When the pit master needs to BBQ

I always knew that Walter liked to grill, but didn't realize just how much until we moved to Denver. When we lived in Chicago, we lived in a condo and didn't have any outdoor space except for a shared roof deck. There was a gas grill on the roof deck and all summer we were up there with our friends, both that lived in the building, and those that we invited in, for time in the sun. Walter was always at the grill, cooking lots of tasty things. 

When we decided to move to Denver, we looked at houses with a yard. Not a lot of yard, but enough for us to have a private space. And we found what we were looking for in our current house. We closed on the house in April 2013, and planned to move in May. Here's where I started to see Walter's obsession with grilling and BBQ start... He ordered a Weber grill that arrived at our house before we did. Within a coupe of months, he had ordered his first pellet smoker. Then came the orders of pellets by the pallet (he did split the pallet with  a couple other people, but there are still a lot of bags in our garage). Then came the conversation about ordering a bigger smoker. And a bigger Weber. 

A few weeks ago he got a new temperature controller for his current smoker, which he installed over the weekend. So, when I went grocery shopping on Monday, he asked me to bring home a big pork roast, maybe a shoulder. So I did. And he smoked it on Tuesday. I'm happy to say that the new controller works really well. So, what did we do for dinner last night? Tacos of course!!! Here's how it went down.

Since he was making the meat, sides were my job. I really only made one - Spanish rice. I did a traditional tomato based rice, with one exception. Instead of using tomato sauce, I subbed in salsa, which added in most seasonings for me. To make it, I cooked a half a small onion in a couple tablespoons of oil. When they were translucent and starting to brown, I added in a cup of rice and let it fry until it was white. Added in a cup of chicken stock and a cup of chunky salsa in,  along with some garlic powder. Stirred it up and put it on low with a cover for 15 minutes, then let it rest for 5 minutes. While it rested, Walter brought out the pork!!!

While he pulled the pork, I toasted some tortillas, mixed up a slaw to go on the top, and grated some cheese. 

One thing that I sometimes do when adding cheese to tacos is to melt the cheese on the tortillas as part of the final warming process. It's kinda nice when its oozy sometimes. Now, to pull it all together!!!

Even though we're all in our homes, that doesn't mean we can't have our own private parties. In the spirit of that thought, I got myself dressed up for the taco fiesta we were going to eat.

Party on people, and we'll see you back here tomorrow!!