Cuban Pork Roast and Carnitas

Y’all are going to love this!

I made this a couple of years ago with my friends Paul and Forrest (AGAIN, how you doin’?) and we ate until we were SICK.

If you want to cook this on a smoker, (and you want to, you really do) here’s whatcha do:

Mix

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup of lime juice (fresh squeezed)

garlic cloves, as many as you can stand

1 large yellow onion cut into wedges

1 T cumin

1 T oregano

1 tsp salt

pepper more to taste

1 boneless pork shoulder or butt roast

Take a knife and cut slits into the roast, inserting a garlic clove in each slit. I went nuts with this because my garlic tolerance is HIGH.

Marinate the roast overnight in this marinade, (including the wedges of onion.) Then cook on the smoker until it’s done.

Cook the remaining marinade on the stove top until it reduces by 1/3 to 1/2. And drizzle over pulled pork.

Carnitas In the Crock Pot

HOOOOOVER– you can do this in the crock pot and it’s AMAZING.

The recipe is ALMOST the same you just need a little less of everything.

Put the roast in the crock pot with:

1/3 cup of lime juice

1/3 cup of oj

onion wedges

I just went a little lighter on the seasonings. I used the same measuring spoons I just didn’t scoop as much up with them. This may not help you and I’m sorry. It’s just how I roll.

Cook on HIGH in the crockpot for 4ish hours, until you can start to pull the roast apart with two forks. SIDEBAR: It’s going to look all gray and disgusting but TRUST ME, you’re going to be fine.

Remove from the crock pot and place roast in a roasting pan, cover with foil and cook in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 400º. Remove foil and shred the roast, pouring all the crock pot juices over the pulled pork and sprinkle with 2 T of taco seasoning.

Put the shredded meat back in the oven uncovered until the pork begins to brown and crisp around the edges.

CARNITAS!

To make carnitas, serve in tortillas. (We love corn tortillas, just cook each one in a teensy bit of oil in the skillet, about 1 minute per side.)

The TOPPINGS– this is where you are going to want to SAY MY NAME–

diced avocado

pickled jalapeno peppers

chopped cilantro

red onion sliced so thinly you can see through it

diced FRESH pineapple (my mouth is watering)

a dollop of plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

You need TONS of lime wedges because the more lime you squeeze on your carnitas, the happier you will be.

LAWD HEP. It’s so good and the leftovers just get better and better.