This past weekend I decided to make burritos de
carnitas. I had a pork shoulder roast in the freezer
that I had gotten when they were on sale a month or
so ago. Here are the recipes I used. The carnitas
recipe was a new one that I decided to experiment with.
The salsa recipe was also new. Both turned out great.

LA TAQUERIA CARNITAS

1 boned, tied pork shoulder or butt (4-5 lb.)
2 onions (1 lb. total), peeled and quartered
4 stalks celery (including leaves), rinsed and cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon salt, approx.
½ cup milk

Rinse pork and put in a 6- to 8-quart pan. Add onions,
celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and
enough water to cover meat - 2½-3½ quarts. Bring to a
boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until
meat is very tender when pierced, 2-2½ hours. With
slotted spoons, transfer pork to a 9- by 13-inch pan;
reserve cooking juices. Discard string, and use 2 forks
to pull meat into large chunks. Pour milk over meat.
Bake pork in a 325F oven until drippings are browned,
about 1 hour, stirring and scraping pan occasionally.
Meanwhile, pour reserved juices through a strainer into
a bowl; discard residue. Skim and discard fat. Return
juices to pan. Boil over high heat until reduced to 2
cups, about 45 minutes. When pork drippings are browned,
add 1 cup of the reduced juices; scrape drippings free and
stir meat, breaking into smaller pieces. Bake until
juices have evaporated and drippings are browned, about
15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Repeat step, using
remaining juices, and cook until meat edges are crisp
and browned, 15-20 minutes longer. Season to taste
with salt. Makes 8-9 cups. (Notes: At La Taqueria
in San Francisco, owner Miguel Jara cooks pork in
cauldrons of bubbling lard until tender, then roasts
it to make crowd-pleasing carnitas. At home, braise
the pork, then roast until tender-crisp. For best
results, select meat with the most fat marbling; fat
is rendered during roasting, making the carnitas moist
and crisp. If cooking meat up to 3 days ahead, chill
airtight; freeze to store longer.)

(Notes: I left out the celery. Did everything else
pretty much the way they said except that I cooked it
overnight in the slow-cooker and it wasn't tied. I
couldn't see the point in tying it. Also, I only did
the first step of the baking with the reduced meat juices.
Couldn't see the point in doing more. I thought the milk
thing was a little weird. Can't really tell if it did
anything for the taste. I guess a side-by-side taste
comparison would be required to tell if there really is
a difference. Anyway, it is delicious.)

TROPICAL SALSA

2 ripe mangoes, diced
1 c. diced fresh tomato
1 c. diced red bell pepper
1 c. diced red onion
2 T. minced garlic
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 T. olive oil
4 T. red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
½ c. fresh lime juice
zest of 2 limes
freshly ground pepper
dash Tabasco or other pepper sauce
1 c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Place all of the ingredients in a glass bowl and mix
very well. Marinate for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator
before serving. Yields 1 quart.

(Notes: This being my first time with a mango I was not
sure how to make sure I got a ripe one. Plus there's that
whole thing with getting the flesh off the pit that I've
heard about, so I bought the DelMonte mango in a jar in the
refrig. section. Also, I added about a cup of diced fresh
pineapple and reduced the mango by about half. I wasn't
sure what the oil was doing in the recipe but I used it
anyway. I didn't like the sound of so much vinegar what
with all the lime juice (I don't like things too sour) so
I only added 2 T. wine vinegar. Might just leave it out
altogether next time. Didn't bother to add the cilantro
either as I'm not a big fan and I would either have had to
pay a fortune at the supermarket or go to the Indian market
and I wasn't up for another, and out-of-the-way, stop when
I did my shopping. I never missed it. I'll eat the stuff
if it's in things but I often just leave it out of things
I make at home. For chileheads you might want to add another
jalapeno. I just use one largish one, seeded and ribs removed.
It had a nice bite, to my taste, but not hot enough to make
me cry. I prefer to remain dry-eyed while dining.)

So I made everything on the weekend but I had forgotten
to buy the tortillas so I didn't actually eat it until last
night. One thing to note about the salsa. I put juice
and all in my burritos and ended up with juice running down
my arms. Tonight I think I'll use a slotted serving spoon
to spoon some salsa on the burrito bite by bite. But I'll
have to think of some way to use the excess juice as it's
quite tasty. Maybe I can use it as a salad dressing after
the burritos are gone. The carnitas meat heats up nicely
in the broiler. I just put a portion in a recycled aluminum
pie pan and broil at 450 for about 8-10 minutes. Crisps
up nicely. I'm wondering if that whole milk thing was to
help add crispness to it as milk contains sugar. Anyway,
can't wait to get home for dinner tonight (and tomorrow
night, and Thursday, and Friday . . . .)

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?