First off, let me up front apologize for not having pictures. My wife took the digital camera on her trip to Oregon and I'm left here with no way to document my life. How will I ever survive?

So, on IRC the other day, somebody was pointing out the vast difference between two things and used the classic phrase, like "apples and oranges", to which another party responded saying that it was more like "apples and tacos". Well, that got me thinking, why not apples and tacos? I mean aside from the fact that they seem so different. Different can be good. I mean bananas and mayonnaise sounds like a horrible combination but turns out to make a delicious sandwich. So it was only fair that I give it a shot.

I complicated matters a little bit because I came up with my own recipe for shredded pork taco meat. Ideally I should have controlled for everything but the apples, but with my smoker out of commission for so many months I've really been craving to slow roast something even without smoke. I purchased a pork roast for just this purpose. (Incidentally whenever possible I but Salmon Creek Farms pork. Yes it really does make a difference, and generally it's actually cheaper. Win, win!)

Well, for this roast I mixed up an unholy combination of most of the spices in my house (ground black pepper, kosher salt, chili powder, cayenne power, paprika, Tabasco sauce, garlic powder, thyme, spicy mustard and worcestershire sauce). That made a nice paste which I smeared all over the pork. Placed it in a dish, covered and roasted at 250° for oh about 3½ hours. Once it cooled I shredded it and stirred it around in a reduction of the sauces that filled the original cooking vessel. So yummy.

But it was late last night when I finished the roast, so I couldn't make the tacos right away. Besides, I was so full of chocolate that I couldn't bear the thought of eating. Instead the pork went into the fridge until today. I diced some onion, sautéed it in some oil with a little ground chipotle, and then added the pork. Once that was warm I tossed in the diced apple and kept cooking until piping hot. I used a Granny Smith which I figured could take the heat while retaining its crispness and the tartness would stand out against all the spice. The final taco was on a soft white flour tortilla with grated mozarella cheese and lettuce.

The apple flavor was definitely noticeable. I think the choice of a tart apple was wise because a mild apple would have been lost in that taco. I would probably do a finer dice (¼ inch or less). My apple chunks were too big and they seems to overpower rather than blend. There were also spots in the taco where there was no apple flavor and that stood out as well.

One concern I had was that the apple would get all mushy and soggy while cooking. It didn't happen. I really should have given the apple more credit. My wife makes and cans apple pie filling. Those things go through a process of cooking, canning and then baking and still come out in one piece. I should have known an apple could sit in a skillet for 5 minutes without melting.

I ate the whole apple so that's probably the last serving of apple tacos for a while, but I think I'll have to try again and see if I can achieve a more balanced flavor.