The Community Table Project is about sharing signature recipes from everyday folks, and creating a sense of community around food. If you make a signature dish you think is great, send me an email at baconhound@gmail.com and let’s talk!

My friend Tommy is a natural in the kitchen and has a passion for cooking that rivals any chef. He’s probably got a long list of fantastic dishes that he could have made for me, but I couldn’t be happier with the tacos he chose to share.

The Cook:

Tommy Kalita.

Tommy runs Cash Mob Edmonton. He is a mortgage advisor with ATB Financial by day and a passionate food nerd by night. 

The Dish: 

Pork Verde Tacos.

Tommy’s recipe has been cobbled together from all corners of the internet. Over the past few years, he has incorporated different techniques and discovered interesting ingredients (like romaine lettuce!) to really dial in the flavour.

The Story:

Tommy is a busy guy, but he doesn’t believe that means having to sacrifice eating good food at home. To maximize his time, Tommy started experimenting with recipes to batch cook on the weekend that he could feast on throughout the week.

These big batch pork verde tacos are great to have when friends are coming over. You can do most of the work beforehand which allows more time to chat with your guests. They are an approachable, hand-held food that bolsters a casual atmosphere, and they go great with beer. Tommy offers another bonus to this big batch recipe: the pork verde makes a great breakfast the morning after when topped with a fried egg.

Whether as a late night snack or part of a delicious breakfast, once his friends got a taste of his pork chili verde it quickly became a crowd favourite and has become a standard request among those who have tried it.

The Recipe:

Print Recipe

Big Batch Pork Verde Tacos

These tacos are great to feed a big group of friends and the leftover possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Servings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs tomatillos husk removed
• 3 poblano peppers can sub anaheim peppers
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 7 cloves garlic skin on
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds toasted
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds toasted
• 2 yellow onions roughly chopped
• 5 leaves romaine lettuce roughly chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 3 tbsp fresh oregano can sub 2 tbsp dried
• 4 lbs pork shoulder cut into 1" cubes
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 3 cloves roughly crushed
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp gelatin optional
• 3 tbsp olive oil for frying
• salt and pepper to taste

Servings Ingredients 2 lbs tomatillos husk removed 3 poblano peppers can sub anaheim peppers 2 jalapeno peppers 7 cloves garlic skin on 1 cup pumpkin seeds toasted 1/4 cup sesame seeds toasted 2 yellow onions roughly chopped 5 leaves romaine lettuce roughly chopped 1 bunch cilantro 3 tbsp fresh oregano can sub 2 tbsp dried 4 lbs pork shoulder cut into 1" cubes 1 tbsp cumin seeds 3 cloves roughly crushed 1 cup chicken stock 1 tsp gelatin optional 3 tbsp olive oil for frying salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Turn on the broiler in your oven and set the rack to allow for approximately 2 inches of clearance from a roasting pan.
2. Toss the tomatillos, Poblano or Anaheim peppers, jalapeños & garlic in olive oil. Place in a foil-lined roasting pan and set under the broiler until skin is charred and blistered, approximately 10 minutes. Turn once to ensure even cooking. Remove the pan from the oven.
3. Immediately take the Poblano or Anaheim peppers, put them in a bowl and cover with a plate for 5 minutes to steam. Remove the garlic from the pan and discard the skin. Remove the seeds and stems from the jalapeños. Once the Poblano or Anaheim peppers have steamed, remove the skin, seeds and stems. Add everything including any liquids from the pan into a blender. Add pumpkin & sesame seeds. Blend until smooth, approximately 3 minutes.
4. Toss the tomato onto the same roasting pan as the tomatillos and put in the oven. Cook until skin is charred and blistered, approximately 10 minutes. Turn once to ensure even cooking. Remove from oven and let cool.
5. Turn off the broiler and set the oven to 250 degrees.
6. Add onions, cilantro, oregano & lettuce to blender. Blend until smooth, but a little texture is okay. 7. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until just starting to smoke. Sprinkle salt and pepper over all sides of the pork. In batches, add the pork cubes to cook until well browned (Don’t rush or overcrowd the pan, this is where a lot of the flavour for the dish will be coming from).
7. As the last batch of pork is finishing browning, add the cloves and cumin. Stir for a minute before adding the rest of the pork back to the pan.
8. Stir in the chicken stock and scrape any brown bits of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon (If you are using store-bought chicken stock, add the gelatin to replicate the mouth-feel of homemade). Top up the pan with the mixture from the blender and leave it on high until the mixture is bubbling, then turn down the heat to medium-low. The sauce should stay at a gentle simmer. Cook until pork can be shredded, approximately 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Adjust temperature down if the bottom starts to brown, add additional stock if the sauce is getting thick to early.
9. Use a potato masher to shred the pork. Continue to cook until the sauce is thickened enough to spoon onto tacos. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe Notes

To serve:

Heat a large pan on medium heat. Add a small amount of the lard until the bottom of the pan is lightly coated. Add tortillas to the pan and heat until just starting to brown. Top tortillas with pork verde, onions, cilantro, queso fresco and sour cream.

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Big thanks to Kunitz Shoes for coming on board and sponsoring The Community Table Project. The support of strong community-minded companies like Kunitz help make content like this possible, so go see them next time you’re in need of quality footwear or cool socks.

Baconhound is an Edmonton food blog, focusing on the best restaurants and dishes in Edmonton and beyond. Phil Wilson is a food writer and also the host of the Canadian food podcast, Off Menu. Find it in the iTunes store and on Stitcher.