Pork Carnitas - Mexican "Little Meats"

Taken on an HTC One M8

I've just become a dad for the first time and I know that what I cook and certainly the way I cook will have to change. Sheerly because of the lack of time I now have it will put huge constraints on how I feed my new family, especially after my paternity leave ends and I once again return to the 9-5

Before my wife went into hospital I decided to stockpile a few freezer meals for when we arrived back home with our bundle of joy and black hole of free time. The obligatory ragout, the beef chilli, a stack of pulled pork portions, all staple meals that can be defrosted in the microwave and cooked up, quite literally, single handed. 

I knew that by having these on hand, should time be of the essence, I could knock something up (no pun intended) in no time at all and still eat well between the endless cycle of feeding, sterilising, changing, rocking and burping my little girl. 

I already had a chunk of pork shoulder in the freezer (purchased for a quarter of the price from the reduced aisle) and I knew I wanted to try and make a few meals for the freezer. I had a look around the usual recipe sites and Pinterest and came across Carnitas. 

Carnitas is like a Mexican pulled pork without the barbecue sauce. It translates as little meats and is used in tacos, sandwiches, burgers & salads and it tastes incredible. So I defrosted the pork and got to work. 

The ingredients are pretty straightforward. Pork shoulder, an orange, 1 tsp of cumin, 2 tsp of oregano, an onion, 5 garlic cloves  and oil. I threw in a few extra ingredients of my own so here it goes. 

Firstly, it's a good idea to get bit of browning on the pork so cut the skin off (set this aside to make some crackling by flattening it on a baking tray, oil and season it and pop it in the oven on the bottom shelf until crispy), cut the shoulder into 3 large pieces and roll in seasoned flour. Hard fry the pork on all sides and put it in a casserole pot with a very roughly chopped onion. 

In a pestle and mortar, grind the oregano and cumin with a little rock salt and fennel seeds, add 5 garlic cloves and a good glug of olive oil and sunflower oil. The recipes I read said to add the juice of an orange but I had the dregs a fresh orange juice carton in the fridge so I used that instead. Pour this mixture into the hot frying pan to deglaze it then into the crock pot. It may look a little dry at this stage so you can add water or chicken stock a but no more than half a pint as when the pork cooks it will release water and be too wet at the end stage. 

Pop the lidded pot in the oven on the highest heat for 30 minutes then turn down to 180c for 2 and a half hours. If after 2 hours it looks a little too wet, remove the lid for the last 30 minutes. 

Pour into a deep tray or plastic container (when cooled slightly) and fork apart to get a pulled pork style finish. 

Once cold I separated it into amounts of 200g, wrapped it up in cling-film and froze it in a resealable freezer bag for when I need it.

As and when you're in the mood for a mexican treat, just defrost it, fry it up in a small frying pan until dry & crispy and serve on a toasted wrap with avocado, and pickles. 

HINT: It's a good idea to toast the tortillas on the bare hob as it adds a smokey charred taste and it crispens them up a treat

Enough carnitas for at least 7 meals from a £5 piece of pork.

Money saving meals at its best.

In the picture above I used fried broccoli, hot sauce and lime to improve the wife's iron levels.