Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mouth-Watering Pork Carnitas

I love this recipe because it can be quickly made in a pressure cooker or just thrown in a slow-cooker in the morning an it's ready to eat when you get home. (It makes the house smell great!)
There are a few key ingredients that make this recipe over-the-top-tasty (hint: OJ).


Can easily serve 5 people.

4 Pork Chops or a 3-4lb. Pork Shoulder
1 14oz. can diced Tomatoes
1 small can diced Green Chiles
3 cloves of Garlic, diced
1 small white or red Onion, diced
1 tbsp. Lime juice (bottled or fresh)
1/2 cup of Orange Juice
1 cup beef or chicken Stock (or as much liquid as it takes to cover the meat)
2 tsp. ea. Paprika and Chile Powder
4 tsp. Ground Cumin
2 tsp. ea. Salt & Pepper
2 roasted and chopped Peppers of your choice (depending on how spicy you want it)
2 tbsp. chopped Cilantro (to garnish)

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pot or pressure cooker. Sprinkle salt & pepper on the pork, then turn to sear the meat on all sides. Push meat to the edge of the pan so you can also saute the garlic and onion until it's translucent. Either transfer the meat, onions, and garlic to a slow-cooker or keep it in the same large pot/pressure cooker.

How to roast a pepper: Spray or coat the peppers of your choice in oil and broil, turning with tongs until all sides are charred. Let the pepper cool and remove stem- and seeds if you want it to be less spicy.

Add the rest of the spices on top of the meat, add the can of tomato and chiles, fill the pot with the lime juice, orange juice, and stock (or water if you don't have stock on hand) and stir.

Cover the pot and bring up to a low-simmer (medium-low heat) if slow-cooking in a pot or CrockPot and cook for at least a few hours until meat can be shredded with a fork. If using a pressure cooker, bring up to temperature, then lower and cook for at least an hour.
Shred the tender meat using a couple of forks. Let the pork simmer in the juices to absorb all the spices throughout, while also thickening the juices. Keep warm until ready to serve.

This meat helps make my favorite tacos: warm some tortillas, add your hot carnitas, add chopped lettuce, tomato, cilantro and a dollop of sour cream to top it all off. Yummm.
Best of all, the leftovers only taste better as the flavors mix.

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