Before I write anything about Week 2's recipe, let me tell you this - these Carnitas are AMAZING. So if you read nothing else, feel free to skip down to the recipe. You can thank me (well, my friend Sara) for this later.
Here's the deal - my family LOVES Carnitas. While I used to use Carne Asada as my 'test dish' for any Mexican restaurant, I now use Carnitas. And we had the Costco carnitas in our menu rotation at least every other week (you know, the kind you heat for 4 minutes, loving that it's so easy). Well, the last time we tried the Costco one, it wasn't as delicious as normal. Dry, not tender, needed a ton of extra salsa verde. In short, not worth the ease of 4 minutes.
So imagine my delight when my friend Sara sent me her fave Crock Pot Carnitas! Here you go...
1/2 cup orange juice (about 1 large orange, fresh squeezed is best)
1/4 cup lime juice (about 1 large lime, fresh squeezed is best)
7 cloves garlic (whole, intact)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup beef broth
Use a 6 quart slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine the salt a cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Pour in citrus and then pour beef broth over the top.
Cook on low 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds easily with a fork. If the meat it still intact, remove and cut into chunks, then return to crock and flip to high for an hour or so.
NOTE: my friend Sara sped it up a little by removing the meat from the bone and cutting into big hunks - do this before you do the rub - before it goes into the crock pot instead of testing & cutting at the end. Slow cooked for 6 hours and then heated up to high for hour 7 and it was done! I didn't do this - I had plenty of time for the whole 8+ hours, but not time in the morning to cut it all up.
Shred meat fully and serve on warm tortillas with desired topping! (we use cheese, but I also sauteed some sweet peppers and an onion to make this a little more like fajitas)
1. This took about 6 minutes, which included a trip to the backyard for the perfect lime or two) - so A.
2. On hand - well, not as easy as frozen chicken breasts, I did have to plan this one ahead to have the pork shoulder and the Orange. But this is worth planning ahead! so 4 of 5 stars
3. How good does the house smell? Wow - I could not wait to eat this! Obviously 7 cloves of garlic roasting all day is one of my favorite things!
4. Do we like it? CPA Daddy has been asking for a redux since the following morning. And (now this is big) we would serve this to company in a heartbeat.
5. Enough leftovers - this time it was actually pretty decent - a couple tacos the following night made everyone happy.
6. Make again? Ummmm....Yeah!
Here's the deal - my family LOVES Carnitas. While I used to use Carne Asada as my 'test dish' for any Mexican restaurant, I now use Carnitas. And we had the Costco carnitas in our menu rotation at least every other week (you know, the kind you heat for 4 minutes, loving that it's so easy). Well, the last time we tried the Costco one, it wasn't as delicious as normal. Dry, not tender, needed a ton of extra salsa verde. In short, not worth the ease of 4 minutes.
So imagine my delight when my friend Sara sent me her fave Crock Pot Carnitas! Here you go...
Week 2 - Carnitas
2 lbs pork shoulder (I used boneless, but I guess you could use bone-in too)1/2 cup orange juice (about 1 large orange, fresh squeezed is best)
1/4 cup lime juice (about 1 large lime, fresh squeezed is best)
7 cloves garlic (whole, intact)
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup beef broth
Use a 6 quart slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine the salt a cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Pour in citrus and then pour beef broth over the top.
Cook on low 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds easily with a fork. If the meat it still intact, remove and cut into chunks, then return to crock and flip to high for an hour or so.
NOTE: my friend Sara sped it up a little by removing the meat from the bone and cutting into big hunks - do this before you do the rub - before it goes into the crock pot instead of testing & cutting at the end. Slow cooked for 6 hours and then heated up to high for hour 7 and it was done! I didn't do this - I had plenty of time for the whole 8+ hours, but not time in the morning to cut it all up.
Shred meat fully and serve on warm tortillas with desired topping! (we use cheese, but I also sauteed some sweet peppers and an onion to make this a little more like fajitas)
Results (with loose referral to Week 1 post with criteria):
1. This took about 6 minutes, which included a trip to the backyard for the perfect lime or two) - so A.
2. On hand - well, not as easy as frozen chicken breasts, I did have to plan this one ahead to have the pork shoulder and the Orange. But this is worth planning ahead! so 4 of 5 stars
3. How good does the house smell? Wow - I could not wait to eat this! Obviously 7 cloves of garlic roasting all day is one of my favorite things!
4. Do we like it? CPA Daddy has been asking for a redux since the following morning. And (now this is big) we would serve this to company in a heartbeat.
5. Enough leftovers - this time it was actually pretty decent - a couple tacos the following night made everyone happy.
6. Make again? Ummmm....Yeah!
So, I made these today--inspired by you and our mutual friend, Sara! They were amazing! I only made one little change, which I really recommend.
ReplyDeleteI like my carnitas with a little crispy crust on the outside--the kind you get from a taco truck heating them on a griddle. So, after firing up the Crock Pot on high for an hour, I took out all the carnitas-drained 90% of the liquid and heated the in my largest saute pan until they browned a little. They were still tender, but with the little crispies! Highly recommend! Served it with a little chopped onion, cilantro and avocado...yum, yum and more yum!