Pork Carnitas

This is a crockpot meal. Make it in the morning to eat for dinner. This recipe makes a big dinner for a big family. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Ingredients

3 lb pork shoulder roast

1 medium onion, sliced into rings

1 orange, quartered

2 oz. package  dried chili pods, any flavor (for example ancho, guajillo, mulato, negro)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

12 oz. beer, whatever is cheapest today

6 bay leaves

1 tsp dried oregano

Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Salt to taste

Garnish Options – Topping Your Tacos

Avocado

Cilantro

Cotija Mexican cheese, crumbled

Lime wedges

Pickled red onion

Sautéed onion

Sautéed sweet red or green peppers, or maybe even poblanos

Sweet onion (Vidalia), chopped

Preparation

·       Toast the chilies in a hot dry skillet for 15-30 seconds per side. Place them in a mixing bowl and cover with boiling water; put a plate over them to keep them in the water. Let them hydrate 20-30 minutes, then pull off the stems and discard the seeds.

·       Put the chilies, garlic, black pepper, oregano, and just enough of the soaking liquid in a blender, and blend to a smooth paste.

·       Spread the onions in the bottom of the crockpot and start it heating.

·       Place the pork roast on top of the bed of onions.

·       Add the chili puree, garlic, beer, and bay leaves to the crockpot.

·       Squeeze the orange juice over the pork and place the squeezed orange quarters around the pork roast equidistantly.

·       Seal the crockpot and cook 6-8 hours on high until the pork is falling apart. Actual cooking time may vary.

·       Remove the pork to a baking sheet and shred it with a couple of forks. Pull out the bone, globs of fat or connective tissue, basically anything you don’t want to eat. You may want to pull some onion out of the crockpot to add to the meat.

·       Now is the time to taste and add salt, if any.

·       Spread the shredded pork evenly over the baking sheet and add enough liquid from the crockpot to about half-submerge the meat (say, a 1/4 of an inch).

·       Put the baking sheet under the broiler and broil until the exposed tips get crispy and crunchy and maybe a few of them even look a little burned. How long this takes depends on your broiler.