A few weeks ago I happened upon a tray of vinegary Eastern North Carolina BBQ, leftover from a dear friend’s wedding, and with the plethora of sweet Silver Queen corn stored in my freezer I had to make something. Finally! I had an excuse to try out a few gluten-free recipes and make Eastern Carolina BBQ carnitas and corn empanadas. Since the laborious task of cooking of the pork was already done, I threw it in a pot with carnitas-inspired spices before tossing it on a baking sheet and into the oven to give it that iconic carnitas crisp. Mixed some of my Silver Queen stash in with it and I had a huge batch of tasty filling to stuff into GF pockets.

I used this filling while testing out a variety of GF doughs. You can read about that experiment here and get the gluten-free empanada dough recipes!

Eastern Carolina BBQ Carnitas + Corn Empanadas

Empanada Ingredients

Empanada Filling:

• 1 lb. pulled pork
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 10 large orange rind zests
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1-2 cups water
• 2 ears sweet corn, shaved off the cob
• Salt
• Pepper

Empanada Directions

1. Olive oil, spices and garlic went into my dutch oven over medium heat to bloom for a few minutes until fragrant. I added the pulled pork, about 1-2 cups of water, orange zest and orange juice, brought it to a low simmer and let all the liquid cook off. I added salt and pepper to taste.
2. As the pork steeped in the spices and the liquid cooked off, I set my oven to 350°F. Once the liquid was gone, I spread the entire contents of the dutch oven onto a baking sheet coated with olive oil, then placed it in the oven for about 40 minutes, or just until the pork started to crisp. I removed the orange zests after taking it out of the oven.  
3. I microwaved the frozen corn at 4 minutes per ear, 8 minutes total, then cut off the bottom ends and shook the cobs out of their husks. Be careful to not burn yourself! After letting them cool a few minutes so I could handle them, I cut the corn off the cob.
4. As the pork crisps up in the oven, you can make a GF dough of your choice! I loved using both Sandra Gutierrez’s Cornmeal and Cassava Flour dough and the King Arthur Gluten-Free Pie Crust with this filling.