Thursday, January 7, 2016

Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas in Salsa Verde

If you love Mexican food as I do, you are undoubtedly familiar with pork carnitas. This roasted pork dish can be made with little effort using a slow cooker to slowly bring spices and the natural sweet pork flavor together in a fiesta for your tongue.



                             Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas in Salsa Verde  

Cook time: 6 hours
Note: For less spice heat, substitute 2 whole jalapenos instead of ancho chilis. Remove jalapenos before serving.

2# pork shoulder or pork loin
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon rough ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin powder

1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 white onion, fine chopped
1 roasted ancho chili with 1 teaspoon Adobo Sauce (Store remainder of can in Tupperware container. It will keep a very long time) 
1/2 cup cilantro, fine chopped (If you prefer, use parsley)
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
2 limes, juiced
2 cans (4oz) Salsa Verde
1/2 cup water
3 Tablespoons olive oil


Preheat large skillet over medium-high heat.
Preheat slow cooker on  low heat.

Mix salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cumin together. Rub pork shoulder with spice mix. Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to skillet. Sear shoulder in skillet by turning .

Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to slow cooker. Add pork shoulder. Add garlic, onion, oregano, half (1/4 cup) of cilantro or parsley, and add ancho chili with Adobo sauce. Add 1/2 cup water to slow cooker. Squeeze juice of 2 limes over the top of pork.  

Cover and cook for 5 1/2 hours on low. Drain liquid from slow cooker, add Salsa Verde, and cover and cook for additional 20-30 minutes.  Pork should pull apart with a fork when done.

Serve over rice with remainder of cilantro or parsley for garnish, or serve with flour tortillas for soft tacos.

3 comments:

  1. Yummy! I will have to make this over the weekend. Thank you!

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  2. Yummy! I will have to make this over the weekend. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jim,
    This is a keeper. My kind of heat in the food, and another reason to haul out the slow cooker. And I just happen to have a pork shoulder in the freezer (originally destined for a chalupa stew, but I want to try this instead). Thanks!

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