Tasty Tuesday

The recipe for this week was one I found shortly after I returned home from a visit to Houston in April 2009. I had been looking for a copy cat recipe of Chuy's Creamy Jalapeno Dip and I found this blog instead. More importantly, I found a post about Houston style carnitas. I liked carnitas and the idea of making them at home intrigued me. Why it took almost two years to make them, I have no idea, but I can assure you, I know that I won't be waiting that long again.

You only need a few things for this recipe. A 3 pound pork shoulder roast, boneless. If you can't find a boneless one, you can ask the butcher to remove it for you (like I did). You will also need water, orange juice and salt. That's it kiddos!

Here is my pork...all ready to be sliced and diced.

Not really diced. Just sliced. 

You will want to cut your pork into strips, about 3 inches by 1 inch. 

You will want to add the pork to a large pot with 1 cup of orange juice, 3 cups of water, and 2 teaspoons of salt. 

You will want to bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, you will want to simmer it on low, uncovered , for two hours. 

After two hours, this is what you will have. You will want to turn it up to medium high heat and continue to cook until all of the liquid has evaporated.  This should take about 45 minutes and you will want to stir a few times to make sure that the pork doesn't stick. 

After 45 minutes, this is what you should have. The pork should be brown on both sides and there will be some liquid fat in the pan. 

At this point the pork is ready. I attempted to remove it from the pan to a cutting board to shred it, but it just fell apart before it could get it out of the pan (a good sign!), so I was able to just use my tongs to shred it and break it apart in the pan and then I moved it to a serving bowl.

This is what it looked like after I moved it to the bowl. It was delicious and I had to stop myself from "taste-testing" it and remind myself that I had made it for tacos. 

Just gather your favorite taco fillings and feast away! We enjoyed it for several more days, on nachos, as sandwiches, or just a quick bite here and there. 

A note from the blog that I got this recipe from, and one that I would totally agree with, is that fat is a key part in this. Make sure that there is plenty of fat on the cut of pork that you get and don't trim it off. If there isn't enough fat, it will turn out dry, and that would make for sad carnitas. 

The next time you are thinking about making tacos or burritos, instead of using beef or chicken, I would recommend giving this a try!

Peace out *g*