pretty by the bay

Mexican food is the perfect storm of so many things I love to eat. Beans. Cheese. Salsa. Avocado. Sour cream. And, most recently, carnitas. I don’t think I tried carnitas before I moved to San Francisco;  maybe I never noticed it on Mexican restaurant menus, or maybe I just played it safe with chicken and steak. But once I moved here and sampled the carnitas at La Taqueria (my favorite spot for tacos and burritos), I was 100% entranced by this juicy, tender, meaty treat. I’ve been wanting to make carnitas at home but was put off by traditional recipes calling for a nice layer of lard to be thrown in with the meat. Fortunately, Cook’s Illustrated came to my rescue!

Yes, dear friends, my beloved CI cookbook includes a lard-free recipe for Mexican Pulled Pork, along with several follow-up recipes that use the meat to its fullest potential. It’s somewhat time consuming, but if you have a few hours to spare on a weekend, you’ll be rewarded with enough tender, caramelized pork for several good meals. (Interesting side note: while I’ve only consumed carnitas at lunch and dinner, my friend Edgar’s family eats it almost exclusively at breakfast with beans and tortillas. Sounds like a damn fine idea to me!)

I roasted the pork on Sunday and used roughly half of the meat to make CI’s Easy Pork Enchiladas, which Corey and I agreed were some of the best we’ve ever tried. If you don’t eat pork, you could certainly use the same recipe and substitute shredded poached or rotisserie chicken, or extra beans if you’re vegetarian. Regardless of your filling, corn tortillas are a must. I always used flour until my friend Maria kindly informed me that this is a very gringa thing to do. In my defense, I used flour because corn tortillas tend to fall apart when you roll them around the enchilada filling. Solution: La Tortilla Factory’s Hand Made Style Corn Tortillas, which have the flavor of corn with the pliability of flour. They’re made from a corn/wheat blend and maintained their shape before, during and after the baking process. Word has it this brand is Maria-approved, so I’m one step closer to authenticity!

Mexican Pulled Pork

adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

1 (3 1/2 to 4 lb) boneless pork butt, fat trimmed to roughly 1/8 inch thick, cut into 2 inch chunks
1 tsp cumin
1 small onion , peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh lime juice (roughly 1 lime)
2 c water
1 medium orange, halved
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Set an oven rack to the lower middle position. In a large Dutch oven, combine the pork, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cumin, onion, bay leaves, oregano, lime juice, and water (the liquid should just barely cover meat). Juice the orange into a medium bowl and remove any seeds. Add the juice and the  orange halves themselves to the Dutch oven. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook until the meat is soft and falls apart when pierced with a fork, about 2 hours. Turn the meat once midway through the cooking process.

Remove the pot from the oven. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pork to a bowl. Remove the orange halves, onion, and bay leaves from the cooking liquid and discard. Do not skim the fat from the cooking liquid. Place the Dutch oven on a burner set to high heat and simmer the liquid, stirring frequently, until it reduces to a thick and syrupy consistency, roughly 10 to 12 minutes. You should have approximately 1 cup of reduced liquid. (Note: this took closer to 15 minutes for me.)

When the cooking liquid is nearly reduced, set your oven to broil. Use two forks to pull each piece of pork gently in half. Pour the reduced cooking liquid over the meat and toss gently, then place the meat on a wire rack set above a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Put the baking sheet on the lower middle rack of your oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and the edges are crisp, roughly 5 to 8 minutes. Flip the meat and continue to broil until the other side is crisp and browned, 5 to 8 minutes more. You want it to be caramelized but not charred. Serve immediately or reserve for recipes such as the one below. (You can store the meat in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.)

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Easy Pork Enchiladas

adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

serves 4

10 oz (roughly 2 cups) Mexican Pulled Pork, shredded

3/4 c refried beans

10 oz can enchilada sauce (green or red; I prefer green)

7 oz can mild chopped green chilies, drained

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas (recommended: La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style; see note below)

1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

6 oz shredded colby jack cheese, regular or 2% (1 1/2 c)

Diced avocado, chopped cilantro and sour cream, for garnish, optional

Preheat the oven to 450. Lightly coat a 9×13″ baking dish with cooking spray. Combine the pork, refried beans, 1/3 cup enchilada sauce and green chilies in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high for 1 to 3 minutes, or until hot. Remove from microwave and stir in the cilantro and 3/4 c of the cheese.

To assemble the enchiladas, fill each tortilla with roughly 1/2 c of the pork filling. Roll the tortilla around the filling and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. When all enchiladas are assembled and in the dish, pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top, followed by the remaining cheese.  Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray (or use nonstick foil) and cover the dish. Bake, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly. Remove the foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Remove from oven and allow to sit for five minutes before serving. Garnish with additional cilantro, avocado and sour cream if desired.

Note: If using regular corn tortillas, the recipe suggests warming them to make them more pliable. I did not do this because the band I purchased were quite flexible already. If you use regular corn tortillas, you may wish to stack them on a plate, sprinkle them with a bit of water, cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap and heat on high until warm and soft, 1 to 2 minutes.