This winter has been so long and so I’ve been making food that makes me feel good, and what better option is there than tacos? Correct, there isn’t one. What makes this winter so long? We’ve gotten an incredible amount of snow this year, third snowiest on record, and there’s still snow in the forecast. Pray for me.
Earlier this week when I looked at the forecast and saw more snow, I knew it was time to make some citrusy carnitas. I had gotten a 5-lb pork butt from the grocery store a few weeks ago on special and cut it up into manageable sized pieces and vacuum-sealed it. I let that thaw in the fridge and picked up some essentials at the store and then spent most of my Saturday making the carnitas. While I prefer to make them in a dutch oven, these are easily adaptable to a slow cooker. Total time is about 3-4 hours in a dutch oven on the stovetop, depending on how you cut the pork – definitely worth the wait and minimal effort up front.
After I made the carnitas, I went to my friend Lauren’s and we went out to dinner at Boca Chica for more Mexican food and margs before going to see John Mayer in concert. A great show, a great dinner, and a great job filling the Mexican food void I’ve been dealing with for a long time.
I hope you make these and love them as much as I do, they’re gluten free and dairy free (depending on what tortillas/toppings you use) and packed with flavor.
Pork Carnitas with Avocado Tomatillo Salsa
Ingredients
Carnitas
5 lb pork butt, cut into 3 inch pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
5 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp Penzey’s Southwest seasoning (sub garlic powder, Mexican oregano, and chili powder mixture)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 navel oranges, cut in half
1 lime, cut in half
1 large white onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 cloves garlic, smashed
1 jalapeño, stem removed
3 dried chile de arbol
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
Other Ingredients:
Flour or corn tortillas
Avocado Tomatillo Salsa – recipe follows
Cilantro, roughly chopped
Radish, thinly sliced
White onion, diced
Instructions
Take your pork butt, and dry off as much moisture as possible, set aside. In a small bowl, combine the kosher salt, cumin, southwest seasoning, and cinnamon. When fully mixed, evenly rub over the pork pieces.
Heat a large (7 qt+) dutch oven over medium heat and once heated up, add in the vegetable oil. Once the oil is shimmering or easily moves around the pan, add in your pork pieces. Juice the oranges and limes and add the liquid into the dutch oven, being careful of any splatter. Take one of the juiced orange halves and both juiced lime halves and add them into the dutch oven. Discard the other three halves of the orange peel. Add in the onion, garlic, jalapeño, chile de arbol, brown sugar and mix well. Add in the chicken stock and bring to a rolling boil, then lower the temperature to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 3 hours or until the pork falls apart with a fork.
Once fork tender, remove the lid and let cook for 10-15 minutes, allowing some of the juices to evaporate. Remove from heat and set aside. If serving immediately, crisp up the pork by putting in a cast iron skillet or baking sheet and broiling until pork starts to caramelize.
In a dry skillet, heat the tortillas until soft and starting to get browning spots on them. Assemble the tacos by adding the carnitas, salsa, radish slices, cilantro, and white onion.
Avocado Tomatillo Salsa
Ingredients
1 lb tomatillos, husk removed, rinsed, and hulled
2 large avocados, sliced
1 lime, juiced (1 tbsp lime juice)
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeño
3 tsp salt
Instructions
In a blender, and all the ingredients to a blender and blend until desired consistency and everything is well combined, seasoning with salt and lime juice as needed.
Happy Eating!
Kelly
