Saturday, April 14, 2012

Make Mexican Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas for a Mouth-Watering Treat

Treat your mouth to a taste of heaven. Hear happy cries of joy when you serve this Mexican slow cooker pork carnitas. I tried making carnitas this last Christmas, and it was a dismal failure. Sad was I with tears in my heart from the disappointment. BUT... happy am I now. This delicious Mexican dish is a success... thanks to my new cooking abilities. [Smile on my face.]

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1 1/2-pound boneless pork loin roast
1 cup beef broth
2 Tbl minced garlic
1 small white onion
1 Tsp Ground black pepper
1 Tsp Salt
Dash cayenne pepper 
12 corn tortillas
Shredded lettuce
Sour cream (optional)

Creamy Pepper Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
3 garlic cloves
2 small shallots, peeled and quartered
1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Pork Carnitas Directions:
Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add pork loin. Brown pork on all sides (about 11 minutes); deglaze pan with stock scraping any brown bits.

Place pork mixture and cooking liquid into slow cooker. Add 2 tablespoons minced garlic and one  medium finely chopped white onion. Cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt. Cover and cook on low 7 to 8 hours or high 3 to 4 hours.

Remove pork from cooking liquid. Pour cooking liquid into a large skillet and bring to a boil over high heat; boil 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1/3 cup.

Shred pork; stir in reduced cooking liquid.

Serve with Creamy Pepper Sauce, warm tortillas, lettuce, and sour cream.

To Make Pepper Sauce:
Combine cilantro, oregano, garlic, shallots, lime juice, mayo and red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup water in a food processor or blender. Pulse 8 to 10 times or until finely chopped, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Tip: Wrap corn tortillas or flour tortillas in foil and warm in oven. For crispy tacos, bathe corn tortillas in hot oil, fold over, stuff with carnitas and pin closed with toothpicks. Bake in oven until desired "crisy" is reached. Usually about 10 to 25 minutes.

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