Last Supper #13: Rick Bayless

Rick Bayless is known for fresh and flavorful Mexican. A few years ago, my sister gave me one of his books: Mexican Everyday and I've made a number of delicious dishes from it. His Last Supper is the only Mexican in the lot, so it was a welcome change. For his Last Supper, Chef Bayless wanted classic carnitas, barbacoa, chicharron, guacamole and huaraches. I went with carnitas, guacamole and huaraches.

For the carnitas, I chose a recipe from Williams-Sonoma Mexican for a guide, but I added a bit more flavor. I cut a piece of pork loin into a few big chunks, spinkeled them with salt, pepper, a little cumin and some smoked hot paprika. I then browned them in a pan for a few minutes. When all sides were browned, I put them into my slow cooker and added the juice of 2 oranges and a little water. I let it cook on low for several hours til the pork could be pulled apart easily. I removed it from the liquid, shredded it in a bowl and added just a couple spoonfuls of the cooking liquid. (I added a little more hot paprika too. Love that stuff!)

The huaraches were from Rick's website. A tortilla press would have been easier, but I did them by hand so mine were a little thicker than they should have been, but tasty all the same.

To serve the carnitas, I warmed some corn tortillas and accompanied it with some queso fresco, the guacamole, some black bean and corn salsa, and some hot sauce. We had enough for two meals and it was delicious! Jeff said it was some of the best Mexican he ever had.

Only 27 more last suppers to go... Next up, Michelle Bernstein.