Carnitas Americana

My mother lives in the north woods of Wisconsin. During the summer months, she loves visitors. She emailed me today to give me some news:

It’s another sunny day. The cabin is filling up across the lake. Grace and Stephen arrived at 7:00 and came to dinner.

We were out on the tennis court at dusk doing some weeding and removing the boards as he wants to practice his tennis. He has been going to tennis camp all summer and has made good progress so he is enthusiastic about working on his game. If he works on the court, we will work on his game.”

In preparation for the visitors, she asked for a pulled pork recipe. I suggested Carnita’s.  I had already planned for it to be on my own menu in Darien tomorrow.  This recipe will serve my customers, as well as my mother’s tribe this weekend:
CARNITA’S AMERICANA  (recipe feeds 8 to 10 people)
Start by searing the skin of a 5-pound pork butt in a hot skillet. Then, transfer to a roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup each of onion, carrot and celery that has already been softened. Then add two cups of chicken stock and the same amount of orange juice. Add a combination of 1-cup salt, 1-cup sugar, 1/4-cup oregano (dry). Then add either 4-tablespoons chili flakes or 1/4-cup jalapeño (or both).
Braise in 350 F oven for 4 hours. Then let it cool.
Next, remove the fat and strain the braising liquid. Add 3 cups of milk to the pan. Refrigerate over night.
Prior to serving, reheat the pork for at least 30 minutes in a 400 F oven. The pork should crisp a bit. Then you can shred the pork. Serve with rice and beans and corn tortillas

 

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