Southwest Style Pork Carnitas

While South and North Carolina have pulled pork, in Texas and Mexico we have pork carnitas. So what exactly are pork carnitas? Well it sorta depends on what part of the country you live, but essentially pork carnitas are cooked and shredded pork that is then served with corn or flour tortillas with various condiments such as lettuce, salsa, cheese, hot sauce etc...You get the picture right?

Anyway, the meat of choice for carnitas or at least the one I use is a bone-in pork butt. The size of the pork butt does not really matter as the seasonings and the procees used to cook the carnitas is the same. Just remember that if you are cooking for a large group or you want to place meals in the freezer, that on average, the yield from a pork butt is about 60% of the actual weight of the uncooked meat give or take 10%.

The Recipe

The traditional recipe for pork carnitas is pretty basic, take your pork butt out of the cryovac package season with salt and pepper. Now, I prefer to use my carnitas rub recipe on my pork butt. I simply like my rub better, and I am cooking for me and my family. Having said that, I have included the traditional method as well as my canitas rub so you can choose to go for the more bold flavors of Texas, or the more traditional Mexican carnitas. As always, the choice is yours.

1 bone-in pork butt

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cilantro, dried

salt and pepper or my optional carnitas seasoning (see below)

Add the garlic, onion, lime juice, and cilantro to the cooking device of your choice, then take your bone-in pork butt and season it thoroughly with salt and pepper. Heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan and brown the pork butt on all sides, then place the pork butt in the cooking container of your choice and cook as follows. Below I have listed some basic directions for cooking a pork butt in either the oven, slow cooker or pressure cooker.

Chef's Note: Some people prefer to just season the pork butt and place in their dutch oven or slow cooker without browning. Then after shredding they saute the shredded pork in olive oil until it is, slightly crispy. I will be honest, I just usually season my pork butt with my rub, throw it in my dutch oven and cook it. Then when it is done, shred the pork, sprinkle a little extra rub mix into the shredded pork and toss it will it is still warm, then serve.

Oven Method: Place the lid on the dutch oven or large roasting pan and bake for 225 degrees for 10 to 12 hours or until the internal temperature of the meat is greater than 170 degrees. I prefer to use my enamel coated cast iron dutch oven for cooking bone-in pork butts as it has thick walls and heats evenly helping to regulate the temperature more evenly than thin walled roasting pans, but as always you have to use what you have.

Slow Cooker Method: If you are fortunate to have a slow cooker that is large enough to hold your pork butt, then after you have browned it throw it in your slow cooker and cook it overnight or while you are at work. According to the 'Crock-Pot' website a 6-7lb pork butt takes 9 ½ hours (about 42 minutes per pound) on low and 7 ½ hours (about 55 minutes per pound) on high so you will have to adjust your cook times depending on the size of roast you are using.

Pressure Cooker Method : Recently we purchased an electric pressure cooker as my wife is not a big fan of the jiggler type pressure cookers that I have been using all my life. Having said that she uses it quite a bit and it does a really good job at cooking many items, one of the things that it cooks really well is bone-in pork butts. When using the pressure cooker method, add ¾ cup beef broth to the pressure cooker before adding your pork butt as you do not want to rinse the seasoning off your meat. Set your electric pressure cooker on high (9-11psi) and cook for 15 minutes per pound (i.e. a 3lb pork butt would cook for 45 minutes).

Todd's Preferred Carnitas Seasoning Mix

This is my own version of a pork rub that I use when I make pork carnitas rub. It has a more Texas or Southwestern flavor than a traditional pork carnitas seasoning. It is my “go to” carnitas seasoning rub when preparing carnitas for my friends and family. .

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons black pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper

½ teaspoon cumin, ground

¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ground

Mix spices together and store in an airtight container until ready to use. Makes about ¼ cup of dry pork canita rub, shake jar well before using

Conclusion

Making your own pork carnitas at home is easy, and delicious. Most of the ingredients here are recommended in our minimalist pantry series and most of you will have them in your pantry or refrigerator. So your outlay to make this recipe should only be the additional cost of the pork butt. Anyway, this is one of the recipes that my family loves that I just do not make enough of, and I hope it will become one of your families favorites as well. As always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a friend request on our 'CulinaryYou' Facebook page and follow us on Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.

Resources Used In This Article:

What's The Difference Between Slow Cooking On Low vs. High

Slow Cooker 101: How A Slow Cooker Works

BBQ Smoker Cookbook, By Todd Gamel (currently in editing phase)

Weinstein, Bruce, and Scarbrough, Mark 'The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book', Clarkson Potter, New York, 2015.

Other Money Saving Articles On Our Blog:

Buying More With Less: Strategies To Stretch Your Food Dollar.

Spices: Save Up To 80% By Shopping At Your Local Ethnic Supermarket.

Saving Money At The Dollar Tree

Classic Oven Fries

Let's face it, Americans, we love our french fries. In fact, I do not think there are to many foodss that we do not like that include the use of potatoes. In this article I will be talking about how to make a healthier baked alternative to french fries known as oven fries. While I have a large garden, potatoes are not one of the vegetables that I grow, simply because they are so darn cheap. Last week we 'comp priced' and a purchased a 5lb bag of russet potatoes for $1.49 from our local Walmart that were on sale at 'Rio Bravo Mexican Market. Honestly, I cannot grow them cheaper than that.

If you have read any of my articles regarding the Minimilasist Panty, then you will know that potatoes should be one of your essential pantry staples simply because of their versatility. Anyway, there are several ways to make french fries at home, but the easiest, quickest, and most healthy way is to bake them in the oven.

The Recipe

As I mentioned earlier, rather than fry our potatoes in a 'Fry Daddy' or electric skillet, we are going to season them with spices and then bake them in the oven with a minimal amount of olive oil until they are golden brown or simply cooked to your satisfaction. I have been using this recipe for years, but I cannot take credit for it, it is originally an old Good Housekeeping recipe that was first uploaded to their website in 2006. You can find the original recipe here: Classic Oven Fries.

Classic Oven Wedge Fries (My Version)

3 medium sized baking potaoes (russets)

4 teaspoons oilve oil

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional if you like your fries spicy)

Peheat your oven to 425 degrees, then spray a foil lined pan with non-stick spray. Then in a large bowl, combine the olive oil, and the remaining ingredients except the potatoes and mix throughly with a fork and set aside until you have finished cutting your potatoes.

Wash dry and cut your potaotes into wedges by first cutting the potato in half, then cut eat half in half again leaving you with four wedges. Then cut each of these four wedges in half again until you get a total of 8 wedges. Btw, I leave the skins on, remove them if you like, but the extra nutrients are in the skins and the skin helps hold the potatoes together.

Once your potaoes are cut, toss them in the bowl (6 to 8 wedges at a time) with the olive oil and seasonings/spices until they are throughly coated. Then place them on your spray lined cookie sheet in an even layer and place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then turn the potato wedges over and cook for an additional 10 minutes (total of 25 minutes cook time).

Chef's Note: When I flip my fries over after the 15 minutes mark, I hit them lightly with the salt an pepper shaker. It is not necessary, but I like to do so anyway. In addition, after the total 25 minutes of cook time I sometimes turn on my broiler on low and cook for an additional 2 minutes just to brown the tops a little more.

Because I am a fan of all things when it comes to indian food, I have included my version of an Indian inspired oven fries recipe. These fries are great when serving grilled tandorri chicken or rabbit or any traditional indian dish which would call for potaotes (aloo) as a side dish. To make these Indian oven fries follow the same instructions as for the classic oven fries.

Indian Inspired Oven Fries

4 teaspoons oilve oil

¾ teaspoon ground coriander

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garam masala or curry powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

A Health Note

A large serving of french fries (154 grams or 5.4 oz) at McDonalds contains 24 grams of fat. The total fat combined in this recipe oven oven fries is 18 grams for three baking potaotes with a combined weight of 28 ounces. That's 4.4 grams of fat per ounce of french fries from McDonalds versus 0.64 grams of fat per ounce of classic oven fries. That means the homemade fries have 6.9 times less fat than those made at McDonalds (4.4 grams / 0.64 grams = 6.875).

Conclusion

These oven fries and great and easy to make. We eat them with hamburgers fresh from the grill or as a side for a nice steak instead of a baked potato. You can make them plain, mild, or hot and spicy, however you and your family desire. These oven fries are always a hit around here and I do not have to worry about all the unsaturated fats that are found in potatoes that have been deep fried.

As always, if you have found this article informative, we ask that you share this link with your friends on Facebook and Google+. Don't forget to send us a friend request on our Culinary You Facebook and Google+ pages.

Related Articles On Our Blog:

All About Potatoes

The Minimalist Pantry Series On Our Blog:

The Minimalist Pantry (Phase 1): Dry Good Essentials.

The Minimalist Pantry (Phase 2): Canned Goodness.

The Minimalist Pantry (Phase3): Finishing Up.

Crockpot (Slow Cooker) Cobbler

So you want to make a cobbler, but do not want to heat up the whole oven just for a small dessert or maybe you already have a main course in the oven and the cooking temperatures for cooking both are simply not compatible. Enter the crockpot or slow cooker to the rescue. Yes, you can make a delicious fruit cobbler using your slow cooker and it it super easy and the resulting cobbler is moist and delicious. Now for the caviet, we have several slow cookers including both the oval and round styles. Oval slow cookers tend to have more surface space and are not as tall as a traditional round slow cooker. I have only make this recipe in my oval slow cooker, but you should not have any problems using a round one.

If this example I have used some pears that I canned in 2013 that I had sitting on my pantry shelves compliments of a couple of pear trees we have on the property. However if you substitute just about any fruit with this recipe. I have made it with pears, peaches, apples and blackberries and they all come out great. This is my 'go to' cobbler recipe, it is fast and easy batter style cobbler that when baked in the oven or the crockpot becomes golden brown with a crunchy top (due to the sprinkled sugar). Anyway, I am sure both you and your family will love it, mine does!

Pear Cobbler (The Slow Cooker Version)

1 quart or (29oz) can of pears or other fruit

1 ¼ cups Sugar

1 cup Self-Rising Flour

1 cup Milk

¼ cup pecans

¼ cup raisins

1 stick Butter

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter in a microwavable dish.

Combine 1 cup of the sugar and flour into a mixing bowl and mix throughly, then add the milk and stir with a spoon or whisking making a thin batter. Then add the melted butter and stir again until well combined.

Chef's Note: I do not keep self rising flour in my pantry, but I made my own by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to 1 cup of flour.

 

Spray the crock of your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray, then drain the canned pears in a colander and add them to the baking dish. Take 2 tablespoons from the remaining sugar and combine with the cinnamon and mix well. Add the sugar and cinnamon mixture to the pears and mix thoroughly. Add the pecans and raisins and mix again.

Chef's Note: Fruits packed in light, thin syrups should be drained if you do not want your cobbler to be to wet. For fruits in heavy thick syrups, empty the whole can in the slow cooker. Drain the store bought fruit the same as you would home canned fruit. You may want to reserve ¼ cup of the liquid just in case you think the fruit is two dry, but I have never had to do this. If you use store bought canned pie filling (apple, peach, cherry etc...) do not drain the fruit.

Pour the batter over the fruit (pears, apples, peaches) in the baking dish, and sprinkle a few pecans and extra raisins on top of the batter, then spread the remaining sugar evenly over the top of the batter. Then sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the top of the cobbler. Set your crockpot or slow cooker on high, and cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours, or until golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Conclusion

Making cobbler's in your slow cooker is a great way to use less energy by not heating up the whole oven. It does take about twice the cooking time as a cobbler cooked in a conventional oven, but you can essentially set it and forget it. The great this about this recipe is that it can be used with just about any fruit, but it is especially great with peaches. In the following picture, I used one (29oz) cans of sliced peaches in heavy syrup (did not drain). I just dumped it in the crockpot and poured the batter on top, no raisins or pecans (simply because I was out of them).

So if your family loves cobbler, grab your slow cooker and make a quick and easy cobbler that your family will love. I guarantee you that this recipe is simple and just about foolproof. So get off the couch and make a fruit cobbler for your family, but don't forget the ice cream! And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us on friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.