Monday, December 8, 2014

Crock pot Carnitas for Secret Recipe Club

It's Time!!!

Time for Group B's Secret Recipe Club reveal.
   And my last one for Group B.   I'll be moving over to another group in February.   I'll miss this group, but I have so many recipes bookmarked, pinned, and otherwise saved from the awesome bloggers in this group that it will take me forever to make them all.

Just kidding, I figure I have enough recipes to take me through to the year 2061 or so.

At any rate, I think I've mentioned this before.   But just in case...

The Secret Recipe Club is a bunch of bloggers, divided up into four groups who are assigned a mystery blog every month to find and make a recipe and post about it on our assigned date.   I'm in group B and my assigned blog this month was White Lights on Wednesday.   And I had fun exploring her blog.   And being totally amazed at all the stuff she blogs about.     I've been reading her Blogging Tips, and have learned so much more than I knew before.   And she also does crafts, and has kids and wow, just a busy lady.  

 I was going to make this Hissy Fit Dip, just cause I loved the name, but have decided to keep it for a Christmas Party I'll be attending, and since I live in the south, they'll enjoy it, especially when I tell them the origin of the name.

Then there were all the Christmas goodies, but really, I'm almost past the sweet stuff at the moment, well, I need a break at least until I start baking again.

I love Pork and Mexican food and the Crock Pot Carnita's were calling my name.
I make Carnitas a lot, but had never done them this way before, and am so glad I tried it.



Crock Pot Carnitas
Where am I going with this?
Right to my crock pot.  Well, it would have been right to the crock pot but...
Long story short.  I bought the roast, but we were having hamburgers out at the beach so I stuck the roast  in the fridge at the trailer and forgot to bring it home with me that day, and it took a couple of days to get back out there to pick up the meat.  So, I ended up seasoning it and putting it into the oven for a couple of hours cause the meat wasn't going to last.  So...

Yup.  I didn't do the crock pot thingy.


But...

 Here's the Recipe and the how to's.

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (I added another 1/2 teaspoon cause I like cumin)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (next time I'm only going to use 1/8 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano  ( I used some of my own dried oregano for this) 
1 (4 lb.) pork shoulder roast  (I used a boston butt cause it was on sale)
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken broth ( I used some of my home made chicken stock)
Opt.  Juice of one orange  (I did use the orange as it added the more authentic flavour I was looking for) 

Mix together the salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon in a small bow.   Coat the pork with the spices.  Put the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker or an oven safe dish, and place the pork on top.
Crock Pot Carnitas
Pour the chicken stock around the roast and cover.
Crock Pot Carnitas
Cook on low for about 10 hours in a crock pot, but check after 4 hours and see how it's doing, then turn the roast over and continue to cook until the meat shreds easily.

Or...  Do as I did.
Crock Pot Carnitas

As I said, I made this in the oven.   I put it into a covered dish, and baked it at 425 degrees for two hours.  Then I put it into the fridge overnight, and finished baking the meat the next day.  (Cause I started this whole thing at 5 pm and didn't want to cook the entire night.) However, I think I hit on the almost perfect carnitas doing it this way.   They were so tender, so flavourful, so yummy, I had to stop picking off pieces of the meat and eating them.     I did add the juice of an orange, cause I like it that way.  And by refrigerating them overnight, I also got to take most of the fat off as well. Cause there was a nice layer of fat there. 

I've done carnitas the 'proper' way before and they are so good, but this recipe, I think it's a keeper,  I will cut down the amount of cinnamon next time,  cause it kinda hijacked the recipe.  
 
      But, I'm excited, thanks to the Secret Recipe Club, I got another winner.
      Serve with warmed flour tortillas.  I rolled some of the meat up in a flour tortilla, added some sliced sweet onion and a little diced tomato.

      Just roll up that porky goodness inside the flour tortilla and eat.    You could also garnish it with a little avocado or sour cream or...
      Crock Pot Carnitas
      Take a look at some of the other great dishes that my fellow Group B bloggers came up with;


      Sidsel Munkholm - Author
      Sidsel Munkholm - Author

      Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

      9 comments:

      1. We love carnitas!! Using the crockpot is a great idea....love your post.

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        Replies
        1. Thanks Next time they will go in the crockpot, that is if life cooperates...

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      2. Looks great! I made your Kentish pie this month and loved it!

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        Replies
        1. It's a little bit of a different take on pie, but I think it's totally delicious. So glad you liked it as well.

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      3. These looks great!!! Great SRC choice!

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      4. I love crock pot carnitas! I make them as well with a secret kick!

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        Replies
        1. I usually add a couple of Jalapeno's when I'm making Carnitas. What do you add? or can you share?

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      5. Gotta love the slow cooker, especially this season! Your carnitas look yummy too. :)

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