A Spanish Craving!

I'm sad that it's been a few months since I’ve posted. it's been a log few months for me. I had what you may call "morning sickness” (which should be called all day sickness). I was so excited when I found out I was pregnant back in February, and then it hit me around week 4. I have never experienced anything remotely close to this in my life other than a fluke food poisoning that lasted no more than 24 hours. With my two previous pregnancies, which I was carrying boys, I felt really good that is for being pregnant. I now have a new respect for pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. I'll keep you posted on the gender when we find out next week! Now let's talk food! I have been into chilies and cheese, so, I made spiced pork shoulder, with Spanish cauliflower rice. I kid you not my husband thought he was eating rice and he even forgot after eating the leftovers! I've been tweaking this recipe for the past week and after my husband bought pork shoulder instead of pork tender loin the recipe was finally complete. When I first glanced at pork shoulder I thought what in the heck am I going to do with all this meat! While noticing I need new knives, I chopped it up and let the simmering on low heat do the work! Oh yes, it turned out rich and tender and the cheesy Spanish rice was the topper! Yeah to the hubby!

Spanish Pork Shoulder

            1 Large red onion

            3tbps of olive oil

            4 medium sizes to large garlic cloves chopped 

            ¾ cup unsalted marinara or tomato sauce (I used marinara)

            1 tbsp of ancho chili powder

            ½ tsp of cumin

             1 tsp of sea salt

            ¾ cup of water
            2 ½ pounds of chopped raw pork shoulder (rough chop around

            2 inches by 2 inches smaller if you would like)

• Heat up a large skillet with olive oil. Add the onion and saute until golden brown (reserve ¼ for the rice)
• Add the chopped garlic, marinara, ancho chili powder, cumin, sea salt, water and pork shoulder
•  cover with a lid and let simmer for 2 hours on low heat
• Turn off the heat and let stand with the lid off for a half an hour to thicken

Cheesy Spanish Cauliflower Rice

            Steamed cauliflower

            Reserved onions

            1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese

            ¼ cup to ½ cup of your favorite salsa

            Sea Salt to taste

• Steam a large head of cauliflower until tender and while hot add in a skillet the reserved onions, cauliflower.with a fork mash until it resembles rice
• Add the cheese, salsa and sea salt. Mix around until smooth
• Garnish with fresh cilantro
• Serve

 Note: You can also use a food processor to make the rice. If you find that the stems of the cauliflower are not mashing, cover and simmer on low for a few minutes with a tinny bit of water before adding the cheese.
Pork shoulder can also be made without chopping and just putting the thing straight into the pot (and it will fall apart perfectly when done). I've just never made it with this recipe before so I wouldn't know how flavorful it would be without it cooking if the sauce chopped up.

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