Southwestern Pulled Pork Crostini -- The Crossing We Celebrate With Food

Isabella graduated from Bel Air High School. May 28, 2021. Valedictorian. She walked across the stage — the same stage Luis Jr. walked across three years ago — and she shook the principal's hand and she looked at the audience and she found me (because Gutierrez children always find their mother in the audience, it is genetic, it is the GPS of love) and she smiled. The smile. Isabella's smile that is so rare it feels like weather — you note it, you appreciate it, you know it won't last, and you hold it while it does.

Her speech was about borders. Not the political border — the personal border, the border between who you are and who you want to be, the border between poverty and possibility, the border between a grandmother who died of preventable disease and a granddaughter who will prevent disease. She said: "My abuela Rosa crossed the border from Chihuahua to El Paso, and her daughter crossed the border from dishwasher to bakery owner, and I am crossing the border from high school to nursing school, and the crossing is the family tradition, and the tradition is: we cross. We always cross. We never stand still on one side."

The audience — parents, teachers, graduates, the whole graduating class of 2021 — was silent for three seconds after she finished. The silence was the standing ovation before the standing ovation. And then they stood and they applauded and I was standing too, standing and crying and clapping and thinking: Rosa. Rosa, your granddaughter just gave a valedictorian speech about you to a thousand people, and the thousand people stood up, and the standing was for you, and the speech was for you, and the girl who gave it is the girl you held at the baptism, the girl in the photograph on the bakery wall, the girl who is going to hold babies the way you held her, and the holding is the crossing, and the crossing never stops.

I made chile colorado for graduation dinner. Because of course I did. Because every milestone is chile colorado. Because the recipe is the milestone marker, the flag planted at the summit, the thing you eat when you have reached the top of something, and the top is Rosa's recipe, and Rosa's recipe is the top, and the top tastes like cumin and garlic and the particular fire of dried New Mexico chiles, and the fire is the celebration, and the celebration is the chile, and the chile is Rosa, and Rosa is the graduation, and the graduation is everything.

Rosa’s chile colorado will always be the original — the real flag planted at the summit — but when I need to bring that same fire and warmth to a table full of people celebrating Isabella, I reach for something that carries the spirit of it: smoky, slow-cooked pork with the deep Southwestern heat she grew up breathing in our kitchen. These Southwestern Pulled Pork Crostini let everyone at the table hold a little piece of that celebration in their hands, the way I held Isabella’s future in mine for eighteen years. It is the crossing made bite-sized, passed around the table, shared.

Southwestern Pulled Pork Crostini

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork shoulder (bone-in or boneless)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles, drained
• 1 baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds (about 24 slices)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons pickled red onion, for garnish
• 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Season the pork. Combine cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, salt, black pepper, and cayenne in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture thoroughly over all sides of the pork shoulder.
2. Slow cook. Place the seasoned pork shoulder in a slow cooker. Pour chicken broth around the base and scatter diced green chiles over the top. Cook on LOW for 7–8 hours or HIGH for 4–5 hours, until the pork shreds easily with a fork.
3. Shred and rest. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return shredded pork to the slow cooker and stir to coat in the cooking juices. Let rest on WARM for 15 minutes.
4. Prepare the crostini. Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides lightly with olive oil. Bake for 8–10 minutes, flipping once halfway, until golden and crisp. Remove and let cool slightly.
5. Make the spread. In a small bowl, stir together softened cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Season with a pinch of salt.
6. Assemble. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture on each crostini. Top with a generous spoonful of pulled pork. Sprinkle shredded pepper jack cheese over the top.
7. Broil briefly. Return assembled crostini to the oven under the broiler for 1–2 minutes, just until the cheese is melted and beginning to bubble. Watch closely.
8. Garnish and serve. Top each crostini with a small piece of pickled red onion, a jalapeño slice if using, and a pinch of fresh cilantro. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 14g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 17g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 340mg