Cha Cha Cha... it's time for CARNITAS!!!

Carnitas is a pork shoulder roast that has been slowly roasted (braised) until it's literally falling off the bone. Once it's cooked, it's pulled apart and then roasted under high heat until the combination of crispy caramelized and soft succulent pieces of meat are ready to serve. I like to pull mine apart and then pan crisp it in my large cast iron skillet thus achieving the same results.

Like all things I love to cook, I've altered and tweaked my seasonings, while still retaining the spirit of the dish. My carnitas has morphed into a cross between traditional carnitas and cochinita pibil, also a pork shoulder, that has been wrapped in banana leaves and slow cooked in citrus acids, (I don't use banana leaves, but may try them at some point) - the high acidity in this method really tenderizes the meat.

Carnitas - waiting for the final pan crisping

LEARN MY CARNITAS SECRET AFTER THE JUMP...

My carnitas is SO easy, and is a great party dish because you can make it ahead, including prepping most of the fixings for tacos, and people DEVOUR it! Here's the list of ingredients I use:

• Pork Shoulder Roast (sometimes called a butt roast)
• Oranges - Usually three, peeled and pulled apart
  
• Lime and Lemon juice - usually juice three of each
  
• Garlic - as much as you can stand!
  
• White Onion - Usually 1 large onion, peeled and quartered and then broken apart in the pan
  
• Cilantro - a big hand full of sprigs
• Jalapenos - 5 or 6, simply cut in half and then in half again... I leave the seeds too
  
• Tequila - I never measure, just dump for good measure, but for this, just say a cup
  
• Chicken Stock - Probably about 4 cups
  
• Beer - I usually pour in two... I used Coronas the last time since I had them and no one I know will drink them!
  

Basically, I season the roast with salt and pepper and then sear it in a pan until it browns. While I'm doing this, I compile everything else in a big roasting pan awaiting the roast. When the roast is done, I nestle it in the roasting pan with all the other ingredients, plus I deglaze the the skillet with some beer to get all the extra flavors and add it to the pan. I then put it in the oven and slow roast it. I usually start at 350 for about two hours and then reduce the heat to about 250 and roast for another three to four hours - or until the fat is rendered and it's falling apart.

When it's done roasting, it will basically be floating in the highly aromatic broth. I then heat up my cast iron skillet, pull pieces off in chunks and start crisping. I keep a ladle handy and ladle the broth over the meat while it's crisping.

Carnitas - final pan crisping

Once the broth reduces and begins to caramelize and pieces of the meat begin to crisp, I remove it from the heat and serve it...

Carnitas - waiting to fill a taco

with all the traditional taco fixings...

• Tortillas - Flour and Corn
• Shredded Lettuce
• Diced Tomatoes
• Diced Onions
• Sliced Black Olives
• Chopped Cilantro
• Guacomole
  
• Cotija Cheese - crumbled
• Shredded Jack Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Salsa/Hot Sauce

The fun part about this is you can display all the fixings and let your guests assemble their tacos the way they like... that (to me) is why this is such a great party dish! Hope you try and, experiment with your seasoning (within reason of course, because mine is pretty doggone good!), and make it a regular on your party meal list!