Thursday, June 22, 2006

Hey who wants some frikin Carnitas

Carnitas(from the Spanish for "little meats") is a type of braised or roasted (often after first being boiled) pork in Mexican cuisine. Sometimes it is actually prepared by frying, although this method is less traditional. It can also be made from beef using a chuck roast, although using pork seems to be the more common method.
Pork carnitas is traditionally made using the heavily marbled, rich 'boston butt' or 'picnic ham' areas of the hog. Contrary to their misleading names, these are neither butt areas nor ham areas, but rather the upper and lower sections of the front shoulder of the hog. The 6-16lb sections are usually sectioned down to a workable (6-10lb) size and seasoned heavily before slow braising or slow roasting, generally in the range of 160-180 F for 8-12 hours. At this stage the collagen in the meat has broken down sufficiently to allow it to be pulled apart by hand or fork or chopped by using a cleaver.
Having been dismantled, some of the rendered liquid is added back to the pork. Prior to serving, the pork is placed in fairly shallow pans to maximize surface area, then roasted at high (375-425 F) heat for a few minutes to produce the famous alternating texture of succulent softness and caramelized crispness.

Here is how Imake it
  1. Get your self a three to four pound pork butt and chop into 2-3 in chunks
  2. In a shallow roasting pan place 2 fresh jalapeño 2 seranos and 1 pablano chilies
    2-3 cloves of garlic
  3. Coat the meat in Chile powder and add to the pot.
  4. Add enough orange juice to cover half way up the meat
  5. Chop one bunch of cilantro
  6. Add a table spoon of salt and ½ tlb of pepper
  7. Cover and roast at 300 degrees for at least 3 hours
  8. Cooking time will vary according to how much meat you have
  9. But you can check it with a fork; you want to be falling apart.
  10. Once you have reached the fork tender stage drain OJ and spread out meat and dry roast for 15- 25 minutes to crisp it up

use it in tacos or buritos i like it covered in salsa verde .

enjoy

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