Robert Rodriguez's Pibil

A few months ago, my friend Rebecca sent me a YouTube video of director Robert Rodriguez cooking up some cochinita pibil. Apparently Rodriguez loves to cook, and so he adds a feature called "10 Minute Cooking School" as a special bonus clip to some of his DVD releases. And he always starts off each segment with the line, "Not knowing how to cook is like not knowing how to fuck." You kinda gotta love the guy right then and there, no?


Ever since I saw that clip, I've been wanting to have a pibil party. So this past weekend, I invited a few friends and family over to eat pibil tacos and drink some homemade margaritas (no pre-made mixes for me, EVER). The pibil was relatively easy to make; the most difficult part was finding all the spices, which Rodriguez suggests purchasing in seed form then grinding down in a coffee grinder. But one stop to a good Mexican market and I had my annatto seeds, all spice, cloves, cumin and the rest of the ingredients. I bought a little over 5 lbs of pork butt, which cost only $11.45, threw it in the spice paste mixture I made, covered it with banana leaves and tin foil and let it sit in the oven for 4.5 hours at 325 degrees. The result? Melt-in-your-mouth, spicy, uber luscious pork pibil that shredded easily with just the touch of a fork:

I served the pibil with some corn and flour tortillas, my friend Tawny's amazing guacamole, chopped cilantro and a couple of special condiments: homemade pickled jalapenos that I made following Bobby Flay's recipe (scroll past the pulled pork on his page to see jalapeno recipe); and my dad's homemade pickled red onions.

Along with chips and salsa, I made a simple green salad with a few slivers of roasted red beets in the mix.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the tacos, and the best part was that I didn't have to spend all day slaving away behind a stove or grill. The pibil takes about 10 minutes to prepare, then you throw it in an oven and leave it alone for hours. What's not to love?

All that time left me with plenty of energy to make dessert. I decided on Ina Garten's Frozen Key Lime Pie, but instead of making one, large pie, I made mini ones so everyone could have their own. The pies came out light and creamy and incredibly tangy and key-limey - really authentic and lovely. I can see why Jeffrey loves it so much (as illustrated in the episode where Ina makes this dessert for her hubby).

All in all, it was a perfect little Saturday evening dinner out on the patio. Good food, good friends and family and a great game of Taboo. A special thanks to Robert Rodriguez and Ina Garten for the inspired recipes and detailed demonstrations!