Recipe #2: Slow Cooker Carnitas

I'm going to start off by saying that it's probably really hard to exactly duplicate Chipotle unless maybe you work there and know how the everything is made. Their food is amazing (in my opinion!), and I'm sure they have all of their own "secret" ingredients. That's fine, but here's a recipe that does a pretty good job of imitating Chipotle's carnitas... and are possibly even better because you have the control over the amount of fat that makes it into your burrito.


This is a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, but with my modifications. Then I'll offer suggestions for how to serve it, but that's up to you.

INGREDIENTS:

3 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons garlic powder

3 teaspoons ground cumin

1.5 teaspoons crumbled dried oregano

1.5 teaspoons ground coriander (although I never have this, use if you please)

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast CUT INTO LARGE CHUNKS

3 bay leaves

2-3 cups chicken broth

DIRECTIONS:

	Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork chunks with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.
	Cover and cook on LOW until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 8 hours. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 4 hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and place on a cookie sheet. Place in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 10-15 minutes to dry the outside and create a little bit of a crust. Remove and shred with two forks.

The result:

To best imitate my favorite Chipotle-style burrito, my toppings included finely shredded mozzarella cheese, black beans, white rice (with some chopped cilantro and lime juice mixed in), sour cream, and fresh guacamole and salsa from the deli section of Giant Eagle (next to the meat counter, typically). I think this was better in a bowl rather than on a tortilla. Reheat leftovers in a small pan on the stove with a little bit of the chicken broth.

You can learn from my mistake: I found that the shoulder roast I used the first time needed much less trimming than the butt roast I used the second time. I don't like fat in my meat, so I'll be buying shoulder roasts when I make this from now on. Either type of roast turns out very good, regardless.

Tonight I try a new recipe- red clam sauce on angel hair pasta. We'll see how it turns out. If it's worthy, I'll post a recipe on here.