Beer Braised Pork Carnitas | #BeerMonth

I'm usually pretty traditional in my cooking of carnitas (or literally, "little meat")—pork, salt, and a little bit of water is really all it takes to make the best carnitas you'll ever eat in your life. Be it the traditional stove-top method of combining water and pork lard and simmering chunks of pork in it until the water evaporates and leaves the now-tender meat to crisp up in the lard, or my preferred oven-roasted method that uses the fat rendered from the pork bits themselves to baste and crisp them up. Either way, tender meat enclosed in salty crisp and sticky bits are little morsels of heaven on earth.

But today, in honor of beer month, I decided to step out of my puritanical-carnitas box and do the braising of the pork in a good, amber lager. I also added some spice beyond salt. It's gettin' crazy up in here. Crazy delicious.

Simple, rustic food is what I tend to gravitate towards, and this version of carnitas really fits the bill. A stove top braise in a fragrant beer bath and about 90 minutes is all it takes to achieve a plate piled high with tender pork. Once it is tender, you remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate and concentrate, inviting the whole garlic cloves and strips of lime zest to melt into it.

Carnitas Pizza w/ Chipotle-Avocado Crema

What's that you say?   You're trying to decide what to eat for dinner, but you just can't make up your mind?  On the one hand you want pizza... and on the other hand, you've got a fierce craving for Mexican.  Little Johnny's begging for a thick, chewy crust while little Suzie refuses to eat anything but sticky, salty Carnitas?

STOP!

Fret no more.  You do not need to decide.  I am here to tell you that you can have BOTH!  Yes, I'm for real.  All cereal, no flake.  You can please both cravings and all family members with just one meal!

Sweet, caramelized onions and peppers are strewn over that thick, chewy crust that has been spread with wonderfully earthy roasted tomatillo salsa.  Throw in a bit of tang from some pickled banana peppers, some stringy mozzarella, and chunks of sticky, salty Carnitas - you're almost there.  Top the whole thing off with fat, creamy chunks of avocado and a sprinkling of thinly sliced spring onions, and you're almost there.  As if all of that goodness on one slice wasn't enough, finish it all off with a cool drizzle of some slightly smoky, slightly spicy, totally delicious sauce made of Mexican crema, avocado, chipotle chiles, and a bit of lime.

Problem solved.  (You're welcome.)

Carnitas Pizza w/ Chipotle-Avocado Crema

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 1½ hours (largely unattended)

Cook Time: 12-15 minutes

Keywords: bake entree avocado onions pork American Mexican

Ingredients (3 (9") pizzas)

• olive oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, & thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded (if you like), & thinly sliced
• 1 recipe pizza dough or any you like
• 1-1½ c. tomatillo salsa or salsa verde
• 12 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ~3 c. Carnitas, warm
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1-2 avocados, cut into chunks
• pickled banana pepper rings
• Chipotle Avocado Crema (recipe follows)

Chipotle-Avocado Crema:

• 3 Chipotles en Adobo homemade or canned
• 1 avocado, pitted
• ½ c. Mexican crema
• juice of 1 lime
• kosher salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475° F. Put a light coat of olive oil in the bottom of 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Place pizza dough (according to recipe link above for pizza dough) in pans, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 60 minutes.

Heat some olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, bell pepper and jalapeño and saute until golden and caramelized, ~20-30 minutes.

Spread salsa over the top, leaving about a 1" border all around. Sprinkle mozzarella, pickled banana peppers, and sauteed veggies evenly over the crusts.

Slide into preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until crust is golden and cooked thorugh and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Immediately divide warm chunks of carnitas, green onions, and avocado chunks over the pizza(s) and then drizzle with some of the Chipotle-Avocado Crema.

Enjoy!

Chipotle-Avocado Crema (yield: ~1½ c.):

Combine chipotle peppers, avocado, crema, lime juice and salt to taste in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth; set aside.

note:

Although I used one of our favorite pan pizza crust recipes here, you could switch it up and use any pizza dough you choose. Roll or pat out to your desired thickness and place on a baking sheet or pizza peel with cornmeal scattered on it (to slide onto a preheated pizza stone). You may need to adjust the topping amounts and cooking times slightly to suit, but hey... it's pizza, not rocket science.

Carnitas (Slow-Roasted Pork)

Carnitas.  Little bits of meat.  Little bits of tasty,beckoning crispy-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside meat.  Up until recently, I only made Carnitas an average of once per year.  It wasn't something that I actually vocalized, but I think it was due to the fact that traditionally, Carnitas are cooked in lard.  And I always made them in the "traditional" way.  I don't have a problem with lard...in moderation...hence, the once a year special.  That once a year was usually Super Bowl.  Don't ask my why.  It just happened like that.  I think waaaaay back in the beginning of our marriage, Mexi asked me to make them on a Super Bowl Sunday...and it just sort of stuck.  Sure, he'd hint at them throughout the year, but I always held off.  We might occasionally pick some up from the Mexican market.  Esposo grew up with the butcher and he makes them every weekend...still, not often.  

Well my friends, all that is about to change.  This method of making Carnitas produces the same glorious, unadulterated pork taste without any added lard.  It steams a bit to begin with, wrapped in foil and then the foil is removed, then water evaporates and all that is left is the rendered lard.  High heat and a couple of turns in its own fat and juices produces the same additive outer crunchy bits while trapping moisture inside.  Seasoned only with a good sprinkling of kosher salt, this is a plate of little bits of meat at its best.  Carnitas: they're not just for Super Bowl anymore!

Carnitas

Slow-Roasted Pork / Carnitas de Puerco

adapted from Rick Bayless

serves ~8 (~3-3½ lbs. finished Carnitas)

~6 lbs. Country-Style Pork Ribs (or pork shoulder cut into ~2" slabs), boneless or bone-in

kosher salt

water

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Cut each slab of pork in half and lay the pieces in a baking dish without crowding them (use one or two 13x9" dishes or one larger).  Liberally sprinkle with salt on all sides.  Pour 1/3 cup water around the meat (make it ⅓ in each pan if using more than one) then cover tightly with foil.  Bake for one hour.

Raise the oven temperature to 450° F.  Uncover the meat and cook until the liquid has completely reduced and only the rendered fat remains, ~30 minutes.  Continue to roast, carefully basting the meat with its own rendered fat until lightly browned, ~20 minutes longer, basting with its own rendered fat twice during this time.  Break the meat into large pieces and serve on a warm platter, sprinkled with salt.

While it's almost impossible not to walk by and pluck a chunk off the plate and into your mouth, most of it did mange to mange to make it to the table.  We stuffed our Carnitas into warm corn tortillas with big dollops of guacamole, a drizzle of salsa verde, some cilantro, and a side of cabbage salad (of which I also put some into the taco).  Carnitas also make an amazing Torta filling and are drop-dead delicious when smothered with molé.  Just sayin'.