TACO 1
I’m back and better than ever. And what better way to bring in this “rebirth” than with tacos. Yes, I’m making tacos—but not just any tacos. I’m making the cool tacos. The tacos you wish you got instead of that $40 UberEats delivery that you drunkenly ordered after your 7th Cutwater. What makes these tacos so cool is that you’re in the house, yes, but they’re also simple. You can eat these every week and make them while you’re watching Stranger Things recaps in the background. You can make them while you pretend to work for the second half of the day. You can make them when you’re sad, mad or madly in love.
Now I’m not exactly sure when I had my first taco—it might have been at infancy. Perhaps I had them in another life as well; however, everyone knows how a taco makes them feel. They’re delicious. They’re normally light. A heavy amount of garnish and protein of choice nestled inside a beautiful corn tortilla breezes into your mouth and only improves with every bite. Tacos are life changing. I dare anyone to challenge that statement. And, because I love you all, I will be spending the entire month of July making several kinds of tacos. Club is going up on a Tuesday (and by the slim chance it’s not a Tuesday you can just pretend).
easy (non-lard) carnitas
ingredients:
the pork:
3-4lbs. country-style pork shoulder boneless ribs (I bought mine from Costco—they also have whole pork shoulder if you feel like cutting), sliced evenly into large cubes
1 yellow onion, peeled + sliced into quarters
3 bay leaves, dried or fresh
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, sliced into quarters + juiced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
3-4T salt
1T black pepper
1T cumin
1c canola oil
garnish:
1/4 white onion, diced + cilantro, chopped OR pickled onions + cilantro, chopped
queso fresco, crumbled (I used cotija from TJ’s instead)
salsa verde (I used a brand from TJ’s)
fresh lime, sliced/quartered
tortillas (duh), warmed
Helpful items:
9x13 casserole/baking dish
aluminum foil
large kitchen forks OR kitchen tongs (break up meat)
large mixing bowl
recipe (carnitas):
Set oven to 275F.
On a cutting board, slice pork shoulder boneless ribs into equal size chunks. They should still be rather large—NOT cubes. Place each sliced bit into casserole dish until tightly nestled together. The meat must be cramped in order to adequately break down muscle fiber and connective tissue.
Note: Make sure every piece of meat is touching the bottom of the baking dish to ensure even cooking.
Season meat within casserole dish with cumin, salt and black pepper. Rub spices into the meat. Massage that meat!
Place sliced onion quarters into baking dish. Nestle between the meats. Juice orange slice quarters over meat and then place into baking dish. Nestle between the meats. Place garlic, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves into baking dish. Nestle between the meats.
Cover meats with canola oil. Tilt baking dish to ensure oil has reached every crevice.
Cover baking dish with foil and adequately seal. Use multiple sheets of foil if you must.
Place baking dish into the oven’s top rack and cook uninterrupted for 2 1/2 hours. After raise oven temp to 300F and bake for another 30 minutes. Once you’ve reached the 3 hour-mark, take the dish out the oven and check to see if meat adequately breaks down with a fork. The meat should still maintain its shape but turn a bit stringy with pressure from a fork—if not the case, cook for an additional 15-25 minutes. You know what pulled pork looks like! See visual(s) below for additional clarity.
Remove meat from baking dish and place carefully into a bowl. Discard the other contents in the baking dish. Gently shred meat in bowl with two forks or kitchen tongs. Season with additional salt & pepper to taste.
Note: The fat rendered in the baking dish can be used to make homemade tacos and for cooking. It also can help make your shredded meat a bit more juicy and fatty if you want to add a tablespoon to your bowl in Step 8.
assembly:
Warm tortillas in the microwave or in a pan. Place shredded pork on tortilla. Top with onions/pickled onions, cilantro, cotija/queso fresco and salsa verde. Add lime quarters to the side. Enjoy!
