This week, I tried a recipe for carnitas from my ATK Best Mexican Recipes cookbook.
I’ve never made or eaten carnitas, so this was new on several fronts!
ATK’s recipe called for braising chunks of pork butt in a citrusy broth for several hours.
Once the pork is fall-apart tender, you reduce the braising liquid to a syrupy consistency, toss it with the pork, and broil until the pork is a little bit crusty and browned.
And then you serve it in tortillas with fixings (and I have no picture of that part. Sorry!)
I was a little unsure of how I’d feel about the orange juice and lime juice flavors, but they were surprisingly good with the pork.
Even Joshua, who usually isn’t a fan of fruity flavors mixed with savory flavors, was a fan.
So, yay!
Now, having not ever had real carnitas, I have no idea how completely authentic this was. But since we all liked it, I’m not too fussed about authenticity.
Here’s a blog that has the whole recipe typed out for you. 😉
Next Week’s Recipe
I poked through my ATK Mexican cookbook some more and am vacillating between a tequila-grilled chicken salad or Sinaloa-style grill-roasted chicken (halved, butterflied, marinated chicken cooked on the grill.)
Decisions, decisions…
I think I’m leaning slightly more toward the chicken because I’ve never cooked whole chicken on the grill; only pieces.
How about you?
What new thing did you cook this week? And did you decide on something for next week?
(Deciding on a new thing ahead of time is key for me! Otherwise I will totally put the decision off and not get around to it.)
Suzan
Saturday 6th of May 2017
My mother always insists that mushrooms need to be destemmed and peeled. Yesterday I took all the scraps and made a small broth. It was very flavourful and simple to do. I then used the broth to make risotto to go with the cooked mushrooms. I will be keeping those scraps from now on.
Kristen
Saturday 6th of May 2017
Oh wow. I can't imagine peeling mushrooms! That's dedication.
Suzanne
Saturday 6th of May 2017
My new recipe this week was your shrimp stir fry recipe and it was a success for all five of us!
Kristen
Saturday 6th of May 2017
Woohoo!
Angela
Friday 5th of May 2017
Your carnitas look delicious! I didn't try anything new this week.
Monday: Fish, mac & cheese and corn Tuesday: Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo, fries & salad Wednesday: Chick-fil-A Thursday: Chili Friday: Thinking we may eat Pei Wei. We haven't eaten out on a Friday in a while.
M Brown
Thursday 4th of May 2017
I made lasagna roll ups this week. I also made a chick pea soup. I don't eat chick peas, but my husband thought it was great.
Mrs. Picky Pincher
Thursday 4th of May 2017
We love our carnitas down here in Texas! I make mine much less healthy and stew them down in Dr. Pepper or Coke with some hot peppers. Mmmm.
This week we tried a riff on a pot pie. It... wasn't super great. It was worth trying though!