You guys, this was so good and so flippin easy. My dear friend Casey ( theviewfromeastsouth.wordpress.com ) is amazing and shared this recipe with me out of the good goodness of her own heart. We had some of the bomb leftovers from when she made it on New Years day and, when I asked her about it, she casually said " Well, its CHEATER carnitas but... I'm sure you know how to make that."
I'm Mexican. Real carnitas are kind of a process and I had never heard of a cheater version! I was skeptical but, everything Casey has ever made for me has been delicious and she has great taste so... I had faith. They were nummers.
Anyhow, I made it tonight and it was so easy and tasty that I figured I'd share the recipe with you as my blerg today! I added a couple of things to the list Casey gave me but, I think this is one of those recipes which can be easily modified to your own liking. Casey adds some onion ( which would have been great but I didn't have any.) and, if she's feelin' zesty, some chopped jarred jalapenos! ( also would have been great if I had them.)
Ingredients:
One whole boneless pork loin
Two 12oz jars of Salsa Verde ( I used the Trader Joe's version)
Cumin
Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper
You will need:
A crockpot.
A cutting board.
Two forks.
Your game face.
Directions:
1) Put the pork loin in the crockpot
2) Add 1 and 1/2 of the jars of Salsa Verde into the mix.
3) Take the empty jar and fill 3/4 of the way with water, add it into the crockpot.
4) Sprinkle cumin and cayenne pepper over the pork loin and into the liquid ( its up to you how much you put in. I probably added two or three tablespoons of each)
5) Make sure the top of the loin has some salsa verde on it to assure the flavor gets cooked into the whole thing.
6) Set crockpot to low for 8 hours, or high to 4
7) When the allotted time is up, take a fork to the loin. If the pork is shredding easily, take the whole thing out onto a large cutting board.
8) Take two forks and shred with the grain of the meat until the whole thing is stringy shredded porky yumminess.
9) Add the pork back into the crockpot along with the remaining salsa verde, then salt and pepper the bad boy to your liking and stir.
10) Allow the pork to sit for around 30 mins more.
11) SERVE! I tossed it into some tortillas with rice, beans, hot sauce and greek yogurt and it was DEEEEElish.
So, if you wanna pull off a tasty mexican meal with little to no stress, I suggest giving this a whirl!
Thanks to Casey for the recipe!
Happy Sunday, y'all. Have a great week!
Sincerely, Carly Calmes the First