Carnitas

My family never really made these at home.  We always went across the T.J. boarder to Mexico to go eat them.  I can remember our whole family going down there just to eat these tacos.  They where served with lime, cilantro and onions.  That is pretty much it.  The real way to cook these is to deep fry them in Lard.  There are usually huge copper pots outside with boiling lard and you place the meat directly in, deep frying the pork to where it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.  Carnitas are really all about the meat, the lime and the sides.  Pretty simple.  Here I will tell you how to make them in your slow cooker as I just can not bring myself to fry meat in lard.  I think they come out just as good and they are better for you.  Make sure you pick up a packed of little corn tortillas, the thicker ones of you can find them.  We did and they where awesome! Always invite friends over to eat when you make this because it is a lot of food and pork really isn't all that great as leftovers, so set an extra place for someone to join you!

What you will need:

• A few pounds of  Pork, shoulder.  You are looking for pulled pork with a bone.
• 1 whole onion peeled
• 8-10 garlic cloves 
• Chicken Bullion
• Salt and pepper
• Crockpot

Prep:

1. Trip to remove as much of the fat as you can, it is usually on the bottom of the shoulder where it will have the most fat.
2. Poke about 8-10 holes in the pork, all around it, and push the garlic into the pork.
3. Salt and Pepper
4. Sear the meat on all sides 
5. Place in Crockpot
6. Add the whole onion cut up in quarters
7. Add about 2 cups of chicken stock (you can make with with 1ts/cup of water)
8. Cover and cook on high for how ever the longest setting on your Crockpot is. Mine was High for 6 hours. 

Serve with:
Warm corn tortillas (please do not heat the tortillas in a micro wave, get your self an iron skillet)
Salsa Verde
Cilantro (chopped)
Green Onions (chopped)
Guacamole

Here's to some good food!

Our table:

Salsa Verde

This salsa was never made very often in our house.  My mom has really made it well.  Her secret? Avocado.  The more chilies you put in it the better it is.  I have come to love this salsa as I am making it better and better every time.  I made this the other day to go with my Carnitas that I will be posting.  

What you will need:

• 4 Big Tomatillos or 6 small ones
• 3 Jalapeno Chilies
• 3 Serrano Chilies
• 3 Yellow Chilies
• 3 Anaheim Chilies
• 1/2 Hass Avocado
• 1/2 Bunch of Cilantro
• 4 Green onions (use the whole stem minus the tips)

1. De-Stem all the chilies
2. Take the husk and little pit on the top of the Tomatillo off.

Boil:
All the chilies and Tomatillos (about 20 minutes)

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Add salt to taste.

Here to some good food!

Helpful Hint:
Tomatillo

Caldo de Res

Oh this has been a long time in the making.  A few weeks ago we spent the weekend with my mom and had a weekend of just making all our favorite foods.  Caldo was #1 on our list.  This simple soup always brought our family together.  No special occasion needed just a day that my Nana thought about making a huge post and telling everyone to come and eat.  It was often made during the summer, so you could be super hot while eating hot soup.  To this day I will never understand this but I really did not care as it was so good.  I can remember her preparing it all day adding everything into it at different times.  It was almost miraculous to watch all the people come and eat and there was always enough for everyone.  I enjoyed making this caldo with my mom.  My mom is now coming into her prime time of being a cook.  She never really cooked when we where kids.  With my Nana passing my mom stepped up to the plate and she has done well.

What you need:

• 2 lbs Hueso para caldo con tuetano es major (beef soup Bones)
• 2 lbs carne para deshebrar - pecho (Shedded Beef or flank steak, or Chest able to shred)
• 2 lbs chamorro ... (Beef Shank) has bone in the middle and meat around is round

Vegetables:

• ½ head of repollo - cabbage
• 3 chopped calabazitas - zucchini
• 4 peeled and chopped papas - potatoes
• 4 peeled and chopped zanahorias - carrots
• A bunch of Ejotes - green beans (make sure to chop the ends off)
• 4 chopped chayotes - Mexican fruit
• 3 peeled and chopped in 1/3 elote - white corn (only) tastes different with yellow corn
• 1 peeled cebolla Blanca - whiteonion
• 4-7 peeled and left whole ajo - garlic

Cooking instruction:

1. Boil for appx 2 hrs the meat, onion, garlic.
2. Add salt to taste and Knorr Suiza
3. Skim the top of the liquid so that all the foam is cleared.

After cooking for two hours on Medium/High, add vegetables.

Every 10 minutes add vegetables from longest to cook to least.(this is important, adding the veggies slowly)

· corn

· carrots

· green beans

· potatoes & chayote

· zucchini

· cabbage

Meat is washed and put in huge pot

This is a super important step, you will have to do this a few times in the first boiling stages

Cutting the corn

All the veggies soaking while the meat is cooking, not sure why they do this 

but my Nana always did so we still do it

Done!

My Tia Else serving

OUR FIRST TABLE

more people came to eat after we ate

Serve with rice, beans, guacamole and corn tortillas!
Here's to some good food!