High Desert Table

Your everyday guide to Southwestern cooking

pork shoulder

Grilled Pork & Pineapple Tacos with Ancho Chile Marinade

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Grill season is here, and I notice it changes how I think about meals for the week. What can we grill up on the Cowboy Cauldron so we don’t have to think about cooking for a while, is how it sounds in my head. This recipe for Grilled Pork and Pineapple Tacos will fly at any kind of party, but also last a few days for a single household. It takes a little time to make the ancho marinade, but it should be noted that this component can easily be doubled or even tripled (with very little extra time added) and then put in containers in the freezer for other cooking scenarios in the future, like rubbing over a whole chicken before roasting, or marinating beef or chicken.

The Inspiration: A Nod to Tacos Al Pastor

This recipe is completely inspired by my love of Tacos Al Pastor, a method of taco making that came to life in the 1930s in Puebla, Mexico, when Lebanese immigrants introduced their shwarma-making, vertical cooking spits to the area. Eventually, lamb turned to pork marinated in chiles and anchiote, the earthy, slightly peppery seed of the evergreen Bixa orellana shrub, which gives cheese, Cochinita Pibil Tacos, and Tacos Al Pastor their distinct orange color. 

chef-grilling-pork-pineapple-tacos

There is something magical that happens when cooking meat on a vertical spit. There is also something magical that happens when I cook anything on the Cowboy Cauldron. 

You’ll notice that you can either use thinly sliced pork shoulder (the classic choice) or pork tenderloin. The tenderloin is a leaner cut and holds the marinade well.

pork-on-the-cowboy-cauldron

The Power of Pineapple & Fire-Roasted Chiles

Here, I focus on dried ancho chiles as the base of the marinade and add fire-roasted green chile to the mix of grilled pork and pineapple. Feel free to add sour cream, cheese, or avocado if you want, but simply topping it with cilantro and onion gets the job done.

pineapple-on-the-grill
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Grilled Pork and Pineapple Tacos with Ancho Chile Marinade

grilled-pork-and-pineapple-in-bowl
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A vibrant summer recipe inspired by Tacos Al Pastor—these Grilled Pork & Pineapple Tacos feature an ancho chile marinade, charred pineapple, and roasted green chiles for a flavor-packed twist on tradition.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6-8 servings
  • Category: bbq
  • Method: grilling
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

Units

for the marinated pork

  • 6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 6 cloves of garlic, peels left on
  • 2 t. high desert herbs or oregano
  • 2 t. kosher salt
  • 1 t. ground coriander
  • 1/2 t. ground black pepper
  • 1/2 t. ground Mexican canela or cinnamon
  • 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 c. olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 1 T. agave or honey
  • 1/4 pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
  • 2 lb. pork shoulder or pork tenderloin, sliced into 1/4” slices

for the tacos

  • 5 fire-roasted New Mexico green chiles, ananehim, or poblanos, stemmed, peeled, seeded, diced
  • The remaining 3/4 of the pineapple, cut into wide slices
  • 1 medium white onion, minced
  • 1 bunch of cilantro leaves, minced
  • warm corn tortillas

Instructions

First, let’s make the marinade:

In a large skillet over medium heat, toast the chiles for around a minute on each side, pressing them with tongs or a spatula until their oils are activated (they will smell amazing!) and their skins soften. Place them in a bowl and cover them with hot tap water for 15 minutes, and then drain them. While the chiles are soaking, place the garlic in the hot, dry skillet and toast until the skins start to darken on all sides and then turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl. When they are cool enough to handle, peel the garlic cloves and add them to a blender. Also, to the blender, add the rehydrated chiles, dried high desert herbs (or oregano), salt, coriander, pepper, canela or cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, oil, agave or honey, and pineapple slices. Blend until smooth. Spread this marinade over the pork slices and refrigerate overnight.

Grilling and assembling the tacos

Heat your coals in the cauldron to a medium-high heat. Grill the pork until it’s cooked through on both sides, by sight or to an internal temperature of 145°F. Let rest, chop into pieces. Also, grill the pineapple until it has some nice char on both sides. Carefully transfer the pineapple to a cutting board, chop it, and add it to the bowl with the pork. Stir in the fire-roasted green chile. Serve warm tortillas, onion, and cilantro on the side.

grilled-pork-pineapple-with-sides

Mad Jack’s Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder: Oven-Baked BBQ Perfection

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Introduction: A Taste of Mad Jack’s at Home

Last spring I had the chance to visit Mad Jack’s Mountaintop BBQ in Cloudcroft for a story I was writing for New Mexico Magazine’s July issue. James Jackson, owner and pitmaster of Mad Jacks, has a loyal and passionate following for his hospitality and kindness just as much as his exceptional barbeque. His wood fired smokers run throughout the night and in the morning brisket, sausages, pork shoulder, chicken and turkey legs are pulled from barrels just in time for them to rest before Jackson opens the door and starts slicing meats to order with his crew.

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder - Pitmaster James Jackson

For the article Jackson helped me think through how home cooks could approach pork shoulder using their oven instead of a smoker. Now, I’m not going to say that this rivals the incredible flavor and tenderness that comes after slowly cooking meat in a smoker fired with post oak he brings in from Texas. For that, I suggest a road trip down south to Cloudcroft. But a good rub and eight hours in a low oven will get you pretty far.

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder - Mad Jack's menu board

The Secret’s in the Rub: A New Mexico Twist

This is an adaptation of Jackson’s rub which has a distinct sweet and spicy punch with notes of celery seed lingering throughout. Here, I swap out most of the celery seed for High Desert Herbs (a blend of marjoram, lavender, rosemary, thyme, New Mexico red chile flakes and sage) and swap out cayenne pepper for New Mexico Chile Powder. You might find that you have some rub left over. Just make sure to have very clean and dry hands when handling the rub mixture and you can save it for seasoning all kinds of meat and vegetables.

How to serve this slow roasted pork shoulder?

On the day I made this, I also made a lime, sesame and ginger vinaigrette and made a big salad with Ground Stone Farms greens, cucumbers, cilantro, scallions and warm pork shoulder over the top. My husband Hans had salad on the side because he had a different idea. He piled the pulled pork shoulder into tortillas and got the BBQ sauce out of the fridge. We had different ideas about the best way to eat something that had been making our house smell good all day and both were perfect, so I’ll let you use your best judgement.

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder - plated with greens
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Mad Jack’s Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder: Oven-Baked BBQ Perfection

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder - out of the oven
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Recreate the flavors of Mad Jack’s Mountaintop BBQ at home with this slow-roasted, oven-baked pork shoulder recipe featuring a unique New Mexico-inspired rub. Perfect for sandwiches, salads, and more!

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 8 hours
  • Total Time: 9 hours
  • Yield: 10-12 servings
  • Category: BBQ, dinner, winter
  • Method: slow roast
  • Cuisine: New Mexican

Ingredients

  • 2 T. packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 T. kosher salt
  • 1 T. New Mexico Red Chile Powder
  • 1 T. High Desert Herbs (or Herbes de Provence)
  • 1 T. coarse black pepper
  • 1 T. dried onion flakes
  • 2 t. garlic powder
  • 2 t. smoked paprika
  • 1 t. celery seed
  • 1, 6 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and tied with butcher twine

Instructions

Prepping the rub

In a small bowl, stir together the dark brown sugar, kosher salt, New Mexico Red Chile Powder, High Desert Herbs, coarse black pepper, dried onion flakes, garlic powder, smoked paprika and celery seed.

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder - prepped in the oven

Slow Roasting Instructions

Rub some of the rub mixture on all sides of the tied pork shoulder and place the meat in a roasting pan with a rack if possible. Roast for around 8 hours, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 195 F. Leave uncovered until it has a nice “bark” developing and then gently cover it with foil so the outside doesn’t burn.

Resting and Shredding the Pork

When the pork is done cooking, let it rest at room temperature until it’s cool enough to safely pull apart into pieces with your hands. As you’re shredding the pork, sprinkle a little bit of the rub into the shredded meat, tasting as you go. You’ll have some extra rub to use at a later time.

Let cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge for up to five days.

Red Chile Mezcal BBQ Pulled Pork

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For years my go-to way of preparing pulled pork revolved around the idea of submerging caramelized meat in the oven with broth and aromatics (like onion, garlic, cilantro stems, and a jalapeno) over low heat for many hours, sometimes even overnight in the crock pot. I have always loved braising because eventually all of the toughness disappears, not only creating strands of tender meat but just as much because of the luscious broth that’s left behind that can be used for reheating meat, soup, stew or to freeze for a rainy day. 

Why roast it?

This recipe approaches pork shoulder in another effective way—through roasting. And even though we forfeit a few quarts of liquid gold that come from braising, we end up with melt-in-your-mouth shreds of tender meat and crispy pork skin speckled throughout, perfect for drizzling, dunking or tossing in Red Chile High Desert BBQ Sauce, a chile based sauce spiked with a generous pour of mezcal and softened with a hunk of butter. 

The butt is the shoulder

This recipe calls for Pork Shoulder (also called Picnic Shoulder or Picnic Roast), but Pork Butt (also called Boston Butt) is technically part of the front shoulder and some might even argue is a better choice so let’s talk about it: Pork Butt is not from the rear of the pig at all, but a primal cut right behind the pig head. Late in the 19th century the topsy-turvy name was coined and stuck. The shoulder on the other hand, sits right below the butt and travels down the front leg toward the hoof. Pork Butt has more fat marbling throughout the meat, which renders during cooking adding more moisture and flavor. Pork shoulder has less fat throughout the meat, but often a thicker piece of fat on top, which crisps up beautifully during the final minutes of cooking. So either way you can’t lose. 

Prep the day before

I like to make pulled pork and BBQ sauce the day before a backyard barbecue, so when I wake up the next morning all I have to do is sip on coffee and think about how all the big lifting for the day is done. The grill is also wide open, with plenty of room for grilling buttered buns, vegetables, and fruit. Aside from making delicious sandwiches, this combo of roasted pork and bbq sauce can be put to use in many ways. You could fill tortillas for tacos, sprinkle on salads, serve with rice or quinoa, eggs, etc. The Bbq Sauce stands on its own, pairing well with shrimp, white fish, veggies, chicken, or drizzled on burgers and brats.

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Red Chile Mezcal BBQ Pulled Pork

HDT BBQ Pulled Pork roasted sauced and ready to eat
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This bbq pulled pork turns your classic american backyard barbecue into a Southwest-themed party by kicking up the flavors with red chile and mezcal. This slow-cooked meat is perfect on toasted buns, tortillas, crispy taco shells, or on your favorite southwest salad.

  • Author: Marianne Sundquist
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 4 hours
  • Total Time: 5 hours
  • Yield: 10-12 servings
  • Category: BBQ
  • Method: Roast
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units
for the pork:
  • 3 t. whole coriander seed
  • 1 t. black peppercorns
  • 1 t. dried juniper berries
  • 2 T. packed brown sugar
  • 1 T. red chile powder, whatever heat you prefer
  • 1 T. high desert herbs or herbes de provence
  • 2 t. kosher salt
  • 2 t. garlic powder
  • 1 t. dried culinary lavender
  • 4 lb. boneless pork shoulder
for the high desert bbq sauce:
  • 4 T. butter
  • 1 c. diced onion
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1/2 c. mezcal
  • 2 c. (1 pt.) mild Red chile puree
  • 2 t. Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • 2 t. worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 t. black pepper
  • 1 1/2 t. kosher salt

Instructions

Making the spice rub

The night before, make the spice rub: In a small pan over medium heat, toast the coriander, peppercorns, and juniper berries until they are lightly toasted and you start to smell their fragrance wafts out from the pan. Transfer this to a very dry blender, along with the brown sugar, red chile powder, herbs, salt, garlic powder, and lavender. Blend until pulverized into a fine powder. Lightly score any thick areas of fat with a sharp knife. Using all the spice rub, massage the pork all over with the spice rub and refrigerate overnight in an ovenproof baking dish.

ingredients prepped on a plate including peppercorn, red chile powder, and more

Making the BBQ sauce

To make the bbq sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add the onion and garlic and let simmer until the onions turn translucent, around 10-15 minutes. Add the mezcal and let simmer for another 15 minutes. Add the chile puree, apple cider vinegar, dijon, brown sugar, Worcestershire, black pepper, and salt. Let this mixture simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth.

Roasting the pork shoulder

The next day when you’re ready to roast the pork shoulder, pull the pork from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for a half hour. Preheat the oven to 275 F. Roast pork in the oven, uncovered for around 3-4 hours, or until the internal temperature reads 190 F. on a thermometer. Turn the heat up to 500 F. and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the skin is a deep golden brown and crispy. Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes.

HDT BBQ Pulled Pork roasted sauced and ready to eat

Pull apart the meat and crispy skin into strips and serve warm with bbq sauce on the side.