Carnitas

Carnitas is pork that has been marinated in chiles and then braised in the broth for many hours.  The taste is rich and smoky, and the meat's fork-tender.  It's delicious served with warmed tortillas or over a bed of rice.
For all you food purists out there, this is not the authentic recipe, this is my version.

Here's what you'll need:

3-4 dried Guajillo peppers
boiling water or chicken stock
The juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
1 lb pork loin or chops, cut into 1 inch chunks
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil
flour tortillas, salsa or Mojo and sour cream, for serving

Guajillo chiles are smoky and not too spicy.  They give a ton of flavor without burning up your taste buds.  I bought this big bag at Walmart.  You can also get it at international grocery stores.

Break the stem off the peppers and put them in a bowl, breaking them to fit.

Add enough boiling water or broth to completely cover the peppers (about 2 cups).  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.

When cool, pour the softened peppers and their liquid into a blender.  Pulse until smooth.

Add the lemon juice and salt, then pulse until well-blended.

Put the pork cubes into a shallow dish and pour the pepper mix over it, stirring to coal it all.

Cover and refrigerate 2-8 hours.

Get a cast iron skillet or dutch oven screaming hot.

Add the oil.  When it just begins to smoke, add the pork cubes, turning to sear all sides.  Cover.  Place the skillet in a 350* oven.  Bake until the pork easily breaks apart with a fork.

Serve with warm flour tortillas (or rice), salsa or mojo and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Double-caffeinated beef Roast

Growing up, we ate a lot of roast beef.  Basically, every Sunday.  Always the same way: sprinkled with a packet of onion soup mix and cooked until it fell apart.  I still love it that way, but it gets a little blah. So I got to thinking about how I could make it differently.  I remembered a strange food we had when we lived in Tennessee, called red-eye gravy.  Basically, it's coffee gravy.  It wasn't one of my favorites, but it gave me a launching point for this roast.  The result?  WAY better than red-eye gravy!

This recipe is a two-step process, but that doesn't mean it's hard.   The first step, brining, is meant to infuse the meat with as much flavor as possible and keep it moist.  The second, a dry rub, reinforces the flavors while also creating a tasty crust on the meat as it cooks.

Here's what you'll need:

For the brine:
4 c brewed coffee, cooled
4 c cold water
1/4 c salt

For the rub:
1/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp Ancho chile powder
2 TBSP parsley
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 c bread crumbs (I used panko)
1/4 c freshly ground coffee (extra-fine, like for espresso)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Begin with the brine.  You'll want to start the brining process in the morning, or even the night before.
Combine the cooled coffee, water and salt in a dish deep enough to cover the roast.  Place a 3-5 pound beef roast (I used eye of round) in the bowl.  Pour the brining liquid over the roast.

Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to over night.  When you're ready to cook it, remove the roast from the brine.  Pat it dry with paper towels.  Place in a shallow baking dish; set aside.

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a small bowl.  Mix well with a fork, making sure there's no lumps.
Pat the rub all over the surface of the roast.

Bake at 325 until the internal temp registers 140 (for medium), about 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from the oven.  Cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.  This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, keeping it moist.  Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Roasted Pork Loin with Veggies

It was a cold and dreary day here today, which meant it was the perfect day for a hearty meal.  This pork loin is so easy and so delicious, I suspect you'll make it a lot this winter.

 

Here's what you'll need:
 1 1-2 lb pork loin
1 large sweet potato
1/2 lb baby yellow or red potatoes
1 small butternut squash
1 orange or red bell pepper
1 small bunch asparagus
1 small onion
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp pepper
3 sprigs fresh marjoram
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 c water or chicken stock

Grease a 9x13 pan.  Heat oven to 425.

Peel sweet potato and cut into eighths.  Place it in the prepared pan.

Peel and remove the seeds from the squash.

Cut the squash into sizes similar to the sweet potato.  Place in the pan.
Add the baby potatoes.

Cut the bell pepper in to eighths.  Cut the asparagus into roughly 2-inch pieces.  Add them to the pan.

Sprinkle with onions and garlic.  Add the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss with your hands until the vegetables are coated.  Make a "valley" in the center for the pork loin.

Place the pork on the vegetables.  Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper.  Place the thyme and marjoram sprigs on top of the meat.  As the herbs cook, the leaves will fall off the stems.  You can just pull out the stems before you serve.

Add the water.  Cover tightly with foil.  Bake at 425 for 1 hour.  Let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing the meat.

Enjoy!