Saturday, March 3, 2012

Involuntary Yummy Sound ((pork carnitas))

Hey Y'all!

Let me start by saying that I am not a "recipe follower" by any means.
Do not get me wrong.  I have tons of cookbooks and recipes but what I like to do is take what someone else creates and make it my own.  I think I am very familiar with spices and herbs to know how they work together and what I can substitute, omit and play around with, what I don't know, I ask the hubby and vice versa.  Food is always good 'round here.

Onto my Pork Carnitas.  
Ever since the hubby saw pork carnitas being made on tv  (either Diners, Drive Ins and Dives or Man vs. Food) he has been wanting me to make them.  Let me tell you, there are lots of ways to make pork carnitas apparently.  I looked up a few things online but nothing sounded like what we saw.

I compiled a basic ingredient list from different recipes and let's just say, I created magic.



For the Pork
 You will need:



A Pork Shoulder
I am estimating that I used about 4 pounds of pork.  I am a Sams Club shopper and for two of them it was about 17 pounds.  I cut large chunks of meat off the bone of one of the shoulders.  You are going to want them to be very similar in size so that they all cook evenly.  

2 Cups of Lard
I know what your thinking, your about to slow cook a fatty meat in animal fat?!?!  Did I mention its only 200 calories?  
Okay glad I didn't cause that would be a lie.  You are going to want enough lard to cover your chunks of meat.  


Cumin and Kosher Salt
Handful of Garlic Cloves and the Rind of one Orange
I did a few generous shakes of salt and probably about two tablespoons of cumin into the lard.
I smashed and chopped the garlic, nothing to precise. The rind, I broke into about 4 pieces so it was easy to remove later.  Reserve orange.


Your going to melt your lard on medium heat and throw the garlic and rind in.  Carefully put your chunks in and let them slow cook in the lard for close to 2 hours.  Be sure not to overcook.




it will look a lil something like this.


and when it is all done...


it will look a lil something like this.

Now that your pork is done, let it rest while you make the sauce.



For Your Sauce:

should look a lil something like this.

Remember that orange, squeeze as much juice as you can from it.  
I hand squeezed about half a cup.

Strain the lard out of the pot you used to cook the pork but do not clean it.
Toss out the orange rinds and add the fried garlic cloves back to pot and add...
fresh orange juice
two cans of coconut milk. (16 oz each) 
and one can of mexican table cream. (8 oz)
about four tablespoons of cumin
one tablespoon garlic
salt and pepper
and let her simmer for a bit while chop your meat.  

And now to the fixins:
I am a huge avocado fan.  I like guacamole but a simple fresh scored avocado is just wonderful to me.  I also like to do homemade pico de gallo.  So simple too!  Dice up some Roma tomatoes, Vidalia onions, Jalepeno peppers, Serrano peppers, FRESH cilantro and a squeeze a bit of lime juice over it and there you have it!

Put it all together in a flour tortilla and take a bite!


((INSERT INVOLUNTARY YUMMY SOUND HERE))

Be sure to follow me while you are here, much more awesomeness to come!

xo♥xo♥
lydia




1 comment:

Patria said...

OK so whenever you decide to invite me for dinner (hint hint) I want those!!!!!!