Dylan James - recipe for Cook of the Week Challenge #1
Pulled Ham and Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos with Pear Salsa
½ Caminito Ham
3 tablespoons of Vanilla Bean Paste
1 tablespoon of Erythritol
1 cup of water
3 Anjou Pears peeled, cored, and chopped
½ small red onion chopped
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped
¼ teaspoon of Erythritol
¼ cup of cilantro chopped
1 lime
½ Butternut Squash sliced, peeled, cut, seeds scraped, and diced
1-½ tablespoons of olive oil
4 flour tortillas
In a crockpot, place the ham and combine the vanilla bean paste, 1 tablespoon of erythritol, and cup of water together over ham. Season with salt and pepper. Turn on the crockpot and cook on high for 6 hours until the ham becomes tender enough so that it can be easily broken into individual pieces. Once the ham has been "pulled", transfer the pieces back into the juices of the crockpot.
Meanwhile, as the ham has been cooking for 5 hours, start to assemble the salsa, squash, and tortillas during the last hour of the ham being in the crockpot. In a medium bowl, toss together the pears, red onion, jalapeno, ¼ teaspoon of erythritol, cilantro, and squeeze of lime. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate the salsa until ready to serve. Next, add the squash to a baking sheet and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper, then spread into an even layer and roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes in the oven.
As the ham finishes cooking and the squash is finishing roasting, in a nonstick pan on medium high heat, heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil and char the flour tortillas for 2 minutes on each side. By now the ham should be pulled and being kept warm in the crockpot, the squash should be out of the oven, and the pear salsa should be ready to serve. Finally, assemble the tacos by first laying the ham in the tortilla shell, followed by the squash and the pear salsa on top. Enjoy!
Serves 1 with four flour tortillas, but the remaining ½ ham and extra tortillas gives plenty of food to serve 5
Dylan James
• Recipes are printed as they were presented to Cook of the Week Challenge judges