One of the many wonders of Pork.

Pork, or as we call it at home, Meat Candy, offers up so many flavors and I can blog about it for a year.  That is a bit boring though.  I am really tired today because we are trying out a new sleeping schedule with the kids and that meant not too much sleep for the Daddy (that's me).  So due to lack of sleep I am going to hit you with a simple recipe.  This is my recipe for carnitas, the spanish/mexican influenced pulled pork dish. For this dish we will need a crock pot large enough to hold the pork butt you purchased.  The pork butt (it's the front shoulder the ham is the actual butt)  should be 5-10 lbs and trimmed of as much fat as you can get off of it.  Since we are not roasting the pork, the fat will just accumulate in the crock and you will need to skim it off later.  So a good trim job up front will save time later.  The muscles have a lot of fat between them so you will end up with some good size chunks of pork and lets try to leave them in chunks for now.

Mix 1 tbsp of cumen, two tbsp of adobo seasoning (found in the mexican/international aisle or spice aisle of your grocery store) and 1 tsp of oregano (you don't often notice it but oregano is very common in mexican cuisine).  Take this mix and rub it all over the pork chunks and toss them in the crock pot.  Add to the pork one can of tomatoes (any type except italian seasoned) some chopped peppers (to taste and these can be anything from bell to jalapenos to the infamous scotch bonnet or whatever mix you like or can handle) also throw in one onion medium chop (if you like you can omit all of that for about 8-10 oz of sofrito sauce as it has all of those flavors built in).  Now turn on the crock pot (I would say set it and forget it but that's a copyright violation).

In 8-12 hours on low or 5-6 on high you will have some really yummy pork that will make you drool.  Remove the pork and shred when cool enough.  From this pile of yumminess you can make tacos, just eat it over some rice or use it in place of the protein in any Mexican dish you can think of.