Carnitas Marinade Food

CARNITAS RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Pat the pork butt dry with a paper towel. Use a large, sharp knife to trim away excess fat. Cut the pork butt into 1" thick slices. Then, cut each slice into 1" cubes.
• Transfer the pork to a 4-5 quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven. Add all of the dry spices, and massage them onto the pork with your hands.
• Add the orange juice, lime juice, and a 1/2 cup water to the Dutch oven and stir to combine. Add the bay leaves, cover, and transfer to the oven.
• Cook for 2 hours. Remove from the oven, and turn on the broiler on high. Have ready a rimmed sheet pan lined with nonstick aluminum foil.
• Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork to the prepared sheet pan. Using the tines of a fork, gently press down on the pork to ever-so-slightly break it apart.
• Place the pork under the broiler, and watch closely so that it does not burn. As soon as the pork begins to tinge with dark brown hues and crisps up on the edges, remove it from the oven. Depending on your broiler, this could take anywhere from 1- 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• Place the Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat and allow to come to a simmer. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the cooking liquid and allow to simmer until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Either add the pork back to the Dutch oven and stir or brush the sauce lightly over the carnitas. Serve with tortillas and your favorite taco toppings and enjoy!

CARNITAS MICHOACANAS

Steps:

• Cut the meat into large chunks, or leave it on the bone if the hunks will fit in the pot you are using. Salt them well.
• Fill your pot with the lard and heat it to about 200°F or thereabouts. You might need more than 3 quarts. Remember, you will be able to reuse this lard later, and almost all of it will stay in the pot, so fear not.
• When the lard hits temperature, add the pork. Now, there is an order to things. Different pieces cook at different rates. Longest cooking bits, in order, are: hocks, feet, tongue, heart, jowls, shoulder, ribs, hind leg, skin, belly, loins. Depending on what you are using, add the longest cooking bits in first. In general, wait 30 minutes before you put in the next item. Even loin will ultimately need 1 hour, though, so keep this in mind. Carnitas is a process.
• Once you put in the first pork item, add all the remaining ingredients and let things cook at about 195°F, more or less, until all the various piggy bits are soft and tender. Normally this takes about 4 hours, but could be more with wild hogs.
• When the meat is starting to fall off the bone, remove it from the lard and let it cool a bit. Carefully debone it. If you are using feet, this will be fiddly. Now, you have two choices. If you don't care about reusing the oil, heat it to 350°F and fry the pork until the exterior is crispy. If you do want to reuse the lard, remove all but about 1 cup and then sear the pork bits in that lard until crispy.
• Chop and shred the meat as you like and serve. It will keep a week in the fridge and freezes well.

SOY MARINATED PORK CARNITAS

Steps:

• Combine the soy sauce, sugar, mirin, oyster sauce, mushroom soy, green onions, star anise, cloves, peppercorn blend, cinnamon sticks and ginger slices in an 18-quart container. With a large whisk, mix the ingredients together. Make sure all the sugar at the bottom is properly stirred into the liquid. Gradually pour the water into the container and continue to stir.
• Cut the pork butt in 2-inch square pieces. Trim all the hard fat off and leave about a quarter of the soft fat on the meat. Set the pork in a deep cooking pan, and, using a ladle, pour the soy marinade mix over the meat, make sure all the meat is covered in the liquid. (Any extra soy-ginger marinade can be put away and used again on a later date.) Add the dried black mushroom and bay leaves to the liquid, spreading them evenly throughout the pan. Tightly wrap the pan with heavy-duty foil and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure the foil is tightly sealed around the pan and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 3 hours. Take the pan out of the oven and remove the foil. With a fork and tongs pull at the pork. It should easily tear off to assure it's fully cooked.

CARNITAS

Steps:

• Toss the pork with 2 teaspoons of salt. Transfer to a 6- to 7-quart Dutch oven or pot along with the oil, oregano, red pepper, cloves, garlic, bay leaves, lime juice, orange peel and onion. Cover with 4 to 5 cups of water. Bring to a high simmer, then reduce the heat to low, partially cover the pot and simmer gently, checking occasionally to give it a stir, until the pork is tender and just beginning to fall apart, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves and orange peel. (The pork will not look super-attractive at this point but don't panic!)
• Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium-high. Simmer vigorously, stirring frequently, until all of the water has evaporated, leaving only the oil, and the pork has browned and begun to fry slightly at the bottom of the pot; continue to cook, scraping up the bottom of the pot frequently to release the fried bits, 30 to 40 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pork from any remaining oil in the pot.
• Serve with tortillas and suggested toppings to make tacos.

CARNITAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Put the poblano and onion slices in the bottom of a heavy pot. Mix the cayenne, cumin and a pinch of salt and pepper together in a bowl, then use the mixture to season the pork shoulder. Put the pork on top of the vegetables. Add the chicken broth, jalapeno slices, lime zest and juice and orange zest and juice. Cover and cook until tender, 4 to 5 hours.
• Turn the heat up to 450 degrees F, remove the lid and cook until the surface crisps slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pork to a board and let it rest until cool enough to handle, then remove the fat and shred the meat with 2 forks.
• Strain the vegetables from the sauce and set aside. Put the meat in serving dish, add the vegetables and pour over some of the sauce.
• Serve the shredded pork with warm corn tortillas, radishes, pickled jalapenos, pico de gallo, hot sauce, lime wedges and cilantro leaves.

LISA'S FAVORITE CARNE ASADA MARINADE

Steps:

• Combine the orange, lemon, and lime juice in a large glass or ceramic bowl along with the garlic, soy sauce, chipotle pepper, chili power, ground cumin, paprika, dried oregano, black pepper, and cilantro. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until marinade is well combined. Remove one cup of the marinade and place in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for use after the meat is cooked.
• Place the flank steak between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the steak with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a thickness of 1/4 inch. After pounding, poke steak all over with a fork. Add the meat to the marinade in the large bowl, cover, and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.
• Remove the steak from the marinade and grill to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Discard used marinade. Remove meat from heat and slice across the grain.
• Pour the one cup of reserved, unused marinade over the hot meat and serve immediately.

BEEF CARNITAS

Steps:

• Spray pan with non-stick cooking oil.
• Add meat, onions and garlic and saute until brown.
• Stir in broth, chilis, adobo sauce and spices.
• Cook until meat is very tender (time varys depending on cooking method).
• Remove from broth and finely chop.
• Serve rolled with soft flour tortilla and serve with garnishes.
• Note: The left over crockprot broth can be used in the preparation of spanish rice -- beware it will kick it up a couple notches!