Baked Taquitos and Misadventures with DayQuil

Corn tortillas stuffed with beer-braised pork, 3 cheeses and green onions. Served with sour cream and a Brussels sprout, radish and sprouted mung bean slaw

I have no problem admitting that I only watch the Superbowl for the commercials and the food. This year the hitch in that giddy up was that I’ve been sick for more than a week and didn’t feel like going anywhere. I also didn’t feel like inviting anyone over — that would prevent my husband and I from spending all day on the couch in pajamas under a pile of blankets and kitties (which basically describes all of my favorite Sundays, sick or not).

So I took the anti-social and lazy way out. I planned an easy all-day menu for two based around a Mexican theme and starring one main protein — beer-braised carnitas.

A petite pork butt (around 1.5 pounds) came into play and using this super simple recipe from Bon Appetite, I braised it with dried chiles, beer and garlic. It was pretty much all I could handle in my cold medicine haze.

Fun tangent: I realized while braising the pork that my camera battery was dead so I charged it up. Once it was charged I removed it and…did something. I can’t remember what but the next day I looked everywhere for my battery. I checked the camera (of course), the floor, shelves nearby. Everywhere. After an hour I gave up and reached for my backpack, thinking that maybe I would feel good enough to bike to work the next day. In the pocket, there was my battery. No rhyme, no reason. Just serious DayQuil fog. (And no I didn’t end up biking.)

Good news is, even if you are so drugged up that you get lost while driving to work (yes, this happened), you can still make this pork. Even better news — it’s delicious!

Word to the wise, recipe reviewers recommend reducing the salt by…a lot. I heeded their advice, cutting back considerably, though I did end up adding more salt at the end. Matter of taste, I’m sure, but it’s easier to add than to take away so I’m happy I went that route.

So once I had all this beautifully melty braised pork — what did I do with it?

The first dish of the day consisted of these tasty little treats, which are still fantastic despite being baked instead of fried. And again, so easy!

Stuff warmed corn tortillas with meat, cheese, onions, whatever. Roll up. Brush with a little oil and bake until crispy. Eat, eat and eat. You may think they would dry out but honestly, the pork is so juicy that I thought they were pretty perfect.

Baked Carnitas Taquitos, Feeds 2

• 1/4 of the recipe for beer-braised pork butt (or 2 cups pulled pork)
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I mixed sharp cheddar with cojita and pepperjack)
• less than a 1/4 cup green onions, minced
• 1/4 cup sour cream divided
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• squeeze of lime
• salsa for serving

1. Warm the tortilla enough so they don’t break while rolling. You can wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave or heat a skillet with oil and heat up individually. (I’ll let you speculate on which method I chose.)

2. Mix pork with a few tablespoons of sour cream (extra moistness), cilantro and lime juice.

3. Stuff tortillas with pork, cheese and onions.

4. Place in baking dish, brush lightly with oil and bake a 350 degrees until crunchy (15-20 minutes).

5. Serve with extra sour cream and salsa for dipping!

Sprout Slaw

Mix shaved raw Brussels sprouts with equal parts sprouted lentils or sprouted mung beans. Add some thinly sliced radishes and chopped green onions. Dress with a vinaigrette of your choosing. I made a simple one with minced garlic, lime and orange juice, olive oil and lime zest.

As for what my lunch and dinner consisted of, I’ll let Instagram tell the story.

Nachos with Carnitas, Black Beans and Radishes

DayQuil or no, a margarita was a necessity.

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