New Mexico

Welcome to New Mexico! Bienvenido! Heavily influenced by their neighbor to the south, New Mexico features many traditional Mexican cuisine combined with Southwestern American flavors for a cuisine they can call their own. Carnitas is a flavorful pork dish, which is first fried after which it is braised or roasted, and traditionally comes for Mexican cuisine. Enjoy!

New Mexican Style Carnitas

-1 pork butt/shoulder (choose the size of the meat depending on the number of people to feed; 2 to 3 pounds of pork butt will feed 4 to 6 people)

-1 medium onion, chopped

-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

-1 14.oz can diced tomatoes

-1/4 cup of chicken stock

-oregano

-corriander

-bay leaves

Begin cooking by searing the pork whole in a skillet with a small amount of oil in the pan, until the meat begins to brown on all sides. When meat has browned, remove from pan and add onions, garlic, 1 to 2 bay leaves, and a pinch of ground coriander and oregano. Saute until onions begin to turn translucent. Add canned tomatoes and stock to the pan, and let the mixture come together for a minuet or two. At this point, you can continue to cook the pork a variety of different ways; you can add the pork and sauce mixture to a large stockpot and braise on low heat on the stove top, or add them to a slow cooker. The stove top will cook the meat faster, but the slow cooker offers the convenience of setting the cooker and forgetting. Braising on the stove top should take around 2 to 3 hours depending on the weight of the meat, and the slow cooker any where from 6 to 10 hours on the low heat setting, again depending on weight. With either option, it is important to remember to turn the meat over approximately halfway through cooking. The meat will be finished cooking when your are able to easily shred the meat from the bone using only a fork. When you have reached this point, shred all the pork and remove the bone.

At this point, you can enjoy the carnitas any way you like. You can add the shredded pork back in to the sauce to heat up and infuse some additional flavor, or quickly fry some carnitas in a skillet to add a crispiness to the outside of the pork. You can serve the carnitas any way you like, from a filling for burritos to a topping on nachos to served with rice and pinto beans, but I enjoy my carnitas simply in a taco sized tortilla with sour cream, cheese, and a spicy chipotle pepper salsa! Anyway you end up using the carnitas, enjoy this traditional New Mexican staple food!