Slow-Cooked Carnitas — The Forty-Three-Days-Remaining Sunday

Cody is on day six hundred and twenty-seven of his sentence. Forty-three days remaining. The math is now small enough to fit in a school week. The household is starting to plan, in small careful pieces, for what the homecoming day looks like. Aunt Tammy has offered to drive Cody back from the unit on November twelfth (Mama works that Monday, can’t take the day off). Mr. Garcia has the auto-body shop ready. The unit’s release procedures involve a half-day of paperwork.

And the recipe Sunday was slow-cooked carnitas, the recipe I made for the deferred-sentence-celebration on October ninth, 2016 — a year and seven weeks ago. The recipe is the celebration food. The count toward the homecoming celebration is starting and the practice batches are happening every Sunday now.

The math: a 2.5-pound pork shoulder $7.84, the chipotles in adobo from the freezer, a lime, garlic, cumin, salt. Total: about $9.40 for three dinners.

Same technique as October 2016: rub the pork with chipotles, garlic, cumin, lime zest. Slow cooker eight hours on low. Shred. Crisp portions in the cast iron. Build bowls with greens, beans, corn, cabbage, and chipotle-lime crema.

Mama said, when she ate this Sunday night, baby, this is the dinner you make to bring your brother home with.

The recipe is below. The trick is the crisp-after-slow-cook step.

Slow-Cooked Carnitas

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 8 hrs | Total Time: 8 hrs 15 min | Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
• 1 orange, juiced (about 1/3 cup)
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Slider buns and coleslaw, for serving

Instructions

1. Season the pork. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and oregano. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork chunks until evenly coated.
2. Layer the slow cooker. Add the chopped onion and garlic to the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the seasoned pork on top in a single layer.
3. Add the liquid. Pour the orange juice, lime juice, chicken broth, and olive oil over the pork.
4. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the pork is fork-tender and falling apart.
5. Shred the meat. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred it using two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the juices in the cooker and toss to coat.
6. Crisp it up (optional). For crispier carnitas, spread the shredded pork on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil for 3 to 5 minutes until the edges are caramelized and slightly crisped.
7. Assemble and serve. Pile the carnitas onto slider buns and serve with coleslaw on the side. Pack leftovers in a sealed container —they travel well and taste even better the next day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 6g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 540mg