Home Chefs in Acadiana: Liz Newton Smith

We're still on the search to find the best at home chefs in Acadiana and Liz Newton Smith is here to say anybody can do it!

She grew up cooking traditional meals with her family in Bunkie, but now, in her own kitchen, she likes to add some flair to what her grandmother taught her.

"I do like to cook like rice and gravy and things like that that I grew up with but also I'm really into cleaning out my fridge so I don't like food waste. I'll come up with a random recipe and that's actually how i came up with the one we did today,"

She shows us her original take on pork tacos and its almost too good to be true.

"It's perfect! You wake up in the morning its probably maybe five to 10 minutes of prep because you have to cut up an apple," says Liz, and once you make your sauce, the meal practically makes itself.

Here is the recipe, straight from her blog, The Vintage Fork.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork butt (mine was about 5 lbs and made about 6-8 servings)
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Gala Apple, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup green onions, roughly chopped
• 1 large handful cilantro
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1-2 hefty pinches of salt
• Tortillas or Butter lettuce
• Toppings: such as cheese, tomatoes, Greek yogurt, & avocado

Preparation

1. Blend together Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Apple, Garlic, green onions, cilantro, ginger, pepper, salt
2. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture on the bottom of the slow cooker, add pork butt, then cover with the remaining blended mixture
3. Cook on low for 8 hours
4. Once done, remove meat and shred using 2 forks. I like to skim off the fat at this time. Add it back to the pot with all the juice
5. Make your tacos & Enjoy!

This is just a taste of what Liz is cooking up on her blog.

"The majority of our recipes are perfect for weeknight cooking easy 30 minute meals," and Liz says she has some goals want to work really hard on highlighting things in Acadiana whether its eating out locally or cooking from the farmers market or different places in town like locally sourced products."

Find her on Instagram and Facebook too.