by Mitch Samples

This dish takes a little bit of time but is for the most part effortless.  It does well, made the day before then reheated at time of service in a broiler, or sauté pan.  The recipe is scalable too, so it’s easy to make less or more.  Leftovers freeze well too.  Get your pork for this recipe from Bell Farm or Queen B.

CDFM Pork Carnitas – serves a lot!

recipe by Mitch Samples

• 6 to 8 pounds pork butt cut into 1-to-2-inch pieces, including all fat
• 1 white onion peeled and chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 ripe lime’s worth of juice, about 2 oz.*
• 2 well washed oranges cut into wedges
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 tsp of ground cinnamon 
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 tablespoons condensed milk or cola
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp salt

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees
2. Debone pork and cut into 1-to-2-inch pieces.  Place in a large roasting pan.
3. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and add it to the meat
4. Add the lime juice and squeeze the orange juice into the meat.  When you have extracted as much juice from the orange as you can, add the orange peels to the pan also.
5. Add the rest of the remaining ingredients to the pan, and mix everything together thoroughly.
6. Place pan in preheated oven and bake for approximately 3 to 3.5 hours, stirring roughly every half hour or so.  The meat should be fork tender but starting to caramelize on the edges.
7. Remove from oven and strain out any residual fat and reserve for later use.
8. Serve with tortillas, diced radishes and cucumbers tossed in lime juice, some nice fresh crumbly cheese from Paradox farm or equivalent, and green salsa.

As mentioned above this dish is low on technique but long on time.  A whole pork roast is about 6 to 8 pounds and makes a lot of food.  Cutting one in half makes a good amount of food and provides substantial leftovers.  Our farmers offer pork butts of varying sizes, so it’s easy to secure a smaller one; just remember to scale your recipe down.  Store the residual fat in jars, and consider it bacon grease’s brother from another mother, using it similarly.  Today’s pork was provided by Bell Farm.

*a note about limes.  Dark green limes are not ripe, very acidic and don’t contain much juice.  Store your limes on the counter and watch them ripen to a juicy, yellow gold color.  They will be much juicier and sweeter.  Your carnitas and Gin and Tonics with thank you.

As always, if you have any questions ask me at the market or email me at mtsamples@gmail.com