My parents came for dinner last week so I decided to make one of our favorite kinds of food, Mexican. And it’s just in time to share with you all for Cinco de Mayo. I decided on these amazing pork carnitas, Mexican rice, crock pot refried beans and homemade flour tortillas (which I will be sharing with you later this week).
These carnitas may just blow your mind. For real. I’m still dreaming about that delicious taco.
Neither Joel or my brother really like pork so I was a little worried about how this would go over. The verdict…they loved it and have requested it to be made again, soon.
Although the carnitas take a little time to cook and have a few different steps, they come together very easily. And make sure not to skip anything, especially the broiling. It gives the pork a crispy, crunchy bite that is so delicious with the soft tortillas.
Man, I need to stop talking about them or else I’m going to start drooling. Please run to the store for the ingredients right now and make this for your family and friends. It’s a great, easy and casual way to entertain any time of the year.
- 4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 2 cup water
- 1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and move oven rack to the bottom of the oven. In a large dutch oven, combine all the ingredients (including the orange halves) and heat over medium high heat until it simmers. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven for about 2 hours, or until the meat falls apart when you poke it with a fork.
- Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan. Remove and throw out everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place the dutch oven over high heat on the stove and boil until thick and syrupy, about 20 minutes. You should have about 1 cup of liquid remaining when it is finished.
- While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has become a syrup, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and if needed, add some salt and pepper.
- Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.
May 3, 2015 at 5:02 am
[…] Carnitas = Best.Tacos.Ever. […]