Carnitas

Here is my version of carnitas, it is sort of a Mexican/ French version.

Carnitas

Ingredients

4 lbs pork loin cut into two inch cubes
1/2 lb of bacon
2 medium onions large chopped
4 stalks of celery chopped into 3 inch pieces
2 red peppers cut into strips
1 cup of dried apricots
1 large orange, cut into quarters
6 whole cloves of garlic
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 dried bay leaves
Salt

Salsa of choice
Corn tortillas

Directions

In a large ceramic bowl place pork and set aside.

In a skillet of high heat place all the dried spices and seeds, heat for about a minute. Remove from heat and either grind is a coffee grinder or the old fashion way in a mortar and pestle. Sprinkle over pork with the salt and toss. Make sure all the pork has been covered by the spices. Cover and let set for at least 2 hours, the longer the better.

In a large deep skillet or dutch oven render off the bacon. Remove once crisp: the bacon is now done with its task and you can save it the crisp bacon for another dish. Now you need about a cup of fat remaining in the pan. If you are a little shy make it up with butter. Now add the pork, onions, garlic, celery, pepper, apricots and oranges to the skillet. Brown the pork on all sides. then reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer for about am hour and half. 45 minutes in remove the garlic, celery, pepper and onions.

Now uncover, remove the oranges and apricots and cook until the meat crisps up and the juices are gone. Do not over cook, you just want the outer edges crisp and the center of the meat tender.

Serve of tortillas and with your salsa of choice. I like to add some fresh sliced onions and fresh cilantro to the tortillas as well.

Enjoy Cooking