Carnitas Michoacan Recipes

Steps:

• Start with removing any excess pieces of fat from the pork.
• In a large,heavy saucepan, place the pork along with the orange zest, orange juice, cumin, bay leaves, onion, garlic and bouillon.
• Fill with water just so it barely covers the pork.
• Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 2 hours.
• Turn off the heat and allow the meat to cool and any excess fat to raise to the top.
• Remove the excess fat, and place the cooled pork in a large bowl.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• In a separate fry pan, heat the lard and fry the pork pieces for about 6 minutes, just so they turn golden; allow them to cool.
• Using your hands, pull the meat apart.
• In a comal over medium heat, heat the tortillas.
• Once you heated all of the tortillas, make tacos with the shredded meat and add your own favorite Mexican salsa.

Steps:

• Place meat in a medium-size roasting pan. Sprinkle with garlic and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice from one orange and the lemon over the meat. Slice the remaining oranges and place over the meat. , Cover and bake at 350° for about 2 hours or until meat is tender. With a slotted spoon, remove meat and drain well on paper towels. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet and fry meat in batches until browned and crispy. , Serve warm in tortillas with toppings of your choice. Freeze option: Freeze cooled pork mixture in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Fry meat in batches as directed until crispy and brown. Serve as directed.

Steps:

• If the roast has skin or bone, leave them on. Rinse the roast and place in a large pot. Add enough water to barely cover.
• Chop the onion into large pieces (about 8) and add to the pot. Add the salt.
• Bring the water to a boil, then cover and simmer until the roast is tender, but not quite falling apart, about 2 hours.
• Remove the roast and drain, discarding the onion. Remove any skin or bones. Cut or separate into large cubes of about 4 inches.
• Put the lard in a heavy pot, melt and raise to a medium-high temperature. Test the temperature by dropping in a slice of bacon. It should boil immediately and take about 2 minutes to cook.
• Cook all of the bacon in the lard, remove it and set it aside for another use. (This step is to flavor the lard). If using bacon fat, add it at this time and skip cooking any bacon.
• Add the pork cubes a few at a time to the lard. Cook until they are starting to get crispy on the outside. I prefer to remove them when they are roughly halfway between totally crispy and not crispy at all, but that's a matter of personal preference.
• Drain the pork, and salt if desired.
• Use the carnitas for tacos, burritos or by itself with sides of rice and beans.
• The lard can be cooled and reused. Store it in the refrigerator and smell before reusing. If stored too long, even in the refrigerator, it will go rancid.