Ole! It's Carnitas Time!

Today is going to be a simple crockpot recipe that will yield plenty of meat for dinner tonight as well as serving as a key ingredient for tomorrow’s recipe. This is the first step in meal planning for those of you who are more of the “let’s figure out today what we’ll have tonight” and want to be more of the “how do I maximize my grocery budget and still have a variety of dinners that my family will enjoy”? You need to start thinking in terms of common ingredients between recipes or how many ways to make chicken (if it’s on sale that week) without feeling like “oh my god – if I eat chicken one more time, I will turn into one”!

Carnitas, literally “little meats,” is a dish of Mexican cuisine. You will slow cook this meat so it is extremely juicy and tender.  The meat can then be used as an ingredient in tamales, tacos, tortas and burritos. I was never a huge pork person growing up but I love this recipe. It’s just so easy and tasty.

Pork Carnitas

Ingredients:

3 lb. boneless pork shoulder cut into chunks     2 tsp. salt     1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin     1/2 tsp. oregano     1 large onion, quartered     3 cloves of garlic

Directions:

1. Sprinkle pork with salt, chili powder, cumin and oregano.
2. Place in crockpot with onion and garlic.
3. Cover and cook on low until meat is tender, about 6 hours.
4. Shred and serve warm.
5. Save about 12 oz. of meat for tomorrow. We’ll be making pulled pork tortilla pie.  For tonight, this meat is great plain, but I do it in pork tacos with my own sauces. I skip the traditional chopped tomatoes, lettuce etc. I may put a little cheese on them as well as Creole Tomato Salsa and some Charred Corn Guacamole. And, yes, you get those recipes too!

Creole Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

4 c. chopped tomatoes     1 c. chopped onion     1 chopped jalapeno

1/2 c. chopped cilantro     1 tbsp. parsley     1 tbsp. garlic     1 tsp. Worcestershire

1 tsp. hot sauce     6 tbsp. lime juice     1 tbsp. olive oil

Directions: Combine all! Yes, it’s that easy.

Charred Corn Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 ears of corn, husks and silks removed     2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 avocados    1/3 c. chopped scallions     1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. ground cumin     1/2 tsp. red pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare a gas, charcoal or indoor grill.
2. Brush ears of corn with oil.
3. Put corn on grill and let it start to blister for a few minutes on each side.
4. Rotate accordingly until all sides are charred (app. 10 minutes). Let cool.
5. Cut kernels off the cob.
6. Cut each avocado and remove pit.
7. Remove avocado from its skin and put it in bowl with the corn.
8. Add scallions, lemon juice, cumin, red pepper.
9. Mash with a fork until halfway smooth and chunky.

Ole! A Mexican feast and the beginnings of a second night’s dinner as well. I would advise one more thing in this combination of recipes. If you are making the guacamole listed above, grill 2 additional ears of corn if you’d like. You’ll need a can of corn for the tortilla pie the next day and, depending on price of corn, this may be cheaper than buying a can. Besides, corn fresh off the cob has always tasted better to me. I use cans of corn and ears of corn interchangeably in my recipes depending on what is cheaper at the time.

As always, have fun!