Solson005 · February 2013

@shucker I'll give you a invitation in advance so you can make it. It tasted way better than it looked!

Wow! Thanks @six_egg I had the idea to cook on a spit in my head for awhile and when I saw this last week I knew it would work out great!

Thanks @Budgeezer , @smitherspoon , and @Chubbs

Aviator · February 2013

Americas test kitchen just got to BGE. Outstanding!

I don't think I will have the patience to do all of it.

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @SaltySam I think we got him one step closer to convincing his mom they need a Big Green Egg. He is really taking a interest into cooking on the egg. The grilled garlic and orange guacamole is really good too! Actually all of Rick Bayless recipes are pretty tasty!

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @Aviator I think I found another great way to cook on the BGE! The pork wasn't too labor intensive, the tortillas, two salsas, and guacamole were the time consuming things. Well worth the effort.

Solson005 · February 2013

I just had the best nachos ever using all the leftovers, grilled pineapple pairs so well with the pork.. =P~

pwg56 · February 2013

Just when I was done lifting my jaw off the floor from the original cook the picture of the nacho "leftovers" comes in! Wow ^:)^

That looks like a full day of cooking. I hope it was appreciated by all who were lucky enough to have it!!!

henapple · February 2013

Nice post, pics and cook.

Ragtop99 · February 2013

The meal looks great and the post is a WOW!. Thank you for sharing this.

NibbleMeThis · February 2013

Excellent post. This is on my to do list right next to the gyro one!

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @pwg56 it was a fun cook, I thought I was going to make it to the eggfest in Salado so I was going to keep it a secret till then, but I don't think the date is going to work so I decided to share it right away.

Thanks @henapple @Ragtop99 it was really good and I will be making it again!

@NibbleMeThis Thank you! The gyro post is what got me thinking of a simple way to make a spit. I will be making that soon.

AlbertaEgger · February 2013

Unbelievable! I think I may have to try something like that this summer, thanks for the descriptive post, I will have to definitely revisit this when I make an attempt. Great cook!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

CPARKTX · February 2013

Wow! Great cook. I love Tacos Al Pastor.

RAC · February 2013

Awesome! Just Awesome.

Dyal_SC · February 2013

Faaaantastic!!!

Solson005 · February 2013

Thanks @AlbertaEgger I think you should once the weather is nice enough to be outside egging all day!

Thank you @CPARKTX I love them too, these were just as good if not better from any taco shop I've gotten them from.

Thanks @RAC it was a fun cook to try out on the egg.

Thanks @Dyal_SC it will be made again and again! I did look at your awesome nacho post to see if I needed to add anything to my leftovers

Tacos al pastor

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