Quickie Pork Carnitas (Or, How to Throw Caution to the Wind in the Kitchen)

We're trying something a little new around here tonight - a quickie version of pork carnitas.  I thought rather than simply post a recipe, it would be fun to walk you through the cooking thought process as I make it less threatening.  By and large, I find this is the most common hang-up in the kitchen - intimidation breeds a lack of willingness to try new things, to be adventuresome.

Allow me to calm your frayed nerves.  First, I'm a vegetarian, having not eaten meat in nearly twenty years.  However, I don't allow myself to be threatened about cooking it.  Second, further throwing caution to the wind, we have guests tonight - British soccer coaches we're hosting for the week.  You know your mom told you never to try a recipe out for the first time on guests.  Pish posh.  Finally, I haven't a recipe.  This is my preferred method of kitchen adventure and debauchery.  I'll grab some things that look interesting to try (in this case, some boneless pork sirloin roasts of about 1.5 pounds apiece) and develop a loose plan - in this case, some avocados and a vague idea of something sort of Mexican in nature.

So, my starting point is always to do a quick web search for a basic recipe.  Tonight I've grabbed some instructions on "How to cook a 3 pound pork roast" from LiveStrong.com.  I'm not looking for strict edicts - I'm looking for basic infallible instructions.  In this case I've gathered that a roasting pan, an internal temperature of 150 degrees and some sort of herb/oil blend are the essentials.  From there, I'll wing it.  Incidentally, this is my preferred approach - a vague concept of what I want to create, a quick web search for recipe commonalities to give me a starting point, and then off to the races with my own version.

So, I've first ignored the 1 tbsp of oil and gone for about half a cup of olive oil, and then I went with my preferred spices - in this case, I thought oregano, marjoram, some garlic salt and a low-sodium salt and pepper blend would create a nice rub.  I decided rather than a cookie sheet to use a square cake plan lined in foil (I'm not about scrubbing funk) and a piece of parchment (to eliminate stickiness).  I've got the oven at 450 and the pork is in its quick roasting stage, and then I'll take it down to 250 or so for the next hour.

I'm serving some great (Target) World Table salsas on the side along with their blue corn tortilla with flax seed chips, which I love.  *Nomnomnom.*  I'm making some homemade guacamole (avocado, lime juice, a bit of hot sauce, onion salt, a few red pepper flakes and just a smidge of olive oil based mayo) and putting a little sour cream out.  I'll add some plain black beans, lettuce and shredded cheese to the offerings for a build your own taco sort of situation.  For the vegetarians in the crowd (moi) I'm quickly sauteeing some baby bella mushrooms to fatten up the soft tacos.


Quick tip 1: I'm all about not using canned items whenever possible and try to use dried or, in a pinch, frozen beans and so forth.  But, I keep a small number of organic, low-sodium canned tomatoes, olives and beans around for a pinch.  I always thoroughly rinse said beans to remove as much perceived bad stuff as possible for a short cut that I can still not feel to badly about.

Quick tip 2:  Take your sauces & sides out of the containers.  Grab some of those inexpensive salsa dishes you'd see in a Mexican restaurant and feel a little more big time about what you're serving.

Quick tip 3: Heat your tortilla chips and tortillas (wrapped in foil) for a few minutes in the oven.  It's just a nice touch - like you know how to cook or something!

Ok, progress report - the pork came out looking pretty lovely, if I do say so myself.  I thought it needed a few minutes of browning after it hit 150 degrees, so I turned it back up to 500 degrees for about 7 minutes to give it a nice browning, then I sliced it up:

Finally, I sliced it again into nice long semi-shredded slivers, the better for stuffing a nice tortilla.

About an hour start to finish, and that's with lots of touches (setting the table, transferring sauces to serving bowls, stopping to blog (!) and so forth).  The verdict: maybe my family just doesn't get enough meat, making them exceptionally grateful when they do, but they were exceptionally happy.  They deemed the pork moist and a nice texture for the tacos.  I put very little seasoning since there were lots of other tastes to round it out (guacamole, sour cream, cheese, salsa verde etc.) so it would be a bit bland by itself, but I think you could season it up a bit and have this round out a meal nicely.
 
Give it a shot - be an adventuress.  What's the harm?  A poorly executed recipe is just a chance for good humor and another shot later on.  Add it to your family's arsenal and join them by being self-deprecating when you all laugh about the time you made... (fill in the blank) and nearly burned the house down.  Or, surprise them and yourself by turning out something novel and nearly divine.  Promise you'll be proud.

Bending the Rules, Loving the Results (and Crawfish Po' Boys)

It's so easy to assume that a food lover should follow all the rules: wielding a knife like a Culinary Institute graduate, perfecting sublime desserts, using the fanciest gear and gadgets and the freshest local ingredients.  Rather, I would argue, we all aspire to that, but everyday cooking is an adventure best tackled with zest and a willingness to fail miserably (and pick up takeout or make a PB&J when the situation demands it).

One of tonight's dinner guests prior to walking the plank

To wit, I submit tonight's dinner: crawfish po'boys in January.  Crawfish are neither in season nor easy to find, but one's cravings do not always align with practicality.  So, tonight we picked up three pounds of whole, seasoned, frozen (gasp!) crawfish from a local gourmet outpost along with crusty, cheesy (also a broken rule) La Brea bread and a remoulade sauce.  We bent other rules with abandon: the market didn't happen to have shredded lettuce or an appetizing-looking head of iceberg, so we subbed in some lovely spinach leaves already at the house.  Tomatoes aren't at their best right now, so we skipped them.  Home fries would have been delightful on the side, but we were starving, so a bag of sea salted, lower salt Ruffles accompanied us home.

We thawed and steamed (about 5 minutes) the crawfish and peeled them with visions of mid-April crawfish boils dancing in our heads, split and toasted the bread lightly, slathered it with remoulade and arranged the crawfish and greens.  The chips finished out the plate along with a frosty Negra Modelo apiece.  Hey - Abita Purple Haze and all the right touches would have been brilliant, but guess what?  The meal was absolutely fantastic because it satisfied a craving, scratched an itch, came together speedily and met all our (fairly low) expectations.  Isn't that what time in the kitchen is all about?

A few disclaimers & general rules

Welcome!

I'm most appreciative of your interest in this blog.  However, if you're going to read it, let's set a few ground rules, shall we?  Here's what you can expect:

1.  I'm a vegetarian, and the vast majority of my recipes are the same.  However, I cook a number of items for meat eaters, so those can be found here on occasion as well.  And by "vegetarian" I mean the following: I eat dairy, eggs, fish and shellfish - you'll find those in my recipes.

2.  I'm a fan of 2% milk.  Use what you'd like and you'll often be pleasantly surprised to find that it works just fine.

3.  Whole wheat flour is my preference.  Again, substituting white flour or some mixture of the two will typically have very little effect, unless we're baking.

4.  I'm quite terrible at following directions - that's why this is essentially a blog about taking recipes and having my way with them.  The irony is not lost on me that I'm posting supposed recipes on this blog myself.  But, to my utter disbelief, a number of people seem to want my "recipes," and telling them the honest truth (that I throw a bunch of things in a pot and see how it turns out) was no longer holding the mongrels off.  To wit, my best effort at recording my concoctions and (mis)adventures.

5.  Perhaps most importantly: I'm not a chef, nutritionist, qualified medical professional, cookbook editor, culinary school graduate or anything else impressive.  I'm a mom and a wife and a working professional.  I like my meals tasty, interesting, not terribly difficult to prepare or lofty and even fairly quick to prepare.

6.  I can't stand behind any nutritional information, facts or details.  I just read cookbooks and magazines, try my hand at things and post the results here.  If you're looking for someone to sue or otherwise hold accountable for much of anything, I'm not your gal.  I do use SparkPeople Recipes to check nutritional information for my own benefit, and that is what I post on this site for nutritional information on any recipes.

7.  I believe wholeheartedly that cooking is a pretty good time.  I like to experiment.  I enjoy chopping vegetables.  I'm interested in new ingredients.  I care about fitness, health, not raising picky eaters, trying new things and enjoying decadent desserts.  I encourage a feeling of fun and freedom in the kitchen.  You are not bound to rules and cookbooks any more than I am, and I can assure you that after more than fifteen years of cooking random things for my family, I have not killed one of them yet.  (However, we will no longer serve pumpkin soup in this household, tragically).  The point is that this is fun stuff.  Don't be bound by recipes and master chefs - be inspired by them, and give it your own influence!

I believe that is all.  You may now proceed with abandon.  At ease, and happy eating!