Sticky Kitchen: Guilty Carnitas

I haven't made a big meaty meat dish in a long while. Even though I am ambivalent about eating meat, to say the least, I have mostly given up on my youthful ideals in order to eat choice mouthfuls of my favorite meat, pork, every now and then. I keep waiting for the day to come when I will say "No more!" and stick to tofu and broccoli like I used to, out of guilt and shame and love of animals, but when you really get interested in cooking it's very hard to eliminate animal proteins entirely.

With that, I excitedly yet guiltily bring you another recipe that I stole from smittenkitchen.com. A dish that seems remarkably easy to do well.

Homesick Texan Carnitas
Stolen from smittenkitchen and
Adapted, just barely, from The Homesick Texan Cookbook

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 to 3 limes)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste

Corn tortillas, for serving plus
Avocado slices, chopped cilantro and fixings of your choice (we love pickled jalapenos or onions, lime wedges and a bit of slaw)

Place the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and enough water to just barely cover the meat. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Don’t touch the meat.

After two hours, increase the heat to medium-high and while occasionally stirring and turning the pieces, continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only the rendered pork fat. Let it sizzle in this fat long enough to brown at the edges, turning pieces gently (they’ll be eager to fall apart), only as needed.