Road Ready with Spicy Pulled Pork Tacos

My sweetie is about 350 miles south of home getting Ruby ready for the big trip of 2015-new tires and fixing the black tank and macerator hose. Yuk,not the things to talk about when I'm writing about food. Sorry.

And I'm sorry if I've bored you to death talking about the trip to the Canadian Maritimes-but I'm over the moon EXCITED !  Not only do we get to hook up with long lost friends and relatives but we get to spend  half of the year in Canada.  I think I must have been a Canadian in a previous life because every time we are in Canada it feels like home.

Our trip this year is taking us to parts undiscovered-at least by us-the East Side and the Maritimes. And we are making the least amount of reservations possible-we are planning on boon docking and stealth camping as we can and/or meeting wonderful people who will let us camp in the driveways,fields or any open space. So far the only reservations we have made are for the Tattoo International Music Festival in Halifax in July-yes we do have our priorities straight.  And as soon as the dates open up we will book our round trip ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.  Doesn't it sound exotic ?  Newfoundland for goodness sakes-it's almost the top of the world.  Get ready folks because I'm going to inundate you with photos !

Usually when we camp we avoid big cities, but this trip is going to be an exception. Toronto,Montreal,New York,Boston,Philly and I'm sure a lot more along the way. If you have any "shouldn't miss" suggestions of things to do or see between Florida and Newfoundland, let me know via email or the comments section.

Part of the readiness plan is Road Food and today I'm trying a spicy pulled pork recipe that should freeze well and make great tacos along the way.  Usually our first night of camping I don't like to get all wrapped up in cooking so it's nice to take something out of the freezer and just heat it up and these sounded so tasty I couldn't resist.

The recipe is from The Pioneer Woman.  I've tried lots of her recipes and have never  been disappointed, so I'm expecting great things from this one.  It's weird because the recipe calls for Dr. Pepper-Jim and I don't drink soda so I was a little leery but seriously -2 cans aren't going to kill us-heck the pulled pork is probably more dangerous to our health than a little Dr. Pepper! I like that we will be able to pick up lettuce and tomatoes at the Farmer's Markets along the way.  Since I've been preparing for this trip I have assembled a culinary tour of must eat food and restaurants. I don't plan on doing a great deal of cooking anyway.

 I've also assembled a list of must stop at Farmer's Markets ,so we will be eating a great deal of local fruit and veggies-our favorite way to travel. When we visited France and Italy 10 years ago (wow how time passes), we hardly hit any restaurants.  Instead we ate at most of the Farmer's Markets along the way-it's the best way to meet people and learn about the locals and the food. We plan on doing plenty of the same on this trip.

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
Thanks to Ree-The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
* 1 whole Large Onion
* 1 whole Pork Shoulder ("pork Butt") - 5 To 7 Pounds
*  Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
* 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
* 2 cans Dr. Pepper
* 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.
Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.
Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.
 

Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it's not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.
Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it's cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stove top and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.
Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you'd like.( This is so good and tastes even better the 2nd day when the pork has had a chance to marinate in that adobo sauce-just a nice little bite)

PS. Talking about our trip to Europe has inspired me to renew a custom we established in Italy and that was ending each day sitting around with a glass of chilled Limoncello going over the highlights of the day.  Keep an eye on my blog and I will be re posting the directions and ingredients for the best homemade limoncello !  And watch for the pictures of us toasting the day as we travel along the way.
Happy Trails,Safe Travels and Cin Cin.