The Honeycutt Family: Killer Carnitas!

I have been wanting to make a new meal in our house for sometime, we've eaten everything in our repertoire a thousand times. Okay, maybe not a thousand times, but it surely feels like it. I was scouring the web for recipes which incorporated Pork Shoulder Roast as the main ingredient. After hitting several sites I landed on my most cherished foodie site, Simply Recipes by Elise. She has some of the best recipes I have ever come across, by far my favorite website to sit and browse for something new to try. It just so happens she has several recipes that use pork shoulder. After taking stock in what I have at home, I finally decide on her recipe for Carnitas - they sound enticing. Well, just as I am about to commit to the recipe, I see a link at the bottom of her post for some cook in Alaska. OK, so I have to check it out. Coming from Alaska, curiosity gets the best of me - always has and always will. The link is called Carnitas with chipotle and coke a cola. Hmmm, sounds interesting enough. I hit the link and my eyes beheld a picture that is worth a thousand words. The ingredient list, far shorter, which is wonderful, the technique - simple enough. How can I resist? I don't. I set off to the store in a mad dash, searching for dried chipotles - the smokey flavor is coveted, no other chile pepper will suffice. After hitting up two stores in the area, I surrender to canned chipotles in adobe sauce by San Marrco. Slightly frustrated but not defeated. Why? I had read if you are to buy any canned pepper - this is the label of choice. I have to tell you the smell of all the flavors melding together in the oven, is heavenly. It is so tempting to call it good after being in the oven for two hours, to throw in the towel and call it DONE. All, I can say is don't, do yourself a favor and let it cook, bit by bit, little by little and you will have a delicacy on your hands. Well, After 4 hours of cooking, shredding and more cooking. Steve is blow away by the aroma wafting into our living room from the kitchen. Can I say SCORE! We finally sit down and eat. All I can say it was well worth the wait. If I had to choose one word for our meal, I would have to say SCRUMPTIOUS!

Carnitas:

3 lbs pork shoulder

2 tbls vegetable oil

1 tbls salt

1 tbls ground pepper

1 tbls paprika

1 tbls cayenne pepper

1 tbls oregano

2 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 large dried chipotle peppers

2-3 tbls Brown Sugar

1/2 can coke

1/2 cup milk

Trim the fat and silverskin from the pork roast and cut it into a few manageable pieces. Preheat the oven to about 250 degrees. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep, heavy stock pot with a lid for about 10 minutes, or until the oil begins to smoke, over med-hi heat. While it is getting hot, mix in the spices together on a plate and roll the pork in them. Gently place the pork chunks in the hot oil and sear all sides until browned. Keep your fan running! By the time I got to the last piece of pork to sear, I was coughing up a storm from the cayanne.

Cover, pop it into the oven and cook for one hour, then add the coke, milk, bay leaves, brown sugar and chipotle. Continue cooking for another 2-2 1/2 hours. It's done when the pork starts to fall apart when poked with a spoon. Remove the meat from the stockpot with a slotted spoon and shred it into small pieces. Strain the left over juices and return to pan. Add the meat to the pan and fry until all the juices are gone. (about 20-25 minutes later)

You must serve with: