Attempt #1 at making Carnitas …

Hi, everyone! Last week, I made my first attempt at trying to make carnitas in the slowcooker. It had flavor, but I think next time I’m going to try a different meat cut. Try it out and let me know your thoughts! (Bonus: I’ve also include my first attempt at making guacamole!)

Ingredients!
– 2lbs of pork shoulder. We ended up getting half a shoulder, which was plenty for 3 people, with leftovers.
– 1 – 1 1/2 chopped white onion
– 1 large jalapeno or 2 medium size jalapenos
– 8 cloves of garlic
– 1 cup of orange juice. I used with pulp because that’s what we have in the house, but you can use anything: pulp, no pulp, freshly squeezed. You won’t taste the oranges in the meat, but the acidity helps the meat brown later.
– 1 1/2 TBL of oregano
– 1 TSP of dried cilantro
– 4 TSP of Cumin (you can decrease the amount, if cumin is not your thing)
– Salt and pepper to taste
– Olive oil

Steps!
1. Oil the slow cooker with either olive oil or butter to avoid the meat from sticking and burning!
2. Rub the pork should with the spices (oregano, cilantro, cumin, salt, pepper)!
3. Add the pork should to the slow cooker on HIGH for 4 hours.
4. While the pork is cooking, cut up the onion, mince the garlic, and jalapenos (make sure to remove the seeds!) and mix into the orange juice. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes then pour over the meat, and recover the meat for the remaining time.
5. After the 4 hours is complete, take the pork out and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then shred the pork. While the pork is sitting, put some olive oil in a pan and put on medium high. Once the pan is hot, take the shredded pork and brown it for 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve on tacos, in a wrap, whatever you want, and enjoy!

Side note:
1. I was not a fan of the pork shoulder, I thought it was too tough/muscle, so I’m going to experiment with maybe a different cut for next time.
2. I made guacamole with this and that was fun! Here is what I put in it:
– 3 avocados
– 2 TBL of white truffle oil
– 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
– 1 jalapeno, no seed and chopped
– 1 red onion, chopped
– 1 TBL of lime juice (prevent browning in the refrigerator)
– salt and pepper to taste
1. mashed the avocados and mix with: onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, white truffle oil, salt, and pepper.
2. Let sit in fridge until ready to use!