You know, you can not buy good Mexican food here. Heck, we brought back corn tortillas the last time we were down in P-town. So when I want to get my cha-chas, I need to plan at least a week ahead. Two days to thaw, two to three days to marinate, a day to slow braise (or "smaize"; smoke and braise on the Trager). Then shred and back into the oven to caramelize. FINALLY, it's time to eat!
Carnitas!
4-5-pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons oil
water
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon chile powder
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced
1. Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Refrigerate for
1- to 3-days. (You can skip this step if you want. But really? Go whole hog in my opinion.)
2. Heat the oil in a roasting pan set on the stove top. Cook the pieces
of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning
them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping
them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a
single-layer, cook them in two batches.
3. Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot and blot away
any excess fat with a paper towel, then pour in about a cup of water,
scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all
the tasty brown bits.
4. At this point I turned on the Traeger to 325F. But it also works in the oven. Heat the oven to 350F (180C) degrees.
5. Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces
are 2/3rd's submerged in liquid. Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the
chile powders, bay leaves, cumin and garlic.
7. Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few
times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the
pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork
pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.
8. Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into
bite-sized pieces, about 2-inches (7 cm), discarding any obvious big
chunks of fat if you wish.
9. Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the
oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the
pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the
pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.
You can't see it, but I'm doing the yum-yum dance even thinking about it.
Whoo. After a week of preparation it was time to eat. So to make these just that much better, we served them with pickled onions (the best thing I found at a taqueria in Cabo. And the taqueria maybe the best thing in Cabo...) and peach cilantro margarita.
Make these and you too can do the yum-yum dance.
Pickled Red Onions3/4 cup (180ml) white vinegar
3 tablespoons (50gr) sugar
pinch of salt
1 bay leaf
5 allspice berries
5 whole cloves
a small, dried chile pepper
1 large red onion, peeled, and thinly sliced into rings
1. In a small, non-reactive saucepan, heat the vinegar, sugar, salt, seasonings and chile until boiling.
2. Add the onion slices and lower heat, then simmer gently for 30 seconds.
3. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
4. Transfer the onions and the liquid into a jar then refrigerate until ready to use.
Storage: The onions will keep for several months.
(Recipes inspired by David Lebovitz)
2 drinks
Muddle 1 peach and a 1/4 cup of cilantro together. Sprain through a sieve (be sure to press firmly with the back of a muddler or wooden spoon to extract as much of the juice without the solids).
To the juice add:
1/2C Silver tequila
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp simple syrup
1 Tbsp Cointeau/Triple Sec
Blend well and divide between two glasses (filled with ice). Garnish with Cilantro sprig.
Cheers!
(Inspired by Epicurious)
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